The character consists of 音 /yīn/ SOUND and 心 /xīn/ HEART.
We are looking at the “sound of heart”.
Chinese thinking doesn’t see mind and heart (emotions) as two divided phenomenons.
They are connected and they both are located in our hearts.
And just as a music instrument produces sounds 音 /yīn/, our mind produces THOUGHTS and IDEAS. It has its EXPECTATIONS and when we meet our EXPECTATIONS, we are SATISFIED.
Our mind (conscious) interprets the world around us and gives it MEANING and SENSE.
In order to work properly, we have to be able to address our ATTENTION.
So it is no surprise that we find 意 /yì/ in all of these words – and that is just a part – you will find here more.
TEST WHAT YOU KNOW
Pick the right character(s) for TO AGREE
同意
tóngyì
TO AGREE
故意
gùyì
ON PURPOSE
愿意
yuànyì
WILLING TO to be
意思
yìsi
MEANING
Pinyin
汉字
LEARN NEW
SENSE
MEANING
意思
yìsi
yìsi
INTERESTING
to be
有意思
yǒuyìsi
yǒuyìsi
Yesterday I watched a very interesting film.
我 昨天 看 了 很 有意思 的 电影。
<Wǒ zuótiān kànle hěn yǒuyìsi de diànyǐng.>
I wanna tell you an interesting story.
我 想 给 你 讲 一个 很 有意思 的 故事。
Wǒ xiǎng gěi nǐ jiǎng yīge hěn yǒuyìsi de gùshì.
It is not my point that all of their articles are interesting.
我的 意思 不是 说 他们 所有的 文章 都 有意思。
Wǒ de yìsi bùshì shuō tāmen suǒyǒu de wénzhāng dōu yǒuyìsi.
BUSINESS
SATISFIED
SATISFIED
满意
mǎnyì
mǎnyì
I am very satisfied with my new car.
I am not satisfied with him either.
我 对 他 也 不 满意。
Wǒ duì tā yě bù mǎnyì.
PAY ATTENTION
ATTENTION
(TO PAY)
注意
zhùyì
zhùyì
Please pay attention! This is very important.
OBJECTION
TO AGREE
TO AGREE
同意
tóngyì
tóngyì
I agree. You are right!
TO BE WILLING TO
WILLING TO
to be
愿意
yuànyì
yuànyì
Regardless of what he says, I’m (still) not willing to go.
Are you willing to ask him?
你 愿意 问 他 吗？
Nǐ yuànyì wèn tā ma?
Regardless of what the manager says, I’m not willing to do it like this.
UNEXPECTED
ON PURPOSE
ON PURPOSE
故意
gùyì
gùyì
Sorry, it wasn’t on purpose.
He isn’t doing bad things on purpose.
他 不 是 故意 做 坏事。
Tā bùshì gùyì zuò huàishì.
