Let’s Talk About Your Favorite Movies

It has been almost half a year since Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out. I finally got a chance to sit down and watch it not too long ago. So, let’s look at some specific quotes from Star Wars: The Force Awakens that you can use in Chinese.  

The title of Star Wars: The Force Awakens is 《星球大战：原力觉醒》in Chinese. Since it’s the 7th film in the series, you can also just use 《星球大战 7 》instead of its full name.

The word 星球 is used to express “stars” and “planets.” Therefore, you can use it to ask, “which planet are you from?” just in case you one day happen to meet my favorite character, BB-8.

Example:

• 你来自哪个星球？
• nĭ lái zì nă ge xīng qiú ？
• Which planet are you from?

Unfortunately, this is not really a good ice-breaker to use with your teachers or tutors.

Movie Genres

《星球大战 7 》falls under the fantasy / science fiction genre, which is 科幻片 in Chinese.

Examples:

• 《星球大战 7 》是一部科幻电影。
• 《 xīng qiú dà zhàn 7 》 shì yī bù kē huàn diàn yĭng 。
• "Star Wars 7" is a science fiction movie.

• 你喜欢看什么类型的电影？
• nĭ xĭ huan kàn shén me lèi xíng de diàn yĭng ？
• What kind of movies do you like to watch?

Keyword Breakdown:

Movie Genres:

Example:

• 我喜欢看科幻片和喜剧片， 你呢？
• wŏ xĭ huan kàn kē huàn piàn hé xĭ jù piàn ， nĭ ne ？
• I like sci-fi and comedy. You?

Using 最 to express “most”

最 is an awesome character because you can use it to express both ends of a spectrum. Specifically, if you add 最 to the front of 想要, you get “most wanted.” On the contrary, adding 最 before 不想要 gives you “most unwanted.”

Examples:

• 你最喜欢的角色是谁？
• nĭ zuì xĭ huan de jué sè shì shéi ？
• Who is your favorite character?

• 在《星球大战 7 》里， 我最喜欢的角色是 BB-8 因为它超级可爱。
• zài 《 xīng qiú dà zhàn 7 》 lĭ ， wŏ zuì xĭ huan de jué sè shì BB8 yīn wèi tā chāo jí kĕ ài 。
• My favorite character in Star Wars 7 is BB-8 because it is super cute.

角色 means “characters,” while 主角 means “main characters.” Adding 男 or 女 will give you the words for the main male and main female characters respectively:

• 男主角
• nán zhŭ jué
• leading male character

• 女主角
• nǚ zhŭ jué
• leading female character

演员 means actor/actress. Adding 男 or 女 will provide you with these words:

• 男演员
• nán yăn yuán
• actor

• 女演员
• nǚ yăn yuán
• actress

Examples:

• 《星球大战 7 》的男主角是  Finn. 这个角色的男演员是 John Boyega.
• 《 xīng qiú dà zhàn 7 》 de nán zhŭ jué shì Finn. zhè ge jué sè de nán yăn yuán shì John Boyega.
• The main male character in Star Wars 7 is Finn. The actor who plays this character is John Boyega.

Using 过 to express a past experience

To ask whether the person has seen a certain movie, you can say:

• 你看过《星球大战 7》吗？
• nĭ kàn guò 《 xīng qiú dà zhàn 7》 ma ？
• Have you seen Star Wars 7?

Since 《星球大战 》is a series, you can also ask a question like:

• 你看过几部《星球大战 》？
• nĭ kàn guò jī bù 《 xīng qiú dà zhàn 》？
• How many Star Wars films have you seen?

For a more general question, you can ask:

• 你看过几部电影？
• nĭ kàn guò jī bù diàn yĭng ？
• How many movies have you seen?

• 我只看过《星球大战 7 》， 你呢？
• wŏ zhī kàn guò 《 xīng qiú dà zhàn 7 》， nĭ ne ？
• I have only seen Star Wars 7, you?

Using 最, which was previously mentioned, you can also ask the following questions:

• 你最喜欢看的电影是什么？
• nĭ zuì xĭ huan kàn de diàn yĭng shì shén me ？
• What is your favorite movie?

• 你最喜欢看什么类型的电影？
• nĭ zuì xĭ huan kàn shén me lèi xíng de diàn yĭng ？
• What is your favorite movie genre?

• 你看过恐怖片吗？
• nĭ kàn guò kŏng bù piàn ma ？
• Have you seen any horror movies?

• 你喜欢看科幻片吗？
• nĭ xĭ huan kàn kē huàn piàn ma ？
• Do you like sci-fi movies?

My Favorite Star Wars 7 Character

My favorite character from Star Wars 7 is BB-8, and it is not simply because BB-8 is cute. It is also because of the Chinese word for “robot.”

BB-8 is a 机器人 (literally: robot person).

• 机器人
• jī qì rén
• robot

• 机器
• jī qì
• machine

• 人
• rén
• people

If you happen to like Doraemon, then you would use “robot” plus “cat,” which is 机器猫 jī qì māo。

If you really like dogs, but can’t have a real one, then you might like a 机器狗 jī qì gŏu (you know, those toy dogs that move around).

As for 机 (jī, machine), you will find a lot of 机 in your daily life!

• 手机
• shŏu jī
• cellphone

• 洗衣机
• xĭ yī jī
• washing machine

• 洗碗机
• xĭ wăn jī
• dishwasher

Thus, if you are not sure what to talk about during an informal tutoring session, just pick a movie you’ve seen and you’ll have tons to talk about!  

Image Sources

Hero Image by Pietro Jeng (CC0)