聊 liáo chat
How to remember 聊: 耳 ear + 卯 mortise = chat. Fixing a door, the carpenter presses his ear to the mortise and hears the two neighbours chat about his prices.
Component breakdown
聊 = 耳 ear + 卯 mortise
- 耳 ear
- 卯 mortise
Fixing a door, the carpenter presses his ear to the mortise and hears the two neighbours chat about his prices.
How it is used
- In modern Mandarin this means "to chat" - 聊天 (liáotiān) / 聊天儿 (liáotiānr) to chat. The gloss "somewhat/slightly" is classical and essentially dead in speech.
- 聊 for chatting is casual and warm: 我们聊聊吧 (wǒmen liáoliáo ba) let's have a chat - softer than 谈话 (tánhuà), which sounds formal/official.
- 无聊 (wúliáo) = bored/boring, or pointless: 好无聊 (hǎo wúliáo) so boring. Note it covers both "I'm bored" and "that's silly/meaningless."
Words with 聊
Example sentences
- 他们在聊天。 Tāmen zài liáotiān.They are chatting.
- 学习数学很无聊。 Xuéxí shùxué hěn wúliáo.Studying Math is very boring.