50+ fundamental crime, suspense, & mystery Cdrama vocab words
I'm currently watching 《模仿犯》, so I was inspired to put together this list of essential vocab for 犯罪剧/悬疑剧/推理剧. I tend to gravitate towards dramas that fall into these genres.
I've sorted the words into categories. These were determined by vibes only. Definitions are adapted from MDBG, my loyal companion for nearly 10 years.
The Case
案子 ànzi - case / law case / legal case / judicial case
案件 ànjiàn - case / instance
办案 bàn'àn - to handle a case
破案 pò'àn - to solve a case
报案 bào'àn - to report a case to the authorities
命案 mìng'àn - homicide case / murder case
作案 zuò'àn - to commit a crime
现场 xiànchǎng - the scene (of a crime, accident etc) / (on) the spot / (at) the site
证据 zhèngjù - evidence / proof / testimony
真相 zhēnxiàng - the truth about sth / the actual facts
The Investigation
厘清 líqīng - to clarify (the facts) / clarification
线索 xiànsuǒ - trail / clues / thread (of a story)
细节 xìjié - details / particulars
痕迹 hénjì - vestige / mark / trace
追踪 zhuīzōng - to follow a trail / to trace / to pursue
追问 zhuīwèn - to question closely / to investigate in detail / to examine minutely / to get to the heart of the matter
排除 páichú - to eliminate / to remove / to exclude / to rule out
嫌疑 xiányí - suspicion / to have suspicions
怀疑 huáiyí - to doubt (sth) / to be skeptical of / to have one's doubts / to harbor suspicions / to suspect that
跟踪 gēnzōng - to follow sb's tracks / to tail / to shadow / tracking
不对劲 búduìjìn - fishy / wrong / not right
隐瞒 yǐnmán - to conceal / to hide (a taboo subject) / to cover up the truth
The Victim
被害者 bèihàizhě - victim (of a wounding or murder)
受害者 shòuhàizhě - casualty / victim / those injured and wounded
幸存者 xìngcúnzhě - survivor
失踪 shīzōng - to be missing / to disappear / unaccounted for
消失 xiāoshī - to disappear / to fade away
绑架 bǎngjià - to kidnap / to abduct / to hijack / a kidnapping abduction / staking
1. Have someone to guide you to get good pronunciation habits. It is almost impossible to re-learn bad habits later so make sure you get your pronunciation right from the beginning. I mean the pronunciation of the sounds, not the tones. Tones take more time to get used to and you can't rush it - but try the best you can. Some tutors don't bother too much about the pronunciation so make sure you find someone who is strict about that, you will be grateful later. Also get confident in pinyin, you will need it.
2. Understand the composition of the sentences. The word order is super easy and it stays the same all the time (the question and informative sentences have the same word order). I have a formula for the word order but I won't reveal it here, it is one of the secrets I keep for my students and people who use my materials.
3. Understand that there are no tenses in the sense we think about them in English and other languages. Learn to express future, potential future, finished action, change of state, experience in the past and circumstances of the event. See the difference between action verbs and verbs of state.
4. Learn to use modal verbs and conjuctions.
5. Build usable vocabulary based on the fact that everything in Chinese is interconnected.
6. Understand 就, 才,的 and 得
7. Don't learn grammar rules and words separately. Learn functional practical sentences that will serve you as examples of the grammar structures (then you just need to change the words in these sentences).
8. Develop your listening skills - that is very important. For that there are Youtube channels and podcasts on Spotify (and in my materials the audio part also plays an important role). You can listen to Chinese radio stations just to get the feeling of the language.
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After 3-4 months you should feel pretty confident in normal conversations if you study regularly under competent guidance.
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R-evolutionary learning materials and resources: https://linktr.ee/chineseffect
Mandarin Chinese Learning Reccomendation! Jan/15/2023
I reccomend the website Chinese Grammar Wiki, when I started getting serious about learning mandarin I was 2 years into my studies but was at a basically beginner level because I had no idea how to study and get better at something like language learning, but this website definitely helped me out. Some days I would just open up the website and read through each article and it basically burned it all into my brain because just about everything I read on there I still remember today (I last used the website 5 or so years ago). The articles are super easy to understand and gives a concise description of how to use certain words without boring you to death. It was very good for my 14 year old brain at the time LOL. Give it a try :) #notsponsored
Guys, I swear the source website of this picture had helped me out so much both when I started learning chinese and now!
Link:
I don't usually recommend pinterest to find useful websites but I did find this website there somehow lol. Istg half the links of pinterest are unavailable or something.
Daily Routines In Chinese With Pinyin And Translation - 日常生活 Rì cháng shēng huó
In this video, we will learn vocabulary about daily routines/activities. This video is equipped with pinyin and translation so it will make it easier for us to learn Mandarin. Have a good study!
When I started consuming more native Chinese content, I quickly discovered an area in which my knowledge was lacking: single-character verbs. In my experience, it’s very easy to focus on learning words consisting of two or more characters and overlook single-character words.
Driven by curiosity, I went through my Anki deck (and also wracked my brain) to generate a list of characters/words that I have learned over the past couple years (roughly). Then I selected 75 verbs that are fairly common and important to know. They skew towards intermediate and advanced vocabulary.
Definitions are from MDBG. For characters with additional meanings that I am not yet familiar with, I have bolded the meanings I want to share.
(1) 抢 qiǎng - to fight over / to rush / to scramble / to grab / to rob / to snatch
(2) 救 jiù - to save / to assist / to rescue
(3) 扶 fú - to support with the hand / to help sb up / to support oneself by holding onto something / to help
(4) 催 cuī - to urge / to press / to prompt / to rush sb / to hasten sth / to expedite
(5) 夹 jiā - to press from either side / to place in between / to sandwich / to carry sth under armpit / wedged between / between / to intersperse / to mix / to mingle / clip / folder / Taiwan pr. [jia2]
(6) 咬 yǎo - to bite / to nip
(7) 砸 zá - to smash / to pound / to fail / to muck up / to bungle
(8) 毁 huǐ - to destroy / to ruin / to defame / to slander
(9) 嚷 rǎng - to shout / to bellow / to make a big deal of sth / to make a fuss about sth
(10) 塞 sāi - to stop up / to squeeze in / to stuff / cork / stopper
(11) 贪 tān - to have a voracious desire for / to covet / greedy / corrupt
(12) 拆 chāi - to tear open / to tear down / to tear apart / to open
(13) 掏 tāo - to fish out (from pocket) / to scoop
(14) 跪 guì - to kneel
(15) 摘 zhāi - to take / to borrow / to pick (flowers, fruit etc) / to pluck / to select / to remove / to take off (glasses, hat etc)
(16) 拎 līn - to lift up / to carry in one's hand / Taiwan pr. [ling1]
(17) 扛 káng - to carry on one's shoulder / (fig.) to take on (a burden, duty etc)
(18) 拽 zhuài - to pull / to tug at (sth)
(19) 愣 lèng - to look distracted / to stare blankly / distracted / blank / (coll.) unexpectedly / rash / rashly
(20) 搂 lǒu - to hug / to embrace / to hold in one's arms
(21) 垮 kuǎ - to collapse (lit. or fig.)
(22) 撑 chēng - to support / to prop up / to push or move with a pole / to maintain / to open or unfurl / to fill to bursting point / brace / stay / support
(23) 甩 shuǎi - to throw / to fling / to swing / to leave behind / to throw off / to dump (sb)
(24) 围 wéi - to encircle / to surround / all around / to wear by wrapping around (scarf, shawl)
(25) 愁 chóu - to worry about
(26) 插 chā - to insert / stick in / pierce / to take part in / to interfere / to interpose
(27) 漏 lòu - to leak / to divulge / to leave out by mistake / waterclock or hourglass (old)
(28) 披 pī - to drape over one's shoulders / to open / to unroll / to split open / to spread out
(29) 歇 xiē - to rest / to take a break / to stop / to halt / (dialect) to sleep / a moment / a short while
(30) 抄 chāo - to make a copy / to plagiarize / to search and seize / to raid / to grab / to go off with / to take a shortcut / to make a turning move / to fold one's arms
(31) 哼 hēng - to groan / to snort / to hum / to croon / humph!
(32) 哄 hǒng - to deceive / to coax / to amuse (a child)
(33) 啃 kěn - to gnaw / to nibble / to bite
(34) 眯 mī - to narrow one's eyes / to squint / (dialect) to take a nap
(35) 趴 pā - to lie on one's stomach / to lean forward, resting one's upper body (on a desktop etc) / (Tw) percent
(36) 揍 zòu - to hit / to beat (sb) / (coll.) to smash (sth)
(37) 蹭 cèng - to rub against / to walk slowly / (coll.) to freeload
(38) 凑 còu - to gather together, pool or collect / to happen by chance / to move close to / to exploit an opportunity
(39) 敲 qiāo - to hit / to strike / to tap / to rap / to knock / to rip sb off / to overcharge
(40) 滑 huá - to slip / to slide / slippery / smooth / sly / slippery / not to be trusted
(41) 碎 suì - to break down / to break into pieces / fragmentary
(42) 盯 dīng - to watch attentively / to fix one's attention on / to stare at / to gaze at
(43) 塌 tā - to collapse / to droop / to settle down
(44) 背 bēi - to be burdened / to carry on the back or shoulder
背 bèi - the back of a body or object / to turn one's back / to hide something from / to learn by heart / to recite from memory / unlucky (slang) / hard of hearing
(45) 数 shǔ - to count / to count as / to regard as / to enumerate (sb's shortcomings)
(46) 按 àn - to press / to push / to leave aside or shelve / to control / to restrain / to keep one's hand on / to check or refer to / according to / in the light of / (of an editor or author) to make a comment
(47) 压 yā - to press / to push down / to keep under (control) / pressure
(48) 亲 qīn - parent / one's own (flesh and blood) / relative / related / marriage / bride / close / intimate / in person / first-hand / in favor of / pro- / to kiss / (Internet slang) dear
(49) 补 bǔ - to repair / to patch / to mend / to make up for / to fill (a vacancy) / to supplement
(50) 舔 tiǎn - to lick / to lap
(51) 拼 pīn - to piece together / to join together / to stake all / adventurous / at the risk of one's life / to spell
(52) 埋 mái - to bury
(53) 抖 dǒu - to tremble / to shake out / to reveal / to make it in the world
(54) 涂 tú - to apply (paint etc) / to smear / to daub / to blot out / to scribble / to scrawl / (literary) mud / street
(55) 抹 mǒ - to smear / to wipe / to erase / classifier for wisps of cloud, light-beams etc
(56) 吞 tūn - to swallow / to take
(57) 拦 lán - to block sb's path / to obstruct / to flag down (a taxi)
(58) 露 lòu - to show / to reveal / to betray / to expose
露 lù - dew / syrup / nectar / outdoors (not under cover) / to show / to reveal / to betray / to expose
(59) 滚 gǔn - to boil / to roll / to take a hike / Get lost!
(60) 扣 kòu - to fasten / to button / button / buckle / knot / to arrest / to confiscate / to deduct (money) / discount / to knock / to smash, spike or dunk (a ball) / to cover (with a bowl etc) / (fig.) to tag a label on sb / (Tw) (loanword) code
(61) ��� kuā - to boast / to exaggerate / to praise
(62) 挥 huī - to wave / to brandish / to command / to conduct / to scatter / to disperse
(63) 求 qiú - to seek / to look for / to request / to demand / to beseech
(64) 吸 xī - to breathe / to suck in / to absorb / to inhale
(65) 响 xiǎng - echo / sound / noise / to make a sound / to sound / to ring / loud / classifier for noises
(66) 擦 cā - to wipe / to erase / rubbing (brush stroke in painting) / to clean / to polish
(67) 踩 cǎi - to step on / to tread / to stamp / to press a pedal / to pedal (a bike) / (online) to downvote
(68) 撕 sī - to tear
(69) 扫 sǎo - to sweep
(70) 锁 suǒ - to lock / to lock up / a lock (CL:把)
(71) 扎 zhā - to prick / to run or stick (a needle etc) into / mug or jug used for serving beer (loanword from "jar")
(72) 撞 zhuàng - to knock against / to bump into / to run into / to meet by accident
(73) 追 zhuī - to chase / to pursue / to look into / to investigate / to reminisce / to recall / to court (one's beloved) / to binge-watch (a TV drama) / retroactively / posthumously
(74) 抽 chōu - to draw out / to pull out from in between / to remove part of the whole / (of certain plants) to sprout or bud / to whip or thrash
I’m not even gonna try listing all of the features because there’s just so many and I’ve used it for many years now and on a daily basis. Not to mention it is constantly updated. In terms of features and overall quality, MDBG is the best in my opinion.
MandarinSpot’s Annotator
Sometimes has slightly different definitions compared to MDBG, and someone it will have the definition for words that MDBG does not have entered yet. Also, it helpful for anyone who reads Chinese best horizontally as opposed to listed vertically like on MDBG.
Pleco (app)
Most similar to MDBG, but for your smart phone.
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Important Note:
Please keep in mind that none of these dictionaries are perfect and language is constantly evolving, so new terms are not likely to be in any of these dictionaries.  there is not many moderators for these dictionaries so sometimes definitions and words won’t be entered in for weeks or even months.
If you find yourself with some thing that is clearly a word but does not have an English definition entered into either of these dictionaries it works best to look up the definition in Chinese on Baidu Dict or Google, or even check out Wikitionary/Wikipedia. 
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