The purpose of the Post Office and Telephone Module (PST/TEL) is to provide you with the linguistic skills you need to mail things, make phone calls and send telegrams.

When you have finished this module you should be able to: Locate a mailbox. Locate the nearest post office. Buy postage for an air mail letter, a registered letter, aerogram, regular letter or postcard. Buy letter paper, envelopes, aerograms and postcards. Ship packages by sea or by air. Insure packages or letters you send. Locate a telegraph office. Send a telegram. Find the nearest public telephone. Ask for help in using a phon? directory. Make a phone call, ask to speak with someone. Understand simple replies such as ’’that line is busy”, "he is not here now" or "he will call you back". Answer the phone and understand who the caller wishes to speak with. Tell the caller you will look for that person. Tell him whether the person he wishes to speak with is there, is busy, or not there. Ask someone to speak louder or tell him you cannot hear him clearly.

yìfēng xìn: -fēng is the counter for letters and other things with envelopes. -céng: Counter for F1oors of buildings. guàhào xìn: Guàhào is the verb “to register”. It is used here as a modifier. It precedes the noun it modifies. Peking: On his way out to mail some things, an American asks the service attendant for the F1oor of his hotel for some information.

tiē: This is the verb “to stick something on or to something else”. Běnshìde píngxìn/wàidìde píngxìn: In the PRC mail rates differ depending on whether something is going to someplace in the city, out of the city, or out of the country. For the last two categories air mail service is available. běnshì: “This city”. wàidì: “Foreign place”, “outside this city”. Peking: A conversation at the Post Office.

shízhāng yóupiào, wǔge hángkōng yóujiǎn: Notice how both the counter -zhāng and the counter -ge are used here to talk about F1at objects. Although the counter -zhāng would be correct for both nouns, the speaker feels free to use -gè also.

tì: This is the prepositional verb meaning “in place of, for”. Mèimei tì wo qù mǎi cài. Little sister is going to go buy food for me (instead of me). shàngtou: -Tóu is a syllable like -biar. When added to a direction word, it changes it into a place name. The syllable -tóu, however, cannot be added to as many different direction words as -biar can. (See also final reference notes Directions Unit Five.) Xiǎomàibù zài fàndiàn lǐtou. The variety shop is in the hotel. Fàndiàn wàitou yǒu yige yóutǒng. Outside the hotel is a mailbox. xiǎoxīn: “To be careful”. qīngfàng: “Fragile”, or more literally “to put lightly”. zuìhǎo: This word acts as an adverb, coming after the subject ni and before the verb phrase. The word zuìhǎo is used in politely offering advice to someone, not in warning them what they'd better do. Taipei: A conversation at the Post Office.

bǎ dìzhí: In sentence No. 28 the object comes before the verb and is preceded by the marker bǎ. Although it is common for an object to come before the verb marked by bǎ, not all objects can do so. The object in a bǎ-phrase is the direct object of an action verb. It is a particular know thing, not a new idea about to be introduced into the conversation. The action verb in the sentence is usually more than one syllable or followed by something else, such as a place name. For more on bǎ. see Transportation Unit 3 and Meeting Unit 5. Qǐng ni bǎ shū fàngzai zhuōzishang. Please put the book on the table. Tā bǎ tāde chē mài le. He sold his car. diànxìnjú: “Telegraph Office.” In the PRC the word used is diànxùnjú. Taipei: Mr. White, an American, is talking to a Chinese friend. (Now he speaks to the clerk at the Telegraph Office.) (He writes down what he wants to say and hands it to the clerk.) Peking: An American staying at the Peking Hotel asks the service attendant on her F1oor for some information.

néng: “to be able to”. Although this verb overlaps in meaning with kéyi, “can, may”, there are definite differences. The verb néng is more general, while kéyi has the narrower meaning “be able to” the sense of “be permitted to do so by someone”. Peking:

Qǐng dà yìdiǎr shēng shuō: Notice that the phrase describing the manner of action, dà yìdiǎr shēng (with a little bit lender voice), comes before the main verb shuō, “to speak”. qīngchu: This is the adjectival verb “to be clear”. Peking: (The receptionist puts the call through.) (He speaks a little louder.)

... zhànzhe xiàn ne: -Zhe is the marker of DURATION of actions and states. It indicates that an action or state lasted (or lasts) for an amount of time. The marker ne marks ONGOING actions and states. In this expression the marker -zhe tells us that at some time the line CONTINUES to he occupied, and the marker ne tells us that this is GOING ON now. -Zhe is used in sentences to describe activities which last over a period of time, whether that time is past, present or future. A verb plus -zhe in Chinese often corresponds to the “-ing” form of the verb in English. Zǒuzhe qù kéyi ma? Can you get there by walking? Tā hái bìngzhe ne. He is still sick. tīngdǒng: This is a compound verb meaning “to understand (by listening)”. guò: This is the verb “to pass, cross, go through.” It can be used when talking about time or space. Guò liǎngtiáo jiē, wàng zuǒ zǒu. Go past two streets and go to the left. Guò liǎngfēn zhōng, wǒ zài lai. I’ll be back in two minutes. Taipei:

Taipei: (After the young lady finds the number, he dials it. A servant picks up the phone.) (He hears the servant say...)