Practise the thinking. Keep the judgement.
意思 and 意义: meaning and significance
Original Chinese study material with English explanations. Simplified Chinese with pinyin; beginner, intermediate and advanced are editorial difficulty labels.
意思 (yìsi) often refers to the meaning of an expression or a person’s intention. 意义 (yìyì) often refers to significance, value or a more abstract meaning.
这个词是什么意思？
Zhège cí shì shénme yìsi?
What does this word mean?
这次讨论很有意义。
Zhè cì tǎolùn hěn yǒu yìyì.
This discussion is meaningful.
有意思 also means interesting. 不好意思 is a conventional expression for embarrassment, apology or politely interrupting.
Try it
Which asks what a word means?
- 这个词是什么意思？
- 这个词在哪里？
- 这个词有几个人？
Answer and explanation
这个词是什么意思？. 什么意思 asks for the meaning of the expression.