Opposites & Describing Things Flashcards

Practise 24 words with a matching picture on every card. Each picture shows a pair: the object in colour on the gold glow is the word on the card, and the pale dashed outline beside it is its opposite. Say the word, then say its opposite before you press Next — when the other half of the pair comes round, check whether you named it. Use New shuffle for a second round, save the pairs you mix up for Review, then use two of the words in a 比 comparison with the grammar lesson linked below.

Twelve opposite pairs make this 24-card selection: four of size and shape, four of weight, speed and amount, and four of texture and condition. Both cards of a pair share one scene, so 大 and 小 show the same two balls and differ only in which one is lit. 短 is short in length (two pencils); 矮 is short in height (two trees). 宽 and 窄 use two doors of the same height, so the difference is width rather than size. 重 and 轻 sit on one tipped balance, 快 and 慢 are a running rabbit and a snail, 多 and 少 are two jars of marbles, and 满 and 空 are two glasses of water. 硬 and 软 compare a brick with a pillow, 干 and 湿 two towels, 干净 and 脏 two shirts, and 新 and 旧 two books. 重 shows the heavy sense and 空 the empty sense, both taken from the meanings listed in the site dictionary; 长, 少, 干 and 脏 show the reading that matches the picture. Feelings and temperatures are in their own decks.

• Read the Chinese antonym pairs guide
• Compare two things with 比
• Practise direction pairs: left, right, near, far
• Describe things by colour
• Review your saved opposite pairs
• Choose another flashcard deck

Think you know them? The Chinese Picture Quiz says a word and shows it in characters, and you tap its picture — these cards mixed with every other picture deck.

Looking for graded vocabulary instead? The HSK flashcards run levels 1 to 6, and the HSK word lists have the full 5,000.