Today’s word of the day is 命 (mìng) which is a noun that means life. Let’s practice by making different words, phrases, and sentences with 命 (mìng).
救命 (jiù mìng) To save a life
The first word is 救命 (jiù mìng) which literally means to ‘save a life’ or ‘save lives'. If you are into Chinese dramas, you may often know that victims who get into an unlucky situation always shout “救命啊!” (jiù mìng a), which means ‘save me!’.
算命 (suàn mìng) Fortune telling
Another word we can create with 命 (mìng) is 算命 (suàn mìng). This means ‘fortune telling’ Let’s again look at each character of this word, 算 means to count or calculate and 命 means life. And calculating a person’s life is exactly what a fortune teller does! One question I often ask people is 你相信算命吗？ (Nǐ xiāngxìn suànmìng ma?) Do you believe in fortune-telling?
命令 (mìng lìng) Order
Finally, we can create the word 命令 (mìng lìng) which means ‘order’. This is different from the meaning when you say ‘I want to order food', it is more like a command. You may have heard in Chinese police dramas, where the senior officer tells the rebellious junior officer 这是一个命令！(Zhè shì yīgè mìnglìng!) This is an order.