Level 6 · Lesson 10

成语（一）：口语里的成语
Chengyu 1: in everyday speech

成语是四个字的固定说法。他做事马马虎虎。房间乱七八糟。我一心一意学中文。

What a chengyu is — four characters, fixed order, used as one word inside an ordinary sentence.

听 · Listen

对话
 安娜 —  李明，这个成语是什么意思？ 
Li Ming, what does this chengyu mean?  
 李明 —  哪个？ 
Which one?  
 安娜 —  马马虎虎。 
This one — mǎmǎhūhū.  
 李明 —  就是做事不认真。别人问你好不好，你也可以说马马虎虎。 
It means doing things carelessly. And when someone asks how you are, you can answer 马马虎虎 — so-so.  
 安娜 —  那乱七八糟呢？ 
And 乱七八糟?  
 李明 —  你看你的桌子：书、杯子、衣服都有，乱七八糟。 
Look at your desk: books, cups, clothes, all of it — a complete mess.  
 安娜 —  好吧。从今天起，我一心一意学成语。 
All right. From today I'm going to study chengyu wholeheartedly.  
 李明 —  那你先把桌子收拾好。 
Then tidy that desk up first.  

讲解 · Explanation

成语差不多都是四个字，顺序固定，不能换，也不能多一个字、少一个字。说话的时候，直接把它放进句子里就行：他做事马马虎虎。

A 成语 is a set phrase, almost always of exactly four characters, whose order is frozen. You cannot swap the halves, add a character or drop one — 虎虎马马 is not a mistake, it is nothing at all. The good news is that you never have to build one: a chengyu behaves like a single word, and you drop it whole into an otherwise ordinary sentence. Learn it as one sound, one meaning, one shape.

马马虎虎有两个用法。一是说人做事不认真：他学习马马虎虎。二是回答别人的问题，不太好也不太坏：最近怎么样？马马虎虎。

马马虎虎 (horse-horse-tiger-tiger) is the one you will hear first, because it does two everyday jobs. Said about work, it means careless, done without attention: 他做事马马虎虎. Said about yourself, it is the modest 'so-so' that answers 你最近怎么样? Both are ordinary, friendly speech; the first one is mild criticism, not an insult.

乱七八糟说的是东西很乱：房间乱七八糟；他把房间弄得乱七八糟。一心一意是心里只有一件事，别的都不想：他一心一意学中文。

乱七八糟 (literally 'chaotic seven, messy eight') describes chaos — a room, a desk, a schedule, a story that made no sense. It can be the whole predicate (房间乱七八糟) or the result after 得 in a 把 sentence (把房间弄得乱七八糟). 一心一意 means with one heart and one mind, undivided, and it goes in front of the verb: 他一心一意学中文. Watch its tones: the first 一 comes before a first tone and turns to yì, the second comes before a fourth tone and turns to yí — yìxīnyíyì.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
成语	chengyu, four-character set idiom	一个成语
意思	meaning, sense	…是什么意思？
马马虎虎	careless; so-so	他做事马马虎虎
乱七八糟	in a complete mess	房间乱七八糟
一心一意	wholeheartedly	一心一意做一件事

练习 · Practice

他的房间______，东西到处都是。 His room is a complete mess — there are things everywhere.

最近怎么样？______。 Someone asks how you have been. You answer: so-so.

他______学中文，别的什么都不想。 He studies Chinese wholeheartedly and thinks of nothing else.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'He does things carelessly.'

成语、意思、马马虎虎、乱七八糟、一心一意 Match each item to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

…是什么意思？他做事马马虎虎。房间乱七八糟。我一心一意…。

Look around the room you are in and describe it in one word — 乱七八糟 or not. Then answer 你最近怎么样? with 马马虎虎 and hear how modest it sounds. Finally say one thing you are doing 一心一意 right now, and say the four syllables slowly: yì-xīn-yí-yì. Three chengyu in your mouth is three more than yesterday.