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还
hái
The line that hasn't been cut yet: 还
A line that should have ended, but keeps running a little further.
Chinese
4 uses
也
yě
Me too, on the very same spot: 也
Putting your foot on the exact spot where someone else is already standing.
Chinese
4 uses
都
dōu
都 isn't a meaning, it's an arm that sweeps
Opening your arms wide and sweeping in everything laid out in front of you, leaving nothing.
Chinese
4 uses
又
yòu
又 looks backward: the same footprint, pressed twice
The same footprint pressed down a second time on ground you've already walked.
Chinese
4 uses
再
zài
再 faces forward: one more step you haven't taken
Placing one more footprint ahead of you, on ground you haven't stepped on yet.
Chinese
4 uses
又…又
yòu…yòu
Two labels stuck on one body: 又…又
Sticking two labels side by side onto the very same thing.
Chinese
4 uses
越…越
yuè…yuè
Two dials chained together: 越…越
Two dials chained together — raise one and the other rises with it.
Chinese
5 uses
一…就
yī…jiù
Flip the switch, the light is on: 一…就
The light comes on at the exact instant the switch is pressed — no time in between.
Chinese
4 uses
连…都
lián…dōu
Holding up the outermost case: 连…都
Picking up the item at the very edge of the circle and holding it out: 'even this one is inside.'
Chinese
4 uses
除了
chúle
Lift one out of the fence — then maybe put it back
Reaching into a fenced yard, lifting one thing out and standing it outside — and sometimes setting it back in.
Chinese
4 uses
因为…所以
yīnwèi…suǒyǐ
Set the cause down and a bridge to the result appears
A lump of cause set down in front, with an arrow running from it and landing on the result behind.
Chinese
5 uses
虽然…但是
suīrán…dànshì
Nod first, then turn the road
A nod granting the first fact, then the road bending away from it to the other side.
Chinese
5 uses
如果…就
rúguǒ…jiù
Fill the empty circle and the next hand moves
Something that hasn't happened drawn as an empty circle up front, and the instant it is filled in, the action behind it follows.
Chinese
5 uses
不但…而且
búdàn…érqiě
Don't stop at one — stack another on top
One thing set on the plate, and the hand not letting go — it lays a second one on top of it.
Chinese
5 uses
只要…就
zhǐyào…jiù
Clear one low sill and you're straight through
One low sill in front of you — step over that alone and the approval stamp comes down at once.
Chinese
5 uses
只有…才
zhǐyǒu…cái
Only one door is open, and only through it
A wall of doors with just one unlocked, and only the person who comes through it gets a seat inside.
Chinese
5 uses
无论…都
wúlùn…dōu
Whichever fork you take, one destination
Roads branching every which way, all of them curving back and arriving at one and the same point.
Chinese
5 uses
即使…也
jíshǐ…yě
Set a stone in the road and the step goes over it
A large stone laid right in the path, and the foot stepping over it to carry on in the original direction.
Chinese
5 uses
与其…不如
yǔqí…bùrú
Put both on the scale and take the side that sinks
Two options set on the pans of a scale — the near one lifting light, the far one settling down.
Chinese
5 uses
不是…而是
búshì…érshì
Peel off what's wrong, put the right one in its place
A name tag pulled off the slot it never belonged in, and another tag pressed onto the very same slot.
Chinese
5 uses
除非
chúfēi
A corridor of locked doors with one cut out
A corridor of doors all locked but one, and only in front of that single open one can anybody stand.
Chinese
5 uses
否则
fǒuzé
Show the other picture: what happens if you don't
The road where the instruction is kept, and pasted alongside it the scene that unfolds when it isn't.
Chinese
5 uses
然后
ránhòu
Lift your foot off this square and set it on the next
Footprint squares painted on the floor: one stepped on, then the foot lifted and placed on the next.
Chinese
5 uses
于是
yúshì
What just happened pushes your back, and you move
The situation behind gives a shove, and the person, carried by that push, moves into the next action.
Chinese
5 uses