big; large; great / older (than another person) / eldest (as in 大姐[da4 jie3]) / greatly; freely; fully / (dialect) father / (dialect) uncle (father's brother)
important / vital / to want / to ask for / will / going to (as future auxiliary) / may / must / (used in a comparison) must be / probably / if
to want; to need; to ask for / will; shall; about to / need to; should / if (same as 要是[yao4 shi5]) / (bound form) important
to be (followed by substantives only) / correct; right; true / (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well / (adverb for emphatic assertion)
是
=
旦
+
龰
:
Mnemonic symbol: a skull, from "to be or not to be".
Sherlock Holmes (sh) starts his day in the space station's bathroom (Ø4) with a mug of coffee (旦). Holding a skull (mnemonic symbol for 是) in his hands, he asks himself "to be, or not to be" (是). He wonders if he can make the skull come back to life using lots of coffee, and injects coffee from his mug into the skull using a syringe (龰).
Sherlock Holmes (sh) starts his day in the space station's bathroom (Ø4) with a mug of coffee (旦). Holding a skull (mnemonic symbol for 是) in his hands, he asks himself "to be, or not to be" (是). He wonders if he can make the skull come back to life using lots of coffee, and injects coffee from his mug into the skull using a syringe (龰).
是
=
日
+
下
+
人
:
Mnemonic symbol: a skull, from "to be or not to be".
Sherlock Holmes (sh) watches the Neanderthal Man (人) trying to climb to the sun (日) on a ladder (下) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4). Sherlock is afraid that he'll open the window, so he puts on a big skull (是) and scares him off.
Sherlock Holmes (sh) watches the Neanderthal Man (人) trying to climb to the sun (日) on a ladder (下) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4). Sherlock is afraid that he'll open the window, so he puts on a big skull (是) and scares him off.
to go / to go to (a place) / (of a time etc) last / just passed / to send / to remove / to get rid of / to reduce / to be apart from in space or time / to die (euphemism) / to play (a part) / (when used either before or after a verb) to go in order to do sth / (after a verb of motion indicates movement away from the speaker) / (used after certain verbs to indicate detachment or separation)
去
=
厶
+
土
:
Mnemonic symbol: The "nose" part (厶) can be seen as an arm, which goes through "earth" (土), and this reminds me of some protesters who lock themselves (or their arms, to be specific) to concrete barrels. Cupids dirt capsule could also be a concrete barrel. So in other characters, I'm going to represent 去 by a concrete barrel.
Cupid (qu) is trying to send himself to earth. In the bathroom of the space station (Ø4), he has prepared a capsule made of dirt (土). He's wearing his lucky fake nose (厶) when entering the capsule.
Cupid (qu) is trying to send himself to earth. In the bathroom of the space station (Ø4), he has prepared a capsule made of dirt (土). He's wearing his lucky fake nose (厶) when entering the capsule.
to see / to look at / to read / to watch / to visit / to call on / to consider / to regard as / to look after / to treat (an illness) / to depend on / to feel (that) / (after verb) to give it a try / Watch out! (for a danger)
that / those / then (in that case) / commonly pr. [nei4] before a classifier, esp. in Beijing
can / may / able to / to approve / to permit / to suit / (particle used for emphasis) certainly / very
可
=
丁
+
口
:
Alternative mnemonic symbol: kebab, from the pronunciation "ke". Karl Marx (k) is preparing a kebab (mnemonic symbol for 可) in the elevator's living room (e3). He also skewers mandarins (口) on the long steel nails (丁) and will only allow (可) his guests to eat the rest of the kebab if they eat their mandarins first.
to cherish / to begrudge / to pity / Taiwan pr. [xi2]
惜
=
忄
+
昔
:
NASA ordered Marie Curie (xi) to do an experiment for them in front of the space station (Ø1). They are spending 2000000000 bucks to see what happens when you crush a milk shake (昔) with a flail (忄) in outer space. Marie Curie thinks it is a pity (惜) and would rather drink her cherished (惜) milk shake rather than crush it.