可爱
kě'ài
The Chinese phrase for "someone is cute" is 可爱 (kě'ài).
可爱 is used to describe someone or something as cute. While it is often used for children or animals, it can also be used to describe a person's personality or behavior as charming or endearing. For something that is extremely cute, you might also see the word 萌 used.
What does it mean word for word?
The word 可爱 is composed of 可, meaning "can" or "able to" and 爱, meaning "love". Literally, the word means "can be loved" or "lovable".
How does it change in a sentence?
In Chinese, you typically do not use the verb "to be" (是) to link a subject to an adjective like 可爱. Instead, to form a natural sentence, you use an adverb of degree like 很 (hěn), meaning "very". For example, you would say 很可爱 to mean "very cute".
How do you pronounce it?
kě'ài
Did you know?
- In some contexts, calling an adult man 可爱 might imply he is being 'naive' or 'simple-minded' rather than just charming.
- The character 爱 (ài) in 可爱 is written differently in Simplified Chinese than in Traditional Chinese, where the Traditional version contains the character for 'heart'.
- In internet slang, users often replace 可爱 with the word 萌萌哒 (méng méng dā) to make the sentiment sound even more playful and cutesy.
Examples in context
- 它太可爱了！It's so cute!
- 她真的好可爱。She is really cute.
- 这个小狗太萌了！This puppy is too cute!
- 那个小猫真可爱。Nàge xiǎomāo zhēn kě'ài.That kitten is really cute.
- 你的女儿很可爱。Nǐ de nǚ'ér hěn kě'ài.Your daughter is very cute.
Example conversation
Junjie and Yuting are looking at a photo of a puppy.
- 俊杰 Junjie你看这只小狗，太可爱了！Nǐ kàn zhè zhī xiǎo gǒu, tài kě'ài le!Look at this puppy, it's so cute!
- 雨婷 Yuting是的，它的眼睛很大。Shì de, tā de yǎnjīng hěn dà.Yes, its eyes are very big.
- 俊杰 Junjie我想养一只这么可爱的狗。Wǒ xiǎng yǎng yī zhī zhème kě'ài de gǒu.I want to raise a dog this cute.
- 雨婷 Yuting那你得问问你父母。Nà nǐ děi wènwen nǐ fùmǔ.Then you have to ask your parents.
