身轻如燕
shēn qīng rú yàn
light and nimble as a swallow
Character by character
身shēn
body
body
轻qīng
light
light
如rú
as
as
燕yàn
swallow
swallow
Example
她练了十几年舞蹈，跳起来身轻如燕，落地几乎没有声音。
After more than ten years of dance she leaps as lightly as a swallow and lands almost without a sound.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
Praise for acrobats, dancers, gymnasts and the heroes of martial-arts novels, who 飞檐走壁 (lesson 6-19). A compact simile of the adjective + 如 + B kind from lesson 10-6 (细如发丝). Said of people moving, not of objects: a light suitcase is just 很轻.
Learn this in Lesson 239 · HSK 9+: 吴桥杂技 (The acrobats of Wuqiao)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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