HSK · Level 4
132 words
Chinese word
谈起
Pronunciation
Pinyintán qǐ
Meaning
- verbmention
Example
她不喜欢别人谈起她的私人生活。tā bù xǐ huān bié rén tán qǐ tā de sī rén shēng huó
She does not like other people mentioning her private life.
More examples
在会议上，他突然谈起公司的未来计划。zài huì yì shàng tā tū rán tán qǐ gōng sī de wèi lái jì huà
At the meeting, he suddenly mentioned the company's future plans.
Core concept
A subject enters the conversation and becomes a starting point for more discussion.
Common phrases
谈起往事tán qǐ wǎng shì
mention past events
谈起工作tán qǐ gōng zuò
mention work
谈起孩子tán qǐ hái zi
mention the children
谈起政治tán qǐ zhèng zhì
mention politics
Similar words
提到tí dào: Mentions a matter in the course of conversation, without necessarily discussing it further.
说起shuō qǐ: Brings up a topic and starts talking about it.
谈到tán dào: Touches on a topic in conversation and discusses that point.
Definition in Chinese
在谈话中提到某事并由此引出进一步的讨论。zài tán huà zhōng tí dào mǒu shì bìng yóu cǐ yǐn chū jìn yí bù de tǎo lùn
Word origin
谈 (tán, "speak") + 起 (qǐ, "rise") presents a subject as rising into the conversation.
Usage tips
- English mention often sounds brief, while this verb can open a longer discussion.