Stocks & investing in Chinese 炒股
chǎogǔ
Stocks in Chinese is 股票 (gǔ piào).
Also searched for as: stock market, shares, investing, investment, stock trading.
Up, down, and the chives in between. 15 essential stocks & investing words in Mandarin Chinese, with pinyin and English. Open it in the app to hear each word, tick off the ones you know and turn them into flashcards.
The everyday word for trading shares in Chinese is 炒股 (chǎo gǔ), literally 'stir-frying stocks', which says a lot about how many small investors approach the market. You'll also need 股票 (gǔ piào) for shares, 涨 (zhǎng) and 跌 (diē) for up and down, and the internet favourite 韭菜 (jiǔ cài), chives that grow back however often they're cut, a wry name for small investors who keep losing money.
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 股票 | gǔ piào | shares; stocks |
| 炒股 | chǎo gǔ | to trade stocks |
| 股市 | gǔ shì | stock market |
| 基金 | jī jīn | fund; mutual fund |
| 投资 | tóu zī | to invest; investment |
| 涨 | zhǎng | to rise; to go up |
| 跌 | diē | to fall; to go down |
| 涨停 | zhǎng tíng | to hit the daily limit up |
| 牛市 | niú shì | bull market |
| 熊市 | xióng shì | bear market |
| 赚钱 | zhuàn qián | to make money |
| 亏钱 | kuī qián | to lose money |
| 被套 | bèi tào | to be stuck holding shares that have fallen |
| 韭菜 | jiǔ cài | small investor who keeps losing (lit. chives) |
| 割韭菜 | gē jiǔ cài | to fleece small investors |
Usage tips
- On mainland Chinese and Taiwanese stock screens, red means a price is rising and green means it is falling, the opposite of most Western markets, so a screen full of red is good news.
- Individual shares take the measure word 只 (zhī), as in 这只股票 (zhè zhī gǔ piào), this stock, and 涨停 (zhǎng tíng) or its opposite 跌停 (diē tíng) means a share has hit the daily price limit on mainland exchanges and cannot move further that day.
- Investors say 我被套了 (wǒ bèi tào le) when a share has fallen below what they paid and they are waiting for it to recover rather than selling at a loss; getting out at break-even is 解套 (jiě tào).
Common mistakes
- Translating 'lose money' literally as 失去钱 sounds odd; say 亏钱 (kuī qián) or 赔钱 (péi qián), and for profit say 赚钱 (zhuàn qián).
- Using 跌倒 (diē dǎo), which means a person falling over, for share prices; prices simply 跌 (diē) or 下跌 (xià diē), as in 股价下跌了 (gǔ jià xià diē le).
- Saying 我割韭菜了 when you mean you were fleeced: that actually means you fleeced others, so say 我被割韭菜了 (wǒ bèi gē jiǔ cài le) instead.
Mini dialogue
- A你最近还在炒股吗？Nǐ zuì jìn hái zài chǎo gǔ ma?Are you still trading stocks these days?
- B别提了，我的股票又跌了。Bié tí le, wǒ de gǔ piào yòu diē le.Don't ask. My shares have dropped again.
- A那你赶紧卖了吧。Nà nǐ gǎn jǐn mài le ba.Then sell them, quick.
- B现在卖就亏钱了，我已经被套半年了。Xiàn zài mài jiù kuī qián le, wǒ yǐ jīng bèi tào bàn nián le.If I sell now I'll lose money. I've been stuck with them for six months already.
- A看来你也是一棵韭菜啊。Kàn lái nǐ yě shì yī kē jiǔ cài a.Sounds like you're another one of the chives, then.
- B没办法，等牛市吧。Méi bàn fǎ, děng niú shì ba.Nothing I can do. I'll wait for a bull market.
Example sentences
- 你买过股票吗？Have you ever bought shares?
- 我爸退休以后开始炒股了。My dad started trading stocks after he retired.
- 今天股市怎么样？How's the stock market today?
- 她买了一些基金。She bought some funds.
- 投资有风险。Investing carries risk.
- 我的股票涨了！My shares went up!
- 昨天又跌了不少。It fell quite a bit again yesterday.
- 这只股票今天涨停了。This stock hit its daily limit up today.
- 大家都在等牛市。Everyone's waiting for a bull market.
- 熊市的时候大家心情都不好。Everyone's in a bad mood during a bear market.
- 炒股其实很难赚钱。It's actually hard to make money trading stocks.
- 我买基金亏钱了。I lost money on funds.
- 我被套了两年了。I've been stuck with these losing shares for two years.
- 我就是一棵普通的韭菜。I'm just another small investor waiting to be fleeced.
- 他们又在割韭菜了。They're fleecing the small investors again.
Practise speaking
Ready to use these words? The Stocks & investing speaking island has 8 everyday questions about stocks & investing to prepare your own answers to.