How to Say “basic” in Chinese || 千篇一律
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Do you want to say the slang word “basic” in Chinese and think saying “很 basic” is a bit basic? In this article, we’ll teach you how to say “basic” in Chinese to give your speech even more originality!
TLDR
The best translation of “basic” in Chinese is “千篇一律“
“千篇一律”
When translating words into another language, it’s important to not only capture the literal definition but also the word’s connotation as well.
This means that while the words 基本, 一般, and 平庸 mean something along the lines of “simple, average, ordinary”, they’re not the best translations of “basic” because they don’t capture the pizzazz and fiery connotation behind “basic” 🔥
While there probably can never be an exact Chinese equivalent of “basic”, the best translation is the phrase “千篇一律”. Keep in mind, the irreverent, slang-y, modern cultural use of “basic” in English does not have an equally slang-y Chinese equivalent.
This phrase is an example of a Chinese chengyu, or 4-character idiom. It literally means “a thousand pieces, all the same”. While the term originally referred to written works, now it can be used to describe anything that is “constant, unoriginal, always the same”.
Here are some examples:
这家饭店的菜单千篇一律：薯条，汉堡类的东西
This restaurant’s menu is very basic: French fries, hamburgers and all that stuff
我们的中国旅游安排很千篇一律：长城，故宫，京剧，等
Our China travel plan is very basic: The Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Beijing Opera, etc.
他的服装方式太千篇一律了：总是穿Supreme的衬衫，戴Rolex的手表，Yeezy的鞋
The way he dresses is so basic: He always **wears Supreme shirts, puts on Rolex watches, Yeezy shoes
To Conclude
Here are the main takeaways you should have gotten from this article:
How to say “basic” in Chinese using the phrase “千篇一律”
Why 基本, 一般, and 平庸 are not the best translations for the English slang term **“basic”
Try out saying “千篇一律” with your Chinese friends! They’ll no doubt find your speech anything but basic!