The use of (8)

qĭng has many meanings in Chinese. It means to ask (sb. to do sth.), to invite, and please, and is sometimes used with other Chinese words to form expressions. The best way to learn qĭng is to see how it is used in various practical contexts.

1. When a friend comes to your house, you might use the following expressions to welcome him.

qĭng jìn qĭng zuò qĭng hē chá

Do come in. Do have a seat. Would you like some tea?

In China you might also say:

吸烟

qĭng xī yān

Would you like a cigarette? (lit. please breath in smoke)

You might have noticed that the word qĭng is followed by verbs in the above examples.

2. When you want to ask someone a favour, you can the word q ĭ ng . For example if you want your Chinese friend to help you with your homework you might say:

q ĭ ng n ĭ jiāo wǒ Hànyŭ

Please teach me Chinese. (lit. please you teach me Chinese )

If your Chinese friend is incapable of answering your questions, you might say:

你问

q ĭ ng n ĭ wèn n ĭ lăosh ī

Please ask your teacher. (lit. please you ask your teacher)

When q ĭ ng is used to ask a favour, it is followed by full sentences, as can be seen in the above examples.

3. q ĭ ng means to invite. For example:

q ĭng nĭ hē ji ŭ

Let me buy you a drink. (lit. I invite you to drink wine.)

When you use q ĭ ng for to invite, it usually means that you will take care of any payment. For example, if you say to a Chinese friend 我请你吃饭 wǒ q ĭng nĭ chī fàn, you are expected to pay the bill.

4. The use of qĭng in Chinese is not the same as that for the English word “ please”. qĭng is not used when asking for permission, as can be seen below.

吗?

wǒ néng hē bēi chá ma

May I have a cup of tea please? (lit. I can drink a cup of tea MA?)

一下 吗?

tā néng yòng yíxià nĭ de chē ma

Could he please use your car for a while? (lit. he can use for a while your car MA)

As you may have noticed, the word qĭng is not used in the Chinese questions above, although the word “please” is used in the English translation.

5. q ĭ ng is also used to form the following expressions.

q ĭng wèn q ĭng jiào q ĭng kè q ĭng jià

May I ask… May I ask your advice? Entertain friends Ask for leave

Let’s see how the first expression above is used in sentences.

请问 q ĭng wèn excuse me; may I ask…is one of the most common expressions used for starting a question politely. For example:

你的 师?

q ĭng wèn shéi shì nĭ de hàn yŭ lăo shī

Excuse me, who is your Chinese teacher?

谁是你的汉语老师 shéi shì nĭ de hàn yŭ lăo shī who is your Chinese teacher is a question. The function of the expression 请问 q ĭng wèn is to attract the listener’s attention before the question is asked.

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Assignments.

Translate the following sentences into Chinese (11,15).

Do come in.

Do take a seat.

Would you like some beer?

Excuse me, may I smoke?

Please ask your Chinese friend to visit our dormitory.

May I invite you for tea?

My teacher has asked me to use her car.

Could you please tell me about China?