他在鋼琴面前坐了下來,勉勉強強地彈了一首生日歌。

He sat down at the piano and plonked out as best he could the "Happy Birthday" song.

Source: Tatoeba

Sentence Composition

1
  1. (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his
  2. (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日 and 他人 rén)
2 zài
  1. to exist; to be alive
  2. (of sb or sth) to be (located) at
  3. (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress)
3 鋼琴 gāngqín piano

classifiers: ,

4 面前 miànqián
  1. in front of
  2. facing
  3. (in the) presence (of)
=5 Zuò surname Zuo
=5 zuò
  1. to sit
  2. to take a seat
  3. to take (a bus, airplane etc)
  4. to bear fruit
  5. variant of zuò
=6 le
  1. (completed action marker)
  2. (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now)
  3. (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)
=6 liǎo
  1. to finish
  2. (used with or after a verb to express (im)possibility, as in 忘不了 wàngbuliǎo "cannot forget")
  3. (literary) (usually followed by a negative such as or ) completely (not); entirely (not); (not) in the least
  4. to understand clearly (variant of liǎo)
=6 liǎo
  1. (of eyes) bright
  2. clear-sighted
  3. to understand clearly
=6 liào unofficial variant of liào
=7 下來 xiàlai
  1. to come down
  2. (completed action marker)
  3. (after verb of motion, indicates motion down and towards us, also fig.)
  4. (indicates continuation from the past towards us)
  5. to be harvested (of crops)
  6. to be over (of a period of time)
  7. to go among the masses (said of leaders)
=7 下來 xiàlái
  1. (used after a verb) down (toward oneself, or figuratively)
  2. down (toward oneself, or figuratively)
  3. to come down
8 勉勉強強 miǎnmiǎnqiǎngqiǎng
  1. to achieve with difficulty
  2. only just up to the task
  3. barely adequate
=9 de
  1. -ly
  2. structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct
=9
  1. earth
  2. ground
  3. field
  4. place
  5. land

classifier:

=10 dàn
  1. crossball
  2. bullet
  3. shot
  4. shell
  5. ball
=10 tán
  1. to pluck (a string)
  2. to play (a string instrument)
  3. to spring or leap
  4. to shoot (e.g. with a catapult)
  5. (of cotton) to fluff or tease
  6. to flick
  7. to flip
  8. to accuse
  9. to impeach
  10. elastic (of materials)
=11 le
  1. (completed action marker)
  2. (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now)
  3. (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)
=11 liǎo
  1. to finish
  2. (used with or after a verb to express (im)possibility, as in 忘不了 wàngbuliǎo "cannot forget")
  3. (literary) (usually followed by a negative such as or ) completely (not); entirely (not); (not) in the least
  4. to understand clearly (variant of liǎo)
=11 liǎo
  1. (of eyes) bright
  2. clear-sighted
  3. to understand clearly
=11 liào unofficial variant of liào
12
  1. one
  2. single
  3. a (article)
  4. as soon as
  5. entire; whole; all; throughout
  6. "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1)
  7. also pr. yāo for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit
13 shǒu
  1. head
  2. chief
  3. first (occasion, thing etc)
  4. classifier for poems, songs etc
14 生日 shēng birthday

classifier:

=15 (bound form) to sing

classifiers: ,

=15 variant of