Chinese New Year Vocabulary in English

There are 3 things you must know about Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year). You must wear read, you must eat dumplings, and you must give people red envelopes.

Wear Red

In western culture red is the color of the devil, however in Chinese culture the color red protects you from the evil. So you probably see everyone in your social media wearing new red clothing during Chinese New Year.

Eat Dumplings

We must eat dumplings? because they are delicious! Just kidding, they are but they also look like ancient Chinese currency, which means eating dumplings is like eating money. It will bring you a lot of wealth in the new year.

Give Red Envelopes

Finally, you should give people red envelopes (red packets) filled with money. Usually, you give them to children. Working adults also give red envelops to their elderly parents. Bosses also give their staff bonuses in red envelopes.

Helpful Chinese New Year Expressions in English with sample sentences

Dumplings: 餃子 (jiǎo zi)

              I had 20 dumplings for lunch. I’m stuffed.

              我午餐吃了二十個餃子。 我飽了。

              Wǒ wǔcān chīle èrshí gè jiǎozi. Wǒ bǎole.

Red Envelopes: 紅包 (hóng bāo)

              How many red envelopes did you get this year?

              你今年收到多少個紅包。

              Nǐ jīnnián shōu dào duōshǎo gè hóngbāo.

Set off fireworks: 放鞭炮 (fàng biān pào) fireworks scare away ghost

              I could not sleep because my neighbors were setting off fireworks.

              我無法入睡，因為我的鄰居正在放煙火。

              Wǒ wúfǎ rùshuì, yīnwèi wǒ de línjū zhèngzài fàng yānhuǒ.

Happy New Year: 新年快樂 (xīn nián kuài lè)

              I wish you a happy new year

              祝你新年快樂。

              Zhù nǐ xīnnián kuàilè

Chiense Zodiac: 生肖 (shēngxiào)

              What is your Chinese zodiac sign? There are twelve of them.

              你的十二生肖是什麼？ 其中有十二個。

              Nǐ de shí’èr shēngxiào shì shénme? Qízhōng yǒu shí’èr gè.

Year of the tiger: 虎年 (hǔ nián)

              I was born in the year of the tiger

              我虎年出生。

              Wǒ hǔ nián chūshēng.

I wish you wealth:恭喜發財 (gōng xǐ fā cái)

              When giving someone a red envelope, we often say Gong Xi Fa Cai

              給別人發紅包的時候，我們常說恭喜發財。

              Gěi biérén fā hóngbāo de shíhòu, wǒmen cháng shuō gōngxǐ fācái.