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You're Fat! 你真胖!

You're Fat! 你真胖!

Hello China team. My name is Zhang Yishi from Sichuan province. My question is how can I express politely someone is very fat. Many thanks! Best wishes.

Zhang Yishi

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This week's question tackles a tricky issue. It's about how to politely tell someone they are fat! There are cultural differences in how you speak to someone and you have to be careful not to be insulting.

Saying someone is overweight is possibly a more accurate comment but there are other informal English words you could use, such as chubby, portly or big-boned! Alternatively there is the Chinese saying 您发福了。

You're Fat! 你真胖!

Would you call him fat or chubby?

In this week's programme Rob and Fei Fei try out some of these phrases on the BBC Learning English. Listen in to hear their reactions.

Of course, a final option is not to say anything about someone's weight!

If you have a question for our team, send it to us at questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk and we might answer it on this programme.