PMT Advanced #118: Practicing Calendar Vocabulary

🌀 Pearls of Mandarin: Translation (Advanced) #118

May 09, 2026

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In CGG #118, we explored the traditional Chinese calendar and the rich vocabulary that comes with it.

Today’s exercises will help you put this calendar vocabulary into real sentences. You’ll get to use words tied to age, zodiac signs, festivals, and the agricultural year, all in everyday contexts. Let’s bring the traditional calendar to life in your Mandarin!

🌳 Today’s Advanced Exercises

Translate these English sentences into Mandarin:

Babies born right before Spring Festival jump from one year old to two within just a few days.
My boyfriend is a Tiger, and my mom keeps saying Tigers and Sheep don’t go well together.
The most romantic moment of the Mid-Autumn Festival is sitting in the courtyard with the whole family, eating mooncakes and admiring the full moon together.
Although the solar terms are based on the position of the sun rather than the moon, they have been guiding Chinese farmers’ planting and harvesting for thousands of years.

Take your time, and remember: practicing will help you sound more natural and confident in your Mandarin conversations. You’ve got this! 💫

🌳 Translation #1

Babies born right before Spring Festival jump from one year old to two within just a few days.

This sentence touches on a uniquely Chinese way of counting age. In Chinese tradition, age isn’t calculated the way it is in the West: a baby is considered “one year old” at birth, and then everyone gains another year together at Lunar New Year, regardless of actual birthday. That’s exactly what 虚岁 [虛歲] (xūsuì) captures, the “nominal age” system, in contrast to 周岁 [週歲] (zhōusuì) which counts years actually completed (the Western style). Because of this system, a baby born just before Spring Festival is one at birth, then “turns two” only days later when the new year begins.

Let’s break down the translation step by step:

春节 [春節] (chūnjié) means “Spring Festival” (Lunar New Year).
前 (qián) means “before.”
几天 [幾天] (jǐ tiān) means “a few days.”
出生 (chūshēng) means “to be born.”
的 (de) is the attributive particle linking the relative clause to the noun.
婴儿 [嬰兒] (yīng’ér) means “baby” or “infant.”
按 (àn) means “according to” or “by,” introducing the method being applied.
虚岁 [虛歲] (xūsuì) means “nominal age,” the traditional age system that starts at 1 at birth.
- 虚 [虛] (xū) means “empty” or “nominal.”
- 岁 [歲] (suì) means “year of age.”
- Compare with 周岁 [週歲] (zhōusuì), which counts actual completed years (like Western age).
算 (suàn) means “to count” or “to calculate.”
- 按...算 is a fixed pattern meaning “to count by the standard of...”
几天内 [幾天內] (jǐ tiān nèi) means “within a few days.”
就 (jiù) emphasizes the swift transition.
从 [從] (cóng) mean “from.”
一岁 [一歲] (yī suì) means “one year old.”
变成 [變成] (biànchéng) means “changing into.”
两岁 [兩歲] (liǎng suì) means “two years old.”
了 (le) marks the change of state.

Notes

虚岁 [虛歲] (xūsuì) is tied to lunar-year counting, while 周岁 [週歲] (zhōusuì) follows actual birthdays. Most legal and medical contexts in modern China use 周岁 [週歲], while traditional and rural settings still use 虚岁 [虛歲].
The pattern 按...算 is extremely common when explaining different methods of measurement or evaluation, like 按公斤算 [按公斤算] (àn gōngjīn suàn, “counted by kilogram”) or 按月算 (àn yuè suàn, “counted by the month”).
The sentence-final 了 (le) is essential here as it signals the change has happened within that short time frame.
从...变成... [從...變成...] is the standard structure for transformations from one state to another, useful far beyond age contexts.

Recap

春节前几天出生的婴儿，按虚岁算几天内就从一岁变成两岁了。
春節前幾天出生的嬰兒，按虛歲算幾天內就從一歲變成兩歲了。
春节 / 前 / 几天 / 出生 / 的 / 婴儿 / ， / 按 / 虚岁 / 算 / 几 / 天 / 内 / 就 / 从 / 一 / 岁 / 变成 / 两 / 岁 / 了 / 。
chūnjié qián jǐ tiān chūshēng de yīng’ér, àn xūsuì suàn jǐ tiān nèi jiù cóng yī suì biànchéng liǎng suì le.
Babies born right before Spring Festival jump from one year old to two within just a few days.
Spring Festival / before / few days / be born / (attributive particle 的) / baby / by / nominal age / count / few / day / within / then / from / one / year of age / become / two / year of age / (change-of-state particle 了).