我的山楂树之恋，只有是和你才会纯洁。
Hi guys, welcome back to the show, and Merry Christmas.

In this holiday season, it’s the best time to learn this character we are going to talk about today. A character that represents, harmony, peace, and being together.
As you hear in the opening song, love of hawthorn tree, 山楂树之恋 is a very poplar movie inspired by a novel, and because of its popularity, this phrase in Chinese culture means pure love.

And it is going to be very interesting because this character is a polyphonic character that has 4 different pronunciations, so, let’s talk about all of them.

Its first pronunciation sounds the same with the initial h, so he, and it is with a 2nd tone, so he.
And it has 3 different meanings.
First, it means peace or harmony.
平和, peaceful.
和谐, harmony
And since it’s the new year, there is a very common Chinese New Year greetings, 家庭和睦, Family harmony, 家庭 is family, 和睦 is a word for the family togetherness if you could text in Chinese, send this phrase to your Chinese friends, they are going to love it.
柔和, soft and gentle
局 means a round of the game, 和局 means that round is a draw game.

The second meaning of this character when it pronounces as he, is being together with.
我和你, me and you.
总和, totality.

The third usage of 和, is a preposition.
For example, 我和你说, let me tell you, so 和 is used to specifying the object of the verb, you.
Another example, 他和乔丹一样高, he is as tall as Jordan, so again, it is used to specify the object.

Now, the 2nd pronunciation, it sounds similar, so it’s time to test your skills on the tones.
It reads as he, a fourth tone of the initial h.
And when it reads as he, it means, follow, repeat, or echo.
附和, echo other people’s opinions.
和诗一首, read a poem.

Now, the 3rd pronunciation.
The pinyin spelling is huo, with a second tone.
H is he, u is wu, and o is wo.
So he, wu, wo, huo.
和面, 面 is flour.
和水泥, 水泥 is concrete.
And there’s another phrase you have to know, 和泥 or 和稀泥, it means to mix dirt with water, so it’s creating mud, and it means to compromise without principles, because it makes the situation sticky and unclear, this is a common criticism to leaders when they failed to mediate disputes.
Interesting, isn’t it. 别和泥了, It literally sounds like you are saying stop making mud in English, but what it really means, is stop compromising to both sides of the problems.

Lastly, the fourth pronunciation, this might sound confusing, it’s the same spelling, huo, but with a fourth tone.
It means to mix.
掺和, 掺 means add, so 掺和 is to mix.
搅和, stir or blend, 搅和.

Polyphonic character is a major feature of Chinese, and it’s not easy.
The best way to master them, is to use them in the right context. In today’s session, I gave you over 15 different usages of this character, make sure you read the show note and listen to this episode multiple times to have a grasp.
You can do it.

Alright, Merry Christmas, and I wish you 家庭和睦.
I will see you next time.