11 Unit 2

11.1 References

11.1.1 Reference List

1. A: Dào zhǎnlǎnguǎn yǒu meiyou zhídáchē?
到展覽館有沒有直達車?
Is there a direct bus to the exhibition hall?
B: Méiyou.
沒有
No
2. A: Dào nàr qù, zuò jǐlù chē ya?
到那兒去,坐幾路車呀?
What bus do you take to get there?
B: Zuò Yīlù chē.
坐一路車。
Take the Number 1 bus.
3. B: Zuò dao Xīdān huàn chē.
坐到西單換車。
Take it to Xīdān and change buses.
4. A: Zánmen zài nǎr mǎi piào?
咱們在哪兒買票?
Where do we buy tickets?
B: Zài chēshang mǎi piào.
在車上買票。
We buy tickets on the bus.
5. B: Hǎo, xiànzài zǒu ba!
好,現在走吧!
Okay, let’s go now!
6. A: Èi! Zánmen bú shi zuòguò zhàn le ba?
誒!咱們不是坐過站了吧?
Hey! Haven’t we gone past our stop?
B: 還沒呢。下一站才下車,
Hái méi ne. Xià yízhàn cǎi xià chē.
Not yet. We don’t get off until the next stop.
7.

C:a

Láojià, Shíwǔlù qìchēzhàn zài nǎr?
勞駕,十五路汽車站在哪兒?
Excuse me, where is the Number 15 bus stop?
D: Jiù zài nèige lùkǒurshang.
就在那個路口上。
It’s (just) on that corner.
8. gōnggòng qìchē
公共汽車
public bus (local)
9. -li
in (locational ending)
10. -shang
on
11. shàng bān
上班
to start work, to go to work
12. xià bān
下班
to get off from work, to leave work
a

This exchange occurs on the P-1 tape only

11.1.2 Vocabulary

ba (tone softener)
cái then and only then, not until
gōnggòng qìchē 公共汽車 public bus (local)
-li in (locational ending)
piào (yìzhang) 票 (一張) ticket, coupon
汽車站 qìchēzhàn bus stop
-shang on (locational ending)
shàng bān 上班 to go to work, to start work
xià bān 下班 to get off from work, to leave work
Xīdān 西單 (a district in Běijīng)
zánmen 咱們 we (specifically includes the listener)
zhǎnlǎnguǎn 展覽館 exhibition hall
zhídáchē 直達車 direct bus, nonstop bus
zuò dao 坐到 to ride to
zuòguò 坐過 to ride past
Āndìngmén 安定門 (a neighborhood in Běijīng)
bǐjiǎo 比較 comparatively, relatively
dòngwuyuán 動物園 zoo
liǎngcì 兩次 two times, twice
Xiǎo (name) Little (name) [familiar form of name among friends]
xióngmāo 熊貓 panda
zhǎnlǎn 展覽 to exhibit
zhèicì 這次 this time

11.1.3 Reference Notes

11.1.3.1 Notes on №1
1. A: Dào zhǎnlǎnguǎn yǒu meiyou zhídáchē?
到展覽館有沒有直達車?
Is there a direct bus to the exhibition hall?
B: Méiyou.
沒有
No

Dào zhanlǎnguǎn is the topic of the first sentence in exchange 1.

Zhídáchē refers to a city bus in exchange 1, although the word is more properly used to refer to buses between cities.

Changed tones: You have now learned several three-syllable words in which the middle syllable changes tone in normal fast speech. These words and the changes you hear are:

Jiānádà 加拿大 Jiānādà
Xīméndīng 西門町 Xīmēndīng
zhǎnlǎnguǎn 展覽館 zhánlánguǎn zhanlǎnguǎn
zhídáchē 直達車 zhídáchē

(For further discussion of this type of tone change, see Tone Changes in the P&R Summary.)

11.1.3.2 Notes on №2
2. A: Dào nàr qù, zuò jǐlù chē ya?
到那兒去,坐幾路車呀?
What bus do you take to get there?
B: Zuò Yīlù chē.
坐一路車。
Take the Number 1 bus.

Ya is a variant form of the marker a. If the word directly preceding the a ends in a vowel, the semivowel y or w may be inserted; the marker is then pronounced ya or wa. If the word directly preceding a ends in a consonant, that sound is carried forward as the initial sound of the marker: /(consonant sound)a/

Nǐ shi nǎrde rén /n/a? 你是哪兒的人哪?
Nǐ xìng Wáng /ng/a?

你是哪兒的人哪?

Nǐ hǎo /w/a?

你好哇?

Tā zhēn kuài /y/a!

他真快呀!

11.1.3.3 Notes on №3
3. B: Zuò dao Xīdān huàn chē.
坐到西單換車。
Take it to Xīdān and change buses.

Zuò dao Xīdān: In earlier exchanges, phrases consisting of dào and a place word were placed before the main verb in a sentence. In this exchange, you see that dào + place word can also be placed after the main verb. Dào is toneless when it follows the verb of a sentence.

Huàn is used in exchange 3 for “changing” from one bus to another. It was used in earlier modules for “changing” from one currency to another.

11.1.3.4 Notes on №4
4. A: Zánmen zài nǎr mǎi piào?
咱們在哪兒買票?
Where do we buy tickets?
B: Zài chēshang mǎi piào.
在車上買票。
We buy tickets on the bus.

Although spelled zánmen, this word is actually pronounced zámen, and in everyday conversation even as zám. Both wǒmen and zánmen are translated as “we.” Most speakers of Chinese outside Běijīng use only wǒmen.

Many Chinese from Běijīng use the pronoun wǒmen only when the person being spoken to is not included in the “we.” To show that the person being spoken to IS included in the “we,” zánmen is used.

For instance, if everyone in a room is Chinese, any one person could say to all of the others Zánmen dōu shi Zhòngguo ren, “All of us are Chinese.” If an American then entered the room, someone might say to him Wǒmen shi Zhòngguo rén, nǐ shi Měiguo rén, “We are Chinese, and you are American.”

The phrase zài chēshang consists of the verb zài followed by the noun chē plus the locational ending -shang. Some verbs like zài must be followed by a place word or phrase (or by time words or phrases). But not all nouns which refer to things which occupy space can be used as place words. You must learn which words can function as place words and which cannot.

Zhèr, nàr, relative location words (zuǒbianr, dōngbianr, wàibianr, etc.), and names of cities and countries may be used as place words. In general, nouns which refer to buildings, institutions, organizations, parks, and other specific locations may be used as place words. Nouns which refer to vehicles, people, books, furniture, and other things, that can be moved around are NOT considered place words. When a noun from this group is to be used in a phrase with zài, either a locational ending is added to the noun or the place word zhèr or nàr follows it.

Zài zhuōzishang yǒu hěn duō shū.

在桌子上有很多書。

There are many books on the table.

Tā zài nèige zhuōzi nàr niàn shū.

他在那個桌子哪兒念書。

He studies at that table。

Locational endings: -shang, “on”; -li, “in”; -wài, “outside”; and

-xià, “under,” are locational endings.

Tā zài lóuxià mǎi dōngxi.

他在樓下買東西。

He is buying things downstairs.

Fàndiànli yǒu méiyou mài tángde?

飯店裏有沒有賣糖的?

Is there a place to buy candy in the hotel?

You have learned three generally equivalent ways to form place expressions: noun + locational ending; noun followed by relative location word; noun + de followed by relative location word.

zài mén- -wài děng ni.
zài mén wài- bianr děng ni.
zài mén -de wài- bianr děng ni.

11.1.3.5 Notes on №5
5. B: Hǎo, xiànzài zǒu ba!
好,現在走吧!
Okay, let’s go now!

Ba: You have seen the marker ba used in different situations at the ends of sentences. In each case, however, its effect was to soften the impact of whatever the speaker was saying. Here is a summary of the uses you have seen:

a. After a phrase which puts forth an opinion or guess, ba adds a questioning tone (BIO, Unit 2).

Tā dàgài bù lái le ba?

他大概不來了吧?

He’s probably not coming after all, is he?

Nǐ shi Wèi Shàoxiào ba?

你是魏少校吧?

You must be Major Weiss.

b. After a statement which puts forth a course of action, ba softens the tone. Ba may be used at the end of a sentence with a meaning ranging anywhere from tentative and consulting to suggesting or advising to requesting or ordering. (The tone of ba sentences varies according to the person being spoken to, the speaker’s tone of voice, and other words, such as qǐng, “please,” in a sentence.) (MON, Unit 3)

Nǐ zǒu ba!

你走吧!

Leave! (ORDERING)

Nǐ hǎohāor xiǎngxiang ba!

你好好兒想想吧!

You think it over carefully! (ADVISING)

Qǐng ba!

請吧!

Please go ahead! (INVITING)

Zánmen zǒu ba.

咱們走吧。

Let’s go. (SUGGESTING)

Wǒ mǎi dàde ba.

我買大的吧。

I guess I’ll get the large one. (TENTATIVE AND CONSULTING)

There is no single way to translate this use of ba. In the examples above, you can see that when the subject is “you,” ba goes untranslated; when the subject is “we,” ba is translated as “let’s”; and when the subject is “I,” ba is translated as “I guess.”

11.1.3.6 Notes on №6
6. A: Èi! Zánmen bú shi zuòguò zhàn le ba?
誒!咱們不是坐過站了吧?
Hey! Haven’t we gone past our stop?
B: 還沒呢。下一站才下車。
Hái méi ne. Xià yízhàn cǎi xià chē.
Not yet. We don’t get off until the next stop.

Bú shi: Below are some examples of affirmative questions and their negative counterparts (using bú shi). Notice that in the two negative examples shi means something like “to be the case that....”

Tā yǐjīng zǒu le ba?

他已經走了吧。

Has he already gone?

Tā bú shi yǐjīng zǒu le ba?

他不是已經走了吧?

Hasn’t he already gone? (isn’t it the case that he has already gone?)

Tā zhù zai Shànghǎi ma?

她住在上海嗎?

Does she live in Shànghǎi?

Tā bú shi zhù zai Shànghǎi ma?

她不是住在上海嗎?

Doesn’t she live in Shànghǎi? (Isn’t it the case that she lives in Shànghǎi?)

Zuòguò le: To the main verb zuò, “to ride,” “to take,” the ending -guò is added to indicate the result of the action—“going past/too far.” (The full verb guò means “to pass,” “to cross.”) The ending -guò may also be added to the verb zǒu, “to go,” to indicate result.

Òu, nǐ zhǎo Nánwèi Hútong! Nǐ zǒuguò le! Nǐ děi wàng huí zǒu.

哦,你找南緯胡同!你坐過了!你得往回走。

Oh, you are looking for Nánwèi Hútong. You have walked past it. You will have to go back.

Aspect marker ne: You have frequently seen an aspect marker used to indicate a CHANGE: completion le shows that an action or process has been carried out (Tā zǒu le, “He has left”); new situation le marks a change in the past, present, or future (Tāde dàyī pòle, “His coat is worn out”). In exchange 6, the aspect marker ne indicates the ABSENCE OF CHANGE. In this exchange, ne emphasizes that there has been no change in the situation. You may want to think of ne as the opposite of le.

The marker ne is used with ACTION and STATE verbs.

Tā xiànzài niàn shū ne.

他現在念書呢。

He is studying now.

Tā zài zhèr ne.

他在這兒呢。

He’s here.

Zhèizhī bǐ hái kéyi xiě ne.

這支筆還可以寫呢。

This pen is still good (can still write).

Hái, “still,” “yet”: When this adverb is used, the sentence very often ends with the marker ne.

Míngtiān wǒ hái bù zǒu ne.

明天我還沒走呢。

I’m not leaving tomorrow (yet). (i.e., I’ll still be here tomorrow.)

Tā hái méi lái ne.

他還沒來呢。

He hasn’t come yet.

Cái means “then and only then” or “not until then.” It is used to talk about something that has happened or will happen later than expected.

Wǒmen míngtiān cái zǒu.

我們明天才走。

We don’t leave until tomorrow.

Sentences in which cái is used emphasize when something happened, rather than the fact that it happened. Therefore (shi)...-de, not le, is used to indicate completed action.

Tā (shi) bādiǎn zhōng cái láide.

他是八點鐘才來的。

He didn’t come until eight o’clock.

Wǒ zuótiān cái dàode.

我昨天才到的。

I didn’t arrive until yesterday.

Notice that the shi in the shi...-de construction may be omitted. Also, cái is placed AFTER a time word or phrase and BEFORE the verb.

You have learned three words for “then”: jiù, zài, cái. Jiù is used for action taking place earlier than expected. Cái and zài imply that something happens later than expected. Cái and jiù are used in descriptions of completed or future action. Zài is used mostly for plans, suggestions, and commands—in reference to future actions.

Tā zuótiān jiù dào le.

他昨天就到了。

He arrived yesterday (already).

Tā (shi) zuótiān cái láide.

他是昨天才來的。

He didn’t come until yesterday.

Nǐ míngtiān zài zǒu ba!

你明天再走吧。

Don’t go until tomorrow!

Notice that, in the description of past events, most sentences containing jiù also contain the completion le marker.

11.1.3.7 Notes on №7
7. C: Láojià, Shíwǔlù qìchēzhàn zài nǎr?
勞駕,十五路汽車站在哪兒?
Excuse me, where is the Number 15 bus stop?
D: Jiù zài nèige lùkǒurshang.
就在那個路口上。
It’s (just) on that corner.

Lùkǒurshang, literally “on the intersection”: Lùkǒur means “road mouth,” a crossroads or intersection. The word is a place-word expression and may follow zài with or without the locational ending -shang.

11.2 Drills