How to Say "Stuff" in Chinese

东西

dōngxi

The Chinese word for 'stuff' or 'miscellaneous items' is 东西 (dōngxi).

东西 is a noun used to refer to miscellaneous items or things in general.

Meaning: miscellaneous items, things (noun)

What does it mean word for word?

The word is composed of the characters for 'east' (东) and 'west' (西).

While the characters 东西 mean 'stuff' when pronounced dōngxi, the same characters pronounced dōngxī mean 'east and west' (the cardinal directions).

东西 is a classifier-less noun and does not change its form for plurality.

dōngxi

While 东西 usually means 'stuff', calling a person a 东西 is a sharp insult. Depending on the context, it can imply the person is a 'thing' rather than a human or a 'piece of work'.
The phrase 'to buy stuff' is often written as 买东西, which a literalist might mistake for 'buying the east and west' if they ignore the tones.
The word 东西 is an example of a 'compound' word where the individual meanings of 'east' and 'west' are completely lost. This process is common in Chinese but creates a counterintuitive literal translation for beginners.

汤姆的东西在哪里？
Where's Tom's stuff?
This sentence is useful for asking about the location of someone's stuff using 东西.
Tatoeba #9956685 by GlossaMatik, translation #2240340 by CK
我们的拌面里有好多东西。
There's a lot of stuff in our lo mein.
This sentence is useful for describing the many things found in a dish using 东西.
Tatoeba #427983 by GlossaMatik, translation #427980 by FeuDRenais
然而这也算不上什么像样的东西。
But it isn't even worth calling stuff.
This sentence is useful for expressing that something is not worthy of being called stuff using 东西.
Tatoeba #13936768 by jan_OkulaJu, translation #13936770 by jan_OkulaJu
4 more sentences on Tatoeba

Two friends are cleaning up an apartment.

梓涵 Zihan

这些东西都要扔掉吗？
Zhèxiē dōngxi dōu yào rēng diào ma?
Should all these stuff be thrown away?
俊杰 Junjie

不，这些东西很有用。
Bù, zhèxiē dōngxi hěn yǒuyòng.
No, this stuff is very useful.
梓涵 Zihan

那你把东西收好。
Nà nǐ bǎ dōngxi shōu hǎo.
Then you should put the stuff away properly.
俊杰 Junjie

好的，我马上收。
Hǎo de, wǒ mǎshàng shōu.
Okay, I'll pack them up right away.

Sources

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