Word: 差 (chà, chā, chāi, chài, cī)

东西贵，加之质量差，没人买。

Dōngxi guì, jiāzhī zhìliàng chà, méi rén mǎi.

The goods are expensive and, moreover, poor in quality, so nobody buys them.

中国菜不比法国菜差。

Zhōngguó cài bù bǐ Fǎguó cài chà.

Chinese food is no less nice than French food is.

久坐会让体态变差。

Jiǔ zuò huì ràng tǐtài biàn chà.

Sitting for long periods makes your posture worse.

事实上，我的客服能力很差。

Shìshíshàng, wǒ de kèfú nénglì hěn chà.

It is a fact that I'm poor at customer service.

今天下午天气会变差。

Jīntiān xiàwǔ tiānqì huì biàn chà.

The weather will change for the worse this afternoon.

今天天气很差。

Jīntiān tiānqì hěn chà.

It is terrible weather today.

他们差六岁。

Tāmen chà liù suì.

The difference in their ages is six years.

他们的客服很差。

Tāmen de kèfú hěn chà.

Their customer service is poor.

他的化学很差。

Tā de huàxué hěn chà.

He is poor at chemistry.

他高考失利，心情很差。

Tā gāokǎo shīlì, xīnqíng hěn chà.

He did badly in the college entrance exam and is in a bad mood.

去年干旱，收成很差。

Qùnián gānhàn, shōuchéng hěn chà.

Last year there was a drought, and the harvest was poor.

大家当时的心情都很差。

Dàjiā dāngshí de xīnqíng dōu hěn chà.

Everyone was in a bad mood.

天气太差，比赛只好终止了。

Tiānqì tài chà, bǐsài zhǐhǎo zhōngzhǐle.

The weather was so bad that the game had to be stopped.

她常常抱怨自己身体很差。

Tā chángcháng bàoyuàn zìjǐ shēntǐ hěn chà.

She's always complaining about her ill health.

小区的环卫怎么这么差？

Xiǎoqū de huánwèi zěnme zhème chà?

Why is the cleanliness in this neighborhood so poor?

山区的基础设施还很差。

Shānqū de jīchǔshèshī hái hěn chà.

The infrastructure in the mountain areas is still very poor.

山核桃，差着一格子

shānhétao, chàzhe yì gézi

a hickory nut: one compartment short

山路很差，车一直在颠簸。

Shānlù hěn chà, chē yìzhí zài diānbǒ.

The mountain road is bad, and the car kept jolting along.

差一刻七点，我们该出门了。

Chà yíkè qī diǎn, wǒmen gāi chūménle.

It's a quarter to seven, so we should head out.

差人见钱，猫鼠同眠

chāi rén jiàn qián, māoshǔtóngmián

when a runner sees money, cat and mouse sleep together

情况一天比一天差。

Qíngkuàng yì tiān bǐ yì tiān chà.

The situation is getting worse and worse day by day.

感冒时，我的味觉变差了。

Gǎnmào shí, wǒ de wèijué biàn chàle.

When I have a cold, my sense of taste gets worse.

我们心情很差。

Wǒmen xīnqíng hěn chà.

We're in a bad mood.

我的英文很差。

Wǒ de Yīngwén hěn chà.

I was poor at English.

我的英语真的很差。

Wǒ de Yīngyǔ zhēnde hěn chà.

My English is really bad.

我这个学期的成绩很差。

Wǒ zhège xuéqī de chéngjì hěn chà.

I got terrible grades this term.

我这学期还差两个学分。

Wǒ zhè xuéqī hái chà liǎng gè xuéfēn.

I'm still two credits short this semester.

戴着斗笠亲嘴儿，差着一帽子

dàizhe dǒulì qīn zuǐr, chàzhe yí màozi

kissing while wearing a bamboo rain hat: a whole hat's width short

挺好的，不差。

Tǐng hǎo de, bú chà.

Quite good, not bad.

梦想和现实常常差很多。

Mèngxiǎng hé xiànshí chángcháng chà hěn duō.

Dreams and reality are often very different.

武大郎战李逵，差着好大一截儿

wǔ dà láng zhàn Lǐ Kuí, chàzhe hǎo dà yìjié ér

Wu Dalang fighting Li Kui: a big gap between them

生意太差，那家书店已经停业了。

Shēngyi tài chà, nà jiā shūdiàn yǐjīng tíngyèle.

Business was too poor, so that bookstore has closed down.

用太多化肥会让土地变差。

Yòng tài duō huàféi huì ràng tǔdì biàn chà.

Using too much chemical fertilizer will make the soil worse.

这些天我的视力正在变差。

Zhèxiē tiān wǒ de shìlì zhèngzài biàn chà.

My vision is getting worse these days.

这地方给我一个很差的印象。

Zhè dìfang gěi wǒ yí gè hěn chà de yìnxiàng.

This place gives me a really bad vibe.

这条路上的许多居民素质都很差。

Zhè tiáo lùshang de xǔduō jūmín sùzhì dōu hěn chà.

Most of the residents on this street are wrong 'uns.

这条路很差。

Zhè tiáo lù hěn chà.

This road is terrible.

这里的通风很差呢。

Zhèlǐ de tōngfēng hěn chà ne.

The ventilation here is really bad.

进入老龄后，身体会变差。

Jìnrù lǎolíng hòu, shēntǐ huì biàn chà.

After entering old age, the body gets weaker.

马奶奶见了冯奶奶，差两点

mǎ nǎinai jiànle Féng nǎinai, chà liǎng diǎn

Granny Ma meets Granny Feng: short by two dots

麻袋上绣花，底子太差

mádài shang xiùhuā, dǐzi tài chà

Embroidering flowers on sacking: the base is too poor