The second installment in my new ‘Eating Chinese’ series is the idiom 种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆, pinyin: Zhòng guā dé guā, zhòng dòu dé dòu. Literally meaning ‘Sow melons and you get melons, sow beans and you get beans’, it’s figurative meaning is synonymous with the English phrase ‘You reap what you sow’. Here is the example sentence:

爸爸告诉我你要努力学习才能上大学，因为种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆. Pinyin: Bàba gàosù wǒ nǐ yào nǔlì xuéxí cái néng shàng dàxué, yīnwèi zhòng guā dé guā, zhòng dòu dé dòu. English: ‘My father told me I must work hard so I can go to university, because you reap what you sow.’

In the recording (at the top of this post), ), first you will hear 种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆 on its own, and then the example sentence. If you're having any problems with playing the recording, you can open it in an external window by clicking here.