FSI - Standard Chinese - Module 07 SOC - Student Text and
WorkbookForeign ServiceInstitute
CM 0192 S
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STANDARD
CHINESE A Modular ApproachMODULE 7:
SOCIETY
STUDENT TEXT AND WORKBOOK
SPONSORED BY
AGENCIES OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADIAN GOVERNMENTS
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STANDARD CHINESE: A MODULAR APPROACH
STUDENT TEXT AND WORKBOOK
MODULE 7: SOCIETY
Before starting Unit 1 of this module, you should have completed
core modules 1 through 6 and the optional modules Personal Welfare,
Restaurant, and Hotel.
May 1981
PREFACE
Standard Chinese: A Modular Approach originated in an interagency
conference held at the Foreign Service Institute in August 1973 to
address the need generally felt in the U.S. Government language
training community for improving and updating Chinese materials to
reflect current usage in Beijing and Taipei.
The conference resolved to develop materials which were flexible
enough in form and content to meet the requirements of a wide
range of government agencies and academic institutions.
A Project Board was established consisting of representatives of
the Central Intelligence Agency Language Learning Center, the
Defense Language Institute, the State Department’s Foreign Service
Institute, the Cryptologic School of the National Security Agency,
and the U.S. Office of Education, later joined by the Canadian
Forces Foreign Language School. The representatives have included
Arthur T. McNeill, John Hopkins, and John Boag (CIA); Colonel John
F. Elder III, Joseph C. Hutchinson, Ivy Gibian, and Major Bernard
Muller-Thym (DLl); James R. Frith and John B. Ratliff III (FSl);
Kazuo Shitama (NSA); Richard T. Thompson and Julia Petrov (OE);
and Lieutenant Colonel George Kozoriz (CFFLS).
The Project Board set up the Chinese Core Curriculum Project in
197 in space provided at the Forign Service Institute. Each of the
six U.S. and Canadian government agencies provided funds and other
assistance.
Gerard P. Kok was appointed project coordinator, and a planning
council was formed consisting of Mr. Kok, Frances Li of the
Defense Language Institute, Patricia O’Connor of the University of
Texas, Earl M. Rickerson of the Language Learning Center, and
James Wrenn of Brown University. In the fall of 1977, Lucille A.
Barale was appointed deputy project coordinator. David W.
Dellinger of the Language Learning Center and Charles R. Sheehan
of the Foreign Service Institute also served on the planning
council and contributed material to the project. The planning
council drew up the original overall design for the materials and
met regularly to review their development.
Writers for the first half of the materials were John H.T. Harvey,
Lucille A. Barale, and Roberta S. Barry, who worked in close
cooperation with the planning council and with the Chinese staff
of the Foreign Service Institute. Mr. Harvey developed the
instructional formats of the comprehension and production
self-study materials, and also designed the communication-based
classroom activities and wrote the teacher’s guides. Lucille A.
Barale and Roberta S. Barry wrote the tape scripts and the student
text. By 1978 Thomas E. Madden and Susan C. Pola had Joined the
staff. Led by Ms. Barale, they have worked as a team to produce
the materials subsequent to Module 6.
All Chinese language material was prepared or selected by Chuan 0.
Chao Ying-chi Chen, Hsiao-Jung Chi, Eva Diao, Jan Hu, Tsung-mi Li,
and Yunhui C. Yang, assisted for part of the time by Chieh-fang Ou
Lee, Ying-ming Chen, and Joseph Yu Hsu Wang. Anna Affholder,
Mei-li Chen, and Henry Khuo helped in the preparation of a
preliminary corpus of dialogues.
Administrative assistance was provided at various times by Vincent
Basciano, Lisa A. Bowden, Jill W. Ellis, Donna Fong, Renee T.C.
Liang, Thomas E. Madden, Susan C. Pola, and Kathleen Strype.
The production of tape recordings was directed by Jose M. Ramirez
of the Foreign Service Institute Recording Studio. The Chinese
script was voiced by Ms. Chao, Ms. Chen, Mr. Chen, Ms. Diao, Ms.
Hu, Mr. Khuo, Mr. Li, and Ms. Yang. The English script was read by
Ms. Barale, Ms. Barry, Mr. Basciano, Ms. Ellis, Ms. Pola, and Ms.
Strype.
The graphics were produced by John McClelland of the Foreign
Service Institute Audio-Visual Staff, under the general
supervision of Joseph A. Sadote, Chief of Audio-Visual.
Standard Chinese: A Modular Approach was field-tested with the
cooperation of Brown University; the Defense Language Institute,
Foreign Language Center; the Foreign Service Institute; the
Language Learning Center; the United States Air Force Academy; the
University of Illinois; and the University of Virginia.
Colonel Samuel L. Stapleton and Colonel Thomas G. Foster,
Commandants of the Defense Language Institute, Foreign Language
Center, authorized the DLIFLC support necessary for preparation of
this edition of the course materials.
Jamies R. Frith, Chairman
Chinese Core Curriculum Project Board
CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction Section 1: To the
Student
Section 2: To the Teacher
List of Tapes for Module 7
Objectives for the Society Module
UNIT 1 Travel Plans Introduction
Reference List
Vocabulary
Reference Notes
Phrases with guǎnyú, "concerning," "about"
The directional ending -lai
huì, "might," "be likely to," "will"
The sentence marker -de, "that’s
the way the situation is" Review Dialogue
Workbook
Exercise Dialogues
UNIT 2 Equality of the Sexes
Introduction
Reference List
Vocabulary
Reference Notes ........................ by
biěde, "other(s)" ___V Ifxu.____ ____ ft
xiàng, "like**
The adverb Jiù, "as soon/early as
that" Review Dialogue
Workbook
Exercise Dialogues
UNIT 3 Family Values Introduction
Reference List
Vocabulary
Reference Notes
The verb ending -qilai: the start of an action or condition cáí7
"only," before amounts
-zhe showing the manner of an action
The verb ending -dào: —successful reaching/obtaining/finding
—(with verbs of speech) "of," "about"
—successful perceiving (kàndao)
The adverb zài, "anymore"
Placement of phrases with dào,
"to," "up to," "until" Review
Dialogue
Workbook
Exercise Dialogues
UNIT h A Family History Introduction
Reference List
Vocabulary
Reference Notes
More on ne, marker of absence of change/lack of completion
Terms for grandparents
More on indefinite pronouns ("any/no" expressions)
bāngzhu and bang máng Review
Dialogue
Workbook
Exercise Dialogues
UNIT 5 Traditional Attitudes and Modern Changes Introduction
Reference List
Vocabulary
Reference Notes
..,yě hao, ...yě hǎo, "whether...or..."
Necessary condition marked by cái
Placement of specifier after a modifying phrase "in order
to"
Review Dialogue
Workbook
Exercise Dialogues
UNIT 6 Politics and Culture
Introduction
Reference List
Vocabulary
Reference Notes
-de hua, if, in case
More on -guo vs. -le
Reduplicating adjectival verbs for vividness qù and lai expressing
purpose
Review Dialogue
Workbook
Exercise Dialogues
UNIT 7 Social Problems Introduction
Reference List
Vocabulary
Reference Notes ........................ 215
-duo le, "much more" "Not anymore,"
"never again"
lián...dōu..., "even"
zhǐ yào... Jiù..., "provided that..."
hú shi...,1 iù shi... , "if not.. .then..."either..
.or..."
Review Dialogue
Workhook
Exercise Dialogues
UNIT 8 Directions for the Future
Introduction
Reference List
Vocabulary
Reference Notes
Action-Process compound verbs
The directional ending -huí you, "after all,"
"anyway" yě bu, "don’t even," "won’t
even"
Review Dialogue
Workbook
Exercise Dialogues
Vocabulary
INTRODUCTION
SECTION 1: TO THE STUDENT
With the Society module, you are taking a step up to a new level
of expression in Chinese. Up till now, you have "been dealing
with relatively short sentences about concrete situations. In this
module, you will start to encounter longer sentences and more
abstract statements. The transition will take some time, but you
can make it easier on yourself by developing methodical ways of
approaching the new material in each unit. The following
suggestions may help.
Keep in mind from here on in that the two skills you will continue
to work on, production and comprehension, are no longer expected
to stay at approximately the same level. It is natural for your
ability to understand what others say to increase more rapidly
than your ability to express your own thoughts. As you work
through the Society module, bear in mind that, while you are asked
to understand all the dialogues, you are required to be able to
produce only a limited part of the language you will hear. This is
specified in the module objectives, the unit vocabulary lists, and
the introductions to the units.
How to Use the Book
Each unit of this book presents quite a bit of new
information—much more than anyone can master in a few days’ time.
This is because information has also been included simply for
comparison or for your future reference. This is what you should
master in each unit:
(1) The new grammar listed in the introduction for each unit.
(2) The basic meanings of each vocabulary item. (Related
meanings may be given in the reference notes for purposes of
comparison, but you are not required to remember them.)
(3) The cultural background information discussed in some
reference notes and contained in each unit’s review dialogue.
You may find it helpful to read through the reference notes three
times. On the first time through, read only the notes on cultural
background. The second time, go through the notes that explain new
grammatical structures. The third time, read only the notes on the
meanings and usage of new words. For review, test yourself on the
example sentences in the notes by covering the Chinese column and
trying to translate the English column into Chinese. Check your
answer immediately.
How to Use the Tapes
Starting with Module 7, there will he only two thirty-minute tapes
per unit, instead of five.
Tape 1 introduces the material on the Reference List, giving you a
chance to learn to understand these sentences and to practice
saying them. Tape 1 replaces both the C-l and P-1 tapes which you
used in Modules 1 through 6.
You will find that the Tape 1 is denser in content and faster
paced than either the C-l or P-1 tapes. The number of new
vocabulary items in each unit has been increased from 20-25 to
30-35. You will also notice that the sentences have increased in
length. Since you must learn to understand as well as say these
sentences from a single tape, you may find that you need to rewind
the tape and review the presentation of each sentence several
times. In addition, explanations which were formerly found on the
C-l and P-1 tapes are now found only in the Reference Notes.
Tape 2 replaces the C-2 and P-2 tapes. Each Tape 2 will start off
with a review of the sentences from the Reference List. This will
be followed by three exercise dialogues. You should listen to each
dialogue until you understand it thoroughly. The workbook which
accompanies Tape 2 describes the setting of the conversation and
provides you with the new vocabulary you need to understand it.
(You are not required to learn these additional vocabulary items.)
The workbook also contains questions about each dialogue, for
which you will need to prepare answers in Chinese. Your teacher
will ask you to answer these and other questions about the
conversation in class.
When you listen to the recorded dialogues, aim only for
comprehension of the ideas. Whether or not you can repeat the
sentences word for word is not critical. Since they are in
colloquial style, the dialogues sometimes contain phrasing which
you are not expected to be able to imitate at this stage, yet with
a little effort (it is expected to take repeated listenings), you
will understand.
SECTION 2: TO THE TEACHER
The format of the core modules from this point on differs
considerably from those preceding, and teaching methods should be
adapted to the requirements of this new format. Below are a few
suggestions on how to use this and subsequent core modules.
How to Use the Reference Notes
The reference notes in Society include grammatical explanations,
discussions of the usage of new words, and some cultural
background information. They are called ’’reference” notes for a
reason: they are here for the student’s present and future
reference. They are not intended as material for classroom study
or discussion, for in these later modules, as in the first six,
the bulk of classroom time should be spent in the actual use of
Chinese. The thoroughness of the notes is intended to relieve you
of the need to give lectures on grammar and usage and allow you to
devote most of your time with students to live practice of the
language. You should familiarize yourself with the content of the
notes so that when students pose questions on word usage or a new
structure, you can simply refer them to the relevant note.
The copiousness of example sentences in the notes has a double
purpose. First, along with the idiomatic English translations,
they show the versatility of the vocabulary items they introduce;
at this level of study, a single English translation can seldom
fully do justice to the range of nuances expressed by a Chinese
word. Second, students can use the example sentences at home for
translation practice, either Chinese-English or English-Chinese,
using a strip of paper to cover the target-language column and
then checking their answer for immediate reinforcement.
How to Use the Exercise Dialogues
The three exercise dialogues in each unit (exercises 2, 3, and h)
present completely different situations and characters from the
unit review dialogue, but include the same new vocabulary and
structures. They provide extra listening comprehension practice at
normal conversational speed, an area which should receive
increased attention from both student and teacher beginning with
this module.
The language of many of the exercise dialogues is very colloquial
and thus a change from the style of the preceding modules. At this
stage, students must accustom themselves to hearing everyday
Chinese, and if given ample practice, their comprehension will
improve quickly. But bear in mind that students are not expected
to be able to produce sentences in this colloquial style, only to
understand them.
The taped exercises 2, 3, and h, are to be listened to outside of
class as many times as is necessary for the student to answer the
questions in the workbook section. In class, the teacher should
ask the questions, rephrased in Chinese, and have students answer
from their notes or, preferably, from
memory. If students "bring up questions on colloquialisms
contained in the dialogues at this time, handle them quickly;
avoid digressions on expressions which are not required for
production. The point of this activity is for the students to
talk—to practice saying the new words and structures of the unit
Further Classroom Activities
(1) Use the subjects discussed in the dialogues as points of
departure for class discussions in which the teacher takes the
part of the Chinese who wants to understand American society
and the American students try to explain their ways of
thinking and doing things. Depending on class size, the level
of the students, and individual students’ competitiveness or
reticence, these conversations will need to "be more or
less structured. If necessary in order to maintain the flow of
ideas or to keep a small number of students from dominating
the discussion, everyone can be asked to outline possible
answers before coming to class, or the teacher may prepare an
outline for the students.
(2) Students can be asked to tell the story of the review
dialogue or an exercise dialogue in their own words. This can
be done by the whole class together; if one student omits an
important point in the story, another student can remind him
of it or supply it himself.
(3) Have students pick out from the reference list and the
dialogues certain sentences which serve a particular
communicative function. The Chinese material in this book is
especially suited to this type of exercise because of the
colloquial tone of the dialogues and the range of emotions and
linguistic functions displayed within them. For example, the
students may be asked to find a sentence that conveys
enthusiasm toward an idea, one that conveys tentativeness when
asking a question about a delicate subject, or one that
conveys a desire to be helpful. Using the sentences thus found
as takeoff points, the teacher can then ask the students to
come up with other sentences with the same linguistic
function, or ask them to change elements of the sentence to
vary its function.
For example, Unit 1 of Society presents some sentences (in the
reference list and dialogues) that can be used as responses to
proposals:
Wǒ kǎolu kǎolu. I’ll think it over.
(non-committal)
Fěichǎng hǎo. Great. (enthusiastic)
Nà women shuohǎo le . . . Then we’ve agreed . . .
(decisive)
Jiù zhèiyang. It’s settled, (decisive)
Students can be asked to add to this list sentences expressing a
wider range of responses to a proposal, e.g., flat rejection (Bù
xíng!), scandalization (Nà zěnme kéyi a*), lukewarm acceptance
(Kěyǐ . . . or Yě hǎo), indecisiveness (M . . . or Nà, wǒ hǎi děi
xiǎngyixiǎng or Zài shuō ba). etc. If you make up supplementary
exercises, you may find it effective to base them on the
communicative functions of sentences contained in each unit. A
list of these functions will be found in each unit’s introduction.
(U) If the teacher and students find that the new grammar needs to
be separately discussed in class, such sessions should be confined
to a review of the essential new structures, as listed in each
unit’s introduction.
Review
The two review tapes consist simply of exercises requiring the
students to translate the reference list sentences for Units 1 to
U and 5 to 8, respectively. The original order of the sentences in
the text has been scrambled. The first section of each tape is
translation from Chinese to English, the second from English to
Chinese.
Because material introduced in this module is frequently repeated
in subsequent lessons, regular review will not be as important as
in the earlier modules, where the situational nature of the
lessons means that some vocabulary introduced in order to handle
one kind of situation occurs in that one module only. However, if
desired, one of each unit’s exercise dialogues can be reserved for
review: have students listen to only two instead of all three
exercise dialogues while doing the unit, and then return to the
third dialogue several units later to brush up on the vocabulary
and structures.
TAPES FOR
MODULE 7 (SOC)
Unit 1:
Unit 2:
Unit 3:
Unit U:
Unit 5:
Unit 6:
Unit 7:
Unit 8:
SOC 1.1, SOC 1.2 SOC 2.1, SOC 2.2 SOC 3.1, SOC 3.2 SOC U.l, SOC
U.2 SOC 5.1, SOC 5.2 soc 6.1, soc 6.2
SOC 7.1, SOC 7.2
SOC 8.1, SOC 8.2
Review Tapes: SOC Review 1-U, Tape 1 (Chinese to English)
SOC Review 1-U, Tape 2 (English to Chinese) SOC Review 5-8, Tape 1
(Chinese to English) SOC Review 5-8, Tape 2 (English to Chinese)
MODULE 7:
SOCIETY
The Society Module (SOC) will provide you with the linguistic
skills and cultural background information you need to visit a
Chinese family, discuss some aspects of family life and society,
to find out how someone’s family fits into the pattern of
traditional Chinese society, and how it reflects the changes of
modern society.
Before starting this module, you must take and pass the MTG
Criterion Test. In addition, it is assumed that by this point you
will have already completed the optional modules Personal Welfare,
Restaurant, and Hotel; vocabulary from these modules is now
considered taught.
The SOC Criterion Test will focus largely on this module, but
material from the first six core modules and associated resource
modules is also included.
OBJECTIVES
Upon successful completion of this module, you should be able to
1. Give the English equivalent for any Chinese sentence in the
SOC Reference Lists.
2. Say any Chinese sentence in the SOC Reference Lists when
cued with its English equivalent.
3. Ask someone about the size of his family, which family
members live at home, and where other family members live and
why.
it. Use the rules of Chinese etiquette in social visits: the
proper times for visiting; the custom of offering refreshments to
visitors and the type of response expected from the visitor; and
some polite ways to end a social visit.
5. Discuss the status, duties, and responsibilities of sons in
the traditional Chinese family.
6. Discuss the different relationships within the Chinese
family, especially those between parents and children, and
between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
7. Explain why the large (extended) family was the ideal
pattern in traditional Chinese society.
8. Use the proper-terms for referring to your own or someone
else’s children, and understand the terms for addressing one’s
children directly; use the terms for paternal grandparents;
use the terms for the parents of one’s friend.
9. Understand why early marriage was a common practice in
traditional China.
10. Discuss the effects of the development of industry and
business on traditional Chinese society.
11. Discuss the concept of filial obedience.
12. Compare the position of women in Chinese society before
and after the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
13. Discuss traditional marriage arrangements in China and the
roles women were placed in as a result. Understand the
government’s policy toward marriage after 19^9 and the actual
changes that have occurred.
1U. Explain and defend some of your personal views on topics such
as equality of the sexes, the status of women, living together,
marriage, parent-child relationships, care of the elderly, the
effects of political and economic conditions on society, crime,
and drug abuse.
UNIT 1
Travel Plans
INTRODUCTION
Grammar Topics Covered in This Unit
1. The pattern (Verb) de shi....
2. Phrases with guanyu, "concerning,"
"about."
3. The directional ending -lai.
U. The auxiliary verb huì, "might," "be likely
to," "will."
5. The sentence marker -de, "that’s the way the situation
is."
Functional Language Contained in This Unit
1. Offering a visitor something to drink.
2. Responding to an offer of something to drink.
3. Concluding a social visit.
U. Telling someone you can’t take the time to explain something
but will talk about it later.
5. Presenting a suggestion or proposal to do something.
6. Responding to a suggestion or proposal to so something.
1. A: Jīntiān wǒ jièdao yìběn hǎo xiǎoshuō.
B: Shénme xiǎoshuō, rang ni zènme gāoxìng?
Today I "borrowed a good novel (from someone).
What novel is it that makes you so happy?
2. A: Zhèiběn xiǎoshuō xiěde shi dàlùde qíngkuàng.
B: Guānyu dàlùde? Jiè gěi wǒ kànkan xíng bu xíng?
3. A: Xiàge xuéqī ní xiǎng yánjiū shénme?
B: Hái shi lǎo wentí: Zhōng-guóde zhèngzhi qíngkuàng.
h. A: Zuótiān Xiǎo Ming gěi tā nùpéngyou xiě xìn, xiěde hǎo cháng!
B: Niánqīng rén zǒng shi niánqīng rén. Wo niánqīngde shihou yě shi
zhèiyang, nī wàng le?
This novel is about the situation on the mainland.
About the mainland? How about lending it to me to read?
What are you going to do research on next semester?
It’s still the same old topic: the political situation in China.
Yesterday Xiǎo Ming wrote a letter to his girl friend, and it was
really long!
Young people are always young people. When I was young I was like
that too, have you forgotten?
5. A: Shǔ^iàde shihou, nī xiǎng dào nǎr qu wànrwanr?
B: Wǒ xiǎng dào Yàzhōu Jīge guǒjiā qu kankan.
6. A: Zenme, nī xiǎng yánjiū Yàzhōude wénhuà chuántǒng?
B: Bù néng shuō yánjiū. Wǒ zhī shi xiǎng qù kànkan nàlide shèhuì
qíngkuàng.
Where do you want to go over summer vacation?
I’d like to go visit a few countries in Asia.
Oh? Do you want to do research on Asia’s cultural tradition?
It can’t be called research. I Just want to go have a look at the
social situation there.
7. A: Lǎo Wáng, wǒ Jīntiān gǎnJué hen bu shūfu.
Lǎo Wáng, I feel awful today.
B: Kuài zuòxia, wǒ qù gěi ni dào bēi chá lai.
Sit down and I’ll go pour you a cup of tea.
8. A: Nǐ qùde nèige dìfang zhèngzhi, jīngji fāngmiànde
qíngxing zěnmeyàng?
B: Jǐjù huà shuōbuqǐngchu, you shíjiān wǒ zài gen ni mànmānr shuō
ba.
9. A: Yǎnjiū Zhōngguo xiànzàide wèntí yídìng děi dongde
Zhōngguo lìshǐ.
B: Nǐ shuōde zhèiyidiǎn hen yàojīn, wǒ kǎolù kǎolū.
10. A: Nǐ zài Zhōngguo zhù liǎng-nián, yídìng huì xuéhǎo
Zhōngwénde.
B: Shi a, yìfāngmiàn kéyi xuéhǎo Zhōngwén, yìfāngmiàn yě kéyi duō
zhīdao yidiǎnr Zhōngguóde shìqing.
What was the political and economic situation like where you went?
I can’t explain it clearly in just a few sentences; when I have
time I’ll tell you all about it.
To study the problems of China now, you have to understand Chinese
history.
This point of yours is very important; I’11 think it over.
If you live in China for two years, you’re sure to learn Chinese
very well.
Yes, on the one hand I can learn Chinese well, and on the other
hand I can find out more things about China.
ADDITIONAL REQUIRED VOCABULARY 11. yìbiān(r)...yìbiān(r) 12.
yímiàn...yímiàn...
doing...while doing...
doing...while doing...
VOCABULARY
cháng chuántǒng
to be long
tradition, traditional
dàlù dào -diǎn dǒngde
mainland, continent
to pour
point
to understand, to grasp, to know
-fāngmiàn (-fāngmiàn)
aspect, side, area, respect
gǎnjué
feeling, sensation; to feel, to perceive
guānyú
as to, with regard to, concerning, about
guojiā
country, state, nation; national
huì
might, be likely to, will
Jiè
J ièdao
-Jù
to borrow; to lend
to successfully borrow
sentence; (counter for sentences or utterances, often
followed by huà, "speech")
kǎolu
to consider, to think about
mànmānr (mànmàn)
slowly; gradually, by and by; taking one’s time; in all
details
niánqīng
to be young
qíngkuàng
situation, circumstances, condition, state of affairs
qíngxing
situation, circumstances, condition, state of affairs
rang
to make (someone a certain way)
shèhuì
shǔjià shuōbuqīngchu
society, social simmer vacation can’t explain clearly
wénhuǎ
culture
xiǎoshuō (-)xuéqī
fiction, novel
semester, term (of school)
yánjiū (yánjiu, yánjiù)
to study (in detail), to do research on; research
Yàzhōu (Yǎzhōu)
Asia
yìbiān(r). . .yìbiān(r).. .
yìfāngmiàn..., yìfāngmiàn...
yímiàn(r)...yímiàn(r)...
doing...while doing...
on the one hand..., on the other hand; for one thing..., for
another...; doing...while doing...
doing...while doing...
zhèngzhi zǒng
zuòxia
politics, political always; inevitably, after all, in any
to sit down
affairs; political without exception, case
Unit 1, Reference Notes
1. A: Jintiān wǒ jièdao yìběn hǎo xiǎoshuō.
Today I borrowed a good novel (from someone).
What novel is it that makes you so happy?
B: Shénme xiǎoshuō, rang ni zènme gāoxìng?
Notes on No. 1
jiè: ”to borrow” CAlso ”to lend,” see Notes on No. 2.3
Wǒ dào túshūguǎn qù jiè shū. I’m going to the library to
borrow
Etake outl some books.
For "from,” use gēn or xiang" for people and cong for
place names like the library.
Wǒ méi dài qián, xiǎng gēn (xiǎng) Níngning qù jiè.
Wǒ cōng túshūguǎn jièle yìběn Zhōngguó lìshǐ shū.
I didn’t bring any money. I want to go borrow some from Níngning.
I borrowed a Chinese history book from the library.
Cong can only be followed by a person if the person is made into a
place name, for example by the addition of nèr (nǎli):
Wǒ cóng tā nèr jièle wǔkuǎi qián. I borrowed five dollars from
him.
For people, you may also use the common pattern wèn...jiè...,
literally ”ask...borrow...”:
Wǒ wèn ta jièle yiběn shū. I borrowed a book from him.
Wǒ bù hǎo yìsi wèn biérén jiè I’m too embarrassed to borrow
money
qián. from other people.
jièdao: The ending -dǎo expresses that the borrowing results in
the thing being obtained. You learned -dǎo and the similar Běijīng
-zháo in the verb jiēdao/jiēzhao, ”to receive,” in the Meeting
module.
You need to know not only what the ending -dǎo means, but also
when to use it and when not to. This can’t be summed up in one
neat formula, but you will see from the following examples that
-dǎo is used when there was a question of not being able to get
the thing. Jiè by itself does not necessarily imply obtaining, so
you can use it in situations when you tried to borrow something
but couldn’t get it.
Wǒ gēn tā jièle yìběn I borrowed a dictionary from
him.
zìdiǎn.
Xiǎng is used more in written style.
Wǒ qù jièguo, kěshi méi jièdao.
A: Ni cong túshūguān jièdao nèiběn Mǒiguo lìshí shū le ma?
B: Méiyǒu, dōu jièchuqu le. Dàgài xià Xīngqiyi cái néng
jièdao.
I went and tried to "borrow it, "but
I didn’t get it.
Did you get that American history "book out of the library?
No, they had all been taken out.
I probably won’t be able to (borrow and) get it until next Monday.
Jie may have certain other directional or resultative endings.
Here are
examples.
Zài zhèr kàn kéyi, bù néng jièchuqu.
Tā bǎ wǒde chē jièqu le.
Tā ba nèiběn shū jièzǒu le.
Wǒ cong tā nèr jièlai wǔkuài qián.
You can read it here, but you can’t take it out.
He borrowed my car (and took it away).
He borrowed that book (and took it away).
I borrowed five dollars from him.
rang: ’’to make’’ someone a certain way, or ’’to cause’’ someone
to become a certain way. When used this way, rang is followed by a
person and an adjectival verb. You learned rang as ’’to let’’ in
the Welfare module: Rang wǒ kànkan nǐde hùzhào, ’’Let me see your
passport.’’ I Rang can also mean ”to have,” ”to tell,’’ or ”to
make” someone do something.]
Tā shuōde huà rang wo hen shēng- What he said made me very angry,
qi.
Tā name bú kèqi rang tā péngyou hen bù hǎo yìsi.
He embarrassed his friend by being so rude.
Shénme xiāoshuō?—rang ni zhème gāoxìng: question shénme xiāoshuǒ,
and the rest of the sentence, is like an afterthought. Compare
these examples:
There is a pause after the rang ni zhème gāoxìng
Zhèi shi shénme kāfēi?—zhème hǎo hē.
Zhèi jiù shi ni māide chē?— zènme nánkàn!
Ni xǐhuan shùxué a?—name méi yìsi!
What kind of coffee is this? It’s so good.
So this is the car you bought? It’s so ugly!
You like math?—such a boring thing!
2. A: Zhèiběn xiǎoshuō xiěde shi dàlùde qíngkuàng.
B: Guānyú dàlùde? Jiè gěi wǒ kànkan xíng bu xíng?
This novel is about the situation on the mainland.
About the mainland? How about lending it to me to read?
Notes on No. 2
xiě: This verb which you learned as ”to write” is also one of
several ways that ’’about” is expressed in Chinese. When used with
this meaning, xiě usually appears in the (Verb) de shi
construction discussed immediately below.
xiěde shi: This structure, (Verb) de shi, is a major structure of
Chinese, so pay extra attention! Use (Verb) de shi when the verb
is not new information and you want to focus instead on the
identity of the thing talked about. The pattern itself makes an
equational sentence, that is, an A EQUALS B sentence:
A
IS
B
VERB de
shi
B
Tā zuóde
shi
báicài.
’’What he’s making is cabbage.”
In sentence 2A, the verb xiě is not new information because any
novel must ”be written about” something. The object dàlùde
qíngkuàng is new information which is focused on.
A: Nǐ zài JiāzhŌu Dàxué niànde shi shénme?
B: Wǒ niànde shi JīngJixué.
Zhèige diànyīng Jiāngde shi yige Zhōngguo rén qù Měiguo wánde shi.
Gāngcái nǐ Jiàode shi shénme? Shi fan háishi miàn?
Nǐ xiànzài shuōde shi wǒ háishi tā?
Tā hěn xǐhuan kàn shū, kěshi tā kànde dōu shi yìxiē méi yìside
xiǎoshuō.
What is it that you study at the University of California?
It’s economics.
This film is about a Chinese going to America to visit.
What did you order Just now? Rice or noodles?
Is the person you’re talking about now me or him?
He likes to read, but all he reads are stupid novels.
dàlù: ’’continent, mainland” Zhōngguo dàlù is ’’mainland China,”
which may also be called dàlù for short Just as we say ’’the
mainland”.
''other ways are by using the verb Jiang, ”to talk about,” as in
Zhèiběn shū Jiang shénme?, ’’What is this book about?”; and guānyu
(see the note in this section).
qíngkuàng: "situation, circumstances, state of affairs,
condition" Used much more frequently in Chinese than any
single one of these translations is used in English. Sometimes the
Chinese language uses qíngkuàng when in English we would just say
"things" or "the way things are."
Nǐde qíngkuàng gēn tāde chàbuduō.
Wǒ dìdide jíngji qíngkuàng bu tài hǎo.
Nà shi sìshinián qiánde shi, xiànzài qíngkuàng bù tong le.
A: Nǐ néng bu néng gěi wǒ jiǎng-jiang nǐ zài dàlùde qíngkuàng?
B: Nǐde yìsi shi wǒ zìjǐde qíngkuàng ma?
You and he are in about the same situation.
Líy younger brother’s financial situation isn’t too good.
That was forty years ago. Now things are different.
Could you tell me about the way things were for you on the
mainland?
Do you mean my own situation?
Sometimes qíngkuàng means the "picture" about a place
(especially an organization); in such cases it may not be
necessary to translate it literally.
Tā gěi women jièshaole tāmen He gave us a presentation (briefing)
xuéxiàode qíngkuàng. on their school. (E.g., what
grades, how many students and teachers, what subjects are taught,
etc. )
Wǒ bù tài shùxī Měidàsīde I’m not too familiar with (the
way
qíngkuàng. things are at) the Department
of
American and Oceanic Affairs.
guānyù: ’’with regard to, concerning" The phrase guānyù
dàlùde means literally "one concerning the mainland."
Guānyù is rather formal. In everyday speech, the idea of
"about" is more often expressed in other ways*, but
guānyù is often used in formal contexts.
Guānyù is a prepositional verb, which means it is followed by a
noun (its object) and is related to the main verb. It is not the
best behaved of prepositional verbs, however. Guānyù does not
occur where you would normally expect to find a prepositional verb
phrase (before the verb, e.g., dào Zhōngguo qù) ■ Nor does guānyù
occur in a sentence the way "about" does in English.
"About" phrases in English are free to occur after the
verb, e.g., "talk about Chinese history," "think
about your problem." A guānyù phrase (that is, guānyù and its
object) can only occur in the following places in the sentence:
Other ways include using the verbs jiǎng and xiě (see Notes on No.
2). For example, if I am watching a T.V. program and you walk into
the room and want to ask, "What’s this about?" the most
"everyday" way would be Jiǎng shenme de? (actually an
abbreviated form of Zhèige jiēmù CprogramJ shi jiǎng shenme de?).
It would sound stilted to use guānyu in such an informal
situation. You see another example of how "about" is
expressed in Chinese on the next page under number (3) in the
little dialogue: "About what?" is Shénme diànyǐng?.
(1) Guānyú can occur at the "beginning about to "be
commented, on.
Guānyú nèijiān shi, wǒ shénme dōu "bù zhīdāo.
Guānyú nèrde qíngkuāng, ni gěi wo dating dating hǎo ba?
Guānyú zhèige, nǐmen hái you méiyou shénme wèntí?
(2) Guānyú can also occur in a phrase
Xièxie ni gàosu wo zhème duō guānyú dàlùde qíngkuāng.
Tā zhǐdao hen duo guānyú zhèi-fāngmiānde shìqing.
Women zhèli méiyou duōshao guānyú Zhōngguode shū.
of the sentence to introduce the topic
Concerning that matter, I don't know anything. (OR I don't know
anything about that matter.)
Would you please ask for me about the situation there?
Do you have any other questions about this?
with -de which modifies a noun.
Thank you for telling me so much about the situation on the
mainland.
He knows a lot (of things) about this field.
We don't have very many books about China here.
It also occurs in a phrase with -de, the whole phrase acting as a
noun.
Wo cong Xiao Zhāo ner jièlai yi-běn shū, shi guānyú Zhōngguo
cāide, nǐ kànkan.
(3) A guānyú phrase (guānyú + noun) viated sentence.
I borrowed a book from Xiǎo Zhao. It's (a book) about Chinese
food. Have a look at it.
is occasionally used alone as an abbre
Wǒ zuótiān kànle yige diānyǐng.
Shénme diānyǐng?
Guānyú Fǎguo...
Guānyú Fǎguode shénme?
Guānyú Fǎguode jǐngji.
I saw a movie yesterday.
About what?
About France...
About what (aspect) of France?
About the French economy.
Compare the following English and Chinese sentences. Although the
parts in parentheses are optional in English, the Chinese
sentences would be considered wrong without the underlined -de
phrases. (For the first example you need to know xiāoxi,
"news.")
Nǐ tīngshuō guānyú Tiǎtuōde xiāoxi ma?
Bú yāo wen wo guānyú shùxuéde wèntí.
Have you heard (the news) about Tito? (i.e., that he had died)
Don't ask me (any questions) about math.
jiè gěi wǒ kànkan: "lend (it) to me to read" In exchange
1, jiè was translated "borrow." Now you see it used for
"to lend." To say "lend something to someone,"
the gěi phrase always follows the verb jiè.* If the indirect
object (person who receives) is a pronoun, gěi may be omitted:
Jiè wo yìzhī bǐ. I
Jiè gěi wo yìzhī bǐ. í Lend me a pen.
(in this extremely common sentence, the gěi is more frequently
omitted.)
3. A: Xiàge xuéqǐ nǐ xiǎng What are you going to do
yánjiū shénme? research on next semester?
B: Hài shi lǎo wèntí: Zhōng- It’s still the same old topic: guóde
zhèngzhi qíngkuàng. the political situation in China.
xueqǐ: "semester, term" Since xuéqǐ means literally just
"school-period," it could conceivably apply to a
scholastic term of any length, including quarters. Chinese
schools, however, run on the semester system (fall-winter and
winter-spring).
Xiànzài yěude Měiguo dàxué yíge Some American colleges have
semesters xuéqǐ zhǐ you shíèr-sānge lǐbài. which last only twelve
or thirteen weeks.
Shàngge xuéqǐ nǐ dōu niànle What (courses) did you take
last
shénme? semester?
Xuéqǐ may also be used without the counter -ge: shàngxuéqǐ,
xiàxuéqǐ, yìxuéqǐ, etc.
yánjiū: "to do research on" a topic (usually at the
graduate level or abovehSometimes may be translated as "to
study" (in depth, not just preparing for a test).
Tā yánjiūde shi něifāngmiande wèntí?
Kē Jiàoshòu zài jīngji fāngmian-de yánjiū shi dàjiā hěn shóuxīde.
Tāde yanjiū gōngzuò hěn zhèng-yào.
Another meaning is "to look into, ties, opinions, questions):
What area does she study (OR do research on)?
Everyone is familiar with Professor Kē’s research in the area of
economics.
His research work is very important.
to consider, to discuss" (possibili-
A gěi phrase before jiè would mean "for," not
"to." jièle jǐběn shū, "He borrowed a few books for
me."
Example: Tā gěi wo
Zhèige wèntí women děi yánjiū We should discuss (OR look into
this) yanjiū. question.
zhèngzhi: "politics, political affairs; political"
Keep in mind that "because of China’s political system, the
word zhèngzhi has a different set of meanings than we are used to.
This is a large question which we will not go into in depth here.
But to give you an idea of this concept, here is the definition of
zhèngzhi from a Chinese dictionary.*
zhèngzhi: The concentrated expression of economics. It comes into
being on a particular economic base, serves the economic base, and
has a tremendous influence on economic development. In a class
society, economic interests are the most fundamental interests of
the different classes. In order to safeguard their own interests,
the classes inevitably wage intense class struggle among each
other. Therefore, class struggle and handling relations between
the classes becomes the main content of politics. The relations
which politics must handle are the internal relations of a class,
relations between the classes, relations between nationalities,
and international relations. Politics is manifested in policies
and activities in the areas of national life and international
relations of political parties, social groups, and social forces
which represent certain classes. The politics of the exploiting
class has as its aim to oppress the working people and to preserve
its own narrow interests. In the politics of the proletariat,
bourgeois rule is overthrown with revolutionary violence under the
leadership of the proletarian political party, and the
dictatorship of the proletariat is established; after power has
been seized, socialist revolution is carried through to the end,
class struggle is properly waged, and contradictions between
ourselves and the enemy as well as contradictions among the people
. . . are properly handled; then the focus of struggle is
progressively turned towards engaging in the cause of socialist
construction and devoting major efforts to developing production,
and creating the conditions needed to completely abolish classes
and bring about communism.
Note in particular how the politicization of everyday personal
relations in the PRC has resulted in zhèngzhi being used in a host
of phrases such as "political influence,"
"political relations," "political background,"
"political qualifications," etc.
Cíhǎi, Shanghai Císhū Chūbánshè, 1979.
U. A: Zuotian Xiao Ming gei ta nupengyou xie xin, xiede hǎo cháng!
B: Niánqīng rén zǒngshi niánqīng rén.Wǒ niánqīngde shihou yě shi
zhèiyang, ní wàng le?
Yesterday Xiao Ming wrote a letter to his girl friend, and it was
really long!
Young people are always young people; when I was young I was like
that too, have you forgotten?
Notes on No. U
cháng: "to be long" opposite of cháng is duǎn,
in physical length, "to be short. ’’
Chángchéng you duo cháng?
You liùqiānduō gōnglí (cháng).
Ní xiěde tài cháng le, duǎn yidiǎnr, hǎo bu hǎo?
Wǒ hěn cháng shíjiān méi kànjian ta le.
Wǒ xiǎng ní zài nàr zhǎo fángzi yídìng xūyào yige hěn chángde
shíjiān.
Tā zài zhèr gōngzuòde shíjiān you duo cháng?
niánqīng: "to be young
or in some cases, time. The
How long is the Great Wall?
It’s over six thousand kilometers (long).
You made this (piece of writing) too long. Could you shorten it?
I haven’t seen him in a long time. (Hěn cháng shijiān is the same
as hěn jiǔ)
I’m sure it will take you a long time to find a house there.
How long did he work here?
While the idea of being young is often
relative to a particular situation, the teens through the
twenties.”
niánqīng rén usually means people from
Tā niánqīngde shihou bī xiànzài When she was young she was even
more gěng hǎo kàn. beautiful than now.
Niánqīng rén dōu xíhuan wánr. All young people like to have fun.
zǒng: "always, invariably" Like other adverbs such as
zhēn, "really," and hái, "still," zǒng is
often followed by shi.
Ní zǒngshi wen wo wèntí. You always ask me questions.
’There are other words for "long" in other contexts.
When referring to distance, use yuǎn: Lu hěn yuǎn, "it’s a
long way." For time, you will also need jiǔ: Tā zǒule duo jiǔ
le?, "How long has it been since he left?"
Remember that xiǎo is another word for "young": Tā bí wǒ
xiǎo yísuì, "He's a year younger than I." Wǒ xiǎode
shihou usually means "When I was a child." When speaking
to a child, you would say Ní hái xiǎo for "You’re still
young."
Zheizhong shiqing zongshi rang This type of thing always makes one
rén hěn gāoxìng. very happy.
Zǒng bù, "always not...," is one way of saying
"never":
Tā zǒng bù xǐhuan biérén wen tā He never likes other people to ask
jiālide shi. about his famjly.
Zǒng has another use, which is the one you see in exchange U:
Instead of meaning literally "on every occasion" or
"at all times," zǒng is used to suggest that a certain
state of affairs should be obviously true, regardless of other
circumstances. Translations for this meaning depend upon the
context; some are "after all, surely, always, in any case,
when all is said and done, inevitably, eventually." Other
possible translations are suggested in
the following examples.
Xiǎoháizi zǒng shi xiǎoháizi, dale jiu hǎo le.
Nǐ bú Jiè wo, wǒ zài zhèr kàn-kan zǒng kéyi ba?
Nǐ niàn shū shi hǎo shi, zǒng bù néng bù chi fan ba?
Nǐ shi Měiguo rén, nǐ zǒng bù néng bù zhǐdào Dézhǒu zài nǎr ba?.’
Nǐ názǒu wǒde shū, zǒng děi wen wo yíxiǎ!
Zǒng you yìtiān, tā huì huílaide.
Èrshige bū gòu, nà nǐ shuō sān-shige zǒng gòu le ba?
A: Gōnggòng qìchē méiyou dào nèige dìfangde, women děi qí
zìxíngchē qu.
B: ōu, qí chē duo lèi...
A: Zǒng bǐ zǒuzhe qù hǎoduō le.
Lai wan yidiǎnr zǒng bǐ bù lai hǎo.
Children will be children; after they grow up it will be better.
If you won’t lend it Cthis book! to me, at least I can read it
here, can’t I?
It’s great that you’re studying, but after all, you can’t go
without eating, can you?
You’re an American, you can’t very well not know where Texas is,
can you?.’
You really should ask before you take one of my books.
Someday he will surely come back.
If twenty isn’t enough, then thirty should surely be enough,
wouldn’t you say?
There aren’t any buses that go there. We’ll have to go by bicycle.
Oh, but it’s so tiring to ride a bicycle.
Well, it’s much better than walking!
It’s better to come a little late than not to come at all.
A: Guānyu nǐ zhèige wèntí, wǒ zhīdaode bù duō, dàgài méiyou
bànfǎ huídáhāo.
B: Nǐ zǒng zhǐdaode bī wǒmen duō, jiù qǐng ni jiangjiang ba!
I don’t know much about this question of yours. I probably can’t
give you a good answer.
In any case, you know more than we do, so please try.
5. A: Shǔjiàde shihou, nǐ xiǎng Where do you want to go
dào nǎr qu wánrwanr? over summer vacation?
B: Wǒ xiǎng dào Yàzhōu I’d like to go visit a few
jǐge guojiā qu kànkan. countries in Asia.
Notes on No. 5
shùjià: ’’summer vacation" In China, summer vacation starts
in August and ends in September for high schools; college ends in
June and starts in late August.
Zhèige shùjià wǒ bú dào nǎr qù. This summer vacation I’m not going
anywhere.
Yàzhōu: "Asia" Yà comes from the transliterated word for
Asia, Yàxìyà. Zhōu means "continent.~ Many people say Yazhōu.
guojiā: "country, nation, state," literally,
"country-family." The bound word -guō is used only in
certain phrases or compound words. Guojiā is the word to use
everywhere else. (Sometimes guō may be used alone, such as in
reference to kingdoms or dukedoms of ancient China. But a modern
nation is called guojiā.)
6. A: Zenme, nǐ xiǎng yánjiū Yàzhōude wenhuà chuántǒng?
B: Bù néng shuō yánjiū. Wǒ zhǐ shi xiǎng qù kànkan nàlide shèhuì
qíngkuàng.
Notes on No. 6
Zenme?: "oh?; what?; really?"
tion.
Zènme, nǐ yè dào zhèr lai le!
Zènme? Tā bū shi Zhōngguo rén? Nà tāde Zhōngwén zènme zènme hǎo
ne?
A: Nǐ xiàwu you shíjiān ma?
B: Zènme? You shi ma?
Oh? Do you want to do research on Asia’s cultural tradition?
It can’t be called research. I just want to go have a look at the
social situation there.
The intonation can change the implica-
Well, you’ve come here too!
What? He’s not Chinese? Then how is his Chinese so good?
Do you have any time this afternoon?
Why? Is something happening?
wénhuà: "culture, civilization" Also "education,
cultural background’’ as in méiyou wénhuàde rén, "an
uncultured person" or an "uneducated person."
shèhuì: "society; social" Xīn shèhuì and jiù shèhuì are
jargon for the new and old societies (after and before the
socialist transformation). "in society" is more often
zài shèhuìshang, less frequently zài shèhuìli.
Xiānggǎngde shèhuì wèntí zhēn duō.
Hong Kong sure has a lot of social problems, (e.g., drugs,
killings)
7. A: Lao Wang, wǒ Jīntiān gǎnjué hen bu shūfu.
Lao Wang, I feel awful today.
B: Kuài zuòxia, wǒ qù gěi ni dào bēi chá lai.
Sit down and I’ll go get you a cup of tea.
Notes on No. 7
gǎn jué: "to feel; feeling" In are other examples:
Nǐ gǎnjué zěnmeyàng?
Nǐ jīntiān gǎnjué hǎo yidiǎnr le ma?
Wǒ gǎnjué tā jīntiān you diǎnr bu gāoxìng.
Suīrán wǒ bù fā shāo le, kěshi zǒng gǎnjué hen lèi.
Here is an example of gǎnjué used as
Zhèi shi wǒde gǎnjué, nīde kànfa zěnmeyàng?
7a, gǎnjué is used as a verb. Here
How do you feel?
Do you feel better today?
I get the feeling he’s a little unhappy (OR bothered) today.
Although I don’t have a fever any more, I feel very tired all the
time.
noun:
That’s my feeling, what is your opinion?
zuòxia: "to sit down" Also zuòxialai.
Qǐng zuòxia(lai) tan.
Have a seat and let’s talk about it.
dào...lai: Dào is "to pour"; dàolai is "to pour and
bring here." You have seen lai used as a directional ending
before, as in nǎxialai, "bring down and here," or pǎolāi
"run here." There are two things to notice about the
meaning of lai as a directional ending: 1) Lai can be used after
verbs which tell of movement from one place to another, like pǎo,
"to run" or nā, "to carry"; OR after verbs
which describe an action without movement from one place to
another, such as dào, "to pour." 2) The thing lai refers
to, which is what ends up "here," may be the subject OR
the object of the sentence. For example, in Tā pǎolai le, "He
ran here," it is the subject tā who performs the action of
running and comes here. In Tā xiělai yìfēng xìn le, "He has
written a letter which has come here," it is the object xìn
which is written and comes here. In Yǐfu dōu yǐjǐng xǐlai le,
"All the clothes have already been washed and brought
here," it is the topic yǐfu which were washed and brought
here.
You will often split lai from the verb by inserting an object like
yìbēi chá, as in sentence 7B. In fact, in sentence 7B, dào and lai
must be split up; lai may not precede the object. The rules
allowing lai to precede the object are complex, and here we will
just give some examples of usage.
Nǐ nǎr jièlai zhème yíliàng pò
Where did you borrow such a beat-up
old car from?
Wǒ zuì xǐhuan nǐ cóng Shanghai mǎilaide nèijiàn máoyī.
I like the sweater you bought in Shanghai best.
Wǒ yídìng gěi ni zhǎolai něiběn shū OR Wǒ yídìng gěi ni zhǎo
něiběn shū lai.
Nǐ shénme shihou you shíjiān, dǎ ge diànhuà lai, wǒmen yìqǐ qù kàn
diànyǐng.
Biéwwàngle míngtiān yě bǎ nǐde nūpéngyou
dàilai.
I’ll be sure to find that book for you.
When you get the time, give me a calx, and we’ll go see a movie
together. (Lai must follow the object.)
Don’t forget to bring your girlfriend tomorrow too.
8. A:
Nǐ qùde něige dìfang, zhèngzhi, jīngji fāngmiànde
qíngxing zěnmeyàng?
What was the political and economic situation like where
you went?
B:
Jǐjù huà shuǒbuqǐngchu, yǒu shíjiān wǒ zài gēn ni
mànmānr shuō ba.
I can’t explain it clearly in just a few sentences; when
I have time I’ll tell you all about it.
Notes on No. 8
fāngmiàn: "aspect; area; respect; side" This noun is
used without a counter. It is a useful, sometimes overused word.
You won’t have any trouble understanding how fāngmiàn is used, but
there will be sentences where you wouldn’t have thought to use it.
When translating, it is sometimes better just to leave fāngmiàn
out of the English than to strain to use the word
"aspect," "side," etc.
Fāngmiàn has two main uses:
(1) "aspect, respect, area, field"
Zheige wěntí you liǎngfāngmiàn. There are two aspects to this
question.
Wǒmen zài zhěifāngmiàn zuǒde We haven’t done enough in this
area,
hái bu gòu.
Yīngguo zài jīngjixué fāngmiànde yánjiū zuòde bù shǎo.
Wǒ méi shìde shihou xíhuan kànkan wénxué fāngmiànde shū.
A: Wǒ kànle ní xiěde yíhòu juéde you yìfāngmiàn kéyi xiěde
gèng hǎo.
B: Něifāngmiàn ne?
(2)
A lot of research in the area of economics has been done in
England.
When I don’t have anything to do I like to read books on the
subject of literature.
After reading what you wrote, I feel there’s one respect in which
you can make it better.
What respect?
party, side, referring to a group of people
Niǔyuē fāngmiàn dàgài bū huì you shénme wentí, kěshi women yīnggāi
hé Běijǐng fāngmiàn xiān shāngliang yixia zài shuō.
Guānyū zhèige wèntí, liǎng fāngmiànde kànfǎ you diǎn bù tong.
New York won’t have any problem with this, but we should check
with Běijīng before going ahead, (meaning groups of people, e.g.,
offices of a company.)
The two sides have somewhat different views on this question.
qíngxing: In most cases interchangeable with qíngkuàng. In
present-day Běijīng speech, at least among the younger generation,
qíngkuàng is the more common of these two words.
shuōbuqǐngchu: ’’can’t say/explain clearly” Shuǒqǐngchu is a
compound
verb of result. Here are other examples:
Wǒ shuōbuqīngchu wèishenme tā shěngqì.
Bù shuōqǐngchule bù xíng.
Tā shuōqīngchule tāde mùdi.
Ní néng bu néng shuōqīngchu ’’niánqīng” hé ’’xiǎo” de bù tong?
I can’t really explain why he got angry.
It won’t do not to explain it clearly.
He explained his goal clearly.
Can you explain clearly the differences between niánqīng and xiǎo?
mànmānr: Also mànmàn. Many adjectival verbs can be doubled to make
an adverb, which is used between the subject and the verb. In
Běijīng speech, when you double certain adjectival verbs of
one-syllable, the second one becomes first tone (no matter what
its original tone) and -r_ is added. These adverbs can take the
adverbial ending -de. Other examples are kuàikuāir(de),
’’quickly,” and hǎohāorde, ’’well, properly.”
Mànmàn(de) or manmānr(de) has these meanings:
(1) ’’slowly” Don’t forget, however, that ’’slowly” can
sometimes be translated by man alone.
Tā mànmānrde zǒu huí jiā qu le. He slowly walked home.
BUT Zǒu man yidiǎnr. I
Man diǎnr zǒu. J Walk more slowly.
(2) "gradually, bit by bit, by and by"
Nǐ gang lai, duì zhèrde qíngkuàng You just arrived and are
unfamiliar bù shúxī, mànmānr nī Jiu zhīdao with the situation
here, but you’ll le. come to know
it by and by.
Mànmānrde, tā Jiu dong le. Gradually he began to
understand.
(3) Sentences which instruct someone to mànmānr do this or
that can often be translated as "take your time...,"
or "don’t rush."
Mànmānr zǒu, zānmen lāidejí. Let’s take our time walking.
We’ll
make it.
Bù jí, mànmānr chī, wǒ děng nī.
(U) With verbs meaning "to tell" more of the meaning
"in all details. ’’
Nī zuòxia, wǒ mànmānr gēn ni jiǎng.
Wǒ hái xiǎng gēn ni duō tāntan zhèijiàn shi.
Hǎode, yīhòu wǒmen mànmàn tan.
There’s no hurry, so take your time eating. I’ll wait for you.
someone about something, mànmānr has
Sit down and I’ll give you the whole story.
I’d like to talk some more with you about this.
Okay, later we can talk all about it.
9. A: Yanjiū Zhōngguo xiànzàide wèntí yídìng děi dǒngde Zhōngguo
lìshī.
To study the problems of China now you have to understand Chinese
history.
B: Nī shuōde zhèiyidiǎn hěn yàojīn, wǒ kǎolu kǎolu.
This point of yours is very important; I’ll think it over.
Notes on No. 9
dǒngde: "to understand" Narrower in use than dǒng. You
dǒngde the meaning of a word, the implications or significance of
an event, or the way to do something; but not a foreign language
(that you dǒng), nor what the teacher just said (that you tīngdǒng
le), nor someone else’s feelings (that you liǎojiě, which will be
presented in the Traveling in China module).
You have seen the component -de in the verbs rènde and j ide. It
is only used in a handful of verbs, sometimes acting like a
resultative ending. For example, you can say rènbude, "can’t
recognize," and jìbude, "can’t remember," but you
may not use dǒngde in the potential form; for "can’t
understand," you just say bù dǒngde.
-dian: "point” one’s heart.")
(For the second example, you need to know xīnli, "in
0, hái you yìdiǎn.
Zhèi shi rang rén xīnli zuì bù shūfude yìdiǎn.
Nèi yidiǎn women yǐjīng tánguo le.
Wǒ juéde tā shuōde měiyidiǎn dōu duì.
Oh, there’s one more point [that should be made J.
This is the most upsetting point.
We’ve been over that point already.
I think that every point of his was right.
kǎolū:
"to consider, to think over; consideration"
Zhèi yidiǎn women yīnggāi kǎolū.
Wǒ děi hǎohāor kǎolū zhèige wèntí.
Zhèi fāngmiànde qíngkuàng nī kǎolule ma?
We should consider this point.
I have to think this matter over carefully.
Have you taken this aspect of the matter into consideration?
10. A: Nī zài Zhōngguo zhù liǎng-nián, yídìng huì xuéhǎo
Zhōngwénde.
B: Shi a, yìfāngmiàn kéyi xuéhǎo Zhongwén, yìfāngmiàn yě kéyi duō
zhīdao yidiǎnr Zhǒngguóde shìqing.
If you live in China for two years you’re sure to learn Chinese
very well.
Yes, on the one hand I can learn Chinese well, and on the other
hand I can find out more things about China.
Notes on No. 10
huì: "might, be likely to, will" You already know huì
meaning "to know how to, can." Here you see huì used in
a new way, to express likelihood. As you can see from these three
English translations, huì ranges in meaning from possible to
probable to definite. The context may be sufficient to indicate
which, but often the degree of probability is not important to the
message, and there might be no single "correct" English
translation. Various adverbs can be added before huì to clarify
the degree of certainty, for example, yídìng,
"definitely," dàgài, "probably," yěxǔ,
"perhaps," etc.
Here are some examples of how huì can be used to indicate
likelihood: huì
Yījīng shíèrdiān bàn le, zhè It’s half past twelve. Who would
shihou shéi huì lai ne? come at this hour?
Yídìng yào wǒ qù, tā cái huì qù. I’ll have to go or else he won’t
go.
Cai yàoshi fàngde tai duō le, baobǐng huì pò.
Nǐde chènshān zāngle bù yàojǐn, wǒ huì gěi nǐ xǐ.
bu huì
Bu dà huì ba?
Dàgài bu huì shi tā.
Yàoshi zài Taiwan māi jiù bu huì zhème guì le.
Nǐ bu huì zhǎobudào ba?
Nǐ bu yào jí le, wǒ bù huì chū shide.
huì...ma?
Nǐ kàn jīntiān wǎnshang huì liāngkuai yidiǎn ma?
Tā huì qù ma? Tā huì qù.
huì bu huì
Míngtiān tā huì bu huì lai?
Women xiěde nèifēng xìn, dào xiànzài tāmen hāi meiyou shōudào,
women huì bu hui xiěcuǒle dìzhǐ?
Wǒ bǎ men kāi le, zhèiyang nǐ huì bu hui juěde tài lěng?
If you put too much food in, the pancake will break:.
It doesn’t matter that your shirt got dirty. I’ll wash it for you.
That’s not very likely.
It’s probably not him.
If you buy it in Taiwan, it won’t be so expensive.
You won’t be unable to find it, will you?
Don’t get anxious, I won’t have an accident.
Do you think it might be cooler tonight?
Will he go? He’ll go.
Nǐ kàn jīntiān huì bu hui xià yǔ?
Will he come tomorrow?
They still haven’t gotten the letter we wrote. Could we have
written the address wrong?
I opened the door. Will you feel too cold like this?
Does it look to you as if it might rain today?
nǐ huì zǒucuǒde: So far you have seen -de used as a marker of
possession or of modification, and in the shi... de construction.
Here it is used in an entirely new way: at the end of a sentence,
-de can mean "that’s the way the situation is.’’ Generally
speaking, this -de is used in emphatic assertions or denials,
especially those expressing probability, necessity, desire, etc.
Usage note: Unless the sentence contains shi or is understood to
have an omitted shi, the majority of native Běijīng speakers seem
to feel that this -de is nānfāng huà, southern Chinese (e.g.,
Nanjing), or a carry-over into Standard Chinese from southern
dialects. Because of these regional connotations you needn’t try
to use it a lot; it will be enough for you to understand this -de;
in fact, you will see that in most of the following examples, the
-de is completely unnecessary.
(1) Sentences with shi in the sense of This shi may often he
omitted.
Wǒ shi bú qùde.
Zhèige, nǐ shi zhīdaode.
Nèige rén (shi) you wèntíde.
A: Nǐ zènme lai le?
B: (Shi) Lī Xiānsheng Jiao wǒ laide.
"it is that..., it is a case of..."
I’m not going. (More literally, "As for me, it is that I’m
not going.’’)
This you know.
There’s something wrong with that guy
Why are you here?
Mr. Lǐ told me to come.
Cóngqián wǒ cóng Xianggang In the past whenever I have
bought
mǎi shūde shihou, měicì (mail-order) books from Hong
Kong,
dōu (shi) jì zhīpiàode. I have always paid by check
(lit.,
"sent a check").
(2) Sentences with an auxiliary verb (huì, néng, yào, yǐnggāi,
etc.)
Nǐ gàosu ta, tā huì shēngqìde.
Zài xiě yìliǎngge zhōngtóu, wǒ xiǎng néng xièwánde.
Nǐ zènme méi mǎi a, yìdiǎn dōu bú guì, nǐ yǐnggāi mǎide.
Nǐ zhème bù shūfu, Jīntiānde huì nǐ bù yǐnggāi qùde.
Women zǒng you yìtiān yào hui dàlùde.
1
If you tell him he’ll get angry.
If I write for another hour or two I think I can finish writing
it.
How come you didn’t buy it? It’s 1 at all expensive. You should
ha1 bought it.
Since you’re feeling so ill, you shouldn’t go to today’s meeting.
There will come a day when we will go back to the mainland.
Zhèixiē shū yídìng xūyaode.
Wǒ he kāfēi cōnglái bú fàng tángde.
Mapó Doùfu píngcháng dōu yǒu ròude.
Wǒmende gōngzuò zhēnshi tài duō le, zuòbuwánde.’
Zhèige diànyǐng wǒ cóngqián kànguode.
These books are definitely needed.
I never take sugar in my coffee.
Mapó Beancurd usually has meat in it.
We really have an awful lot of work.
We’ll never be through with it.
I’ve seen this movie before.
Bu yào.jǐnde.
Tt doesn't, matter.
Hǎode, hǎode.
All right, all right.
yìfāngmiàn...yìfāngmiàn...: Th i s hand..., on the other
hand..." or "for and (?) "doing...while
doing..."
Zài Xianggang yìfāngmiàn nǐ you Jǐhui he Zhōngguo ren tan huà,
yìfāngmiān keyi zhǐdao dalude qíngkuāng.
Tā yìfāngmiàn kàn diànshì, yì-fāngmiàn chǐ dōngxi.
1]. yìbiān(r)...yìbiān(r).. .
12. yímiàn(r)...yímiàn(r)...
has two meanings: (1) "on (die one one thing..., for another
thing..."
In Hong Kong, on the one hand you'll have a chance to talk with
Chinese and on the other hand you can learn about the situation on
the mainland
He watches television while eating.
doing...whi1c doing ...
doing...while doing ...
Notes on Mos. 11 and 12
yìbiān(r)...yìbiān(r)... and doing. . . Both of these patterns
mian...yìfāngmiàn. ...
Yìbiān zuò yìbiān xué ba.'
Wo yìbiānr ting yìbiānr xiě.
Women yìbiān zǒu yìbiān tan, hǎo bu hǎo?
yímiàní r)...yímiàn(r)..■: "doing...whi I e are similar to
the second meaning of yì fāng-
Learn by doing (learn as you do it).'
I write as 1 listen.
Let's talk as we walk, okay?
Unit 1, Tape 1, Review Dialogue
As Tom (A) (Tāngmǔ), a graduate student in Chinese Area Studies at
Georgetown University, is studying in his apartment, a knock comes
at the door It is his classmate Lǐ Ping (B), an exchange student
from Hong Kong.
A: A! Shi ni ya! Hao Jiǔ Bu jiàn!
Jīntiān zenme you shíjiān chūlai zouzou?
B; Yíge zhōngtóu yǐqián, wo cóng xuéxiào gei ni dǎ diànhuà, ní bú
zài jiā, gāngcái wo dào zhèli fūjìn mǎi dōngxi, jiù lái kàn-kan.
Zhen bú cuò, ni yījīng huilai le.
A: Duìbuqī, wǒ gāngcái dào
péngyou jiā jiè shū qu le.
B: Shénme shū? You shi guānyú
Zhōngguóde ba?
A: Duì le, you Xiānggǎngde,
dàlùde, ye you Táiwānde, dōu shi xiāoshuōr. Ni zuòxia kàn, wo qù
gei ni dào bēi chá lai.
Well, it’s you! I haven’t seen you in a long time! How is it
you've got time to come out for a walk today?
I called you an hour ago from school, but you weren't home. I just
came over to this neighborhood to do some shopping, so I stopped
by to visit. It's great that you're back already.
Sorry. I just went over to a friend's house to borrow a book.
What book? More about China, I bet.
Yes, there are ones from Hong Kong, the mainland and Taiwan, all
fiction. Sit down and have a look. I'll go get you a cup of tea.
B:
Bú yào máfan, shénme hēde dōu xíng.
Don't go to any trouble. Anything to drink is fine.
A:
Kěkōukelè, Júzi shuīr , háishi
Coke, orange Juice or beer?
píjiù?
B:
M, júzi shui ba!
Um, orange juice.
A:
Hao, wo mashàng j iù lái, yào
Okay, I'll get it right now. Do
bīngkuàir ma?
you want ice cubes?
B:
Bú yào, xièxie.
No, thanks.
(Li Ping sits down and leafs through the books, and Tom returns
with
two
glasses of orange juice. )
B:
Tāngmǔ?.'
Tom?
A:
Ng?
Yeah?
B:
Zhè sānge dìfangde shū, ni dōu
Reading books from
all three of
kàn, ní juéde zenmeyàng?
these places, what do
you think?
A:
Wǒde gānjué bú shi yíjù huà
I can't explain my
feelings in
°Kekoukělè, "Coca-Cola"; júzi shuí(r), "orange
juice" (Beijing usage)
kéyi shuōqīngchude. Eng... zhème shuō ba, wǒ zǒng Juéde dàlù rén,
Xianggang rén, he Taiwan rén dōu shi Zhōngguo rén, tāmen you
yíyàngle wénhuà chuán-tǒng, kěshi yīnwei zhèngzhide qíngkuàng bù
tong, shèhuìde qíngkuàng yě jiu bù yíyàng le.
Nǐ shuōde duì, dànshi nǐ yào dǒngde Zhōngguo shèhuì, zhǐ kàn shū
shi bù gōude.
Ei, nǐ zhīdào ma, xiànzài xué Zhōngwénde xuéshēng you hen duō
jíhui dào Zhōngguo qu. Suǒyǐ wǒ jìhuà zài zhèige xuéqī wánle de
shihou, qù Zhōngguo kànkan. Erqiě, wǒ hái xiǎng zhǎo ze hǎo
péngyou yìqǐ qù.
Zuótiān wǒ Jiedao wǒ mǔqlnde xìn, tā xǐwàng wǒ hui Xiānggǎng guo
shùjià; zěnmeyàng, nǐ he wo yìqǐ huíqu ba. Nǐ kéyi zhù zai wǒmen
jiāli, erqiě, zài Xianggang yìfāngmiàn nǐ you Jīhui hé Zhōngguo
rén tan huà, yì fāngmiàn kéyi zhīdao dàlù, Xiānggǎng he Tai-wǎr.ie
qíngkuàng, nǐ kàn hǎo bu hǎo?
Fēicháng hǎo.’
Name, nǐ hái yào he nǐ jiāli rén shāngliang yixiar ha?
Bu bì, gěi fùmǔ dǎ diànhuàde shihou, gàosu tamen wǒde jìhua Jiu
xíng le. Wo yào yánjiū Zhōngguo shèhuì, fùmǔ yídìng huì gāoxìngde.
just a few words. Hmm...let's say that I've always felt that
people on the mainland, in Hong Kong and Taiwan are all Chinese,
all have the same cultural tradition, but because the political
situations are different, the social situations are also
different.
You're right. But if you want to understand Chinese society, it's
not enough Just to read books.
Say, you know, students of Chines'-have a lot of opportunities to
go to China now. So I'm planning to go • ' China for a visit when
this se®est<‘r is over. And what's more, I'd like to find a
good friend to go with.
Yesterday I got a letter from my mother, and she'd like me to come
back to Hong Kong for summer vacation. How about going back with
me? You can stay at our house; what's more, in Hong Kong, on the
one hand you'll hav'-a chance to talk with Chinese and on the
other hand you can learn about * m situation m the na'.r.l and .
:n Hong Kong and in Taiwan. What do you
think
Great.'
Well then, you'll still want to discuss this a bit with your
parents, I suppose?
That's not necessary. When I call them, I'll tell them my plan,
and then everything should be all right. I'm sure they'll be happy
that I want to study Chinese society.
Měiguo niánqīng rén dōu you zìjǐde xiǎngfǎ, zhèi yidiǎnr, wǒ
fēicháng xǐhuan.
Young people in America really think for themselves (:’.ave tneir
cwn ideas). T really like that.
Niánqīng rén you zìjǐde xiǎngfǎ shi duìde, kěshi fùmǔde huà vě
ymggai kaolu.
It's good that young people think for tneicselves, bun you still
ought to consider wha' ycur •arents say.
B: M. Na women shuōhǎo le, Jin-
nián shǔjià qù Xianggang, xiànzài hái you wǔge yuède shíjiān kéyi
zhǔnbèi.
A: Duì, Jiù zhème bàn! Jīnnián
xiàtiān wǒ Jiù yào dào zhèige dìfang dà, rénkǒu duō, lìshǐ you
chángde guójiā qu le. Hài Zhèige Jìhua zhēn ràng wo gāoxìng!
B: Hǎo, jiù zhèiyang. Wǒ yinggāi
zǒu le!
A: Nǐ máng shenme! Hái zǎo ne!
B: Bù zǎo le, huíqu hái děi niàn
shū ne!
A: Nà, you shíjiān nǐ zài lái
wánr!
B: Hǎo, míngtiān jiàn.
A: Míngtiān Jiàn!
Mm. Well then we have decided.
This summer vacation we'll go to Hong Kong. We still have five
months to prepare.
Right, that's what we'll do. This summer we will go to that
country with a large area, a great population, and a long history.
Boy, this plan really makes me happy.
Good, it's settled. I have to go.
What's the hurry? It's still early!
No it isn't. I still have to study when I get back.
Well then, come again when you have time!
Okay, see you tomorrow.
See you tomorrow.
Exercise 1
This exercise is a review of the Reference List sentences in this
unit. The speaker will say a sentence in English, followed, by a
pause for you to translate it into Chinese. Then a second speaker
will confirm your answer.
All sentences from the Reference List will occur only once. You
may want to rewind the tape and practice this exercise several
times.
Exercise 2
This exercise contains a conversation in which a Chinese mother
and son, who have lived in the United States for five years,
discuss the possibility of his taking a summer trip to China.
The conversation occurs only once, you’ll probably want to rewind
the tape listen a second time.
Here are the new words and phrases conversation:
xīnshì
zhǎngdà
dàxuéshēng
gèguó
gāozhōng
haohSor
Jìzhu
After listening to it completely, and answer the questions below
as you
you will need to understand this
something weighing on one’s mind, worry
to grow up
college student
various countries
senior high school
properly, carefully, thoroughly
to remember
Questions for Exercise 2
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you
will be able to give them orally in class.
1. How does Xiao Ming’s mother know that something is on his
mind? How does she bring up the subject?
2. What are his classmates doing over the summer?
3. Why does he think Asian culture is interesting?
í+. How does Xiǎo Ming’s mother react to his idea?
5. What advice does she give?
After you have answered these questions yourself, you may want to
take a look at the translation for this conversation. You may also
want to listen to the dialogue again to help you practice saying
your answers.
Note: The translations used in these dialogues are meant to
indicate the English functional equivalents for the Chinese
sentences rather than the literal meaning of the Chinese.
Exercise 3
In this conversation a Chinese student studying at a university in
the U.S. comes home on a Friday night and finds his American
roommate engrossed in his studies.
Listen to the conversation once straight through. Then, on the
second time through, look below and answer the questions.
Here are the new words and phrases you will need to understand
this conversation:
Wode tiān na!
My God!
xuéshēnghuì
guānxīn
student association to be concerned about
jìndàishī modern history
xiàndài modern
pǐchá bíng pizza
gushū ancient books
Questions for Exercise 3
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you
will be able to give them orally in class.
1. Why does the Chinese student object to his roommate
studying the classics?
2. Why doesn’t the American student like to talk about
politics?
3. What other subjects does the Chinese student feel his
roommate should become familiar with for a well-rounded
education?
Does the American student agree? Why or why not?
5. What will the roommates do after the American student finishes
his homework?
After you have answered these questions yourself, you may want to
take a look at the translation for this conversation. You may also
want to listen to the conversation to help you practice saying the
answers which you have prepared.
Exercise 4
In this exercise, an American university student visits her
Chinese literature professor after class in his office.
Listen to the conversation straight through once. Then rewind the
tape and listen again. On the second time through, answer the
questions.
You will need the following new words and phrases:
Jidòng
to get worked up, to be agitated
liùshi niándài
the decade of the sixties
yí as soon as
gaibi an change(s)
liúxia to leave
Questions for Exercise h
1. Why was Professor Tang so upset in class?
2. Why did the student visit her professor?
3. What things does she bring him? Why?
What recent changes have there been in the state of Chinese
literature?
5. What is Professor Tang’s attitude about the future?
After you have answered these questions yourself, you may want to
take a look at the translation for this conversation. You may also
want to listen to the conversation again to help you pronounce
your answers correctly.
Dialogue and. Translation for Exercise 2
A mother and. her son who immigrated, to America from China five
years ago
are talking after dinner:
A: Xiǎo Ming, nǐ zài chǐ yidiǎnr
a.
B: Mā, wǒ chibǎo le, bù xiǎng chǐ
le.
A: Měitiān niàn shū niànde zhème
wan, zài bu duō chi yidiǎnr, zěnme xíng na?
B: Wǒ zhēnde chibǎo le, yidiǎnr
dōu bù xiǎng chi le.
A: Hǎizi, nǐ you shénme xǐnshì
Kě bu kéyi hé wo tántan?
B: Mā, ni zuòxia. Zanmen lai
Měiguo sìwǔnián le, lāide shihou wǒ hai shi ge haizi, xiànzài
yǐjīng shi dàren le. Wǒ suīran zhǎngdà le, kěshi zuò shénme shir,
haishi xiǎng xiān he nín tántan.
A: Hǎode, you shénme shir, nǐ
jiù shuō ba!
B: Mā, wǒ you Jǐge Měiguo tōng-
xué, dōu shi xué Zhōngwénde, jīnnián shujià, tāmen xiǎng dào
Yàzhōu qù kànkan, wǒ yě xiǎng hé tǎmen yìqǐ qù.
A: Dōu shi nianqīng rén ma?
B: Shi a, dōu shi dàxuéshěng.
A: Tāmen qù Yǎzhōu, shi qù wánr
háishi qù yánjiū Yǎzhōude zhèngzhi, wénhuà qíngxing?
B: Wǒ xiǎng, tāmen juéde Yàzhōu
wénhuà hěn you yìsi, Yàzhōu gèguō shèhuìde qíngkuàng yě hěn you
yìsi.
Xiǎo MÍng, have some more to eat.
I’m full, Mom. I don’t want any more.
You study so late every day, if you keep eating so little, how
will that do?
I’ve really had enough. I Just don’t want any more.
Son, what do you have on your mind? Can you talk about it with me?
Mom, sit down. We’ve been in America for four or five years now.
When we came I was still a child, but now I’m an adult. But even
though I’ve grown up, whenever I do something I still like to
discuss it with you first.
Okay, if you have something you’d like to talk about, go ahead.
Mom, I have a few American classmates who study Chinese. This
summer vacation, they want to go to Asia, and I’d like to go with
them.
Are they all young people?
Yes, they’re all college students.
Are they going to Asia for fun or to study the political and
cultural situation in Asia?
I think they find Asian culture and the social situation in the
Asian countries very interesting.
A: Tāmen Juéde zuì you yìside
dìfang shi nǎr a?
B: Dāngrán shi Zhōngguo!
A: Nǐ líkāi Zhōngguo zhǐ you
sìwǔniān, Jiù xiǎng huíqu le?
B: Wǒ laide shihou cái shàng
gāozhōng, duì Zhōngguo wénhuà dǒngdede tài shǎo. Wǒ xiǎng wǒ
yǐnggāi huíqu kànkan.
A: Zhōngguode wénhuà yǐjīng you
sìqiānniānde lìshǐ, yōu yìside dōngxi hěn duo. Nǐ yào yánjiù
Zhōngguo wénhuà, wǒ bù fǎnduì. Búguò, zǒu yǐqián, nǐ yídìng yào hé
Yéye hǎohāor tan yícì. Tā Jǐshíniān méiyou huíqu le, yídìng you
hěn duō huà yào hé ni shuō.
B: Wǒ Jìzhu le, yídìng hé Yéye
haohāor tányitán.
Which place do they think is the most interesting?
China, of course!
You left China only four or five years ago, and already you want
to go back again?
When I came I was only in senior high, and I understood too little
about Chinese culture. I think I ought to go back to visit.
Chinese culture already has four thousand years of history, and
there are many interesting things. I’m not against your wanting to
study Chinese culture. But before you go you have to talk it over
thoroughly with Grandpa. He hasn’t been back in several decades
and I’m sure he’ll have a lot to say to you.
I’ll remember. I’ll make sure I talk it over thoroughly with
Grandpa.
Dialogue and Translation for Exercise 3
Two classmates, an American (B) and a Chinese (A), share an
apartment somewhere in America. The American is at home studying
Shǐ Jì, Records of the Historian, a classical history. His Chinese
classmate comes in the door.
A: Wǒde tiān, na! Nǐ hái zài niàn
shù? Ai, he bēi píjiǔ xiūxi xiuxi hǎo bu hǎo?
B: Hǎo hǎo hǎo, ràng wo bǎ
zhèiyidiǎnr kànwàn xíng bu xíng?
bty God! Are you still studying? Hey, how about taking a break for
a beer?
Okay, okay, let me finish reading this little bit, okay?
A: Hài, nǐ zǒngshi kàn gǔshù!
Xiànzài shèhuìde qíngxing, nǐ Jiu yìdiǎnr dōu bu kǎolù ma?
B: Shéi shuō wǒ bù kǎolù, xué-
shēnghuìde shi wǒ yě zuòle bù shǎo ma!
A: Nǐ zhén you yìsi! Zuò
yidiǎnr xuéshěnghuìde shi Jiu shi guānxǐn shèhuì le!
Come on, you’re always reading classics! Don’t you ever think
about the condition of today’s society?
Who says I don’t think about it. I’ve done a lot with the Student
Association, you know!
You’re something else! Just doing a little work with the Student
Association means you’re concerned about society*
B:
A:
Na nǐ shuō, wo yǐnggāi zuò diǎn shénme ne?
Dàlùshang you name duō rén, nǐ zenme bu wènwen tamende qíngxing
zěnmeyàng?
Wǒ Juéde zhèngzhi wèntí tài máfan, wǒ bù xiǎng tan zhèngzhi.
Wo yě méiyou yào gēn nǐ tan zhèngzhide yìsi. Wǒde yìsi shi, nǐ
yanjiū Zhōngguode shihou, yìfāngmiàn yào kànkan gǔshǔ,
yánjiuyanjiu Zhōngguo chuántōng wénhuà, yifāngmiàn yě kéyi kànkan
zhèi yìbǎiniānde Zhōngguo lìshǐ.
B:
A:
B:
A:
B:
A:
Zhèiyidiǎn shi duìde. Zhèi yìxuéqǐ wǒ bú shi you Zhōngguo
jìndàishǐ kè ma?
Wǒ xiǎng chúle shàng xué yīwài, nǐ hai kéyi kàn yidiǎnr
xiǎo-shuōr.
Kàn xiǎoshuōr?! Wǒ nǎr you shíjiān kàn shenme xiǎoshuōr?
Wǒ zuìjìn zài kàn Jǐběnr Zhōngguo Jìndài xiǎoshuōr, fēicháng you
yìsi. Nī rúguǒ xiǎng dǒngde Zhōngguo xiàndài shèhuì, zhēn děi duō
kàn diǎnrzhèi-zhǒng xiǎoshuōr.
Wǒ zenme kéyi hé nī bī, nī kànde nàme kuài! E, zheiyang hǎo bu
hǎo, nī kànwán yīhòu gàosu wo něiyiběn hǎo yidiǎnr, wǒ zài kàn,
xíng bu xíng?
Hǎo hǎo hǎo, Jiù zhèiyang ba! Xiànzài wǒ bú zài máfan ni le. Ei,
duì le, Jīntiān wǎnshang zánmen chī shénme? Wǒ lái zuò yidiǎnr,
hǎo bu hǎo?
BÚ bì zuò le, suíbiàn chǐ diǎnr ba! Wǒ niànwán zhèiyi-diǎnr,
zánmen chūqu chī pǐchá bǐng, hǎo bu hǎo?
Well then, what do you think I should do?
There are so many people on the mainland, how come you don’t try
to find out what their situation is like?
I think that political problems are too much bother (tedious and
involved). I don’t like to talk about politics.
I didn’t mean I wanted to talk politics with you. I mean that as
you study China, on the one hand you should read the classics and
study traditional Chinese culture, but on the other hand you can
also read some Chinese history of the past hundred years.
You’re right about that. I have modern Chinese history class this
semester, don’t I?
But I think that besides taking classes, you could read some
fiction, too.
Read fiction?! When (lit. "where”) do I have time to read any
fiction?
Lately I’ve been reading a few modern Chinese novels which are
very interesting. If you want to understand modern Chinese
society, you really have to read more of this kind of fiction.
How can I compare with you; you read so fast! Hey, how about this:
after you’ve finished reading them, tell me which book is best and
then I’ll read it, okay?
Okay, that’s what we’ll do. Now I’ll leave you alone. Oh yeah—what
are we going to eat tonight? I’ll make something, okay?
You don’t have to make anything. Why don’t we Just have something
easy. After I finish reading this, how about going out and having
a pizza?
A: Hǎo! Ní kuài diǎnr niàn,
niànwán zǎnmen jiu zǒu.
Okay! Hurry up and read, we’ll leave right after you finish.
Dialogue and Translation for Exercise U
At an American university, a student (A), who has studied in
Taiwan, comes to see her professor from China, Professor Tang
(B).*
A: Tang Xiǎnsheng, wǒ kéyi Professor (Teacher)
Tang, may I come
jìnlai ma? in?
B: Dǎngrán, qǐng jìnlai ba! You Of course, please come in! Is
shi ma? there some matter (you want to
see
me about)?
A: Mm, jǐntiǎn shàng kède shihou
nín dàgài hěn bu shūfu, wǒ lái kànkan nín.
B: Ou! Hai dàile huār lai!
Xièxie ni.
A: Mei shenme, yǐnggāide. Tang
Xiansheng, nín xiànzàide gǎnjué zěnmeyàng, hǎo yidiǎnr ma?
B: Hǎoduō le, xièxie ni.
A: You shénme wǒ kéyi gěi nín
zuòde...nín bié kèqi.
B: Nǐ qù dào liǎngbēi kāfěi lai,
hǎo bu hǎo?
A: Wǒ xiǎng, Jǐntiǎn shàng kède
shihou nín tài jīdòng, xiànzài zuì hǎo bù he kǎfēi.
B: Hǎo ba, nǐ dào liǎngbēi Júzi-
shu? lai. Wǒ bú yào bīng.
A: Hǎode, wǒ Jiù lái.
(She gets the orange Juice out of the and brings it over to his
desk.)
Um, in class today, you must have felt very bad, so I’ve come to
see you.
Oh! You even brought flowers!
Thank you.
Not at all, it’s only proper. Dr. Táng, how do you feel now,
better?
Much better, thank you.
If there’s anything I can do for you...don’t be polite.
How about going and pouring Cusl a couple of cups of coffee?
I think that during class today you got too worked up. It would be
best if you didn’t have any coffee now.
Okay, then get us two glasses of orange Juice. I don’t want any
ice.
Okay, I’ll be right back.
refrigerator in Professor Táng’s office
'Professor Táng first studied literature in the early 1930’s in
Shànghǎi and himself belonged to several literary clubs and
publications which included some of the authors he now discusses
with his students.
A: Tang Xiansheng, you yíjù huà
•wǒ bù zhīdào kéyi bu kéyi shuō.
B: You shénme huà, nǐ jiù shuō
ba!
A: Nín měicì Jiang Zhōngguo
liùshi niándài wénxué dōu fēicháng Jīdòng, zhèiyangr duì nínde
shēntī bù hǎo!
B: Wǒ yě zhīdao, kěshi yì tan
zhèi fāngmiànde wèntí, zǒngshi rang wo hen Jīdòng.
A: Zhōngguo wénxuéde qíngkuāng
zhèijīnián youle hěn dàde gǎibiàn. Yǒude shíhou hǎo yidiǎnr, yǒude
shíhou bù zěnme hǎo.
B: Zhōngguode shìqing Jiù shi
zhèiyàng, hé zhèngzhide guānxi tài dà. Wǒ lǎo le, wǒ méi bànfǎ
dong le.
A: Nín shi wǒmende lǎoshī. Ruguǒ
nín bù dong, shéi dong ne?
B: Èi, yīhòude yánjiū, Jiù shi
nǐmen niánqīng rénde shi le.
A: Tang Xiansheng, nín bu yào
zhèiyangr xiǎng, women dōu xīwàng yīhòu Zhōngguo wénxuéde qíngxing
huì hǎo yidiǎnr. Jīntiān wǒ zài tùshūguǎn Jièle Jīběnr xīn shu,
dōu shi bu cuòde. Gěi nín liúxia ba!
B: Hǎo, you shiJian wo kànyikan.
A: Wǒ zǒu le, nín duō xiūxi
yihuīr. Zàijiàn.
B: Hǎo, zài Jiàn. Xièxie nī
lai kàn wo.
A: Bu kèqi.
Dr. Tang, there’s something I want to say but I don’t know if I
can.
Whatever you have to say, Just say it!
Every time you talk about Chinese literature of the sixties you
get very agitated." That’s bad for your health!
I know, but as soon as I talk about the topic it always makes me
very agitated.
There have been big changes in the state of Chinese literature in
the past few years. Sometimes it’s been a little better and
sometimes it hasn’t been too good.
That’s exactly the way things are in China; their relationship
with politics is too great. I’m too old, I can’t understand it any
more.
But you’re our teacher. If you don’t understand, who does?
(Sigh) In the future, research will be the Job of you young
people.
Dr. Tang, don’t think that way. All of us hope that the state of
Chinese literature will get better in the future. I got a few new
books out of the library today which are all pretty good. I’ll
leave them with you!
Okay, I’ll look through them when I have time.
I’m going to leave now. You get some more rest. Good-bye.
All right, good-bye. Thanks for coming to see me.
You’re welcome.
Many authors of considerable fame and accomplishment were
persecuted during the Cultural Revolution. One unfortunate
instance of this resulted in Lǎo Shě’s suicide.
UNIT 2
Equality of the Sexes
INTRODUCTION
Grammar Topics Covered in This Unit
1. The uses of biěde, "other(s)" and lìngwài,
"other."
2. The pattern měi...jiu....
3. The pattern yuè...yuè..., "the more...the
more...."
U. The pattern yuè lai yuè.... "more and more...."
5. The verb ending -xiaqu, "to continue," "to
go on."
6. The prepositional verb xiang, "like."
7. The adverb jiù, "as soon/early as that."
Functional Language Contained in This Unit
1. Asking a person's views on an issue.
2. Being tactfully hesitant when asking about a delicate
topic.
3. Correcting a false impression given by something you said.
U. Dismissing an idea or proposal.
1. A: Zhèiběn Fǎwén zhōukān xiāngdāng bú cuò!
B: A! Nǐ xiànzài duì Fǎwén hen you yánjiū le, néng kàn Fǎwén zázhì
le!
This French weekly is quite good!
Oh! You know a lot about French now you can read French magazines!
2. A: Nánnū píngděng shi bu shi Zhōngguo rénde kànfǎ?
B: Shi, kěshi nèi shi Zhōngguo rénde xīn guānniàn, bú shi lǎo
guānniàn.
Is equality between men and women a Chinese viewpoint?
Yes, but that's a new concept of the Chinese, not an old one.
3. A: Zhèipiān wénzhāng bù hǎo ma?
B: Bú shi zhèige yìsi. Wénzhāng bú cuò, jiù shi chángle yidiǎnr.
B: Nǐ hái you shénme biéde wénzhāng ma?
Isn’t this article any good?
That wasn’t what I meant. The article is pretty good, it’s just
that it’s a bit long.
Do you have any other articles?
h. A: Nǐ jiēhūn yīqián yìzhí dōu gēn fùmǔ yìqǐ zhù ma?
B: Bú shi, wǒ méi jiēhūn jiu líkāi jiā dúlì shēnghuōle qī-bā nián.
5. A: Nǐ kàn, zhèr you yìpiān guānyù tōngjūde xǐnwén.
B: Suànle ba. Zhèizhǒng xǐnwén you shénme yìsi?
Before you got married did you live with your parents all along?
No, I left home before I got married and lived independently for
seven or eight years.
Look, here’s a news article about ’’living together."
Forget it. What’s interesting about that kind of news?
6. A: Nī jiejie yǐxué fāngmiànde shū yuè lái yuè duō le!
B: Shi a, tā zài pǐnmìng xué
yǐ ne.
Your sister is getting more and more medical books!
Yes, she’s studying medicine with all her energy.
7. A: Liu Xiānshengde kè shízài méi yìsi.
B: Nǐ tǐngxiaqu, mànmānr huì you xìngqude.
8. A: Xiang Wang Jiàoshòu zhèi-yangde lǎoshǐ zhēnshi bù duo.
B: Nǐ shuōduì le. Ruguǒ bú shi tā bāngzhu wo, wǒ zhēn bù xiǎng
xué le.
9. A: Sānnián yīqián wǒ jiu bú kào fùmǔ shēnghuo le.
B: Nī néng zìjǐ guan zìjī, zhēn bú cuò.
Mr. Liu’s class is really boring.
If you keep attending it, gradually you’ll become interested.
There really aren’t many teachers like Professor Wang.
You’re right. If it weren’t for the help he’s given me, I wouldn’t
want to study anymore.
I stopped depending on my parents for a living three years ago.
It’s really great that you can take care of yourself Cbe your own
bossí'.
10. A: Tā xiěde jǐběn xiǎoshuō xiànzài dōu hěn liúxíng.
B: Nà dāngrān, xiàng tā nèiyang you dìwei you zhǐshide rén,
xiěde xiǎoshuō yídìng you yìsi.
The novels he wrote are all very popular now.
Of course. Novels written by someone with his position and
knowledge are sure to be interesting.
ADDITIONAL REQUIRED VOCABULARY
11. you bāngzhu
12. you dàolī
13. zìyou
12*. -bèizi
15. Xǐnwén Zhōukān
16. fùnu
to be helpful
to make sense
to be free; freedom
all one’s life, lifetimi
Newsweek
woman; women, womankind
VOCABULARY
bāngzhu
-bèizi
help; to help
all one’s life, lifetime
dàolǐ
principle, truth, hows and whys; reason, argument, sense
dìwei dull
position, status
to be independent; independence
funú
woman; women, womankind
guan
to take care of; to mind, to bother about
guānniàn
concept, idea, notion
jiéhūn (jiēhūn)
to get married
kào
to depend on, to rely on; to lean against; to be near,
to be next to
liúxíng
to be common, to be popular, to be prevalent
méi yìsi
to be uninteresting, to be boring;
to be pointless, to be meaningless; to be a drag; to be
without value, not worthy of respect
nánnū
men and women, male-female
-pi an
(counter for sheets, articles or pieces of writing)
píngděng pínmìng
equality; to be equal (of people) with all one’s might,
for all one is worth, desperately, like mad; to risk
one’s life, to defy death
shēnghuó shizài suàn le
life; to live; livelihood
really; to be real
forget it, let’s drop the matter, let it go at that;
come off it, come on
tóngjū
to cohabit; cohabitation
wénzhāng
article, essay; prose (writing) style
xiang
to be like, to resemble; like; such as
xi āngdāng
quite, pretty, considerably
-xiaqu
(resultative ending which indicates continuing an
action)
xìngqu
xinwén
Xinwén Zhōukān
xué yī
interest
news
Newsweek
to study medicine
yī
medical science, medicine (used in phrases like xué yī)
yīxué yìzhí
medical science, medicine
all along, continuously, all the time (up until a
certain point)
you bāngzhu you dàolī you xìngqu you yánjiū
to be helpful
to make sense
to be interested
to have done research on; to know a lot about
yuè...yuè...
yuè lai yuè...
the more...the more...
more and more..., increasingly...
zhīshi zhōukān
knowledge
weekly publication, weekly
zìyou
magazine, a "weekly" freedom; to be free
1. A: Zhèiběn Fǎwén zhōukān xiāngdāng bú cuò.’
B: A.’ Nǐ xiànzài duì Fǎwén hěn you yánjiū le, néng kàn Fǎwén
zázhì le.’
This French weekly is quite good.’
Oh.’ You know a lot about French now you can read French
magazines!
Notes on No. 1
zhōukān: ’’weekly publication, weekly magazine’’ One of the
meanings for zhōu is ’’week." (Other meanings include
’’cycle, circuit.’’) Kān is a word element meaning "to print,
to publish" or "a periodical, a publication."
Notice that this is a different word from the falling-tone kàn
"to read." Some other words using these syllables (which
you will often hear, but need not learn now) are:
zhōumò zhōubào zhōukān yuèkān bàokān qīkān kānwù
weekend
weekly publication, weekly weekly publication
monthly publication newspapers and magazines periodicals
publications
xiāngdāng: "quite, pretty," as in "quite a
lot" or "pretty good." This word is not quite as
positive as zhēn "really, truly," but more so than hái,
"fairly, rather" (which will be presented in Unit U).
Tā chǎode cài xiāngdāng hǎo chǐ. He cooks pretty well.
Zhèige zhǎnlǎnguǎn xiāngdāng This exhibition hall is quite
good,
bú cuò.
you yánjiū: "to have done research on, to know a lot about,
to be expert on, to be knowledgeable about." You have often
seen you used with a noun, such as ming, "name," or
qián, "money," to form a phrase which acts like an
adjectival verb. You míng is "to be famous," you qián is
"to be rich." You yánjiū is Just such a phrase.
As shown in sentence IB, to say "knowledgeable ABOUT"
something, use the prepositional verb duì, "towards, with
regard to," as in:
duì
......
you yánjiū
(with regard to
Ca subject of study2
have research)
"to know a lot about (something)"
le: The marker le is used twice in the sentence above to show a
new situation. This person’s French seems to have improved because
NOW he knows a lot about French and can read magazines.
2. A: Nánnū píngděng shi bu shi Is equality between men and women
Zhōngguo rénde kànfǎ? a Chinese viewpoint?
B: Shi, kěshi nèi shi Zhōngguo Yes, but that’s a new concept of
the rénde xin guānniàn, bú Chinese, not an old one.
shi lǎo guānniàn.
Notes on No. 2
nánnū: "male and female," used only for humans.
Nánnūde shìqing zuì nan shuō. Matters between men and women are
the hardest to judge.
Women xuéxiào nánnū xuéshēng There are both men and women
students
dōu you. at our school.
W X X
Nan and nū ma^r modify nouns referring to people, e.g.,
nuxuésheng, "woman student, ’’ nutōngzhì , "woman
comrade. "
A: Chen Yīngmíng dào nǎr qu le? Where did Chen Yīngmíng go?
B: Tā he yíge tóngxué chūqu le. He went out with a
classmate.
A: Shi nántóngxué shi Was it a male classmate or a
female
nutōngxué? classmate?
Nánde and nūde are sometimes used for "man" and
"woman," but when used to refer to an individual (e.g.,
nèige nánde) they are rather impolite. When used for
"men" and "women" in general or to distinguish
between the sexes, they are, however, acceptable.
A: Wǒ mǎi zhèizhǒng xíng bu xíng? Should I buy this kind?
B: Bù xíng, zhèi shi nánde yòngde. No, this is for men’s use.
A: Gāngcái you yíge rén dǎ diàn- Just now someone telephoned
for you. huà lai zhǎo ni.
B: Shi nánde shi nude? Was it a man or a woman?
nánnū píngděng: "equality of the sexes," literally
"man-woman equality." The marriage law of May 1, 1950,
established a policy in the PRC which has *For animals,
"male" is gōng(de) and "female" is mǔ(de),
e.g., gōngniū, "bull," mǔniū, "cow."
Tāde gǒu shi gōngde háishi mǔde? Is his dog a male or a female?
You rén shuō kāidāo yihòu bù Some people say that after an
opera-
yīnggāi chi gōngjī, yīnggāi tion one shouldn’t eat rooster;
chi mǔjī. one should eat hen.
remained basically the same up to the present day. It forbade bi
gamypolygamy, and the traditional practice of adopting a young
girl for the purpose of later marrying her to one’s son. It also
fixed a minimum age for marriage, urged the acceptance of
remarriage of widows, allowed divorce by mutual consent, and gave
women the choice not to take their husband’s surname at marriage.
Today, although traditional attitudes toward women and marriage
persist especially in rural China, official policy has made some
tangible inroads toward the goal of equality. Most importantly,
men and woman are regarded as equal under the law. They receive
the same schooling. They must receive equal compensation for equal
work. (it is expected, however, that women doing heavy physical
work are not as strong or productive as men, and so their pay will
be correspondingly lower.) In addition, the leadership of
communes, production teams, and unions must include special women
personnel who represent the interests of women in matters of
politics, finance, work, and personal relations.
píngděng: This word is both a noun and a verb: "to be equal;
equality"
Cóngqián zài Zhōngguo nánnū bù Formerly men and women were unequal
píngděng, xiànzài bù tong le. in China. Now it is different.
Měiguo rén gēn Zhōngguo rén duì Americans and Chinese don't have
nánnù píngděngde guānniàn bú all that similar an idea of
tài yíyàng. equality of the sexes.
guānniàn: "way of thought, concept; sense (of), mentality
(of)" This is a way of thinking about the larger issues of
life, the way "things"
(values, responsibilities, and so on) should be. One guānniàn is
only part
of a whole system of attitudes, thoughts and beliefs. In given
contexts, you can sometimes translate it as an "idea"
held by a person or group (but it
does not mean "idea" as in "I have a good
idea" Cthis would be zhúyìl). In a
society, ways of thinking come and go; people have a mixture of
xīn guānniàn, "new ways of thought, new ideas," and lao
guānniàn, "old ways of thought, old ideas." Ways of
thinking which are no longer current are called jiù guānniàn,
"outmoded ways of thinking." For instance, equality of
the sexes is a xín guānniàn; the idea that arranged marriages are
superior to marriages of free choice is a lǎo guānniàn; the idea
of child brides as acceptable and practical is a jiù guānniàn.
Some guānniàn are considered "correct" and
"good" by the majority, and some are considered
"incorrect" and "bad." Jiātíng guānniàn,
"a sense of family," is usually considered good.’
"Bad" concepts have names too Efor example, síyǒu
guānniàn, "sense of personal ownership"!. People are
sometimes criticized because their such-and-such guānniàn is too
weak or too strong, and they are told accordingly either to
strengthen it or get rid of it.
Měiguo rénde guānniàn gēn Zhōngguo rénde guānniàn yǒude yíyàng,
yǒude bù yíyàng.
Sometimes the American way of thinking and the Chinese way is the
same, sometimes not.
’Other "good" concepts containing words that haven’t
been presented yet are dàodé guānniàn, "sense of
morality," zǔzhí guānniàn, "sense of organization,"
and zhèngcè guānniàn, "sense of official policy."
Nǐ kàn ba, zài guò jǐnián nián-qīngrén yīnggāi wǎnliàn wǎnhūn jiù
huì biàncheng ° yizhǒng guānniàn.
You watch, in a few more years, it will have become an accepted
idea that young people should get involved late and marry late.
3. A: Zhèipiān wenzhang bù hǎo ma?
B: Bú shi zhèige yìsi. Wénzhāng bú cuò, jiù shi chángle yidiǎnr.
B: Nǐ hái you shénme biéde wénzhāng ma?
Notes on No. 3
Isn’t this article any good?
That wasn’t what I meant. The article is pretty good, it’s just
that it’s a bit long.
Do you have any other articles?
-piān: This is a counter. First, -piān is the counter for whole
short pieces of writing, such as articles or essays. Second, -piān
can count single sheets of paper with writing or printing on them
(compare yìzhāng zhǐ which is a sheet of paper without regard to
what is on it). Third, -piān(r) by itself means a leaf of a book;
that is, yìpiān(r) equals both sides of one page.
wénzhāng: (1) ”a writing, literary composition, article,
essay" (counter: -piān); (2) "prose style," as in
Tāde wénzhāng bú cuò.
His (prose) writing is very good.
Bú shi zhèige yìsi: "That wasn’t what I meant," or more
literally, "Not that meaning (the one you just said)."
jiù shi...: Jiù here means "merely, only, just."
chángle yidiǎnr: "a little bit too long." The marker le
following an adjectival verb, such as "to be long" can
mean either: 1) new situation, the article is now a bit long, or
2) excessive degree, the article is a bit too long. You’ve seen
the second meaning in sentences such as Tai hǎo le, "That’s
wonderful.”’ Sentence 3B tells you that the speaker feels the
article is overly long.
biéde: "other, others" Distinguish in Chinese between
biéde, "others in general," and lìngwài,
"another" or "the other." Use biéde when you
are not specifying "which others." Use lìngwài + Number
+ Counter when you refer to a certain "other" or certain
"others." Contrast this pair of sentences■ "wǎnliàn
wǎnhūn: "late involvement and late marriage" This refers
to waiting until young people are in their late twenties before
they become romantically involved or think of marriage.
*"biàncheng: "to change into" (SOC Unit 3)
Nǐ hái yào kàn biéde ma?
Nǐ hái yào kàn lìngwài yíge ma?
Contrast also:
Zhèiběnr zìdiǎn bù hǎo, wǒ yào lìngwài yìběnr.
Zhèiběnr zìdiǎn bù hǎo, wǒ yào biéde.
Would you like to look at some other ones? (UNSPECIFIED OTHERS)
Would you like to see the other one, too? (A CERTAIN
ONE—"THE" OTHER)
This dictionary is no good. I want the other one. (A CERTAIN OTHER
ONE—e.g., the other one which the sales clerk showed you)
This dictionary is no good. I want another. (UNSPECIFIED—e.g., you
don’t know whether the store has any others, but you would like to
see some)
Other examples:
Tāmen liǎngge rén, yíge shi wǒ gēge, lìngwài yíge shi wǒ péngyou.
Women zhèixiē rén lǐbiānr, chùle wǒ dào Xianggang qù yīwài, biéde
rén dōu dào Taiwan qù.
Zuótiān láide rén, wǒ zhǐ rènshi Tang Huìyíng, lìngwài sānge rén
wǒ dōu bù rènshi.
Of those two, one is my older brother, and the other is my friend.
(A CERTAIN OTHER—"THE" OTHER)
Of those of us here, only I am going to Hong Kong; all the others
are going to Taiwan. (UNSPECIFIED— ANY AND ALL OTHERS IN THE
GROUP)
Of the people who came yesterday, I only know Tang Huìyíng. I
don't know any of the other three.
(CERTAIN OTHERS—"THE" OTHER ONES)
If you do not specify the set of things mean any others in the
whole world:
you are
talking about, biéde tends to
Women zhǐ you zhèiyiběn, méiyou biéde.
We only don't
have this one volume. We have any others.
Women xūyào biéde shū.
We need (an)other book(s).
This last sentence you want to change supplement the one
can mean either 1) the content of the book(s) is bad and to
another book entirely, or 2) you need other books to you are
using.
hái...biéde: Now that you have seen how to say "other"
in Chinese, you should note that the words lìngwài and biéde are
often used in combination with certain adverbs meaning
"additionally" or "again": hái, zài, and you.
For now, concentrate on hái. As used in sentence 3B, it means
literally "in addition to what has come before."
Tā hai yào biéde. He wants more of them.
Tā hai zuōle hiéde cài. He made other dishes as well.
Ní hai zhīdao hiéde hao fànguānr Do you know any other good
restaurants? ma?
shénme: "any" The meaning of shénme is changed from
"what" to "any" hy the question word ma at the
end of the sentence. (Without ma, the sentence would mean,
"What other articles do you have?")
Ní yào shénme? What do you want?
Ní yào shénme ma? Do you want anything?
Ní dōu zhīdao shénme hao fàn- What good restaurants do you know?
guǎnr?
Ní zhīdao shénme hǎo fàn- Do you know of any good
restaurants?
guǎnr ma?
U. A: Nī jiēhūn yíqián yìzhí dōu Before you got married did you
gēn fùmǔ yìqī zhù ma? live with your parents all along?
B: Bu shi, wǒ méi jiēhūn jiu No, I left home Before I got married
líkāi jiā dull shēnghuōle and lived independently for seven qī-bā
nián. or eight years.
Notes on No. U
jiéhūn: "to get married" Also pronounced jiēhūn. Jiéhūn
is a process verb, not a state verb. It is often seen with an
aspect marker such as le, or negated with méi.
Tāmen jiéhūnle méiyou? Have they gotten married yet?
(This
is the equivalent of "Are they married?")
Tāmen méi jiéhūn. They have not gotten married.
(Equi
valent to "They are not married.")
Tāmen bù jiéhūn. They are not going to get
married.
Nī jiéhūn duo jiǔ le? Have long have you been
married?
Jiéhūn is a verb-object compound, literally meaning "to knot
marriage." Jié and hūn can be separated by aspect markers,
such as -de. or -guo.
Nī shi shénme shihou jiéde hūn? When did you get married? or Nī
shi shénme shihou jiéhūnde?
Liu Xiānsheng Jiéguo sāncì hūn. Mr. Liu has been married three
times.
To say "get married TO SOMEONE" use the pattern
gēn...jiéhūn or he...Jiéhūn.
Tā gēn shéi jiéhūn le? To whom did he get married?
yìzhí: "all along, continuously, always” You have seen yìzhí,
"straight," used to refer to direction, as in yìzhí zōu.
Here yìzhí is used to refer to time.
Women yìzhí zài zhèli gōngzuò. We’ve always worked here.
Tā yìzhí zài Taidà niàn shū. He studied all along at Taiwan
University.
Yìzhí can "be used with reference to a phrase telling of a
period of time (sānnian, "three years," or jiéhūn
yǐqiān, "before getting married") to say "all
during (that time)."
Yù yìzhí xiàle sāntiān.
It rained for three days straight.
Often the time phrase and yìzhí are followed by dōu.
Tā wūtiān yìzhí dōu méi xiūxi. He didn’t rest for
wō méi jiehūn jiu líkāi jiā...: This might look like married and
left home,’’ but is actually "when I wasn’t yet left
home." The order of events is made explicit and jiù...
(already.••)•
five days on end.
”l didn’t get married, I already
Tā méi xué sìwǔge yuè Yīngwén Jiù shuōde bú cuò le.
Tā bìng méi hǎo Jiù lai shàng ban le.
Wō gàosu nǐ méi Jītiǎn, nī you wàng le.’
Méi duō jiǔ, tā jiù shuìzháo le.
Yù xiàle méi duō jiù jiù ting le.
by méi... (hadn’t yet.•.)
Before he had studied even three or four months of English, he
could speak it pretty well.
She came back to work before she had recovered from her illness.
I told you Just a few days ago and you’ve forgotten again.
He fell asleep before long.
It hadn’t rained long when it stopped.
literally
dúlì: "to be independent, to be on one’s own; independence,
singly stand."
Měiguo shi yīqīqīliùnián dúlìde.
Zuìjìn jǐniàn you Jǐge xīn dúlìde guōjiā.
America became independent in 1776.
There have been several newly independent countries in the last
few years.
Neige háizi hěn xǐhuan dull That child really likes to he
inde-
shēnghuó, tā zài zhōngxuéde pendent. He started to work
when
shíhou yǐjíng kāishǐ gōngzuò le. he was in high school.
Tā zhème dà, JīngJi hái méiyou He's so old and still not
econom-dúlì. ically independent.
shēnghuo: "to live; life; livelihood" Sheng- is stressed
and -huo is unstressed or neutral tone. A zài phrase may come
either before or after the verb shēnghuo.
Xiongmāo chàbuduō dōu shēnghuo zài gāoshānshang.
Almost all panda bears live in
the high mountains.
Tā zài shēnghuoshang duì wo hěn zhàogu.
Tā xiǎo shíhou shēnghuo qíngxing hěn bù hǎo.
She takes good care of me in my daily life.
When he was a child, he lived in very bad circumstances.
5. A: Nǐ kàn, zhèr you yìpiān Look, here's a news article
on
guānyú tongJude xǐnwén. "living together."
B: Suànle ba. Zhèizhǒng Forget it. What's interesting
about
xǐnwén you shénme yìsi? that kind of news?
Notes on No. 5
tongjū: "to live together, to cohabit" Jū is a literary
word for "to
live.2’
Although some dictionaries define tongjū simply as "to live
together," giving examples such as an uncle and nephew living
together, tongjū almost always implies sexual relations. It may
even be used to describe romances of shorter durations, whether or
not a household was set up. You'll notice that in some dialogues
in this unit, the speakers prefer the phrase nannū tongju in order
to be explicit.
xǐnwén: "news" This is the word for "news" as
in "the evening news," "the news in the paper
today," "official news." It is not the word for
news between friends, unless one is Joking about the importance of
what is about to be said. EThe word for news between people is
xiāoxi, "tidings," (MBD, Unit 5) which has a second
meaning of "official news."3
Nǐ kàn diànshi xǐnwén le ma? Did you see the television
news?
Jintiān bàoshangde xǐnwén hěn The news in the paper today is
very
you yìsi, yīnggāi hǎohāor interesting; you should read it
kànkan. carefully.
A: Jintiān tā gàosu wǒ yíge xinwén, shuō Xiǎo Wáng he Xiǎo Lǐ
"Shíyī" jiēhūn.
B: Zhēnde? Zhèi zhēn shi ge dà xǐnwén.
Today she told me some real news. She said that Xiǎo Wang and Xiǎo
Lǐ are getting married on October 1 (National Day).
Really? Boy, that really is big news
suàn le: "Forget it." Suàn is the verb "to
calculate, to figure, to compute." The idiom suàn le is
translated as "let it be," "let it pass,"
"drop the matter," "let it go at that. ’’
Suàn le, bu yào zài wèn tā le.
Ràng tā zìjǐ bàn, jiù suàn le.
Forget it, don’t ask him about it any more.
Let him do it himself, and the heck with it.
A: Zánmen chūqu chi fàn ba?
B: Wǒ jiù xiǎng zài jiāli suíbiàn chī yidiǎnr suàn le.
Dōu gěi ni, suàn le.
Nǐ yào qù jiù qù, bú qù jiù suàn le.
How about going out to eat?
I just want to eat a little bit at home and leave it at that.
Go ahead and take them all.
If you want to go, then go. If you don’t want to go, then forget
it.
6. A:
Nǐ jiějie yīxué fāngmiànde shū yuè lái yuè duō le.’
B: Shǐ a, tā zài pīnmìng xué yī ne.
Your sister is getting more and more medical books!
Yes, she’s studying medicine with all her energy.
Notes on No. 6
nǐ jiějie yīxué fāngmiànde shū: "your sister’s medical
books" To say just "your sister’s books" you put a
-de on jiějie: Nǐ Jiějiede shū. But -de is not used after jiějie
in 6A. This is because of the modifying phrase yīxué fāngmiànde,
which ends in -de. To have two -de phrases in a row before a noun
is often considered stylistically bad; the way to get around it is
to keep only the last -de. Other examples:
Běijīng C-dei
zuì hǎo -de fànguǎnr
Zhōu Xiānsheng E-del tàitai -de péngyou
yuè lái yuè duō le: "more and more..." The pattern
yuè...yuè... is used to express the idea "the more...the
more..." Fill in the blanks with verbs (state or action).
yuè duō
yuè hao
"the more the better"
yue kan | yue bu dong
"the more one reads, the
more confused one gets"
Péngyou yuè duō yuè hǎo.
Dìtú yuè dà yuè qīngchu.
Tā bù xǐhuan qǐng kè, juéde kèren yuè duō yuè máfan.
Wǒ yuè xiǎng yuè pà.
Tā yuè shuō yuè shēngqì.
Nèipiān wénzhāng xiěde hěn bu qīngchu, nǐ yuè kàn yuè bù dong.
The more friends you have, the better.
The larger a map is, the clearer it is.
She doesn't like to invite guests; she feels that the more guests
there are, the more trouble it is.
The more I thought about it, the more frightened I got.
The more he talked, the madder he got.
The article is very unclear. The more you read it, the less you
understand.
When the verb lai is used in the first blank of this pattern, the
whole phrase expresses the idea of "increasingly..." or
"...-er and ...-er":
I yuè lai | yuè gāo |
"to become taller and taller"
Huang Taitaide nuer yue lai yue Mrs. Huang's daughter is getting
piàoliang le. prettier all the time.
Dōngxi yuè lai yuè guì le. Things are getting more and
more
expensive.
zài: Zài is the marker of ongoing action which you learned in the
Meeting module, Unit 2: Tā xiànzài zài kāi huì, "She is
attending a meeting now." Note that zài is used in sentence
6B even though the action of studying is not necessarily going on
at this very second, but only at intervals. She might not be
studying right when this sentence is said, but she still is going
to medical school. Likewise, if you are in the middle of a novel,
you can say Wǒ zài kàn yiběn xiǎoshuō even if you have put it
aside for a day or two.
zài...ne: Sentences with zài, the marker of ongoing action, often
end in ne, the marker of absence of change or lack of completion.
(See Unit 2 of the Transportation module and Unit h of this
module.)
pǐnmìng: "exerting the utmost strength, with all one’s might,
for all one is worth, desperately, like mad" Pǐnmìng means
literally "to risk one’s life" or "to defy
death." One translation which captures the spirit of pǐnmìng
is "knocking oneself out."
Shìqing tài duo, tā pīnmìngde zuǒ yě zuòbuwān.
There’s too much to do. She’s working like mad and still won’t be
able to finish.
Xiǎoháir yí kànjian
lǎoshǔ3
jiù pīnmìng pǎo hui Jiā qu le.
As soon as the child saw the rat, he ran like mad for home.
7. A: Liu Xiānshengde kè shízài méi yìsi.
B: Nǐ tǐngxiaqu, mànmānr huì you xìngqude.
Notes On No. 7
Mr. Liu’s class is really boring.
If you keep attending it, gradually you’ll become interested.
shízài:
’’really, indeed, honestly; to be true
an adjectival verb which is most often actually.”
Tā shízài yonggong”, měitiān wǎnshang niàn hǎo jǐge zhōngtéu
Yīngwén.
Wǒ shízài bù zhīdào.
Wǒ shízài gàosu nǐ ba, wǒ bù xiǎng qù.
Yàoshi nǐ shízài méi bànfa, nà Jiù suàn le.
Shízài can also be used in speaking connotation of dependability.
Tā zhèige rén hěn shízài.
to be real” This is used as an adverb meaning ’’really,
He is really industrious; every night he studies several hours of
English.
I really (OR honestly) don’t know.
I’ll tell you the truth: I don’t want to go.
If you really can’t do it, then Just forget it.
of people; when so used it carries the
He is very sincere and dependable.
méi yìsi: This phrase, meaning literally ’’has no meaning,” has an
abundance of uses: (1) uninteresting, boring; (2) pointless,
meaningless; (3) to be a drag; (U) without value, not worthy of
respect, cheap.
(1) Zhèiběn shū zhēn méi yìsi.
Wǒ kàn nǐ bú bì qù nèige dìfang, méi shenme yìsi.
(2) Jīntiān kāi huì, shénme dōu méi zuò, zhēn méi yìsi.
Tā bù dong, zài Jiang ye méi yìsi.
This book is really boring.
I don’t think you need to go there.
It’s not particularly fun (interesting)
We didn’t get anything done at today’s meeting. How pointless.
He doesn’t understand. It’s pointless to try to explain it any
more.
Tā bú zài, zánmen qù yě méi yìsi, shénme dōu bù néng zuò.
(3) Tā zài Měiguo, tā àiren zài Déguo, zhēn méi yìsi.
(U) Zài tā bèihōu° shuō zhèiyangrde huà, zhēn méi yìsi!
Since he’s not there, it would be pointless for us to go. We
wouldn’t be able to do anything.
He’s in America and his love is in Germany. What a drag!
Talking like that behind her back is really low.
tīngxiaqu: "to go on listening" You’ve seen the action
verb ting, "to listen" and the directional ending -xiàqu
"to go down" before. Here xiàqu is not used as a
directional ending, but rather a resultative ending "to
continue, to go on." As a resultative verb, tīngxiaqu may
take de and bu as middle syllables to make verbs which say
"can" and "cannot."
Zhèiběn shū tài méi yìsi, wǒ kànbuxiàqù le.
Nǐ shuōde duì, Jiǎngxiaqu.
A: Gàosu wo, hòulái zěnme le?
B: Gàosu ni méi yìsi. Nǐ kàn-xiaqu Jiù huì zhīdao le.
Shuōxiaqu a, women dōu ài tīng.
Nǐ zhèiyang děngxiaqu zěnme xíng ne?
you xìngqu: "to be interested" what you are interested
in.
Wǒ duì nèijiàn shi yidiǎnr xìngqu yě méiyou.
Nǐ duì shénmeyàngrde shū zuì you xìngqu?
This book is too boring. I can’t read on.
That’s right. Go on (speaking).
Tell me, what happens later?
It would be no fun to tell you. Go on reading and you’ll find out.
Go on talking. We all love to listen.
How can you go on waiting like this?
Use the prepositional verb duì to say
I have no interest at all in that matter.
What kind of books are you most interested in?
8. A: Xiàng Wang Jiàoshòu zhèi- There really aren’t many teachers
yangde lǎoshī zhēnshi bù like Professor Wáng.
duō.
B: NǏ shuōduì le. Rúguo bú You’re right. If it weren’t for
shi tā bāngzhu wo, wǒ the help he’s given me, I
zhēn bù xiang xué le. wouldn’t want to study anymore.
Notes on No. 8
xiàng: "to be similar to, to resemble" Xiàng may be used
as a full verb or as a prepositional verb. Here it is a full verb:
Tā xiang fùqin, bú xiang mǔqin. He resembles his father, not his
mother.
As a prepositional verb, xiang is used in making comparisons.
Notice the similarity of the word order between comparison
sentences with xiang and those with you and gēn.
Tā xiang tā gēge name cōngming. She's as intelligent as her
brother.
Nǐ you tā name gāo. You're as tall as he is.
Nǐ gēn tā yíyāng gāo. You're the same height as he.
Comparison sentences with xiang must have either yíyàng, zhème
(zènme), or name before the main verb. Xiang makes rather
imprecise comparisons; its original meaning is, after all,
"resemble” or "like,” not exact equality.*
Nǐ xiang wǒ zhème ná kuàizi.
Xiang huàr name hǎokàn.
Zhèiliǎngtiānde tiānqi xiang chūntian name shūfu.
Tāde yǎnjing xiang hǎishuǐ yíyàng lán.
You hold chopsticks like I do. (It’s) as beautiful as a painting.
The weather the past couple of days has been as nice as spring.
Her eyes are as blue as sea water.
The negative bù comes before the prepositional verb xiang.
Tā bú xiang tā mèimei name He's not as intelligent as his
cōngming. little sister.
Nèi shihou shēnghuo bú xiang Life was not as good then as it
xiànzài zhème hǎo. is now.
Xiàng...zhèiyang: Zhèiyang(r) or nèiyang(r) are sometimes used
after a noun or pronoun in phrases with xiàng, for example:
xiàng tā zhèiyangde rén people like him (lit.,
"like him this
kind of people")
xiàng Wang Jiàoshòu zhèiyangde teachers like Professor Wang (lit.,
lǎoshī "like Professor Wang this
kind of
teachers")
In such sentences, the zhèiyang(r) or nèiyang(r) are hard to
translate into smooth English. It is usually best to leave those
words out of the translation.
Měitiān dōu xiàng jīntiān zhèi- If every day were like today, we
yang jiù shūfu le. would have it easy.
Beijing kao yā zhèiyangde cài, It would be too expensive to eat
tiāntiān chī tài guì le. dishes like Běijīng roast duck
every day.
9.
A:
Sānnián yīqián wo Jiu bú kào fùmǔ shēnghuó le.
I stopped depending on my parents for a living three
years ago.
B:
Nī néng zìjī guān zìjī, zhēn bú cuò.
It's really great that you can take care of yourself (be
your own boss)
Notes on No. 9
Jiù: The adverb jiù is often used after expressions of time, and
stresses that the time when the event happens is comparatively
prompt, soon, or early. The English translations may vary; this
use of jiù has the flavor of ’’as soon as that" or "as
early as that," but it can also be conveyed in English simply
by putting extra stress on the time expression. For example,
"He's coming TODAY.'" (Tā jīntiān jiu lái le.*). When
used this way, jiù is always unstressed or neutral tone.
As in sentence 9A, new-situation le is often (but not always) used
at the end of a sentence in connection with the adverb jiù.
Nǐde yīfu yìhuīr Jiù xīhāo le.
Míngtiān wǒ Jiù you gōngfu, kéyi qù le.
Nī zài děng yìhuīr, yìdiān-zhōng Jiù you dìxià huǒchē le.
Your clothes will be all washed in Just a while (that soon).
I'll have time to go tomorrow (that soon).
Wait a while longer, there will be a subway train at one o'clock
(that soon).
Jīntiān zǎoshang wǒ wùdian zhōng jiù qīlai le.
I got up at five this morning (that early).
kào: This verb has several commonly used meanings: (1) to lean
against, to lay back on, (2) to depend/rely on, and (3) to be
near/next to.
Bié kào chēmén. Don't lean against the door of
the
car.
Wǒde Yīngwén bù hāo, xie My English isn't good. When I
write
wénzhāng wánquán kào zìdiān. essays, I depend completely on
a
dictionary.
Tā zǒngshi kào zài chuāngshang* kàn shū.
Mài’āmì shi yíge kào hǎide chéngshì.
guǎn: ”to tend/take care of/look
Nǐmen liǎngge chūqu wānr, shéi guǎn hāizi?
Lǐ Xuěméi guǎn jiā guǎnde hǎo.
Liu Xiansheng shi guǎn kǎo-shìde.’
Another meaning is ”to care, to "bother
Tā bù xǐhuan guǎn biérénde shi.
Wǒ yào zuò shénme, wǒ zìjǐ zhīdao, nǐ shǎo guǎn wǒde shi, hǎo bu
hǎo?
Wǒ bù guǎn, suíbiàn nǐ.
He’s always laying back in bed reading.
Miami is a city on the sea.
after/manage/run/be in charge of”
If you two go out (for fun), who’ll look after the kids?
Lǐ Xuěméi runs the house very well
Mr. Liu is in charge of testing.
about, to concern oneself with.”
He doesn’t like to mind others’ business.
I know what I want to do, would you please not interfere with my
affairs so much! (IMPOLITE)
I don’t care. Whatever you like.
The ending -zhāo, ’’succeed (in connecting with or touching),” can
also be used with guǎn. Guǎnbuzhāo means ’’can be no concern
of..., to be none of one’s business.”
Zhèi shi women zìjǐde shi, nǐmen guǎnbuzhāo.
This is our own affair; it’s none of your business.
The colloquial Guǎn ta (ne)! expresses brusque dismissal: ’’Who
cares about
him!” or ’’Who cares about that!”
A: Nǐ Jīntiān wǎnshang ruguǒ bu qù, tā huì hěn bu gāoxìng.
B: Guǎn ta ne! Wo yào niàn shū, méi shíjiān qù.
If you don’t go tonight he’ll be very unhappy.
Who gives a damn about him! I’ve got to study; I don’t have time
to go.
zìjǐ.. .zìjǐ: ’’oneself” Use the pronoun wǒ for ”l, me, my, mine,”
but use zìjǐ or wǒ zìjǐ for ’’myself.” Depending on the context,
zìjǐ can mean ’’myself, yourself, him/herself, ourselves,
themselves.” Sometimes zìjǐ is used twice in the same clause, as
in sentence 9B.
Wǒ bù xǐhuan wǒ zìjǐ.
chuáng: ’’bed
kǎoshì: ’’test, exam; testing”
I don’t like myself, (as said by a confused teenager)
Nǐ bù xiǎo le, yinggāi zìjī zhàogu zìjī.
zhīdao
Nī bú yào zìjī gěi zìjī zhǎo máf an.
Tā zhèiyangr zuò, zìjī pian”
zìjī.
You’re not a child anymore; you should know how to take care of
yourself.
Don’t go asking for trouble for yourself.
By doing this, he’s only fooling himself.
10. A: Tā xiěde jīběn xiǎoshuō xiànzài dōu hěn liúxíng.
B: Nà dāngrán, xiàng tā nèiyang you dìwei yōu zhīshide rén,
xiěde xiǎoshuō yídìng yōu yìsi.
11. yōu bāngzhu
12. yōu dàolī
Notes on Nos. 10 through 12
liúxíng: ’’
The novels he wrote are all very popular now.
Of course. Novels written by someone with his position and
knowledge are sure to be interesting.
to be helpful
to make sense
common. ’’ negative with bù.
This kind of talk is very popular these days, but I don’t think
it’s very true.
It’s not popular to wear long skirts anymore.
following it to mean "to be popular to
It is popular to wear long skirts now.
In a lot of places, it is getting more and more common for men and
women to live together.
to be popular, prevalent, current, widespread
This is an adjectival verb. Make it
Zhèizhōng huà xiànzài hěn liúxíng, kěshi wō xiǎng zhè huà bú tài
duì.
Xiànzài chuān duǎn qúnzi bù liúxíng le.
You can also use liúxíng with a phrase (do something)."
Xiànzài liúxíng chuān cháng qúnzi.
Zài hěn duō dìfang, yuè lái yuè liúxíng nánnu tóngjū le.
Liúxíng is also used in compound nouns, such as liúxíngbìng,
"epidemic."
Zhè yíge xlngqī yōu liúxíng- This past week there has been
an
bìng, nīmen Jiāde háizi epidemic; it would be best if
zuì hǎo bié chū men. your children didn’t go out.
*zhàogu: "to take care of, to care for" (Society, Unit
5) piàn: "to fool, to deceive"
dìwei: "position, place or status
Tāde dìwei hen gāo.
Nǐ cái gōngzuòle shíjinián jiù yǒule Jīntiānde dìwei hen bù
rōngyi.
Tāmen yào you dúlìde jīngji he shèhuì dìwei.
(in an organization or society)’’
He has a very high position.
Having worked only ten or so years, it wasn’t easy to get the
position you have today.
They want independent economic and social status.
you zhǐshi: "to be knowledgeable," literally "to
have knowledge" you dàolǐ: "to make sense,"
literally "to have reason" you bāngzhu: "to be
helpful," literally "to have help"
Here you see three more examples of how you, "to exist, to
have," and a noun can be used to make an adjectival verb.
Sometimes the meaning of the resulting phrase is more than Just
the sum of its parts. You xìngqu is "to be interested (in
something)," while you yìsi is "to be interesting."
Here are some of the others you have already learned.
you guānxi you yánjiū
to be related to yòu míng to be expert you yòng
to be famous to be useful
13• zìyóu
14. -bèizi
15. Xǐnwén Zhōukān
16. fùnū
Notes on Nos. 13 through 16
-bèizi: This word is usually used
Wo gōngzuòle yíbèizi, xiànzài liùshisuì le, kéyi xiūxixiuxi le.
to be free; freedom
all one’s life, lifetime
Newsweek
woman; women, womankind
with yī-, as in
I’ve worked all my life and am now sixty years old. I can take a
little rest now.
Jiéhūn shi yíbèizide shi, děi Marriage is a lifetime thing; you
hǎohāor xiǎngxiang. should think it over
carefully.
fùnū: In Taiwan, a funū is generally a married woman, but in PRC
usage the word has no connotations about marital status. Fùnū is
also used in a collective sense, "women" or
"womankind."
Unit 2, Tape 1, Review Dialogue
At the entrance to Lauinger Library at Georgetown University, Lǐ
Ping (B) encounters Tom (A).
B: Èi! Tāngmǔ, nǐ hǎo a! Hey! Hi, Tom!
A: Nǐ hǎo, Lǐ Ping! Lai kàn Hi, Lǐ Ping. Did you come
here to
shū ma? do some reading?
B: Chile wǎnfàn, chūlai zǒuzou,
dào túshūguǎn kànkan xīn dàode zázhì.
A: Nǐ zuì xǐhuande Yǐngwén zázhì
shi shénme?
B: Ng, Xǐnwén Zhōukān.
A: Wèishenme ne?
B: Xǐnwén Zhōukān hěn hǎo, duì
xué Yǐngwén hěn you bāngzhu.
A: Duì, kàn zhèige zázhì, yìfāng
miàn kéyi xué Yǐngwén, yìfāngmiàn kéyi zhīdao Měiguo shèhuìde
qíngkuāng, shi bu cud. Zhèige xīngqī you shénme yěu yìside
wénzhāng ma?
B: You, yěu yìpiān guānyú nánnū
píngděngde wénzhāng hěn you yìsi.
A: Ou, "nánnū píngděng"...wěde
nupéngyou duì zhèige tímu’ hěn yěu yánjiū. Zěnme? Nǐ yě duì zhèige
wèntí you xìngqu ma?
B: You, wǒ you xìngqu, érqiě
xiǎng zhīdao nǐmende kànfǎ. Wo kéyi wèn jǐge wèntí ma?
A: Dāngrán, qǐng wèn ba!
B: Zhèipiān wénzhāng shuō, zài
hěn duō dìfāng yuè lái yuè liú-xíng nánnū tongjū le. E, duì-
After dinner I went out for a walk and came to the library to read
through some of the new magazines.
What’s your favorite English magazine?
Um, Newsweek.
Why?
Newsweek is very good. It’s a big help in learning English.
Right. When you read it, you can-study English at the same time
you learn about conditions in American society; it is good. Are
there any interesting articles in it this week?
Yes, there’s an article about equality of the sexes that’s very
interesting.
Oh, "equality of the sexes"...My girl friend is an
expert on the subject. Don’t tell me—are you interested in that
issue too?
Yes, I am, and I’d also like to know your views on it. Can I ask a
few questions?
Sure. What would you like to know?
The article says that in a lot of places cohabitation is getting
more and more common. Uh, excuse
*tímu, "subject, topic" (see Unit 5)
buqǐ...
A: Méi shenme, nǐ shuōxiaqu.
B: Zhèipiān wénzhāng hái shuō
zhèizhōng shi hé fùnude dìwei you guānxi. Zhèi yidiǎn wǒ zhēnshi
bù dong le. Zhōngguo rénde chuántǒng guānniàn shi, fùnu méiyou
jiēhūn, bù yīnggāi hé tāde nánpéngyou zhù zai yìqī.
A: Wǒmende guānniàn bú tài yí
yàng. Yìxiē fùnu, tèbié shi zhīshi fùnu, tāmen bú yào kào
xiānsheng shēnghuó, tāmen yào you dúlìde jīngji hé shèhui dìwei.
Xiàng wǒde nupéngyou, tā jiù you zhèiyangde kànfǎ. Erqiě wǒ xiǎng,
tóngjūde wèntí hé hěn duō shining you guānxi, bù zhī shi fùnude
dìwei wèntí.
B: Rúguo kéyi tánde huà, nī gěi
wo jiǎngjiang zěnmeyàng?
A: Hǎo, zhèiyangr ba, wǒ gěi ni
tántan wode shi, nī jiu zhīdao women zěnme xiǎng le. Wǒde
nupéngyou, tā shi xué yīde. Xué yī bú shi yíjiàn rongyide shir. Tā
hái yào zài dàxué xuéxí liùnián.
B: Nà nīmen shénme shihou jiēhūn
ne?
A: Xiànzài women hái bù xiǎng
jiēhūn.
B: Weishénme? Nīmen juéde jiēle
hūn, yǒule háizi huì hěn máfan, shi bu shi?
A: Bú shi zhèige yìsi. Jiùshi
women jiēhūnle, yě bù yídìng mǎshàng yào háizi. Zhǒngyàode shi
women zhèi yíbèizi yào zuò shénme, hái méiyou hǎohāor xiǎng-guo
ne, yīnggāi xiān xiǎng nèige
me. . .
Not at all, go on.
It also said in the article that this is related to the status of
women. I really don’t understand that point. The traditional
Chinese idea is that a woman should not live with her boyfriend
before they get married.
We have a somewhat different concept. Some women, especially women
intellectuals, don’t want to depend on their husbands in order to
live; they want to have independent economic and social status.
Like my girlfriend— that’s the way her view is. But also, I think
that living together has to do with a lot of things. It’s not just
a question of the status of women.
If it’s all right to talk about it, would you tell me more?
Okay, how about this. I’ll tell you about my situation, and then
you’ll know the way we think. My girlfriend is studying medicine.
Studying medicine isn’t the easiest thing. She still has six more
years of university.
Then when are you getting married?
We don’t want to get married just yet.
Why not? You think that once you get married and have children
it’ll be a lot of trouble, rigjrt?
That’s not the point. Even if we get married, we won’t necessarily
have children right away The important thing is that we haven’t
even thought out well what we want to do in our lives. We should
think about
°The reason Lī Ping is being so careful here is that he knows Tom
and his girlfriend are living together.
wèntí. Erqiě wǒmen dōu yuànyi zài jiēhūn yǐqiān qīngchǔde zhīdao
zìjī xǐhuande nèige rén shi yíge shénmeyàngrde rén. Zhèi yě xūyào
shíjiān.
B: Kěshi you rén huì juéde
nīmen zhèiyang zuò shi yīnwei nīmen juéde tóngjū bǐ jiēhūn zìyóu.
A: You rén zhème shuō, kěshi wǒ
xiǎng tāmen méi dǒng wǒmende zìyóu shi shénme.
B: Shi shénme ne?
A: Měiguo rén Juéde zìjī kéyi
jìhua zìjǐde shēnghuó shi zuì zhòngyàode zìyóu. Rūguo Měiguo
méiyǒu zhèizhǒng zìyóu, jiù bú huì you name duō rén xiǎng lai
Měiguo le, nī shuō wǒ shuōde duì bu dui?
B: Nī shuōde you diǎnr dàoli.
Ou . . . Wǒ hai wangle wèn ni, jīnniàn xiàtiān, nǐde nupéngyou
néng péi ni dào Xiānggǎng qu ma?
A: Bù xíng. Tā jìhua dào Déguo
qu niàn shū. Shǔjiàde shihou tā yào zài Déguo zhù sānge yuè, nà
duì tāde Déwén yídìng hěn you bāngzhu.
B: Duì.
A: Zěnmeyàng, nī duì Xǐnwén Zhōu
kān zhèipiān wénzhāng hai you shénme biéde kànfǎ ma?
B: Kanfǎ you. Zhèige tímu hěn
dà, women yīhòu mànmàn zài tan.
A: Hǎo, yīhòu zài tan.
that problem first. What’s more, we each want to have a clear idea
of of what kind of person the other is before we get married. And
that takes time.
But some people will think you are doing this because you feel
that living together is freer than marriage.
Some people say that, but I don’t think they have understood what
our freedom is.
What is it, then?
Americans feel that to be able to plan their own life is the most
important freedom. If America didn’t have that kind of freedom,
there wouldn’t be so many people who want to come here. Don’t you
think I’m right?
There’s something to what you say. Oh ... I forgot to ask you
something else: Will your girlfriend be able to come with you to
Hong Kong this summer?
No. She’s planning to go to school in Germany. During summer
vacation she’s going to live in Germany for three months. I’m sure
that will help her German a lot.
That’s right.
So what about it, do you have any other opinions about that
article in Newsweek?
Yes, I have other opinions about it. But it’s a big topic. We can
talk all about it later.
Okay, we’ll talk about it later.
Unit 2, Tape 2 Workbook
Exercise 1
This exercise is a review of the Reference List sentences in this
unit. The speaker will say a sentence in English, followed by a
pause for you to translate it into Chinese. Then a second speaker
will confirm your answer.
All sentences from the Reference List will occur only once. You
may want to rewind the tape and practice this exercise several
times.
Exercise 2
This exercise ia a conversation in which a young man in Beijing
talks with a middle-aged man about a problem.
The conversation occurs only once. After listening to it
completely, you'll probably want to rewind the tape and answer the
questions below as you listen a second time.
Here are the new words and phrases you will need to understand
this conversation:
húshuō to talk nonsense; drivel
xiangbuchū can't think up, can't come up
with
Xiao Lin tamen Xiao Lin and the others
shēnqǐng to apply for
Questions for Exercise 2
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you
will be able to give them orally in class.
1. Propose a reason why Xiao Míngzi is no longer in school.
(Hint: What are his other friends doing? What is the policy
emphasis in China on careers for youth?)
2. Is Xiao Míngzi looking for a job? Why or why not?
3. What kind of job does his middle-aged friend suggest?
1. To whom must Xiao Míngzi apply before he goes out to take
pictures?
After you have answered these questions yourself, you may want to
take a look at the translation for this conversation. You may also
want to listen to the dialogue again to help you practice saying
your answers.
Note: The translations used in these dialogues are meant to
indicate the English functional equivalents for the Chinese
sentences rather than the literal meaning of the Chinese.
Exercise 3
In this conversation a grandmother and her granddaughter discuss
sexual equality and changes in morality in new China.
Listen to the conversation second time through, look below
once straight through. Then, on the and answer the questions.
Here are the new words and conversation:
phrases you will need to understand this
Nà hái yòng shuō
That goes without saying
duo hào!
How great that is!
qíguài
to be strange
Zhōngguo Qīngnián
China Youth (a periodical)
hòulái
afterwards
dàodé
morality, morals, ethics
Questions for Exercise 3
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you
will be able to give them orally in class.
1. What was the status of women before liberation?
2. What did the granddaughter read about in the latest issue
of China Youth?
3. What is her grandmother’s reaction?
h. What things does a "sense of morality" probably
include for the grandmother?
After you have answered these questions yourself, you may want to
ta a look at the translation for this conversation. You may also
want to li to the conversation to help you practice saying the
answers which you hav prepared.
Exercise
In this exercise, as a mother and. son finish dinner, they discuss
his future.
Listen to the conversation straight through once. Then rewind the
tape and listen again. On the second time through, answer the
questions.
You will need the following new words and phrases:
shuoshi
bóshì
zhǎobudǎo Zhōngxuěshēng gāozhōng
fādá
Master’s degree
Ph.D.
to be unable to find
High School Student (a periodical) senior high school
to be developed
Questions for Exercise h
1. What is Xiǎo Lin’s mother’s major concern about his future?
2. Why doesn’t he want to go to college anymore?
3. Who does Xiǎo Lin use as an example of why a college
education is useless?
U. What is his mother’s position on the advantages of college
education in Hong Kong?
5. Does Xiǎo Lin’s mother act as an advisor or does she expect her
son to obey her wishes on this matter?
After you have answered these questions yourself, you may want to
take a look at the translation for this conversation. You may also
want to listen to the conversation again to help you pronounce
your answers correctly.
wǒ kéyi
Dialogue and. Translation for Exercise 2
Conversation between a middle-aged man
A: Xiǎo Míngzi, jīntiān zěnme you
shíjiān zài jiā?
B: Zěnme méi shíjiān? Líkāi
xuéxiào yīhòu, shíjiān duōduō le.
A: Bié hushuō■ Nǐ you gōngzuò
le meiyou?
B: You gōngzuò! Yǒule gōngzuò
hái zài zhèr zuòzhe! you yìsi!
Ni zhēn
A: Ao! Wǒ zhīdao le,
nī hái méi
gōngzuò na!
s w • •
B: Ng. Laoshi shuo
děngyiděng.
A: Nǐ zhèiyang děngxiaqu zěnme
xíng ne? Yìtiān méi gōngzuò, yìtiān jiù děi kào fùmǔ a.
B: Hài, wǒ yě zhīdao, zhèiyang
xiàqu bù xíng, kěshi wǒ shizài xiǎngbuchū shenme hǎo bànfa ya! Nī
shuō wǒ zěnme bàn?
A: Nī huì shénme?
B: Wǒ shénme dōu bú huì. Xiàng
Xiǎo Lin tamen huì zuò zhuōzi yǐzi shenmede, yě dōu you gōngzuò
le.
A: Ei, nǐ huì bu hui zhào xiàng?
(A) and a young man (B) in Běijīng.
Xiǎo Míngzi, how is it that you have time to be at home today?
How would I not have time? Since I left school, I’ve had lots
more time.
Cut it out. Do you have a job yet?
Have a job! If I had a Job would I still be sitting here!
You’re something else!
Oh! I see, you still don’t have a job!
Uh-huh. My teachers said I can wait a while.
How will it do for you to go on waiting like this? Every day
you don’t have a job, you have to depend on your parents.
(Sigh), I know that it won’t do to go on like this, but I
really can’t think of any good solution! What do you think I
should do?
What do you know how to do?
I don’t know how to do anything. Like Xiǎo Lin and the others,
who can make tables, chairs, and so on, all have jobs already.
Say, can you take photographs?
B: Bú huì. No.
*Work is assigned, so getting a job is not a matter of personal
initiative. Work assignment is done by the work assignment
committee of the city district, under coordination of the citywide
office.
"Teachers, while not directly involved in the assignment of
work, can be influential in the process. There is a group of
teachers in each high school or university who make specific
recommendations to city offices which decide whether a student
finds work in the city or is sent to the country.
A: Nǐ duì zhào xiang you méiyou
xìngqu?
B: You a
A: Zhèiyang ba! Wǒ you yíge Rìběn
zhàoxiàngjī, wǒ jiao ni zěnmeyàng zhào xiàng, nǐ jiu kéyi you
gōngzuǒ le.
B: Suàn le ba, huì zhào xiàng
zěnme huì you gōngzuǒ ne!
A: Hài, nǐ zhēn bù cōngming.
Měitiān dōu you bù shǎo rén lai Beijing, shéi bù xiǎng zài
Tiān’ānmén qián zhào zhang xiàng! Nǐ zài zhao liǎngge tóngxué, you
guǎn zhàoxiàngde, you guǎn shōu qiánde, bu jiù xíng le ma?
B: Nín shuōde you dàolǐ, jiù
zenme ban! Duì le, yào chūqu zhào xiàng, hái xūyào shēnqǐng ba?
A: Nà róngyi. Míngtiān, nǐ qù
zhǎo lǎoshī, tāmen huì bāngzhu ni bànde.
Are you interested in photography?
Sure!
How about this: I have a Japanese camera. I’ll teach you how to
-take pictures, and then you can have a job.
Come on! How can I have a job by knowing how to take pictures!
Tsk, you’re really not on the ball. Every day there are lots of
people who come to Běijīng; who doesn’t want to get their picture
taken in front of Tiān’ānmén! If you find a couple of classmates,
and have one in charge of taking the pictures and one in charge of
collecting the money then you’re all set, right?
What you say makes sense; that’s just what I’ll do! Oh yes—if you
want to go out and take pictures, you have to apply, too, don’t
you?
That’s easy. Tomorrow, go see your teachers. They’ll help you do
it.
Dialogue and Translation for Exercise 3
Conversation between a grandmother Běijīng.
A: Nǎinai, nín shuō, xīn Zhōngguo,
nánnū píngděng, fùnude dìwei gāoduō le, duì bu dui?
B: Nà hái yǒng shuō. Women
niánqīngde shihou, fùnū zài jiāli, zài shěhuìshang dōu méiyou
shenme dìwei, zhǐ you hěn shǎode nūháizi you jǐhui niàn shū. Bu
xiàng nǐmen, gēn nánháizi yíyàng, niàn shū, zuǒ shi, duo hǎo!
A: Nǎinai, nà nǐ shuō, tongjū
zhèijiàn shir shi bu shi duì fùnù bù hǎo?
(B) and her granddaughter (A) in
Grandma, don’t you think that in new China, with equality of the
sexes the status of women is much higher?
That goes without saying. When we were young, women didn’t have
much status in the family or in society. Only a very few girls had
a chance to study. It wasn’t like the way it is for you, who study
and work just the same as boys. How great that is!
Then what do you think, Grandma, is cohabitation a bad thing for
women?
B: Nǐ zěnme yuè shuō yuè qíguài
le? Zài xīn Zhōngguo nǎr you tōngjūde shir?
A: Zěnme méiyou? Wǒ gāngcái
kànde Zhōngguo Qǐngniánshang jiù you yìpiān wénzhāng, zhèipiān
wénzhāng shuō, you yíge nánháizi he yíge nùháizi tōngjū le.
B: Tāmen wèishénme bù jiēhūn?
A: Nèige nánde xiǎng shàng dàxué.
B: Ou, duì le, jiēle hūn jiu hù
néng shàng dàxué le. Nà hòulǎi ne?
A: Hòulái, nèige nánde zhēn shàng
dàxué le.
B: Niànwánle shū tāmen jiēhūn le
ha?
A: Méiyou. Niànwán shū, nèige
nánde xiǎng, nèi nuháizi méi dìwei, yě méi qián, tāmen jiu suàn
le.
B: Suàn le?.’ Nà shi shénme huà!
Tā hái you méiyou yidiǎnr dàodé guānniàn!
A: Dàodé guānniàn?! Hng, xiànzài
shèhuishang jiù you zhèizhǒng shir! Nín shuō zhèi shi wèishénme?
B: Ai! Zhèi shíjǐnián qíqíguài-
guàide xǐnwén zhēn duō! Shénme shihou cái néng hǎo yidiǎnr ne?
A: Shéi zhīdào! Wǒ xiǎng kuài
le! Kuài hǎo yidiǎnr le!
What’s with these odd topics you’re bringing up? Where is there
such a thing as cohabitation in new China?
There isn’t, huh? Well in the China Youth that I just read there's
an article that said there was a young man who was living with a
young woman.
Why didn’t they get married?
The man wanted to go to college.
Oh, right, you can’t go to college after you’re married. So what
happened afterwards?
Afterwards, the man really went to college.
And after he finished school they got married, I suppose?
No. After he finished school, the guy thought, she didn’t have any
status or any money, so they should call it quits.
Call it quits.’ What kind of thing is that to say! Didn’t he have
any sense of morality!
Sense of morality?.' Ha, that's just the sort of thing that
society is full of these days! Why do you think that is?!
(Sigh) The last decade or so there sure has been a lot of strange
news! When will it get better?
I think it will be soon! It’s going to get better soon!
Dialogue and Translation for Exercise U
In Hong Kong, a mother (A) and son (B) have just finished dinner.
A: Xiǎo Lin, chīle fàn bú yào
niàn shū le, xiūxi xiuxi ba!
Xiǎo Lin, don't study any more after dinner, just relax a bit!
B: Hǎo. Nín yào he chǎ ma? Wǒ
qù dào.
A: Deng yíxià, ràng wo kànkan,
nǐde máoyí shi bu shi pò le? Míngtiān wǒ děi qù gěi ni mǎi jiàn
xínde.
B: Mā, wǒ bú yào xinde, zhèijiàn
hai kéyi chuān ne.
A: Tiān lěng le, nǐ xūyào yíjiàn
xǐn máoyǐ, wǒ huì gěi ni yùbei-hǎo. Míngniàn nǐ shàng dàxuéde
shihou, wǒ huì duō gěi ni yùbei jijiàn xǐn yīfu.
B: Bú yòng le, wǒ bù xiǎng shàng
dàxué le.
A: Wèishénme? Nǐ bú shi yào
xué yī ma?
B: BÙ shǎo rén shuō bú shàng
dàxué yě kéyi gōngzuò, yě yíyàng kéyi shēnghuó. Wèishénme yídìng
yào shàng dàxué ne?
A: Zhèizhōng huà xiànzài hěn
liúxíng, kěshi wǒ xiǎng zhè huà bú tài duì.
B: Wèishénme? Yǒude rén zài
dàxuéli pǐnmìng niàn shū, xiàng women Jiā duìmiànde Zhōu
Xian-sheng, duì shùxué nàme you yān-jiū, déle shuòshì, boshì, hái
bu shi zhǎobudào gōngzuò!
A: Zhōu Xianshengde qíngxing
gēn biérén bù tong, suírǎn tā xiāngdāng you zhīshi, kěshi tā bù
xǐhuande gōngzuò tā jiu bú zuò, nà dāngrán bù róngyi zhǎo-dào
gōngzuò.
B: Duì le, tā bù xǐhuan zuò
lǎoshǐ, tā Jiù xǐhuan xiě wénzhāng, zài Zhōngxuéshēng
zhōu-kānshang wǒ hái kànjianguo tāde wénzhāng ne!
Do you want to drink some tea? I’ll go pour it.
Wait a second, let me see, is your sweater torn? Tomorrow I’ll
have to go buy you a new one.
Mom, I don’t want a new one. I can still wear this one.
The weather’s getting cold, you need a new sweater. I’ll get one
ready for you. Next year when you go to college I’ll get a few
more new things ready for you to wear.
You don’t need to, I don’t want to go to college anymore.
Why not? Don’t you want to study medicine?
A lot of people say that you can work and live Just the same
without going to college. Why is it necessary to go to college?
This kind of talk is very popular these days, but I don’t think
it’s very true.
Why not? Some people study like mad at a university, like Mr. Zhōu
who lives across from us; he’s such an expert in mathematics, he’s
got a Master’s degree and a Ph.D., and isn’t he still unable to
find a job!
Mr. Zhou’s situation is different from other people’s. Although he
is quite knowledgeable, he won’t take a Job he doesn’t like. So of
course it isn’t easy for him to find a job.
Right. He doesn’t like to be a teacher, he just likes to write
articles. I’ve even seen his articles in the weekly High School
Student .*
A: Tāde wénzhāng hǎo bu hǎo?
B: Hǎo, kǎshi bù rongyì dong,
zhōngxuéshēng kàn zhèiyangde wénzhāng tài nan le.
A: Suóyi, nǐ bù néng shuō Zhōu
Xianshengde qíngxing jiù shi dàjiāde qíngxing. Wǒ xiǎng, kéyi
zhèiyang shuō: niànguo hěn duō shūde rén bù yídìng you hěn hǎode
gōngzuǒ. Kěshi duō niàn yidiǎnr shū duì zhǎo gōngzuǒ yídìng you
bāngzhu.
B: Kěshi, wǒde jīge tongxué
gāozhōng méiyou niǎnwán jiu zuǒ shile, xiànzài tāmende shēnghuo
dōu bū yòng kào fùmǔ le, tāmen dōu dūlì le.
A: Dànshi wǒ xiǎng, shèhuì hǎishi
xūyào you zhīshide rén, shèhuì yuè fādá yuè xūyào you zhīshi. Nǐ
shuō duì bu dui?
B: Duì!
A: Name hǎo le, nǐ niàn dàxuéde
shi zěnmeyàng?
B: Mm . . . wǒ zài xiǎngyixiǎng.
A: Hǎo, women míngtiān zài
tantan.
Are his articles good?
Yes, but they’re not easy to understand. They’re too hard for high
school students to read.
So you can’t say that Mr. Zhou’s situation is everyone's
situation. I think you might say this: someone who has had a lot
of education doesn't necessarily get a very good job. But getting
more education will certainly be helpful in looking for a job.
But several classmates of mine started working before they had
finished high school, and now they don't have to depend on their
parents to support them; they're all independent.
But I think that society still needs knowledgeable people. The
more developed society is, the more it needs knowledge. Don't you
think so?
Right!
All right then, what about the matter of your going to college?
Mm . . . I'll think it over some more.
Okay, we'll talk more about it tomorrow.
UNIT 3
Family Values
INTRODUCTION
Gra
rm hi
ar Topics Covered in This Unit
1. The verb ending -qilai showing the start of an action or
condition.
2. The pattern (méi)you shénme (Adjectival Verb).
3. Cónglái bù/méi, "never. ’’
h. The adverh cái, "only," "before amounts.
5. The marker -zhe showing the manner of an action.
6. The vert ending -dào for (1) successful
reaching/obtaining/finding, (2) "of,"
"about" (with certain verbs), (3) successful
perceiving (e.g., kàndao, "to see").
7. The adverb zài, "anymore."
8. Placement of phrases with the prepositional verb dào,
"to," "up to," "until."
9. The use of suǒyoude, "all."
Functional Language Contained in This Unit
1. Narrating a brief story about a person.
2. Expressing approval and disapproval of someone’s attitude
or way of thinking.
3. Expressing puzzlement at a situation.
U. Stressing how understandable a situation is.
1.
A:
Nǐ jiějie xiànzài zěnme duì zhèngzhi wèntí rèxīnqilai
le?
How is it that your older sister has become so
interested and enthusiastic about political questions
now?
B:
Zhèi méiyou shénme qíguài, tā jīnnián kāishǐ xué
zhèngzhixué le.
There’s nothing strange about that, she started studying
political science this year.
2.
A:
Nǐ zěnme bù chī le?
Why aren’t you eating?
B:
Wǒde wèi hěn nánshòu, chību-xiàqù le.
My stomach is uncomfortable, I can’t eat anymore.
A:
Nà wǒ gěi ni nòng dianr tāng lai.
I’ll go get you some soup then.
ADDITIONAL REQUIRED VOCABULARY
11.
you yòng
to be useful
12.
hěiyè
(darkness of) night, nighttime
13.
xīn
heart
VOCABULARY
báitiān biàn biàncheng
daytime
to change, to become different to turn into, to become
cái
-chéng chíbuxiàqù cónglái
only (before an amount)
into
cannot eat (cannot get down)
ever (up till now), always
(up till now)
cónglái bù/méi
never
-dào
(resultative ending used for perception by one of the
senses:
-dào
Jiàndao, kàndao, tīngdao, etc.) (resultative ending used
to indicate reaching: xiǎngdao, shuōdao, tán-dao, etc. ,
often translated as "about")
děng dào
to wait until; when, by the time
hēiyè
(darkness of) night, nighttime
Jiǎng
to stress, to pay attention to, to be particular about
Jiātíng
family
kàndao kū
to see to cry
liáo
liáo tian(r)
to chat to chat
ma
(marker of obviousness of reasoning)
nánshòu
to be uncomfortable; to feel bad, to feel unhappy
nòng (neng) nònglai
to do; to fool with; to get to get and bring
qíguài
to be strange, to be odd, to be surprising
-qilai
(resultative ending which indicates starting)
rèxīn
to be enthusiastic and interested; to be warmhearted; to
be earnest
rèxínqilai
to become enthusiastic and interested
shuōdao
suǒyǒude...dōu
to speak of; as for all
xiǎngdào xiǎoshun
-xiaqu
to think of
to he filial; filial obedience
down (directional ending used for eating or drinking
down)
xǐn
heart; mind
-yì
yì tian dào wan yònggōng
hundred million
all day long
to be industrious, to be hardworking (in one’s studies)
you yòng
to be useful
zhang
zhǎngdà
zhòng nan qīng nū zhuàn qián
zuìjìn zuò
to grow
to grow up
to regard males as superior to females
to earn money, to make money
recently; soon
to be, to act as
3. A: Wǒ qù zhǎo Xiǎo Lan liáo tiānr.
B: Nǐ bié qù le, tā yìtiān dào wan yònggōng, mei shijiān péi ni
liào tiānr.
I’m going to go look for Xiǎo Lan to have a chat.
Don’t go, she works hard all day long and doesn’t have the time to
chat with you.
U. A: Wang jiā Xiǎo Lan cónglái méiyou nánpéngyou ma?
B: Tā cai shíjiùsuì, mángzhe niàn shū, hái méiyou xiǎngdào zhèixie
shir ne.’
5. A: Wǒde xiǎo nuér liǎngsānsuìde shihou cháng kū, xiànzài
zhǎngdà le, hū zài kū le.
Hasn’t the Wang family’s Xiǎo Lan ever had a hoy friend?
She’s only nineteen years old, busy studying, and hasn’t thought
of these things yet.’
My youngest daughter cried a lot when she was two or three years
old, but now she has grown up and doesn’t cry anymore.
6. A: Zuò fùmǔde bù yīnggāi zhòng nan qīng nu.
Those who are parents shouldn’t regard males as superior to
females.
B: Duì. Zuò háizide yě yīnggāi xiàoshun fùmū.
Right. And those who are children should show filial obedience to
their parents.
7- A: Nǐ dìdi báitiān zài Jiā ma?
B: Bu zài, nǐ děng dào wǎnshang zài dǎ diànhuà lai ba.
8. A: Zhōngguo rén conglái bù jiǎng nánnù píngděng ma?
B: Shuōdao nánnū píngděng, nà shi zuìjìn jǐshíniánde xīn guānniàn.
9. A: Da jiātíng you shénme hǎo?
B: Zenme bù hǎo? Rén duō, zhuàn qiánde rén yě duō ma!
Is your younger brother at home during the day?
No, wait until the evening and then call him.
Didn’t the Chinese ever stress equality between men and women?
As for equality of the sexes, that's a new concept of the last few
decades.
A: Yàoshi suōyōude rén dōu xiàng nín zhèiyang xiǎng, Zhōngguo
xiànzài bù zhīdào you duōshao yì rén le!
10. A: Nǐ zhèicì hui guó kàndao nǐ lǎojiāde rén le ma?
B: Kàndao le. Tāmen shěng-huóde bu cuò, wo lǎojiā yě biànchéng
yíge hěn rènaode dìfangr le.
What's good about large families?
What could be bad about them? After all, if there are more people,
there are also more people earning money!
If everyone thought the way you do, who knows how many hundreds of
millions of people there would be in China now!
Did you see the people in your hometown on this visit back to your
country?
Yes. They’re living pretty well, and my hometown has become quite
a bustling place.
1. A:
Nǐ jiějie xiànzài zěnme duì zhèngzhi wèntí rèxīnqilai
le?
How is that your older sister has become so interested
and enthusiastic about political questions now?
B:
Zhèi méiyou shénme qíguài, tā jīnnián kāishǐ xué
zhèngzhixué le.
There’s nothing strange about that, she started studying
political science this year.
Notes on No. 1
rèxīn: "to be enthusiastic and interested; to he warmhearted,
to he earnest"There are two meanings for this adjectival
verh. It can he used to describe a positive feeling toward a cause
or issue, or to describe warm feelings toward other people.
Like many adjectival verbs, rèxīn may be used either as a main
verb or as an adverb (that is, modifying another verb).
As main verb
Tā duì xué Zhongwén hěn rèxīn.
He’s very enthusiastic about studying Chinese.
Tā duì rén hěn rèxīn, shénme shíhou dōu xǐhuan bāng rén máng.
As an adverb
Tā hěn rèxīn yánjiū dàlùde qíngkuāng.
Hǎo hāizi, nǐ zènme rèxīn bāngzhu biérén, hěn hǎo.
He’s very warmhearted towards people. He always likes to help
people out.
She studies the mainland situation very enthusiastically.
Good child. It’s good that you’re so eager to help others.
-qilai: As a verb by itself, qǐlāi means "to rise up."
As part of a compound verb, -qilai has several different
functions. First, it can be a directional or resultative ending
meaning "go up, rise up (physically)":
Tā zhànqilai le.
Tā tiàoqilai le.
Zhèige zhuōzi women tāibuqilāi, nǐ lai bangbang máng hǎo bu hǎo?
He stood up.
She jumped up.
We can’t lift this table up. Come and help us, okay?
tiào, "to jump, to leap"
In addition to meaning literally ”to go up," -qilai can
"be used to tell something about the aspect of the verb: to
show *’the start of the action or condition." In the example
in the Reference List above, -qilai indicates that older sister’s
enthusiasm has newly started up. Other examples:
(WITH AN ACTION VERB)
Haizi kūqilai le. The child began (has begun) to
cry.
(WITH AN ADJECTIVAL VERB)
Tiānqi rèqilai le. The weather has warmed up.
As with many other compound verbs, the object of the verb may be
inserted between the two parts of the verb ending:
Bù zhīdao wèishénme, tā xiànzài I don’t know why, but he has
started hēqi jiù lai le. to drink now.
Wǒ liùge yuè méi xiāngguo jiā, I haven’t thought of home for kěshi
jīntiān xiāngqi jiā six months, but today I started
lai le. to feel homesick.
Another function of the ending -qilai is to make generalized
statements which are sometimes translated using "when
...ing," or "when it comes to ...ing":
Zheige yizide yangzi hěn hāo kàn, kěshi zuòqilai bù shūfu.
Tā shuōqi Zhōngwén lai zhēn nāntīng.
Zuòqi shi lai, tā bī shéi dōu kuài.
Shuōqilai rōngyi, zuòqilai nan.
When -qilai is used this way with verbs of "it seems" is
communicated:
Kànqilai tā zhīdao zhèijiàn shi.
Tā kànqilai hěn niánqīng.
Tīngqilai hěn you dàolī.
This kind of chair is very attractive, but when you sit in it,
it’s uncomfortable.
It sounds terrible when he speaks Chinese.
When it comes to working, he is faster than anyone else.
It * s easy to talk about, but hard to do.
of perception, the additional meaning
It looks as if he knows about this matter.
He looks very young.
It sounds reasonable.
-Qilai is also used in several idiomatic expressions where its
meaning is harder to pinpoint, e.g., xiangqilai, "to think
of, to remember," where -qilai seems to indicate the coming
"up" into consciousness of an idea.
Wo xiǎngqilai le, tā xing Mài. Now I remember, his surname is Mài.
qiguài: "to be strange, to be surprising, to be odd"
qiguai, ta tiantian lai, Jǐntiǎn zěnme méi lái ne?
Nèige shihou, shénme qíguàide shi dōu you, bié shuō le.
Tāmende guānxi wǒ Juéde hěn qíguài.
In colloquial style, the verb qíguài is that..., can’t understand
(why).?., can
Wǒ zhēn qíguài tā wèishenme yào zěnme zuò.
Wo zhēn qíguài zhèiJiàn shi tā zěnme kéyi bàndedào.
How strange. He comes every day. How is it he didn’t come today?
Back then, there were all kinds of strange things; don’t talk
about it any more.
I find their relationship very strange.
also used to mean "to find it strange t imagine
(how)...," e.g.,
I really can’t understand why he wanted (OR wants) to do that.
I really can’t imagine how he can (OR could) do it.
Zhèi méiyou shénme qíguài: "There’s nothing strange about
that." You shénme is used before an adjectival verb, as in
Nà
you shénme
hǎo?
Nà
méiyou shénme
hǎo.
Gàosu ta
you shénme
bú duì?
"What’s so good about that?"
"There’s nothing good about that." "What’s wrong
with telling him?"
A: Tā duì Zhōngguóde qíngkuàng zhǐdaode bù shǎo.’
B: Nà you shénme qíguài, tā zài Zhongguo zhùguo shínián.
2. A: Nǐ zěnme bù chǐ le?
B: Wǒde wèi hěn nánshòu, chǐbu-xiǎqù le.
A: Nà wǒ gěi ni nòng dianr tāng lai.
He knows so much about China!
What’s strange about that, he lived in China for ten years!
Why aren’t you eating?
My stomach is uncomfortable, I can’t eat anymore.
I’ll go get you some soup then.
Notes on No. 2
nánshòu: "to feel uncomfortable; to feel bad, to feel
unhappy," literally , "to find something hard to
bear" This adjectival verb can be used to describe physical
aches and pains, or emotional ones.
Zài fēijīshang zuòle èrshige xiǎoshí, tài nánshòu le!
Zhēn ràng rén nánshòu.
Twenty hours on an airplane. How uncomfortable!
It really makes one feel bad.
Zánmen dōu shi zuò yīshēngde, kànjian bìngren’ méi yào chi, zhēn
nánshòu.
We’re both in medicine; seeing sick people without medicine to
take was really upsetting.
To make it clear you are talking about sadness and not a physical
pain, you can use the phrase xīnli hěn nánshòu (xīn, No. 13 on
this reference list, being the equivalent of either the heart or
mind in such instances).
Tīngdàole zhèiyàngrde huà, tā He was very sad after hearing xīnli
hěn nánshòu. that kind of talk.
chībuxiàqù: ’’unable to eat (it all) up" Here you see an
example of -xiàqù used for its meaning as a directional ending.
While in English we might say "eat it UP," the Chinese,
more analytically, say "eat it down." Using the verb hē,
"to drink," you can also say hēxiaqu, "to drink
down." The meaning of chīxiaqu and hēxiaqu might be better
conveyed as "to take in" or "to get down" food
or drink; you use these verbs when you want to stress getting food
or drink down into the stomach, rather than just the action of
eating.
As a resultative verb, chīxiaqu and hēxiaqu may take -de- or -bu-
as a middle syllable for the additional meaning of "can"
or "cannot." In chīde-xiàqù/chībuxiàqù and
hēdexiàqù/hēbuxiàqù, the syllables -xià and -qù are still somewhat
stressed (you can still hear their falling tones), whereas they
are unstressed and often neutral tone in the words chīxiaqu and
hēxiaqu.
chīdexiàqù chībuxiàqù méi chīxiaqu chīxiaqu le
able to eat it down unable to eat it down didn’t eat it down ate
it down
Wǒ chīde tài bǎo le, chībuxiàqù I’m too full, I can’t eat any more
le.
Zhèige yào chīxiaqu jiù huì hǎo You’ll feel better after you take
le. this medicine.
A: Zhèige yào zhēn kǔ, wǒ hēbuxiàqù.
B: Méiyou guānxi, kuài diǎnr hēxiaqu jiu kéyi le.
nòng: This is a very common verb
ings. First of all it means "to do, to
Zánmen kāishī nòng fàn, hǎo bu hǎo?
This medicine is really bitter. I can’t get it down.
Sure you can. Just drink it down real fast.
with several especially useful mean' make" in a broad, vague
sense:
Let’s start to make dinner, okay?
Tā bù zhīdào zěnme nòngle hǎoduō Somehow he made himself a lot of
qián. money.
"bìngren: "sick person, patient"
Wǒ xiǎng nǐ bú bì guan zhèijiǎn shi, nòngde bù hǎo dōu shi nǐde
cuò.
Shìqing yuè nòng yuè da, zhēn bù zhǐdǎo zěnme ban cái hǎo.
Tā zhème shuō nòngde wǒ zhēn bù hǎo yìsi.
I don’t think you should try to take charge of this. If you
handled it badly it would be all your fault.
This matter is getting blown up bigger and bigger. I really don’t
know what to do.
His saying that really embarrassed me.
Nong can mean ’’to play with, to fool
Bie nòng wǒde biǎo.
Nòng can be followed by another verb e.g., nòngzāng, ’’to make
(something) (lit., "to make Csomething! break’’); thing!
die”). Examples:
Shi shéi bǎ wǒde yùsǎn nònghuǎi le?
with, to monkey with”:
Don’t fool with my watch.
which shows the result of some action, dirty”; nòngpò, ”to break
something" nòngsǐ, "to kill" (lit., "to make
Csome
Who was it who broke my umbrella? (literally, "made it so
that it broke")
Wǒ qù bǎ zǎofǎn nònghǎo.
Zhèige wèntí hěn yǎojǐn, děi nòngqǐngchu.
Bié nòngzāngle nǐde yǐfu.
Nǐ nòngcuò le ba, tā qùnián cái cōng dàlù chūlai.
Zhèige wèntí, nǐ zuótiān gěi wo jiǎngguò le, jīntiān wǒ you
nòngbudong le, nǐ kě bu kéyi zai gěi wo jiǎng yícì?
I’ll go get breakfast ready.
This question is very important, we must get it clear.
Don't get your clothes dirty.
You’re mistaken, I think. He didn’t leave the mainland until last
year.
Yesterday you explained this question to me, but today I can’t
understand it again. Could you explain it to me once again?
nònglai: "to get and bring (here)" Compare the use of
the directional ending -lai in nònglai to its use in Wǒ gěi ni dǎo
bēi chá lai, which you learned in Unit 1.
Nǐ cong nǎr nònglaide?
Where did you get this from?
3. A: Wǒ qù zhǎo Xiǎo Lan liǎo tiānr.
B: Nǐ Lie qù le, tā yìtiān dao wǎn yònggōng, méi shíjiān péi ni
liào tiānr.
I’m going to go look for Xiǎo Lan to have a chat.
Don’t go, she works hard all day long and doesn’t have the time to
chat with you.
Notes on No. 3
liāo tiān(r): ”to chat” Liao means ”to chat,” and tiān(r) acts as
its object^Tiān(r)~may also be omitted.
Women liāole yíge zhōngtōu. We chatted for an hour.
Nǐ shénme shihou you gōngfu, When you have time, we’ll go find
women zhǎo ge dìfang liāoliao a place and chat a while, tiānr.
Nǐ bié qù le: ’’don’t go” The English translation here can’t
really be adequate without getting cumbersome. The one syllable le
tells you that not going is a change from what was earlier
expected. To show the meaning of the marker le for new situation,
the translation might be ’’Change your plans and don ’ t go. ”
yìtiān dào wǎn: ’’all day long” The syllable yǐ (’’one”) is
sometimes used to mean ’’the whole, the entire.” Yìtiān dào wǎn
can be literally translated as ’’the whole day until late,” but is
also often used to mean ’’all the time, always.” You can use the
whole phrase as you would a time-when word (e.g., jǐntiǎn), or you
can split it up with a verb, as in yìtiān máng dào wǎn ’’busy the
whole day until late,” or ’’busy all day long.”
Tā yìtiān dào wǎn dōu zài māng. He’s busy all day long.
Tā yìtiān dào wǎn shuō tāde She’s always saying from
morning
qián bú gòu yòng. to night that she doesn’t have
enough money.
yònggōng: ”to be diligent, to be hardworking” in one’s studies
Nī bú yònggōng jiù bú rang ni If you don’t work hard, I won’t let
niàn dàxué le. you go to college.
Women zhèrde xuésheng dōu hěn All our students here are very
yònggōng. hardworking.
péi: ”to accompany; to keep somebody company” In the
Transportation module, you saw the verb péi
meaningw”to accompany, to go along with” in
the sentence Tā qǐng wo péi tā yìqǐ qù lúxíng, "She asked me
to accompany her on her trip.”Here you see péi used in another
sense, "to keep someone company."
Míngtiān wǒ yào péi wǒ mùqin qù kàn bìng.
Tomorrow I’m going along with my mother to see the doctor.
Méi rén péi wǒ qù, wǒ Jiu "bú qù le.
Women lái péipei nǐ.
Lǎo rén chángcháng xǐhuan you rén péizhe tā shuō huà.
If no one goes along with me, I won’t go.
We’11 keep you company.
Older people often like to have someone to keep them company and
talk with them.
h. A: Wáng jiā Xiǎo Lán conglái méiyou nánpéngyou ma?
B: Tā cái shíjiǔsuì, mángzhe niàn shū, hái méiyou xiǎngdào zhèixie
shir ne!
Hasn’t the Wáng family’s Xiǎo Lan ever had a boyfriend?
She’s only nineteen years old, busy studying, and hasn’t thought
of these things yet.’
Notes on No. U
conglái: ’’ever (up till now), always (up till now)” Conglái means
that something remains the same or unchanged from the past up to
now. It is almost always followed by an adverb—jiù, dōu, or the
negatives bù or méi. The two most common combinations are conglái
bù and cónglái méi. Bù and méi, of course, have different uses;
roughly speaking, conglái bù means "(habitually) never (do
X)’’ and cónglái méi means ’’have never (done X in the
past)." With cónglái méi, the verb of the sentence usually
takes the aspect marker -guo (experience at any previous time).
Tā cónglái bù dào wǒ Jiā lái.
Tā cónglái méi dào wǒ jiā láiguo.
Wǒ cónglái méiyou xiǎngdào xiànzài hái you zhèiyangde jiātíng,
zhèiyangde fùmǔ.
She never comes to my house.
She has never been to my house (before).
I never imagined that there were still families and parents like
this these days.
cái: In the Transportation Module, you saw the adverb cái used to
mean "then and only then" or "not until then."
It was used to talk about something that happened later than
expected, for example, Tā shi zuótiān cái láide, "He didn’t
get here until yesterday." In sentence
Ub, you see cái (still an
adverb) used to mean "only" a certain amount.
Cái means "only" in the sense of "as little
as," "so little." It stresses that the amount is
less than expected, less than normal, etc.
You already know two other adverbs which mean "only":
zhǐ and jiù. Cái is used with the meaning "only"
strictly before amounts, while zhǐ and Jiù are also used for
"only" in the sense of "no other way" or
"no others":
Zhǐ/Jiù néng zènme zuò. (We) can only do it this way.
Wǒmen jǐge rén, zhǐ/jiù you wǒ I am the only one of us who can
speak huì shuō Fǎguo huà. French.
(Cái may not be used in such sentences.)
(That is, it could have "been, should have "been, or
might later "become more.)
Tā cái xuéle sānnián, jiù shuōde name hǎo.
He’s only studied three years and speaks so well. (AS LITTLE AS
THREE YEARS)
Tā yígòng cái kànle sānpiān wen- He only read three articles
zhāng. altogether. (SO FEW)
Although adverbs normally come only before a verb, cái may stand
directly before an amount:
Cái wùge rén?
A: Tāde fángzi yìnián cái sānbǎi kuài.
B: Cái zènme yidiǎnr?
Only five people? (SO FEW?)
His house costs only three hundred dollars a year. (SO LITTLE!)
Is that all? (SO LITTLE?)
Sentence UB illustrates that when speaking about a person’s age,
cái should be used for "only" rather than jiù. It is
also much better to use cái for "only" when speaking
about the time of day, the date, etc.:
Cái yìdiǎn zhōng, hái láidejí.
It’s only one o’clock, we can still
make it.
Jintiān cái shísānhào, hái zǎo ne!
Today is only the thirteenth (of the month). It’s still early!
Cái is not used in sentences meaning the speaker imposes a
restriction on an amount. This includes suggestions, instructions,
commands, wishes, or sentences expressing intention. In these
sentences, use jiù or zhǐ, e.g.: Nǐ jiù gěi ta yidiǎnr ba,
"Just give him a little"; Wǒ zhǐ yào chi yìwǎn fan,
"l only want to eat one bowl of rice."
mángzhe niàn shū: "to be busy studying" Máng here is not
the state verb "to be busy," but an action verb,
"to busily engage in (something)." Here are other
examples:
Nǐ zài máng shénme ne? What are you busy with?
Wǒ mángle yìtiān le. I have been busily working all
day.
Tā yìtiān dào wan máng zhèige He is busy with all sorts of things
máng nèige. all day long.
-zhe: In sentence hB, you see the marker -zhe used in a sentence
with word order like that of one in the Directions module: Zǒuzhe
qù kéyi ma? "Can you get there by walking?" -Zhe is the
marker of DURATION. It may be attached to an action or process
verb. The combination action verb plus -zhe refers to the duration
of the action, that is, the action has started and is continuing,
e.g., Tā pǎozhe ne, "He is running." The combination
process verb plus -zhe refers to the duration of the new state
entered into through the process (remember that
"process" here means a change from one state to
another), for example, Tā bìngzhe ne, "He is ill," or
Men kāizhe ne, "The door is open."
Often you see the combination verb plus -zhe followed by another
verb, as in mángzhe niàn shū. In this case, the verb plus -zhe
describes the means or manner of the following verb.
Women zǒuzhe qù.
Tā pǎozhe xiā lóu qu le.
Tā kāizhe chē lái le.
Tā názhe dōngxi shàng chē le.
Tā zhèi jǐtiān mángzhe kāi huì.
Tā jízhe zǒu, bǎ yàoshi wàng zai jiāli le.
Women zǒuzhe liáo tiān.
Let’s go on foot.
He went running downstairs.
He came driving a car.
Carrying the things, he boarded the bus.
The last few days he has been busy with meetings.
He was in a hurry to leave, and left the keys at home.
We talked while walking.
xiǎngdào: "to think of" -Dào here is not the
prepositional verb "to" but the ending for compound
verbs of result which you have so far seen in jièdao, "to
successfully borrow" and shuōdao, "to talk about."
The verb ending -dào means "to successfully
reach/obtain/find." In the compound verb xiǎngdào, the verb
xiǎng expresses the action of thinking about it, and -dào says
that your thought "reached to" the idea—came into your
head.
Another verb like xiǎng in referring to mental activity is kǎolū,
"to consider," which you learned in Unit 1, and just as
with xiǎng, you can use -dào with kǎolū. Here are examples of
xiǎngdào and kǎolùdào. Notice the different translations possible
for mei xiǎngdào and xiǎngbudào.
Wǒ hái xiǎngdào lìngwài yidiǎn.
Wǒ xiǎng dàgài jiù nǐ yíge rén lái, shéi xiǎngdào nǐmen dōu lái
le!
Wǒ méi xiǎngdào huì you zhèi-zhǒng qíngkuàng.
Xiǎngbudào tāmen huì zenme kuài jiēhūn.
A: Ni mei kaolūdao zhei yidian ba?
B: Zěnme kǎoludedào nàme duō shìqing!
I’ve thought of another point.
I thought you would probably be the only one coining. Who would
have thought all of you would come!
I didn’t expect this kind of situation. (Lit., "I didn’t
think there would be this kind of situation.")
I was surprised they got married so soon.
You didn’t consider that point, did you?
How could I take so many things into consideration!
5. A: Wǒde xiǎo nūér liǎngsānsuìde My youngest daughter cried a
lot shihou cháng kū, xiànzài when she was two or three
years
zhǎngdà le, bú zài kū le. old, but now she has grown up
and doesn’t cry anymore.
Notes on No. $
xiǎo nūér: Not "little daughter," as you might have
thought, but "youngest daughter." Xiǎo and dà are used,
respectively, for the "youngest" and "oldest"
of brothers and sisters. The ones in between, if there are any,
are numbered. For example, a mother would refer to her four sons,
starting with the eldest, as her dà érzi, èr érzi, sān érzi, and
xiǎo érzi.
zhǎngdà: "to grow up" This is a compound verb of result
made of zhang "to grow" and dà "to be big."
Nǐ zhǎngdàle xiǎng zuǒ shénme? What do you want to do when you
grow up?
Sānge yuè bū jiàn, zhèige hǎizi It’s been just three months since
I zhǎngdàle bù shǎo. last saw this youngster and
he has
grown quite a bit.
bū zài kū le: "doesn’t cry anymore" Zài is the adverb
which you learned meaning "again." Here it means
"anymore," referring to the continuing of a
situation.
Wǒ tài lèi le, méiyou bànfǎ zài xiě le.
Wǒ bù néng zài chǐ le, zài chī jiù bù shūfu le.
Bū yào zài xiǎng zhèixiē shìqing le.
Bū yào zài shuō le, hǎo bu hǎo?
Yǐhòu wǒ bū zài name màn le.
I’m too tired. I can’t write any more.
I can’t eat any more. If I eat more I won’t feel well.
Stop thinking about these things.
Don’t talk about it anymore, okay?
In the future, I won’t be so slow anymore.
6. A: Zuò fùmǔde bù yǐnggāi Those who are parents
shouldn’t
zhòng nan qǐng nu. regard males as superior to
females.
B: Duì. Zuò háizide yě yǐnggāi Right. And those who are children
xiàoshun fùmǔ. should show filial obedience to
their parents.
Notes on No. 6
zuò: "to be, to act as" As you are well aware, there are
times when you can’t use shi to translate English "to
be." One of these is when "to be" means that a
person takes on a certain role, position, or occupation. An
example is "to be president" as in "I want to be
president" or "He was president for eight years."
In such cases you use the same verb "to do", zuò:
Wǒ xiǎode shihou chángcháng xiǎng When I was young I often thought
jiānglái yào zuò yíge yǐsheng, I wanted to be a doctor when
kěshi xiànzài zhīdao zuò yǐsheng I grew up, but now I know that
tài nán le. it’s too hard to be a doctor.
Tā congqián zuòguo Jīngji Bùzhǎng. He was once the Minister of
Einance. (You could also say Tā cóngqián shi Jǐngji Bùzhǎng.)
Zhèi shi wǒ dìyǐcì zuò zhǔrén This is the first time I am to be
qīng kè, xīnli hěn jǐnzhāng.°° host and have guests over. I’m
nervous.
Phrases like zuò fùmǔde and zuò háizide in the reference list
sentence are used to talk about categories of people as defined by
a certain role, position, occupation, etc.
Zhèizhǒng shìqing, zuò fùmǔde Those in the position of parents
yǐnggāi xiān xiǎngdào. should foresee things like
this.
Kàndao xuéshengde Zhōngwén When we see that our students
have
xuéde nàme hǎo, women zuò learned their Chinese so well,
it
lǎoshīde zhēn gāoxìng. makes us teachers very happy.
zhòng nán qīng nǔ: "to treat men as important and women as
unimportant," Zhòng is the verb "to be heavy," with
the additional meaning, in literary style, of "to stress, to
put importance on." Qīng is the verb "to be light (in
weight)," with an extended meaning in literary Chinese of
"to regard lightly, to attach little importance to."
In the traditional Chinese family, a son had a starring role. One
reason was that sons assured the family’s continuity, something
which every man felt was his duty to his ancestors. In addition,
the son usually became the family representative after the
father’s death or retirement. A daughter, on the other hand, was
expected to leave the family and become part of her
zhǔrén, "host, master" **,jǐnzhāng, "to be
nervous, to be tense" husband’s household, so her importance
was considerably less than that of a son. A woman was always
subject to a man’s authority: a daughter had to obey her father, a
wife had to obey her husband, and a widow had to obey her son.’ Of
course, individual women, by their strength, intelligence, and
personality, were able to exert great influence on the family, but
this was often accomplished indirectly.
xiàoshun: This can be used either as a verb with an object,
"to be filial toward (someone)," as in the Reference
List sentence above, or as an adjectival verb meaning "to be
filial":
Zhèige háizi hěn xiàoshun. This child is very filial.
In traditional society, filial obedience was regarded as the
primary virtue in life and the source of all other virtues. It
consisted of respect for one’s parents and ancestors, obedience in
all cases to one’s parents’ will, consideration and care for their
daily welfare, continuation of the family line, and avoidance of
any actions which would shame the good name and reputation of the
family. But more than formal adherence to rules of good conduct,
filial obedience was also an attitude of warmth, founded in the
deep love of son and daughter for their parents. And although its
origin and center is the relationship of child to parents, this
important concept extended outside the family to govern all other
relationships in the life of a Chinese. It was said that if a son
was not filial to his parents, he would probably not fulfill the
duties of a good husband, a faithful friend, or a loyal citizen.
7. A: Nǐ dǐdi báitiān zài jiā ma?
B: Bu zài, nǐ děng dào wǎnshang zài dǎ diànhuà lai ba.
Is your younger brother at home during the day?
No, wait until the evening and then call him.
Notes on No. 7
báitiān: "daytime; during daylight," literally
"white-day" In the sense of "daylight," the
opposite of báitiān is hēiyè, "dark of night,"
literally, "black-night." In the sense of "daytime,
working hours," the opposite of báitiān is wǎnshang,
"evening, night."
Tā báitiān zuò shǐ, wǎnshang She works during the day and
niàn shū. studies at night.
děng dào: "wait until" Here you see the prepositional
verb dào "to, up to" used after another verb. (Contrast
this with xiǎngdào "to think of" where -dào is used as a
verb ending showing result and is written as part of the verb.)
You now know two meanings for the prepositional verb dào, one
having to do with location and the other with time: ’This is from
an old saying called the Sān Cong, "the Three Follows,"
i.e., the three paths to be followed. The saying is usually quoted
in its original classical style: Zài jiā cong fù, chū jià cong fū,
fū sǐ cong zǐ, "When at home obey your father, when married,
obey your husband., when your husband dies obey your son."
(1) location: "to, up to"
(2) time: "until"
What is the difference between putting your dào phrase after the
verb or before it?
Dào phrase after verb
If the dào phrase tells where or at what time you end up as a
result of the action, then it comes after the verb:
Wǒ zǒu dào shūfáng wàibian, ting- I walked up to the door of the
study Jian tāmen zài lǐbian shuō huà. and heard them inside
talking.
Wǒ yǐjīng kàn dao dìyìbǎilíngyī I’ve already read up to page 101.
yè le.
Wǒ zuótiān wǎnshang kàn shū Last night I read until past
three
kàn dao sāndiǎnduō zhōng. o’clock (in the morning).
In sentences which show that something changes location, lai
"to this place" or qù "to that place" will
usually come at the end of the whole clause:
I MAIN VERB dào TIME OR PLACE lai OR qu~|
Tā zǒu dào wǒ qiánmian qu le. He walked in front of me.
Qīng bǎ nèijǐběn shū ná dào Please bring those books here,
zhèli lai.
Dào phrase before the verb
a. Put the dào phrase before lai or qù when they are the main
verb of the sentence:
Tā dào Chongqing qù le. He has gone to Chongqing.
Tā yào dào wǒ zhèr lái. He is coming to my place.
b. If another verb phrase follows the dào phrase, qù may
sometimes be omitted making the dào phrase appear to modify
the second verb phrase:
A: Women dào nǎr chī fàn? Where shall we go to eat?
B: Dào fàntīng chī fàn. We’ll go to the dining
room to eat.
(Literally, these mean "To where shall we eat?" and
"We’ll to the dining room eat.")
c. A dào phrase may come before the verb if the phrase shows
that a point is reached prior to the action or condition:
à, "page"
Dào xiàwu zài tan.
Let’s wait until the afternoon and then talk. (Contrast tan dào
xiàwu, "talk until the afternoon.")
8. A: Zhōngguo rén conglái bù j iǎng nánnù píngděng ma?
B: Shuōdao nánnu píngděng, nà shi zuìjin jǐshíniánde xìn guānniàn.
Notes on No. 8
Didn’t the Chinese ever stress equality between men and women?
As for equality of the sexes, that’s a new concept of the last few
decades.
conglái bù: "never, never does... Earlier in this unit (No.
h), you saw the phrase conglai mei "have never, had
never..." Conglái itself means "at any time in the past
up until now."
Wǒ conglái bù xiǎng zǎoshang I never feel like studying in
the
niàn shū. morning.
Whether you choose conglái bù or conglái mei depends on what kind
of verb you are using and how it is normally negated. To summarize
what you learned back in the Biographic Information module, STATE
verbs (which include adjectival verbs and auxiliary verbs) are
always negated with bù. PROCESS verbs are always negated with mei
when referring to an actual state of affairs. ACTION verbs can be
negated with bù or méi depending on the meaning. While there are
grammar rules for choosing bù or méi to negate your verb, there
are also semantic reasons for choosing one or the other: Are you
generalizing about something habitual or speaking of a specific
instance?
STATE VERBS (Use bù. )
Wǒde qián conglái dōu bu gòu.
Tā cónglái bù xiǎng zuò zhèiyangde gōngzuò.
Wǒ cónglái bù xíhuan qù Niù Yuē.
PROCESS VERBS (Use mei.)
Tā cónglái méi jiēguo hūn.
Tā cónglái méi bìngguo.
Zhèige diànshì cónglái méi huài-guo.
I have never had enough money.
He never wants/has never wanted to do this kind of work.
I never like/have never liked going to New York.
She has never gotten married.
He has never gotten sick.
This television has never broken.
ACTION VERBS (Bù and méi make a difference in meaning.)
(1) Wǒ conglái méi kànguo zhèi-yangrde shū.
I have never read a book like this. (PAST EXPERIENCE)
(2) Wǒ conglái bú kàn zheiyangrde shū.
I never read (present) this kind of book OR I never used to read
this kind of book. (HABITUAL)
Conglái vs. cóngqián: Cóngqián, "the past," is a noun, a
time word. It may, for example, be the object of the prepositional
verb zài, e.g., Zài congqián you rén zenme zuò, "in the past,
some people did it that way." Conglai may also be used as a
moveable adverb, in which case it can be translated "in the
past, before, formerly": Wǒ congqián (OR Cóngqián wǒ) méiyou
chē, xiànzài you le, "Before I didn't have a car, but now I
do."
Conglái, "always (in the past), from the beginning," is
not a noun; it cannot, for example, be the object of the
prepositional verb zài. It is used adverbially, always between the
subject and the verb. Both cóngqián méi and conglái méi may
sometimes be translated as "never," but conglái méi
makes a stronger statement.
Wǒ cóngqián méi chiguo Zhōngguo I haven't eaten Chinese food
before, cài. (There wasn't one
time when I ate
Chinese food.)
Wǒ conglái méi chīguo Zhōngguo cai.
jiǎng: "to be particular about, jiǎngjiu.J
Zhèige rén hěn jiǎng chi, hěn jiǎng chuān.
Tāmen jiā tài jiǎng guīju.’ Women Xiǎo Lán yīnggāi xiǎoxīn.
I have never eaten Chinese food (from the very beginning).
to stress, to pay attention to" LAlso
This person is fastidious about what he eats and what he wears.
Their family is overly particular about manners. Our Xiǎo Lán
should be careful.
shuōdao: "to speak of; as for" In this unit, you have
seen dào used as a resultative ending "to sucessfully
reach/obtain/find," as in xiǎngdào, "to think of."
You also saw it as a prepositional verb in děng dào, "wait
until." Here you see another example of -dao as a resultative
ending. When -dao is used with verbs of speech, such as shuō, tán
or jiǎng, they are translated as "to speak of" or
"to talk about." (In this meaning, -dao is not
interchangeable with -zháo.)
Women gāngcái hái shuōdao nǐ, We were talking about you just nǐ
jiù lái le. now, and here you are!
Jǐntiǎn nǐ gēn ta jiǎngdao wǒ Did you talk about me with him
méiyou? today?
Wǒ chángcháng xiǎngdào wǒde I often think of my child,
háizi.
“guīju: "manners" (see Unit U)
Notice that in sentence 8B, shuōdao is used at the beginning of
the sentence to introduce a topic, as we use "when it comes
to" or "speaking of" in English. Here are some
other examples.
Shuōdao jiéhūnde shi, wǒ hai When it comes to the marriage,
I
děi xiǎngyixiǎng. have to think it over some
more.
Tandao Zhōngguo wénhuà, When it comes to Chinese
culture,
tā bǐ wǒ zhīdaode duō. he knows a lot more than I do.
Shuōdao Lǐ Xiansheng, wǒ jiu xiǎngqilai le, hǎo jiǔ méi qù kàn ta
le.
zuìjǐn: "recently, lately; recent word, coming either before
or after the
Zuǐjǐn, women gōngsí you pàile yíge rén qù Xianggang.
Wǒ zuǐjǐn tài máng, méi shíjiān gēn ta shuō.
Speaking of Mr. Lǐ, it occurs to me that we haven’t been to see
him in quite a while.
last" Zuǐjǐn may be used as a time subject, but always before
the verb.
Recently, our company sent another person to Hong Kong.
I’ve been very busy lately, and haven’t had time to tell him.
zuìjǐn is used as
In sentence 8B (,..nà shi zuìjǐn jǐshíniánde xīn guānniàn), an
adjective modifying a Number-Counter-Noun. Other examples:
Zuìjǐn yíge yuè, tā dōu méiyou She hasn’t written for the last
month, lai xìn.
Tā shi zuìjǐn jǐtiān cái láide. She just arrived within the last
few days.
Besides referring to the near past, zuìjǐn can also refer to the
near future— "soon":
Tā zuìjǐn yào chū guo. He will be going abroad soon.
To make it clear you are talking about the future rather than the
past, use zuìjǐn in combination with auxiliary verbs like yào,
xiǎng, dǎsuan, zhǔnbèi, jǐhuà, etc.
9. A: Dà jiātíng yǒu shénme hǎo?
B: Zěnme bù hǎo? Rén duō, zhuàn qiánde rén yě duo ma!
A: Yàoshi suǒyǒude rén dōu xiàng nín zhèiyang xiǎng, Zhōngguo
xiànzài bù zhǐdào yǒu duōshao yì rén le!
What’s good about large fami lies?
What could be bad about them? After all, if there are more people
there are also more people earning money.’
If everyone thought they way you do, who knows how many hundreds
of millions of people there would be in China now!
Notes on No. 9
dà jiātíng: "large family; extended family" The phrases
dà jiātíng and xiǎo jiātíng, literally "large family"
and "small family," are often used in a specific sense.
In traditional Chinese society, dà jiātíng referred not merely to
the number of people in the family, but to the number of
generations living together. Although opinions on this vary
greatly, you need at least three generations living together to be
considered a dà jiātíng—an "extended family"—and each
generation must be several people "deep." Ideally, such
a family contained a father and mother, all their sons and their
wives, their sons’ sons and their wives, and all their children,
extending to about the fourth generation. A classic example of a
dà jiātíng, like the Jiǎ family in the novel Dream of the Red
Chamber, might include over 130 people all living in households
within one complex of houses and courtyards.
Do not misuse jiātíng, which refers to the family as an entity,
for jiā rén or jiālide rén, which refer to the people in the
family. This mistake is easy to make because both ideas can be
expressed in English by the word "family":
Wǒ dào Niǔ Yuē qù kàn wǒ Jiā rén I’m going to New York to see my
(OR wǒ jiālide rén). family.
zěnme bù hǎo: "How could they be bad?" or, more
idiomatically, "What could be bad about them?" Use zěnme
to make a rhetorical question disagreeing with someone else’s
position.
A: Bú duì, bú duì. That’s not right, that’s
not right.
B: Zěnme bú duì.’ What do you mean it’s
wrong!
A: Women bù kéyi zhèiyangr zuò. We can’t do it this way.
B: Zěnme bù kéyi?.’ Zhèi méiyou Why not?! There’s nothing
wrong with
shenme bù kéyide. it.
ma: This little marker is sometimes used at the end of a sentence
to imply that the reasoning behind the statement is obvious. It
can be translated as "you know" or "after
all," or by a tone of voice conveying that one thinks one’s
statement is self-evident. (For the following example, you need
to know dào lājī, "to take out Hit.,
Husband: Wèishenme zǒng děi wǒ zuò fàn ne?
Wife: Nǎnnu píngděng ma!
H: Nà hǎo, yǐhǒu nǐ guǎn dào lājǐ.
W: Wèishenme?
H: Nannu píngděng ma!
’dump’] the garbage.")
Why do I always have to do the cooking?
Equality of the sexes.’
Okay, then from now on, you take care of taking out the garbage.
Why?
Equality of the sexes!
suǒyǒude: "all" This is the word for "all"
used to modify nouns. (The adverb dōu is used to modify verbs.)
Suǒyǒude is mostly used with nouns at the front of the sentence
(that is, subjects or objects in topic position). In sentences
with suǒyǒude, dōu is almost always used, too.
Suǒyǒude cài dōu hěn hǎo chi. All the food is delicious.
SuǒySude cài wǒ dōu chīwán le. I finished all the food.
Suǒyǒude can be used with the bǎ construction, in which case dōu
goes before the main verb, not before the prepositional verb bǎ.
Wǒ bǎ suǒyǒude cài dōu chiwán le. I finished all the food.
Suǒyǒude can also be used without a noun following it, as long as
the context makes it clear what things suǒyǒude refers to:
Wǒ xǐhuan gōngyuán, Huáshèngdùn I like parks. I’ve been to all the
suǒyǒude wǒ dōu qùguo le. ones in Washington.
Here are some more example sentences with suǒyǒude. Notice that
the -de is sometimes omitted.
Suǒyǒude kāfēitīng wǒ dōu qùguo.
Ruguo wǒ you qián wǒ jiù yào mǎi suǒyǒu zhàixiē Hàn-Yīng zìdiǎn.
Tā dàoguo Měiguo suǒyǒu(de) you yìside dìfang.
I’ve been to all the coffeehouses.
If I had money, I’d like to buy all of these Chinese-English
dictionaries.
He has been to all the interesting places in the U.S.
yì: "hundred
single syllable to
million" After qiān, "1000," and wan,
"10,000," the next represent a higher number in Chinese
is yì, "100,000,000."
1,000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
10,000,000
100,000,000
1,000,000,000
yìqiān
yíwàn
shíwàn
yìbǎi wàn ("one million")
yìqiān wàn
yíy\
shíyì ("one billion")
10. A: Nǐ zhàicì hui guo kàndao nǐ lǎojiāde rén le ma?
B: Kàndao le. Tāmen shēng-huóde bú cuò, wǒ lǎojiā yě biànchéng
yíge hěn rànaode dìfangr le.
Did you see the people in your hometown on this visit back to your
country?
Yes, they’re living pretty well, and my hometown has become quite
a bustling place.
Notes on No. 10
kàndao: "to see, to perceive by sight" This is another
example of the ending -dao used as part of a compound verb of
result. You have now seen -dao meaning (1) "to successfully
reach/obtain/find" and (2) "about." With verbs of
perception, the meaning of -dao can be thought of as
"sucessfully reach" by means of the senses, or "to
successfully perceive." Another instance of this is tīngdao
"to hear, to perceive by listening."
Běijīng speakers prefer kànjian and tīngjian in many contexts, but
kàndao and tīngdao are used by all speakers of Standard Chinese.
biàn: "to change, to become different, to transform, to
alter"
Zhèige rén zhēnde biàn le, yǐqiān tā bú shi zhèiyangrde.
This fellow has really changed, he wasn’t this way
before.
Zhèijiàn máoyī xǐle jǐcì, biàn yānsè le.
After this sweater was washed a few times, it changed
color.
Jǐniān bú jiàn, tā yǐjīng biàn lǎo le.
I hadn’t seen him for a few years;
he had aged a lot. (refers to his appearance)
You can also use biàn in the pattern biàn—de—STATE VERB, as in:
Cong qùniàn dào xiànzài, tā He has become a lot healthier
biànde jiànkāngduō le. since last year.
Wo shíjīnián méi jiàndao ta, I haven’t seen him in over ten
years,
bù zhīdào tā biànde zěnme- I wonder what he is like now?
yang le?
-chéng: "become," "into" This is used with a
number of verbs to form a compound: gǎichéng, "to change (one
thing) into (another)"; fānyichéng, "to translate
into"; zuòchéng, "to make into"; zhǎngchéng,
"to grow into."
Wǒ bā tāde chènshān gǎichéng yíjiàn xiǎoháizide yīfu le.
Qīng ni bā zhàipiān wénzhāng fānyichéng Rìwén.
Zhèige haizi yǐjīng zhǎngchéng dàren le.
I took his shirt and altered it into an article of clothing for a
child.
Please translate this article into Japanese.
This child has already grown into an adult.
11. you yòng to be useful
12. hēiyè (darkness of) night,
nighttime
13. xīn heart; mind
Notes on Nos. 12 and 13
hēiyè: This is mostly used in sentences where baitiān,
"(light of) day, daytime," is contrasted with its
opposite (see the first exchange of the review dialogue for this
unit). The normal word for "nighttime" is wǎnshang.
xīn: The abstract concept "heart, Tā(de) xīn hǎo.
Tā zuòle zhèijiàn shi, xīnli hěn nánguò.
Tā xiěwánle zhěipiān xiǎoshuō, xīnli hěn gāoxìng.
Tā xīnli xiǎngde he tā zuòde bù yíyàng.
(For the organ "heart,
use xīnzàng, literally,
or, in many contexts, "mind":
He has a good heart (i.e., he is kind).
He felt very bad after he did that.
He was very happy after he finished writing this short story.
He acts differently than he thinks.
"heart-organ.")
Unit 3, Review Dialogue
On the flight from Washington to Hong Kong (via New York and.
Anchorage), Lǐ Ping (B) and Tom (A) are chatting.
A: Zai fēijǐshang zuòle zhème yì-
tiān, gǎnjué zěnmeyàng?
B: Zhēn bu shūfu, měicì zuò fēi-
jī dōu xiàng shēng bìng yíyàng. Tèbié shi zài fēijǐshang huànle
shíjiān, bāitiān biànchengle hēiyè, hēiyè biànchengle bái-tiān,
tài nánshòu le!
A: Duì le, bù shūfude shihou
yǐnggāi hē diǎnr bǐngshuǐr. Wǒ qù gěi ni nòng dianr bǐngshuǐr lai,
hǎo bu hǎo?
B: Hǎo shi hǎo, kěshi wǒ shizài
hēbuxiàqù le. . . . Suàn le ba, women liàoliao tiānr, yěxǔ huì hǎo
yidiǎnr.
A: Zài guò jǐge zhōngtóu nǐ jiu
dào jiā le, xiǎng jiā ma?
B: Xiǎng. Zài Měiguo liǎngniān
le, yìtiān māng dào wǎn, méiyou xiǎngguo jiā, kěshi xiànzài
xiǎngqi jiā lai le. Nǐ shuō qíguài bu qíguài?
A: Nà méiyou shénme qíguài. Rén
ma, zǒng yào you diǎnr jiātíng guānniàn. Tèbié shi Zhōngguo rén;
Zhōngguo rén shi jiǎng xiàoshunde.
B: Wǒ juéde zuò fùmǔ shi hěn bù
rōngyide, háizi yǐnggāi xiàoshun fùmǔ.
A: Zhèige xiǎngfǎ shi nǐ fùmǔ
jiāo nide ma?
B: Bu shi, shi shèhuì jiāo wode.
How do you feel after being on a plane all day like this?
I don’t feel well at all. Every time I take a plane it’s like
getting ill. Especially with the time change on the plane,
daylight turning into night and night turning back into daylight,
how uncomfortable!
Right; You should have some ice water when you don’t feel well.
I’ll go get you some ice water, okay?
Well, okay, but I really couldn’t drink any. . . . Forget it,
let’s just chat and maybe it’ll get a little better.
Just another few hours and you’ll be home. Are you homesick?
Yes. The whole two years I was in America, I was busy all day long
and never got homesick, but now here I am feeling homesick. Don’t
you think that’s strange?
There’s nothing strange about that. People are people! They have
to have a sense of attachment to their family. Especially Chinese
people; the Chinese put a lot of importance on filial obedience.
I think that it’s very difficult to be parents, so children ought
to be filial toward their parents.
Did your parents teach you that way of thinking?
No, society taught it to me. My
“hǎo shi hǎo, kěshi... means literally, ’’as for being all right,
it is all right, but...” This means "It is. okay,
but..." or in more idiomatic English, "Well, okay,
but..."
Wǒ mǔqin conglái bù he wo tan xiàoshun.
A: Zhēnde?
B: Zhēnde. Wǒ dìyǐcì zhuàn qián-
de shihou, cái shíwǔsuì. Hui dao Jiāli, Jiù bǎ kǒudàili suǒ-yǒude
qián dōu gěi wǒ mǔqin le, hái shuō wǒ yǐhòu yào xiàoshun mama.
A: Nǐ mama zěnme shuō?
B: Tǎ kū le. Tā shuō wǒ néng
dull, néng zài shèhuishang zuò ge you yòngde rén Jiù shi zuì hǎode
xiàoshun. Wǒ gěi tāde qián, tā dōu gěi wo mǎicheng shū. Yǐhòu, wǒ
Jiu gèng yònggōng le.
A: Zhēn shi yíwěi hǎo māma.
B: Shi. . . . Wǒ xiě xìn gěi tā,
gàosu ta wǒ yào hé yíwèi Měiguó péngyou yìqǐ huilai guò shǔjià, tā
hěn gāoxìng. Tā hěn huānyíng nǐ lái.
C: Duìbuqǐ, liǎngwèi xiānsēn,
nǐmen yào hē diǎn sénme?
B: Wǒ bū dà shūfu, bǔ yào shenme.
C: Ou, bú dà sūfǔ, yìbēi zè cá,
hǎo bu hǎo?
B: Hǎode, xièxie ni.
A: Wǒ lái yipíng píjiǔ. Nǐmen
you méiyou Heineken?
C: Yǒu.
A: Xièxie.
C: Bǔ kèqì. Zèiwèi xiānsēn, nǐ
hái yào sénme, qǐng gàosu wǒ.
mother never talks to me about filial obedience.
Really?
Really. The first time I made money I was only fifteen. When I got
home, I gave all the money I had in my pocket to my mother, and I
said that in the future I must be filial toward her.
What did she say?
She cried. She said that if I could be independent and be a useful
person in society that would be the best way to show filial
obedience. She used all the money I gave her to buy books for me.
After that, I worked even harder.
She's really a good mother.
Yes, she is. . . . She was very happy when I wrote her telling her
that I was going to come back with an American friend for the
summer vacation. She's very glad to have you at (welcomes you to)
our house.
Excuse me, what would you two gentlemen like to drink?
I'm not feeling too well, I don't want anything.
Oh, you don't feel well? How about a cup of hot tea?
All right, thank you.
I'd like a beer. Do you have Heineken?
Yes.
Thank you.
You're welcome. Sir, if you want anything else, please let me
know.
We have altered the spelling to show the stewardess's non-standard
pronunciation.
B: Hǎode, xièxie ni.
A: Women shuō dao nǎr le? Duì le,
nīmen jiāli chúle nǐ fùmǔ he zǔmǔ yǐwài hái you shénme rén ma?
B: Nǐ wangle, wo hái you yíge
mèimei, zài yínháng zuò shìde.
A: Ou, duì le, n? gēn wo shuōguo,
wǒ zěnme wangle ne!
B: Shuōdao wo mèimei, Jiù xiǎngdào
wǒ mǔqin. Nǐ zhidao zài Zhōng-guō, zhòng nán qīng nude guānniàn
háishi yǒude. Kěshi wǒ mèimei shi líkāi dàxué yǐhòu you zài
Yīngguó niànle liǎngnián shū cái zuò shìde. Zhèi yě yào gǎnxiè wǒ
mǔqin.
A: Nǐ mèimei xiànzài zh? zuò shi,
háishi yě niàn diǎnr shū?
B: Tā zhǐ zuò shi. Buguò tā hěn
rèxīn yánjiū dàlùde qíngxing, cháng kàn hěn duō guānyu dàlùde shū.
Tā cháng shuō, "Wo shi Zhōngguo rén, dàlùshang you shí-yì
Zhōngguo rén, wǒ zěnme kéyi bù zhídào tāmende shēnghuó, gōngzuò,
hé xuéxíde qíngkuàng ne?
A: Tāde huà hěn you dàolǐ.
B: Tā you hěn duō dàlù láide
péngyou; nǐ hé tā tántan, yě huì Juéde hěn you yìsi.
A: Tā duì dàlùde qíngxing zenme
rèxǐn, nǐ mǔqin you shénme kànfa ma?
B: Tā cháng shuō: "Háizi zhǎng-
dàle, tāmen yào zǒu shénme lù yīnggāi zìjī kǎolū."
A: Zhēn hǎo, shízài shi tài hǎo
le.
All right. Thank you.
Now, where were we? Oh yes: Is there anyone else in your family
besides your parents and your grandmother?
You’ve forgotten that I also have a younger sister who works in a
bank.
Oh, of course. You told me before. How could I have forgotten!
Mentioning my sister reminds me of my mother again. You know, in
China people still have the concept that men are superior to
women. But after my sister graduated from college, she studied for
two more years in England before she started working. That was
also thanks to my mother.
Does your sister Just work now, or does she also take some
classes?
She’s Just working, but she studies the mainland situation very
enthusiastically. She reads a lot of books about the mainland. She
often says, "I’m Chinese, and there are one billion Chinese
on the mainland. How can I be ignorant of the way they live, work,
and study?"
What she says is quite right.
She has a lot of friends from the mainland; you’ll find it very
interesting to talk with her.
Does your mother have anything to say about her enthusiastic
interest in the situation on the mainland?
She often says, "When children grow up, they should decide
for themselves what road they want to take."
That’s great! That’s really wonderful.
*gǎnxiè, "to be grateful/thankful to"
B: Deng dao nǐ jiàndao tade shihou, When you meet her I’m sure
you’ll
nǐ yídìng huì xǐhuan ta, yě huì like her, and our home, too.
xǐhuan wǒmen jiāde.
A: Yídìng!
I’m sure I will, too!
Exercise 1
This exercise is a review of the Reference List sentences in this
unit. The speaker will say a sentence in English, followed by a
pause for you to translate it into Chinese. Then a second speaker
will confirm your answer.
All sentences from the Reference List will occur only once. You
may want to rewind the tape and practice this exercise several
times.
Exercise 2
This exercise is a conversation between a Chinese student and an
American student in their dormitory room somewhere in the the U.S.
The conversation occurs only once. After listening to it
completely, you’ll probably want to rewind the tape and answer the
questions below as you listen a second time.
Here are the new words you will need to understand this
conversation:
Kěkǒukělè
Coca Cola
-ban (counter for a class of
students)
nūshēng coeds, women students
zǎo a long time ago
diào yǎnlèi to cry (lit., "fall
tears")
Questions for Exercise 2
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you
will be able to give them orally in class.
1. What is the Chinese student’s girlfriend studying? Why is
he worried about her?
2. What was the traditional Chinese attitude toward educating
women?
3. How did the Chinese student first meet his girlfriend?
U. Why do you suppose she would let herself cry in the
library?
What was her boyfriend’s reaction?
5. How was she able to come to college?
After you have answered these questions yourself, you may want to
take a look at the translation for this conversation. You may also
want to listen to the dialogue again to help you practice saying
your answers.
Note: The translations used in these dialogues are meant to
indicate the English functional equivalents for the Chinese
sentences rather than the literal meaning of the Chinese.
Exercise 3
In this conversation a mother and son in Beijing talk after a day
of work.
Listen to the conversation second time through, look helow
Here are the new words you kělián sǐ hu fàngxīn rìzi jǐngshen
once straight through. Then, on the and answer the questions.
will need to understand this conversation
to he pitiful
to die
to worry
days
energy, spirits
Questions for Exercise 3
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you
will he ahle to give them orally in class.
1. What is Wang Li’s problem?
2. How does the son propose to help her?
3. What problem does the mother see with this proposal? What
does the son volunteer to do?
U. What is the mother’s reaction to her son’s suggestion?
5. What two other things would lift Wáng Li’s spirits?
After you have prepared your answers, you may want to look at the
translation for the conversation. You may also want to listen to
the conversation again to help you pronounce your answers
correctly.
Exercise 1+
In this conversation, a husband, and wife talk in their home in
Běijīng.
Listen to the conversation straight through once. Then rewind the
tape and listen again. On the second time through, answer the
questions.
You will need the following new words:
Qīnghǎi
(a province in Western China)
bìngrén
sick person, patient
fǎnzhèng
anyway, in any case
chéngli rén yě hǎo, xiāngxia rén yě hǎo
whether it's city people or country people
yīyuàn
hospital
Questions for Exercise h
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you can
give them orally in class.
1. Why was Xiùyun late coming home?
2. Why did she get medicine for her husband? For what reason
does she insist he take the medicine?
3. What did they see in Qīnghǎi ten years ago?
h. What are their professions?
5. What kind of situation does the husband hope China will never
have again?
After you have answered these questions yourself, you may want to
take a look at the translation for this conversation. You may also
want to listen to the conversation again to help you pronounce
your answers correctly.
Dialogue and Translation for Exercise 2
Conversation between an American student and a Chinese student in
their college dormitory in America.
A: Nǐ zěnme yíge rén zài zhèli?
Hide nūpéngyou ne?
B: Zài tūshūguǎn niàn tāde
Jīngjixué.
A: Tā zhēn yònggōng! Zhème hǎode
tiānqi, hái zài pīnmìng niàn shū!
B: Shi a! Gāngcái, wǒ qù gěi
ta sòngle yidiǎn Kěkǒukělè, wǒ gēn ta shuō, zhèiyang niànxiaqu shi
yào shēng hìngde, kěshi tā bù ting, háishi zài nar niàn.
A: Wǒ xiǎng nīde nūpengyou you
diǎnr tèbié, women bānlide jīge nūshēng zǎo jiu pǎo dao hǎi-biānr
qu wánr le.
B: Zhè he tāde jiātíng yǒu guānxi.
A: Zěnme ne?
B: Tāde fùmù yǒu zhòng nan qīng
nude lǎo guānniàn. Tāmen xiǎng érzi shi zìjīde, nuér zhǎngdàle
zǒng yào Jiēhūnde, Jiēle hūn Jiù shi biérén Jiāde rén le, niàn shū
you shénme yòng?
A: Wǒ conglái méiyou xiǎngdào,
xiànzài hái yǒu zhèiyangde Jiātíng, zhèiyangde fùmǔ.
B: Zhè méiyou shénme qíguài, bǎ
lǎo guānniàn biàncheng xìn guānniàn bu shi yíjiàn róngyide shi.
A: Nà, nīde nūpéngyou yǒu xiōng-
dì Jiěmèi ma?
How come you’re all alone here? Where’s your girlfriend?
She’s in the library studying her economics.
She really works hard! The weather is so nice, and she’s still
knocking herself out studying.
That’s right! Just now, I went to take her a Coke, and I told her
she was going to get sick if she kept on studying like this, but
she wouldn’t listen. She Just went on studying.
I think your girlfriend is a little unusual. Several of the women
students in our class took off for the beach a long time ago.
It has to do with her family.
What do you mean?
Her parents have the old idea of regarding men as superior to
women. They think that a son is theirs, but a daughter gets
married sooner or later when she grows up, and after she’s married
she belongs to another family, so what use is it for her to get an
education?
I never imagined that there were still families and parents like
that these days.
There’s nothing so strange about that; it’s not an easy thing to
change one’s old ideas into new ideas.
Then, does your girl friend have any brothers and sisters?
B: Yǒu, Jiù yǒu yíge gēge.
Yes, Just one older brother.
A: Tā niàn shū niànde hǎo bu hǎo? How does he do in school?
B: Mǎmǎhūhū, wǒ xiǎng tā bú shi
yíge hěn yònggōngde xuéshēng.
A: Nǐ rènshi ta?
B: Rènshi. Wǒ he tāmen shi
zhōngxué tóngxué, tā gēge zhīdao tā niànwánle zhōngxué jiu kéyi
shàng dàxué, kěshi tā fùmǔ bú ràng mèimei niàn dàxué. Wǒ kàndao tā
changcháng yíge rén zài túshūguǎn diào yǎnlèi, jiù wèn ta
wèishénme, mànmànde, wǒ jiu zhīdao tāde qíngxing le.
A: 0, shi zhèiyang.’ Nà tā shi
zěnme lái dàxué niàn shūde ne?
B: Wǒ fùmǔ bāngzhu ta. ^ùnián,
tā zìjī yě zhuànle diǎn qián. Wǒ mǔqin shuō zhèige háizi zènme
xiǎng niàn shū, women duō bāngzhu ta yidiǎnr, ràng ta hǎohāo niàn
shū ba.’ Zhèi-yàng tā jiù bú zuò shi, zhǐ niàn shū le.
A: Shi zhèiyang.’ Women qù
kànkan ta, ràng ta xiūxi-xiuxi.
B: Hǎo, zǒu.’
Just so-so, I don’t think he’s a very hard worker.
You know him?
Yes. We were classmates in high school. Her brother knew that
after he finished high school he could go to college, but her
parents wouldn’t let her go. I used to see her alone in the
library, crying, and I asked her why. Gradually, I found out about
her situation.
Oh, so that’s the story! So then, how was it that she came to
college?
My parents helped her out. Also, last year she earned some money
on her own. My mother said she wanted so badly to study, that we
should help her out and let her do it properly.’ This way she can
just study without having to work.
Oh, is that so! Let’s go see her, and make her take a break.
Good, let’s go!
Dialogue and Translation for Exercise 3
In Běijīng, a mother and son talk after a day of work.
A: Mā, nín dào nǎr qu le?
B: Zài Lǎo Wáng jiā zuòle yihuǐr.
A: Wáng LǏde qíngkuàng hǎo
yidiǎnr ma?
B: Hǎo yidiǎnr, bù kū le, kěshi
háishi yìtiān dào wǎn méiyou yíjù huà.
A: Zhēn ràng rén nánshòu.
B: Kě bu shi ma, shizài shi
kělián, Wáng Li fùqin sǐle cái
Where have you been, Mom?
I was over at Lǎo Wáng’s for a while.
Is Wáng Li’s situation better now?
Somewhat better. She isn’t crying anymore, but she still doesn’t
say a thing all day long.
It really makes one feel bad.
Doesn’t it, though? It’s really pitiful: first Wáng Li’s father
bànnián mǔqin you sǐ le. Báitiān hǎo yidiǎnr, dàjiā ké^i qù péipei
ta. Wǎnshang, nū-háizi yíge rén zài jiāli, zhēn rang rén bú
fàngxǐn.
A: Mā, wǒ xiǎngdào yíge hǎo
bǎnfǎ, rang Wang LÌ bān dao zánmen jiā lái ba! Nín gēn tā liáoliao
tiānr, yěxǔ huì hǎo yidiǎnr.
B: Mm, zhèige bǎnfǎ hǎo shi hǎo,
kěshi zánmen jiā jiù zhè liǎngjiān xiǎo wūzi, wǒ bǎ nǐ fang zai
nǎr ne?
A: Wǒ xiǎng Wáng Lì bānlái yǐhoù
wǒ kéyi zǎi Wáng jiā zhù jǐtiān, děng Wáng Lìde qíngkuàng hǎo
yì-diǎnr, wǒ zǎi bānhuilai ma!
B: Hǎo háizi, nǐ zhème rèxīn
bāngzhu biérén, hěn hǎo. . . . Wáng Li hěn xiàoshun, zhèixiē rìzi,
tā huì chángcháng xiǎng tāde fùmǔ, duō hé tā tántan, mǎnmānrde, tā
huì hǎo yidiǎnr.
A: Wǒ zǎi qù zhǎozhao tā cóng-
qiánde tǒngxué, rǎng tamen dōu lái hé ta tántan, péi ta chūqu
zǒuzou.
B: Duì le, děngdǎo tā shàng
bān le, jiù hǎo le. Rén mángde shihou jǐngshén huì hǎo yìxiē.
A: Duì. Nà zánmen xiànzài jiù
qù jiē ta ba!
B: Děngyiděng, bǎ wūzi shōushi-
hǎo zài qù.
A: Wǒ gēn nín yíkuàir shōushi.
dies, and then less than half a year later her mother dies, too.
During the daytime it’s not so bad, everybody goes and keeps her
company. But in the evening the girl is alone at home. It really
makes one worry.
Mom, I’ve thought of a good way (to solve the problem). Have Wáng
Lì move to our house! If you can chat with her, maybe that will
help.
That is a good idea, but our place only has these two small rooms.
Where would I put you?
I think I could go live at the Wáng's house. When Wáng Li’s
condition is a little better, I’ll move back here!
Good boy. It’s good that you’re so eager to help others. . . .
Wáng Lì is very filial, and she’ll miss her parents a lot during
this time. If we talk with her a lot, gradually, she'll get
better.
I’ll go call on some of her former classmates and have them come
talk with her and go out for walks with her.
Right. When she starts work, everything will be all right. When a
person is busy, their spirits improve.
Right. Well, let's go get her right now!
Wait. Let’s straighten up the room before we go.
I’ll straighten it up with you.
Dialogue and. Translation for Exercise U
A husband, and wife talk in Běijīng.
A: Xiùyun, nǐ huílai le. Jīntiān
zěnme zěnme wǎn?
B: Xiàle bānr, wǒ you qù mǎi
diSnr yào.
A: Wǒ xiǎng wǒ yǐjīng hǎo le,
hái mǎi shénme yào?
B: Nǐ cái yìtiān bù fā shāo, jiù
shuō hǎo le? Kuài yidiǎnr bǎ zhèi liǎngzhǒng yào dōu chīxiaqu.
A: Wǒ nǎr xūyào zěnme duō yào!
B: Zhèizhǒng gǎnmào bu shi
yìtiān liǎngtiān jiù huì hǎode, nǐ yídìng děi bǎ zhèi jǐzhǒng yào
dōu chīle.
A: Hǎo hǎo hǎo, wǒ chī.
B: Wǒ gěi ni dào bēi rèshuǐ lai,
xiànzài jiù chī.
A: Ei°, shuōdao chī yào, wǒ jiu
xiǎngqilai le, nǐ hái jìde shí-nián qián, zánmen zài Qīnghǎi
xiāngxià kànjiande nèijiàn shi ma?
Hi Xiùyun, you’re back. How come you’re so late tonight?
After work I went to buy some medicine.
I think I’ve already recovered. What are you buying medicine for?
Your fever has only been gone for one day and you say you’ve
recovered? Come on and take these two medicines.
As if I needed all this medicine!
This kind of cold doesn’t get better in just a day or two.
You have to take all of these medicines.
Okay, okay, I’ll take them.
I’ll get you a cup of hot water, and you take them right now.
Say, speaking of taking medicine reminds me, do you remember what
we saw out in the country of Qīnghǎi ten years ago?
B: Zěnme bu jìde, zánmen dōu shi
zuò yīshēngde, kànjian bìngren méi yào chī, zhēn nánshòu.
A: Kěshi, hái yǒu rén shuō
zhèizhǒng qíngxing méi guānxi, fanzhèng Zhōngguo rén duō, zhēn shi
bù jiǎng dàolǐ!
B: Hài! Nèige shihou, shénme
qíguàide shir dōu you, bié shuō le.
A: Kéyi bù shuō, kěshi bū huì
wàng. Zhōngguo yǒu jǐyì rén, chéngli rén yě hǎo, xiāngxià
How could I forget. We’re both doctors; seeing sick people without
medicine to take was really upsetting.
But you know what some people say? They say that this sort of
situation doesn’t matter, that there are plenty of Chinese anyway.
How crazy!
(Sigh). Back then, there were all sorts of strange things; don’t
talk about it any more.
We don’t have to talk about it, but we won't forge* it. ■ .er ■■
are several hundred million peonle in China.
Ei is an interjection which tells that the speaker just thought of
something.
ren yě hǎo, you hing hù néng kàn yǐsheng, you hing méi yào chide
shi, zài yě hù néng you le.
B: NǏ shuōde duì. Hǎo le, hǎo le,
nǐde hing cái hǎo yidiǎnr, nǐ chile yào zǎo diǎnr xiūxi ha.
A: Wǒ xiān hǎ yào chile, děng
yihuǐr, wo hái děi chūqu yítàng, yiyuànli hái you jǐjiàn shi děi
hàn, wǒ qù kàn yixia jiu huilai.
B: Zǎo diǎnr huílai.’
Whether it’s people in the city or people in the country, we can’t
have any more situations where people are sick and yet unahle to
see a doctor or get medicine.
You’re right. Okay, your illness is only a little better, after
you take your medicine go to hed early.
I’ll take the medicine now, but I have to go out again in a while.
I still have a few things I have to take care of at the hospital.
I’ll be back right after I go take a look there.
Don’t come back too late.’
soc
UNIT U
A Family History
INTRODUCTION
Grammar Topics Covered, in This Unit
1. More on ne, marker of absence of change/lack of completion.
2. The adverb duō (duō), "how....”’
3. More on indefinite pronouns ("any/no"
expressions).
U. Review of you (Noun) phrases.
Functional Language Contained in This Unit
1. Expressing worries or reservations about doing something.
2. Reassuring someone that they need not worry.
3. Asking for clarification of the meaning of what someone
just said.
U. Commenting on other’s good fortune.
1. A: Nǐ Laba zhème zǎo jiu qǐlai le!
B: Tā niánji dà le, měitiān shuìde zǎo.
Your father got up so early!
He’s getting on in years, and
he goes to bed early.
2. A: Xiǎo Wangde yeye you he nèixie xiǎo péngyou liáo tiānr
ne!
B: Tā rén hěn hǎo, hěn xǐhuan háizi.
Xiǎo Wang’s grandfather is talking with those kids again!
He’s a very good person, and he likes children a lot.
3. A: Zhèi liǎngnián nǐ nǎinai shēntǐ hǎo ma?
B: Hái hǎo, you shihou hái néng qǐlai shōushi shoushi wūzi.
U. A: Zhāng jiāde érxífu hěn you guǐju.
B: Shi a, Zhāng jiā nǎinai zhēn you fuqi.
5. A: Guòqù, Zhōngguo rén chū guō niàn shū duō nán!
B: Xiànzài hǎo le, zǒu dao nǎr yě méi rén kànbuqǐ le.
6. A: Rénjia dōu juéde Xiǎo Wáng shi ge hěn yōu lǐmàode háizi.
Has your grandmother’s health been good the past couple of years?
Fairly good; sometimes she can still get up and straighten up the
room.
The Zhāng family’s daughter-in-law is a proper young woman.
Yes, the Zhāng family’s grandmother is really blessed with good
fortune.
In the past how difficult it was for Chinese to go abroad to
study!
Now it’s better, no matter where they go, no one looks down on
them anymore.
Everyone feels Xiǎo Wáng is a very well-mannered child.
7. A: Zhèi yì jiā rén dōu niànguo bù shǎo shū.
B:
8.
A:
B:
Tǐngshuō tāmende sūnzi sūnnu xiànzài dōu niàn Si Shū ne!
Tāmen Jiā guòqù shi you qián rén, you bù shǎo cáichǎn.
Nǐ shuōde cáichǎn shi tǔdǐ ba?
This whole family has had quite a good education.
I understand that their grandsons and granddaughters are (all)
studying the Four Books now!
Their family used to be rich. They had quite a lot of property.
The property you’re talking about is land, isn’t it?
9.
B:
Nǐ zhùxialai ba, yě kéyi gěi women bāng dianr máng.
Wǒ báitiān you kè, zhǐ hǎo wǎnshang zuò diǎnr shǐ.
Stay (live) here and you can help us a bit.
I have classes during the day;
I can only work at night.
10. A: Wǒ mǔqin zǒng dānxǐn wǒ gěge zài wàibianr chǐ kǔ.
B: Tāmen Jǐge xiǎo péngyou hùxiāng bāng máng, bú huì chǐ kǔde.
My mother is always worried that my older brother is having a
rough time away from home.
His bunch of friends help each other out. They don’t have such a
rough time.
VOCABULARY
baba
bang máng bù shǎo
father, dad, papa
to help; help
to be quite a lot, to be much, to be many
cáichǎn chī kǔ
property
to suffer, to undergo hardship
dānxīn duo (duō)
to be worried, to be uneasy how...
érxífu(r) (érxífer)
daught er-in-law
fuqi
blessings, good fortune
guīju
rules of proper behavior, social etiquette, manners;
rule (of a community or organization), established
practice, custom
guòqù
the past
hái hùxiāng
fairly, passably mutually
-jiā
(counter for families)
kànbuqǐ
to look down on, to scorn, to despise
lǐmào
manners, politeness
nǎinai niánji
grandmother (on father’s side) age
qǐlai
to get up (in several senses)
rén
rénjia
person; body; self people; they; he, she; I
shēntǐ shōushi
body; health
to straighten up; to get one’s things ready
Si Shū
the Four Books (Dàxué, Zhōngyōng, Lúnyǔ.
sūnnū sūnzi
Mèngzǐ)
granddaughter (through one’s son) grandson (through
one’s son)
tǔdì
land
xiǎo péngyou
little friend; kids
yéye you you guǐju you lǐmào you qián
zhǐ hǎo zhùxialai
grandfather (on the father’s side) also
to have manners, to he proper
to he well mannered, to he polite
to he rich
can only, to have to, to he forced to
to move and stay (in a place), to settle down
Unit U, Reference Notes
1. A: Nǐ “baba zhème zǎo jiu Your father got up so
early.
qǐlai le.
B: Tā niánji dà le, měitiān He’s getting on in years, and
shuǐde zǎo. he goes to bed early.
Notes on No. 1
zhème zǎo jiu qǐlai le: The adverb jiù is used to stress the
earliness (zhème zǎo) of father’s getting up. On this use of jiù,
review Unit 2, Notes on No. 9• Here are more examples:
Tā wǔdiǎn zhōng jiu qǐlai le. He got up at five (that early).
Wǒ mǎshàng jiu lái. I’ll be there in a minute.
Bù jiù, tā jiu líkāi le. Shortly afterwards, he left.
qǐlai: "to get up," from a bed or just from a sitting
position. In an abstract sense it means "to arise,"
e.g., "to arise and revolt" Cqǐlai gemǐngi.
Nǐ tiāntiān shénme shihou qǐlai? When do you get up every day?
Tā niánji dà le: Literally, "As for him, the age is now
big." Le is used here to indicate change of state, as it
often is in sentences telling a person’s age (Tā sānshi suǐ le).
You should learn the following typical examples of how to use
niánji:
Tā (you) duo dà niánji le? How old is he? (USED ONLY OF
ADULTS)
Tā niánji dà le. He’s advanced in years.
Tā niánji bù xiǎo le. She’s not young any more.
Use Nín duo dà niánji le? to ask an adult’s age. To ask a child’s
age, though, say Nǐ duo dà le? or Nǐ you duo dà? or Nǐ jǐsuǐ (le)?
The Chinese are not secretive about their age the way many
Westerners are. It is not considered impolite to ask someone’s
age, even women and old people. As in the West, old people are
often proud of their age and glad to let you know it.
Měitiān shuǐde zǎo: Literally, "every day goes to bed
early." Měitiān is needed in Chinese to express the idea of
"habitual" which in English is conveyed simply by the
present tense of "goes." Without měitiān, the Chinese
sentence might refer to one particular instance only. For example,
it might mean that grandfather went to bed early the night before.
shuì, which you may know from the Welfare module, means "to
sleep," hut also "to go to hed, to retire." It is
like many verbs in Chinese which can indicate either the
continuing performance of an action (sleeping) or the start of an
action (trying to sleep, i.e., going to hed). In the following
examples, the pair of translations show the ambiguity. In real
conversation, of course, the ambiguity rarely causes problems
because the listener interprets one way or the other according to
the context:
{Has he gone to bed?
Did he sleep (and then get up)?
{Has it started to rain?
Did it rain (and then stop)?
í Has the bell gone off?
Diànlíng xiǎngle’ ma? (
I Did the bell ring (and then stop)?
To remove this ambiguity, you can use more specific phrasing. For
example, the aspect marker ne specifies absence of change, lack of
completion, and so rules out the second translation for each of
the above three sentences: Tā shuì ne, "He is sleeping,"
Xià yǔ ne, "It’s raining," Diànlíng xiǎng ne, "The
bell is ringing." To be even more specific you could use
~zhe, the marker of duration (usually used in combination with
ne): Tā shuìzhe ne, Xiàzhe yǔ ne, Diànlíng xiǎngzhe ne. Or you
could use the marker zài for ongoing action:Tā zài shuì, "He
is (in the midst of) sleeping," etc. To be the most specific
of all, you can use zài, -zhe, and ne all in the same sentence: Tā
zài shuìzhe ne, etc.
Shuì can also be used to mean "to lie down," regardless
of whether the person sleeps or not. (The meaning "lie
down" for shuì is only accepted by some speakers; others
always use the verb tang, "to lie down," which you
learned in the Welfare module.)
Tā shuì zai dìshang kàn diànshì. He lies on the floor and watches
television.
Nǐ kàn tā shuì dao zhuōzishang Look at him lying on the table! lai
le!
shuìde zǎo is another example of a manner expression following a
verb plus -de, a structure which was introduced back in the
Transportation module (Nǐ kāide tài kuài le, "You are driving
too fast"). Shuìde wǎn means either "to go to bed
late" or "to sleep late."
*xiǎng: "to sound, to make a sound"
A: Xiǎo Wangde yéye you he nèixie xiǎo péngyou liáo tiānr ne.’
B: Tā rén hěn hǎo, hěn xǐhuan háizi.
Xiǎo Wang’s grandfather is talking with those kids again.’
He’s a very good person, and he likes children a lot.
Notes on No. 2
yéye: "grandfather,” only for the father’s father. Back in
the Biographic Information module you learned zǔfù for
"paternal grandfather." Yéye is the same person, but is
the word you would use when addressing him directly or when
talking about him informally. See the diagram under nǎinai below
(Notes on No. 3). COne's mother's father is lǎoyé or wàigōng.1
Xiǎo péngyou, "little friends," is a warm term for young
children. It may be used either to address children directly or to
talk about them in the third person. The host of a children's
television show, for example, would address the young viewers as
xiǎo péngyou(men). You may someday need to use this word to
address a young child whom you don't know, for example, one that
you meet on the street. And, of course, xiǎo péngyou is also used
in its literal sense to refer to the "young friends" of
a child.
Xiǎo péngyou.' Tiān hēi le, kuài Little boy/girl, it's getting
dark hui jiā qu ba.' out. You'd better go
back home.
Nèixiē xiǎo péngyou dōu zài Those kids are playing
outdoors,
wàitou wānr ne.
liāo tiānr ne: Ne, which you first learned in the sentence Hái méi
ne, is the marker which emphasizes ABSENCE OF CHANGE or LACK OF
COMPLETION. (it is, in a way, the opposite of le, which marks
CHANGED SITUATION or COMPLETION.) In what specific situations can
or should you use ne? We can note two kinds of meaning for
sentences in which absence-of-change ne often appears:
(1) Continued State, e.g.,
Hai you ne. There is still some more.
Hai méiyou ne. Not yet.
(2) Ongoing Action, e.g.,
Tā chī fàn ne. He's eating.
Nǎinai zuò fàn ne. Grandma is cooking.
Remember also that ne is often used in sentences which contain
-zhe, the marker of DURATION (something like continued state), or
zài, the marker of ONGOING ACTION.
Tā shuì jiào ne.
Tā shuìzhe ne.
Tā zài shuì ne.
(NO CHANGE)
(DURATION + NO CHANGE) (ONGOING + NO CHANGE)
He is sleeping.
There is a famous nursery rhyme which contains two ongoing-action
sentences that end in ahsence-of-change ne. In one of its many
versions, the rhyme goes like this (just read and enjoy; ignore
the words you don’t know):
Xiǎo hàozir
Shàng dēngtáir
Tōu you he
Xiabulái
Jiao Yéye
Yéye zá suàn ne ^(ONGOING ACTION)
Jiào Nǎinai y'
Nǎinai zhǔ fan ne^
Jiào Niūer
Bào māo lai
Zēr! Zā! Deizhao le!
A little mouse
Went up the lampstand To steal oil to drink But he couldn’t get
down He called Grandpa
But Grandpa was crushing garlic He called Grandma But Grandma was
cooking He called Granddaughter Who "brought the cat Squeak!
Scratch! Got him!
rén: Besides the meaning of ’’man, person," rén can also
"be used to refer more specifically to someone’s (1)
character, (2) mental state of "being, or (3) physical self.
(1) character
Tā rén hěn rèxīn, chāngchàng bāngzhu biérén.
Tā rén zuò shi hǎo you xiǎoxīn.
Tā rén zhēn bú cuò.
(2) mental state
Tā hēduō le, rén yòu diǎnr bú tài qīngchu.
(3) physical self
Nǐ rén hǎo diǎnr le ma?
A: Cao Yǔshēng bú shi shuō wǔ-diǎn zhōng kāi huì ma?
B: Shi a!
A: Tā rén ne?
Tā gāngcái hái zài zhèr, zěnme yìhuǐr rén bú Jiàn le?
Rén lǎo xǐn bu lǎo.
He is a very warmhearted person.
He often helps others.
He does things well and carefully.
He is a very nice person.
He had too much to drink and is a little foggy.
Are you better today? (i.e., your health)
Didn’t Cáo Yǔshēng say there would be a meeting at five o’clock?
That’s right!
So where is he?
He was Just here a minute ago, how could he have disappeared so
fast?
(saying) The person is old, but his heart is not old. ("young
at heart")
Ren yì zǒu, chá jiu liáng.
(saying) As soon as the person has left, the tea gets cold.
(describes someone who forgets a friendship no sooner than he has
left—often used to describe Americans)
3. A: Zhèi liǎngnián nǐ nǎinai shēntǐ hǎo ma?
B: Hái hǎo, you shihou hái néng qǐlai shōushi shoushi wūzi.
Has your grandmother’s health been good the past couple of years?
Fairly good; sometimes she can still get up and straighten up the
room.
Notes on No. 3
zhèi liǎngnián: "the last couple of years" Zhèi before
an amount of time often means "the last" or "the
past." Liang does not necessarily mean exactly
"two" but can mean "a couple," an indefinite
small number.
Guo liǎngtiān women Jiù qù.
We are going there in a couple of days.
nǎinai: "paternal grandmother" For "grandma and
grandpa," the Chinese order is almost always yéye nǎinai. LA
maternal grandmother is called lǎolao or wàipó.J Here is a tree
showing what to call grandparents in Chinese. The top two rows are
conversational terms used either to address grandparents directly
or refer to them. The third row shows the more formal words which
you learned in BIO; these are not used in addressing one’s
grandparents directly. (The labels "Northern" and
"Southern," are generalizations; many more terms exist,
but these are widely encountered.)
(Northern) (Southern)
shēntǐ: "body" OR "health"
Tāde shēntǐ zhēn bang.’
He is in great shape.
"bang, "to be great/fantastic/terrific"
Bié zǒngshi pīnmìng niàn shū, děi duo zhùyì shēntǐ.
Don’t always he knocking yourself out studying; you should look
after your health more.
hái hǎo: "fairly good" You first learned the adverb hái
as meaning "still." When used before a state verb, hái
can also mean that the quality expressed by that verb may still be
said to apply, although just barely. Often it may be translated as
"fairly, passably":
Zhèige dianyǐng hái bū cuè, The movie was fairly good.
Although
suīrán cháng yidiǎn, kěshi it was a little long, it was
duì wǒde Zhōngwén you bāngzhu. good for my Chinese.
Sometimes, however, you
Nèige fànguǎnr hái keyi, yǒu jǐge cài nǐ keyi shishi.
A: Nǐ zuìjìn zěnmeyàng?
B: Hái mámahūhū, jiù shi máng yidiǎnr.
A: Zhōngguo you yìqiānniánde lìshǐ...
B: A, nǐ shuō shenme? Yìqiān-nián?.’
A: ōu, bū shi, sānqiānnián.
B: Nà hái chàbuduō.
shōushi: "to straighten up"
Nǐ yīnggāi bǎ nǐde wūzi shōushi shoushi le.
Wǒ xiansheng zǒngshi shuō wǒ wūzi shōushide bù gānjing.
Zhèijiàn shi yì kāishǐ jiù zuòde bù hǎo, xiànzài méi bànfǎ shōushi
le.
will need to find other translations:
That restaurant isn’t too bad. They have a few dishes you might
try.
How have you been lately?
Enh, all right, just a little busy.
China has one thousand years of history...
What? How’s that? One thousand years?.’
Oh, I mean three thousand years.
That’s more like it.
You ought to straighten up your room (Le indicates "It’s
gotten to that point.")
My husband always says I don’t keep my room neat.
This thing was handled poorly right from the start. Now there’s no
way it can be remedied.
Shōushi xíngli means "to pack one’s baggage."
U. A: Zhāng jiāde érxífu hěn yǒu guǐju.
B: Shi a, Zhāng jiā nǎinai zhēn you fūqi.
The Zhāng family’s daughter-in-law is a proper young woman.
Yes, the Zhāng family’s grandmother is really blessed with good
fortune.
Notes on No. U
Zhāng jia: "the Zhāng family" In Běijīng pronunciation,
the jiā is unstressed and often neutral tone, like a suffix:
Zhāngjia.
érxífu: "daughter-in-law" In Běijīng, this word is often
pronounced
ěrxífur or érxífer (note the vowel change).
guīju: A definite standard, regulation, or custom which forms part
of the conduct of a group of people (e.g., a community, a company,
a gang, etc.)
Zhao Zhōngguode lǎo guīju, qīng kède shihou kèren yīnggāi xiān
kāishǐ chī.
Zai qù nèige guójiā yīqián, zuì hǎo wǒ neng zhīdao yìxiē nèrde
guīju.
Jūnrén you hěn duō tèbiéde guīju.
Zhè shi wǒmende guīju.
Zhème duō guīju!
It is an old Chinese custom that when you have guests, the guests
should start eating first.
Before going to that country it would best if I could find out
about some of their customs.
Military people have a lot of special regulations.
That’s the way we do things here.
All this formality!
You guīju, as you see in exchange U, means "to have manners,
to be proper (in benavior)." Mei guīju is "to be badly
behaved," said, for example, of a child. (Bù guīju may be
used to imply unfaithfulness of a wife.)
Zhāng Taitai jiāo háizi jiāode Mrs. Zhāng teaches her children
well, hǎo, tāde háizi dōu hěn you they are all very
well-behaved,
guīju.
Xiǎo Sānr! Bié zhèiyangr. Ke- Cut it out, Xiǎo Sānr. What will the
ren kànjian nǐ zènme méi guests think when they see you
mis-
guīju, zěnme hǎo yìsi? behaving so?
fúqi: This is a traditional Chinese concept: the destiny to enjoy
happiness in life. It is different from the Western idea of luck
Ewhich is closer to Chinese yùnqiZI. Luck refers to chance
occurrences like winning a lottery, while fúqi refers to one’s
whole life situation. Some people have more fúqi and some less. In
practice, fúqi is measured by a person’s wealth, prestige, and
especially his or her family situation. In traditional China, for
a man to have a lot of sons was reason to say he had fúqi. In
exchange U, the grandmother is said to have fúqi because her
daughter-in-law is a very proper or well-behaved woman.
Tā zhēn yōu fúqi, búdàn yōu yíge He is really blessed with good
for-
hǎo jiātíng, you yōu yíge hǎo tune. Not only does he have a nice
gōngzuò. family, but a good job, too.
Nǐ fūqi zhēn hǎo, da érzi jì You are really blessed with
good for-
qián, xiǎo nūér song huār! tune. Your oldest son sent you
money and your little girl gave you flowers
Daughters-in-law: The relationship between the husband’s wife and
his mother is different in traditional China from in the West. A
wife, after all, is considered to become a member of her husband’s
family, so she is supposed to regard her mother-in-law as her new
mother, and show her the same filial obedience. The husband’s
mother, for her part, tries to find for her son a young woman who
will obey and get along with her, who will work hard for the
family and around the house.
5. A: Guòqù, Zhōngguo rén chū guō niàn shū duo nán.’
B: Xiànzài hǎo le, zǒu dao nǎr yě méi rén kànbuqǐ le.
In the past how difficult it was for Chinese to go abroad to
study.’
Now it’s better, no matter where they go, no one looks down on
them anymore.
Notes on No. 5
guòqù: "the past" Distinguish this noun from the verb
"to pass," which in Beijing has a neutral-tone qu:
guòqu. Since it is a time word, the noun guòqù may go either
before the subject or between the subject and verb. Most commonly
it is placed at the very beginning of the sentence, before the
subject:
Guòqu, tā zài Xiānggǎngde shihou, In the past, when he was in Hong
tā jiāo shū. Kong, he taught school.
Guòqù, tā bāngguo wo hěn duō máng. In the past he has been a great
help to me.
Guòqù may also be used to modify a noun
Nà dōu shi guòqùde shi le.’
duō nán: "how difficult.’" Duō, used before a state verb
to express a
Jīntiān tiānqi duō hǎo.
Nǐ bù zhīdào zài zhèr mǎi diàn-yīng piào you duō nán.’
Duō piàoliangde háizi a.’
Tā zěnme kéyi zhème shuō? Duō ràng rén shěngqì.’
Nǐ kàn tā duō xǐhuan niàn shū.
phrase:
Those are all things of the past.’
in Běijīng often pronounced duō, is high degree, like
"how" in English:
How nice the weather is today.
You don’t know how hard it is to buy a movie ticket here.’
What a beautiful child!
How can he say such a thing? How infuriating!
Look at how he loves to study.
zǒu dào nǎr yě méi rén kànbuqǐ: Nǎr here is used as an indefinite
pronoun, "anywhere, no matter where." You learned about
indefinite pronouns in the Meeting module, where you had the
sentence Míngtiān xiàwu shénme shíhou dōu kéyi. A question word,
such as shéi, shénme, něige or nǎr followed by the adverb dōu
before the verb expresses the idea of "any." When the
verb has bù or méi before it, the pattern expresses the ideas of
"nobody, nothing, neither, nowhere," etc.
Shéi dōu kéyi qù. Anyone may go.
Shéi dōu bù kéyi qù. No one may go.
Shénme dōu kéyi yòng.
Shénme dōu bù kéyi yòng.
Něige dōu yíyàng.
Něige dōu bù qīngchu.
Nǎr dōu kéyi qù.
Nǎr dōu méi zhèr hǎo.
You may use anything.
You may not use anything.
Any of them would be the same.
None of them is clear.
You can go anywhere.
No place is as good as here.
When bù or méi is used before the verb, the adverb yě can be used
in place of dōu:
Shéi yě bù kéyi qù. No one can go.
Shénme yě bù kéyi yòng. You may not use anything.
Něige yě bù qíngchu. None of them is clear.
Nǎr yě méi zhèr hǎo. No place is as good as here.
The "any/no" expression may be the subject or object of
the sentence, or as in exchange 5, it may be the object of a
prepositional verb:
Mai gěi shéi dōu kéyi. It’s okay to sell it to
anyone.
Mai gěi shéi dōu bu kéyi. It’s not okay to sell it to
any-
Mài gěi shéi yě bu kéyi. J one.
Fang zai nǎr dōu yíyàng. It’s the same wherever you put
it.
Fàng zai nǎr dōu bù yíyàng. It’s different every place you
put it.
Dào něige yóujú qù jì dōu kéyi. It would be all right to go to any
post office to mail it•
Gēn shéi shuō dōu (OR yě) méi It doesn’t matter who you tell it
to. guānxi.
kànbuqǐ: A resultative compound verb meaning "to look down
on, to scorn, to despise." Unlike other resultative verb
compounds, this one occurs only with -de- or -bu-. (Méi kànqǐ and
kànqǐ le are very rare.)
Bié kànbuqǐ zhèixiē xiǎo shi. Don’t look down on these little
matters.
Wǒ zuì kànbuqǐ zhèiyangde rén. I despise this kind of person most.
Bù yǐnggāi kànbuqǐ fùnū, nánrén Don’t look down on women.
Anything
néng zuǒde shi, nùrén yě néng a man can do a woman can do. zuò.
The positive form kàndeqǐ means to treat someone or something
seriously because you believe them/it to be capable, important,
worthy, etc. It may be translated as "to think a lot
of," "to think highly of":
Wǒ kàndeqǐ ni cái ràng nǐ guan zhèijiàn shi.
Nǐ yàoshi xiǎng ràng biérén kàndeqǐ ni, n? děi bī biérén zuò-de
hǎo.
It’s only because I think a lot of you that I’m letting you have
charge of this matter.
If you want to have others think highly of you, you have to do
better than they.
6. A: Rénjia dōu juéde Xiǎo Wáng Everyone feels Xiǎo Wáng is a
very shi ge hěn you lǐmàode well-mannered child,
háizi.
Notes on No. 6
rénjia: This pronoun has a few different meanings. As used in
exchange 6 it means "everyone, people (in general),
they":
Rénjia dōu shuō nèige dìfang hěn People say that place is very
pretty, hǎo kàn.
It can also mean "other people" or "someone
else":
Zhèiběnr shū dàgài kéyi jiè gěi I can probably lend you this book,
nī, būguò shi rénjiade, wǒ děi but it’s someone else’s. I have
xiǎn wènwen. to ask them first.
Besides referring to unspecified people, rénjia can also refer to
specific people. Most often it refers to a specific third party,
"he," "she," or ’’they":
Rénjia bu jiè, suàn le ba.’
A: Nǐ nūér you háizi le meiyou?
B: Méiyou—rénjia bú yào.’
Wǒ gěi rénjia, rénjia bú yào. Zěnme ban?
Nǐ kàn rénjia Xiǎo Huá xuéde duo hǎo, nǐ ne.’
If he doesn’t want to lend it, then just forget it.’
Has your daughter had any children yet?
No—she doesn’t want any.’
I tried to give it to her, but she didn’t want it. What can you
do?
Look at how well Xiǎo Huá does in her studies, but you.’
Renjia may also refer to the speaker, in other words,
"l." In such a case, the speaker is being intentionally
playful, witty, or cute:
Nǐ yào zenme duō?.’ Gěi rénjia yidiǎnr ma.'
Rénjia bù xǐhuan zhèizhōng diànyīng.' Wèishénme yídǐng yào qù kàn?
Rénjia děng nǐ yíge zhōngtōu le.
Jǐntiǎn shi Xǐngqǐtiān, ràng rénjia duō shuì yihuǐr ma!
You want so much?! Come on, give me a little!
I don't like this kind of movie!
Why do I have to go see it?
I’ve been waiting for you for an hour.
Today's Sunday. Let me sleep a little later!
1ǐmào: "manners, etiquette," the expression in speech
and behavior of modesty and respectfulness. This includes
politeness of speech, saying the right things at the right times,
table manners, and so on. CLǏ is "ritual." Mào is
"appearance."!
Congqian zài Zhōngguo lǐmào hěn yàojǐn.
Etiquette used to be very important in China.
Yōu lǐmào means "to be well-mannered," méiyou lǐmào
"to be ill-mannered."
7. A: Zhèi yǐjiā rén dōu niànguo bù shǎo shū.
B: Tīngshuō tāmende sūnzi sūnnū xiànzài dōu ni àn Si Shū ne.'
This whole family has had quite a good education.
I understand that their grandsons and granddaughters are (all)
studying the Four Books now!
Notes on No. 7
Zhèi yìjiā rén: "this family" You already a noun meaning
"family," for example, women jiā, also be used as a
counter. It may be used alone ing. The translation is still
"family."
know that jiā can be used as "our family." But jiā can
or with the noun rén follow-
Nèi yijiā, rénrén dōu gōngzuò, yìtiān dào wǎn méi rén zài jiā.
Everyone in that family works.
There's no one home all day long.
Cong zhèi sānjiā rénde qíngxing, nǐ kéyi zhīdao yìxiē guānyū
Zhōngguo rénde shēnghuo.
From the situations of these three families, you can learn
something about the life of the Chinese.
niànguo bù shǎo shū: Literally, "studied a lot of
books." This is the GENERAL OBJECT shū which you first
learned back in the Biographic Information module. It doesn't
really mean "books," but anything at all which is
studied. Niàn shū Just means "to study, to be in
school," so we translate niànguo bù shǎo shū as "to be
very well educated" or "to have a good education."
Sūnzi, "grandson," and sūnnu, "granddaughter"
include only the children of one’s son. CThe children of one’s
daughter are called wàisūnzi and wài-sūnnu.i Sūnnu may also have
an -r ending: sūnnur (the real Běijīng pronunciation of -nur is
kind of tricky; ask a native Běijīng speaker to say sūnnur for
you).
Si Shū: "the Four Books," which are Daxué, "The
Great Learning"; Zhōng-yōng, "The Doctrine of the
Mean"; Lunyǔ, "The Analects of Confucius"; and
Mèngzǐ, "Mencius." Dàxué and Zhōngyōng are chapters from
Lǐ Jì, "The Book of Rites," which were raised to the
status of separate "books" by the Southern Song Dynasty
philosopher Zhū Xī. After the Song Dynasty, philosophers of the
Idealist school looked upon the Four Books as the classics of
Confucianism. Many older Chinese you meet today studied the Four
Books when they were children.
8. A: Tāmen jiā guòqù shi yǒu qián Their family used to be rich,
rén, yǒu bù shǎo cáichǎn. They had quite a lot of property.
B: Nǐ shuōde cáichǎn shi The property you’re talking
tǔdì ba? about is land, isn’t it?
Notes on No. 8
yǒu qián: "to be rich," literally, "to have
money." You have now seen quite a few phrases built around
the state verb yǒu:
you yìsi to you bāngzhu to yǒu dǎolī to you xìngqu to yǒu yánjiū
to
be interesting, to be fun
be helpful
be reasonable, to be logical
be interested
be expert
Like other state verbs (such as hǎo, "to be good," ài,
"to love," huì, "to be able to, to know how
to,"), yǒu can be modified by adverbs such as hěn,
"very"; fēicháng, "very, extremely"; zhēn,
"really"; tài, "too"; etc.
Tā
hěn
yǒu qián.
Nèiběn shū
zhēn
you yìsi.
Lǐ Ping
zuì
méi xìngqu.
Zenme shuō
shízài
méiyou dàolǐ.
"He is very rich."
"That book is really interesting." "Lǐ Ping is the
least interested." "To say that is really unreasonable.
You, of course, differs from all other state verbs in that it is
made negative with méi instead of bù. BÙ may nevertheless modify
an adverb preceding yǒu:
Tā bū tài yǒu qián.
He isn’t too rich.
You cannot use méi in this sentence because the negation goes with
tài, not with yǒu. In fact, switching around the order of negative
and adverb results in a big difference in meaning:
Bū tài you yìsi.
Tài méiyou yìsi.’
Not too interesting.
So boring!
you qián rén:
"wealthy people" This is a sort of compound noun, so
-de is not used.
9. A: Nǐ zhùxialai ba, yě kéyi Stay (live) here and you can
help
gěi wǒmen bāng dianr us a bit.
máng.
B: Wǒ báitiān you kè, zhǐ hǎo I have classes during the day;
wǎnshang zuò diǎnr shǐ. I can only work at night.
Notes on No. 9
either mean The ending not going away.
zhùxialai: "to stay; to settle down" in a place. Zhù can
"to live, to reside" or just "to stay"
temporarily in a place, -xialai adds the meaning of coming to
rest,
Gang láide shihou bù zhīdao, zhùxialai yǐhǒu cái zhīdao wèishénme
méi rén xǐhuan dǎo zhèige dìfang lái.
A: Wǒ xiǎnzǎi qù zhǎo yige lùguǎn qu.
B: Méi guānxi, nǐ jiù zǎi wǒ jiā zhùxialai baJ
bāng máng: "to help; help" Unit 6. common.
When you first get here you don’t know, it’s only after you’ve
lived here for a while that you realize why nobody likes to come
here.
I’m going to go look for a hotel now
That’s all right, why don’t you just stay at my house?
You first saw this in the Welfare module, Both are very
Then in Unit 2 of this module, you learned bāngzhu.
Bāngzhu is a little more formal than bāng máng, which is purely
conversational.
Bāng máng is a verb-object phrase (literally,
"help-busy,"—"help me in my busy-ness"). For
example, you can say
Bāng wo yidiǎnr máng. Help me a little.
Wǒ zǎi Měiguode shihou, tā He helped me a lot when I was
in
bāngle wǒ bù shǎo máng. America.
Bāngzhu, however, is just a verb. The word order is therefore
simpler with bāngzhu than with bāngmáng.
Tā
bāngzhu wo.
Tā
bāng wǒde máng.
or
Tā
gěi wo bāng máng.
"He helps me."
You can see that when bāng máng is used, the person helped is
expressed either (1) in a phrase modifying máng or (2) in a
prepositional phrase with gěi.
zhǐ hǎo: "can only, have no choice hut to"
Xiǎ zhème dàde yù, women zhǐ hǎo hú qù le.
Dǎjiǎ dōu hú yuǎnyi péi wo qù, wō zhǐ hǎo yíge rén qù le.
Oqyou yuè lai yuè guǐ, hěn duō rén zhǐ hǎo zuò gōnggòng qìchē le.
Since it’s raining so hard, we have no choice hut not to go.
Nobody wants to go with me. All I can do is go hy myself.
With gasoline getting more and more expensive, many people have no
choice hut to take the hus.
10. A: Wō mùqin zǒng dǎnxǐn wǒ gēge zǎi wǎihianr chǐ kù.
B: Tāmen jīge xiǎopéngyou hùxiǎng hang mǎng, hú huì chǐ kǔde.
Notes on No. 10
dǎnxǐn: "to he worried (that)"
Yǐjīng shíyīdiǎn le, Xiǎo Ping hái méi huílai, tāde fùmǔ hěn
dǎnxǐn.
Nī hú hi dǎnxǐn, háizi dale, tǎ zìjī huì dǒngde.
Wǒ dǎnxǐn tǎde xuéxí.
Wǒ dǎnxǐn wǒ nǎinaide shēntǐ.
Wǒ dǎnxǐn tǎ you shénme wèntí.
Tǎ dǎnxǐn tǎ zuòbuhǎo nèijiǎn shi.
My mother is always worried that my older brother is having a
rough time away from home.
His bunch of friends help each other out. They don’t have such a
rough time.
It’s eleven o’clock already and Xiǎo Ping hasn’t gotten back home
yet. His parents are very worried.
You don’t need to worry. When the child grows up he’ll understand.
I’m worried about his studies.
I’m worried about my grandmother’s health.
I’m worried that he has some problem.
He’s worried he won’t be able to do it well.
zǎi wǎihianr: Literally, "on the outside," a common way
of saying "away from home" or "away from one’s
hometown." The Chinese have an expression (in literary
style), Zǎi jiǎ qiǎn rì hǎo, chū wǎi yì shi nán, "At home one
thousand days are good, but when one is on the outside (away from
one’s hometown) even one moment is difficult."
chǐ kǔ: "to have a rough time, to suffer hardships" Kǔ,
"bitter," when referring to life or an experience, means
"hardship, suffering, pain."
Tǎ chīle bù shǎo kù cái cong dǎ- He went through some rough times
xué bìyè. before he graduated from
college.
Méiyou chīguo zhànzhēngde’ kǔ, If you haven’t experienced the
suffer-jiù bù zhīdao jīntiānde shēng- ing of war, you don’t know
that our huó láide bù róngyi. life today didn’t
come easily.
Neng chi kǔ means "to be able to take hardships,"
"to have fortitude."
Zhōngguo hěn duō rénde kànfǎ shi In China many people think that
young
niánqīng rén yīnggāi néng chī people ought to be able to take kǔ.
hardship.
Tā neige rén hěn néng chī kǔ, He can take a lot of hardship. Don’t
bú yòng dānxīn. worry.
hùxiāng: "mutually, reciprocally, with each other" This
is an adverb, so it must go after the subject (if there is one)
and before the verb.
Women kéyi hùxiāng xuéxí. Nǐ We can learn from each other. You
jiāo wo Yǐngwén, wō Jiāo ni teach me English and I’ll teach
you
Zhōngwén. Chinese.
"zhànzhēng, "war"
Unit b, Review Dialogue
Early in the morning the day after Hong Kong, Lǐ Ping’s
grandmother (C) is when Lǐ Ping walks in.
B: Nǎinai, nín zhēn zǎo. Wǒ mā
ne? *
C: Tā ya, chūqu mǎi cai le. Erzi
huilai le, zǒng yào duō mǎi diǎnr cài ma.’ Nǐde péngyou ne? Tā hái
méiyou qǐlai La?
B: Qilai le, xǐ liǎn ne.
C: Xiǎo Ping a, nǐde péngyou
Jiao shénme míngzi, wǒ you wang le.
B: Jiao ’’Tāngmǔ.’’
C: 5, "Tāngmǔ," hái hǎo jì. Nǐ hé
tā shuō, dàole zánmen jiā, Jiù shi yìjiā rén, shénme shir dōu bié
kèqi. Tā yí kèqi, wǒ Jiu hù zhidao zěnme bàn hǎo le.
B: Wǒmen huilai yǐqián zài Tāngmǔ
Jiā zhùle liǎngtiān, tā Laba māma duì wǒ hěn hǎo. Tāngmǔ rén yě
hěn hǎo, zài Měiguode shihou, tā gěi wo bù shǎo bāngzhu.
C: Ò, zhèiyang hǎo, niánqīng rén
yǐnggāi hùxiāng bāng máng. Ai.’ Jìde nī yéye zài Rìběn nèi shihou,
pīnmìng niàn shū, rénjia Rìběn rén háishi kànbuqǐ ya, nǎr you
shénme Rìběn péngyou. Zhǐ hǎo Jīge Zhōngguo xuésheng zhù zai yìqǐ.
Ai.’
B: Nǎinai, guǒqùde shi Jiu bié qù
xiǎng ta le.
Lǐ Ping (B) and Tom (A) arrive in straightening up the living
room,
You’re up so early, Grandma. Where’s Mom?
Oh, she went out to buy some groceries. When a son comes back,
you’ve always got to buy some extra food. Where’s your friend?
He’s not up yet, is he?
Yes, he’s up. He’s washing his face.
Xiǎo Ping, what’s your friend’s name? I’ve forgotten it again.
"Tom. ’’
Hm, "Tom," that’s fairly easy to remember. You tell him
that in our house he’s Just part of the family and he shouldn’t be
polite about anything. Once he starts in with the politeness, I
won’t know what to do.
Before we came back we stayed at Tom’s house for a couple of days.
His parents were very nice to me. Tom is also a very good person;
when we were in America, he helped me a lot.
Mm. That’s good. Young people ought to help each other out. (Sigh)
I remember when your grandfather was in Japan, he studied like
crazy, but those Japanese still looked down on him. He didn’t have
any Japanese friends to speak of. The Chinese students just had to
live together. (Sigh)
Grandma, don’t go thinking about things from bygone days anymore.
Questions ending in ne often ask the whereabouts of someone or
something, hence the translation "Where’s Mom?"
C: Xiànzài hǎodeduō le, nǐ zài
wàibianr niàn shū, wǒ bu nàme dǎnxǐn le. ...
(Tom enters. )
A: Lǐ Nǎinai , nín zǎo!
C: Zǎo, Tāngmǔ, zuòle yìtiān fēijǐ
bù duō shuì yihuǐr?
A: Shuìgòu le. Lǐ Nǎinai, nín
zuòzhe ba, women bāng nín shōushi.
C: Duō you līmàode háizi!
These days, it’s much better. I don’t worry so much about you out
there studying.
Good morning, Grandma Lǐ!
Good morning, Tom. After a day on the airplane don’t you want to
get some more sleep?
No, I’ve gotten enough sleep. Grandma Lǐ, you sit down, we’ll
straighten up for you.
What a well-mannered child!
A: Lǐ Nǎinai, nín he érzi, érxífur
zhù zai yìqǐ, sūnzi, sūnnǔ yě cháng lái, nínde fúqi zhēn hǎo.
C: Shéi shuō bú shi ne? Wǒ cháng
shuō, women jiāde fúqi dōu shi wǒ nà xiàoshunde érxífur dàilaide.
B: Wǒ nǎinai you gāi’ shuō women
jiāde lìshǐ le.
A: Lǐ Nǎinai, zhèixiē shir nín
gěi wǒ jiǎngjiang xíng bu xíng?
C: Hǎo wa. Shuōqilái huà jiu
cháng le.’” Wǒ he Xiǎo Ping yéye dōu shi Shěnyáng rén. Rìben rén
láile yǐhòu, cáichǎn ya, tǔdì ya, dōu bù néng guan le, líkāi jiā
pǎo dàole Nánfāng. Xiǎo Ping bàba zài Shànghǎi niàn shū cái
rànshile women zhèige érxífu.
Grandma Lǐ, you’re so fortunate to live with your son and
daughter-in-law, and to have your grandson and grandaughter come
often.
That’s for sure. I often say that the good fortune of our f ami 1y
was all brought to us by that filial daughter-in-law of mine.
Here goes Grandma telling our family history again.
Grandma Lǐ, could you tell me about these things?
Sure! It’s a long story. Xiao Ping’s grandfather and I are both
from Shěnyáng (Mukden). When the Japanese came, we couldn’t bother
with our property or land any more; we left our home and fled to
the South.. Xiǎo Ping’s father didn’t meet our daughter-in-law’
until he was going to school in Shànghǎi.
*Tom knows that this way of addressing Grandma is proper for a
friend of her grandson. He intentionally calls her Lǐ Nǎinai as
soon as he sees her in order to establish the relationship.
”gāi: "will probably"
’’’More literally, "When it comes to telling it, the talk is
long." ’’’’Notice that grandma’s phrasing shows that the
woman is first a daughter-in-law, then a wife.
A: Nei shihou nuhaizi shang da-
xuéde duō hu duō?
C: Méiyou xiànzài zhème duō.
Women érxífu jiā xiāngdāng yǒu qián, érqiě yídàjiā rén yǒu
qī-hāshígè, zài Sūzhōu shéi dōu zhīdao tāmen jiā.
A: Zhèiyangrde jiātíng’ guīju
yídìng bù shǎo.
C: Shéi shuō hu shi ne.’ Tāmen
jiāde xiáojie bù néng zài wài-hianr niàn shū, zhǐ néng qīng lāoshǐ
dào jiāli jiāo diǎnr Si Shū shenmede. Xiǎo Ping mǔqin juéde yíge
fùnǔ yào zài shèhuìshang dull, yídìng děi chūqu niàn shū. Jiù
zhèiyang, tā cái pǎo dào Shànghǎi niàn shū qu le.
A: Zài nèi shihou, zhēn hu róngyi.
C: Zài dàxuéde shíhou, Xiǎo
Píngde fùmǔ shi hěn hǎode péngyou, kěshi zěnme hàn ne? Women
shénme dōu méiyou le, yě méiyou qián, zìjǐde érzi zěnme néng hé
zhèiyangr yíwèi xiáojie jiēhūn ne? Xiǎo Ping mā hu name xiǎng. . .
.
A: Tā zěnme xiǎng?
C: Tā shuō tā yào zhǎo yíge zìjǐ
xǐhuande rén jiēhūn, dìwei he qián dōu hu zhǒngyào. Ai, tā chile
duōshao kǔ cái líkāile nèige dà jiātíng.
A: Nà, nǐmen zěnme dào Xiānggǎng
lái le ne?
C: Tāmen zài Yīngguó niànwán shū
jiù lái Xiānggǎng zuǒ shi, yìnián yǐhòu you hǎ women jiē-lai le,
zhèiyangr yìjiā rén cái zài Xiānggǎng zhùxialai le. Xiànzài wǒ
niánji dà le, jiāli dà shir xiǎo shir dōu shi Xiǎo
Were there many women who went to college in those days?
Not as many as there are now. My daughter-in-law’s family was
quite rich, and there were seventy or eighty people in that one
big family. Everyone in Sūzhōu knew them.
A family like that must have had a strict code of behavior.
You bet they did! Their young ladies couldn’t go to school outside
the home: they could only hire a teacher to come to the house and
teach them a little of the Four Books and so forth. Xiǎo Ping’s
mother felt that if a woman wanted to be independent in society,
she had to leave home to study. That’s why she ran away to
Shànghǎi to go to school.
That must have been really hard back then.
When they were in college, Xiǎo Ping’s parents were very good
friends, but what were we to do? We didn’t have a thing left, and
we didn’t have any money. How could our (own) son marry a young
lady like that? But Xiǎo Ping’s mother didn’t think so. . . .
What did she think?
She said she wanted to find a person she herself liked to get
married to, and that status and money weren’t important. (Sigh)
What she went through to leave that big family.
Well then, how did you come to Hong Kong?
When they finished school in England they came to Hong Kong to
work; a year later they brought us out, and then our whole family
settled here. Now that I’m getting on in years, Xiǎo Ping’s mother
takes care of all the big and small matters
Ping mùqin guan. Nǐ shuō wǒ fúqi hǎo, zhēn shi yidiǎnr yě bū cuò.
B: Nǎinai, wǒ mǎ kuài huilai le
ba?
C: Kuài huilai le, women qù bǎ
zǎofàn nònghǎo ba.
A, B: Hǎo, zǒu ba.
here at home. So when you say I’m blessed with good fortune,
you’re absolutely right.
Grandma, Mom will be home soon, won’t she?
Yes. Let’s go get breakfast ready.
Okay, let’s go.
Unit U, Tape 2 Workbook
Exercise 1
This exercise is a review of the Reference List sentences in this
unit. The speaker will say a sentence in English, followed by a
pause for you to translate it into Chinese. Then a second speaker
will confirm your answer.
All sentences from the Reference List will occur only once.
You may
want to rewind the tape and practice this exercise several times.
Exercise 2
This exercise is a conversation between two neighbors who meet in
their courtyard in Beijing.
The conversation occurs only once. After listening to it
completely, you’ll probably want to rewind the tape and answer the
questions below as you listen a second time.
Here are the new words and phrases you will need to understand
this conversation:
Dàjiě
shàng bānde shàng bān, shàng xuéde shàng xué
zuòbuliǎo
yí
gai
zhàngfǔ
gāi
"Older Sister," a familiar way of addressing a woman
about one's own age or older
They're either at the office or at school; some are at the office
and others at school
unable to do
as soon as
to build, to construct
government
should
Questions for Exercise 2
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you
will be able to give them orally in class.
1. Why does Older Sister Lin do all of her own housework?
2. What does she think of her daughter-in-law?
3. What can you infer about what housing is like in Older
Sister Lin's neighborhood?
k. From this conversation you can see that a daughter-in-law
is very important in the Chinese family. Make a list of her
responsibilities.
After you have answered these questions yourself, you may want to
take a look at the translation for this conversation. You may also
want to listen to the dialogue again to help you practice saying
your answers.
Note: The translations used in these dialogues are meant to
indicate the English functional equivalents for the Chinese
sentences rather than the literal meaning of the Chinese.
Exercise 3
In this conversation a Chinese man invites his girlfriend over for
dinner.
Listen to the conversation once straight through. Then, on the
second time through, look below and answer the questions.
Here are the new words and phrases you will need to understand
this conversation:
pa to be afraid
shǒuchāode handwritten
Questions for Exercise 3
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you
will be able to give them orally in class.
1. Why is Xiao Lan hesitant to go to her boyfriend’s home for
dinner?
2. Why does Xiao Lan think large families are difficult?
3. Where would the couple live if they got married? Why must
they wait for a place of their own to live?
U. What does Xiao Lan think of bringing to her boyfriend’s
home that evening? Why?
After you have answered these questions yourself, you may want to
take a look at the translation for this conversation. You may also
want to listen to the conversation to help you practice saying the
answers which you have prepared.
Exercise U
In this exercise a grandmother talks with her granddaughter.
Listen to the conversation straight through once. Then rewind the
tape and listen again. On the second time through, answer the
questions.
You will need the following new words and phrases:
quánjiā rén
xìngkuí
guò rìzi
rìzi bù hǎo guò
qiāo men
Questions for Exercise U
the whole family fortunately, luckily to live; to get along hard
to get along to knock at the door
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you
will be able to give them orally in class.
1. What does Grandma think of the new generation of
daughters-in-law?
2. How does Grandma remember her own experience as a newlywed?
3. What is the difference between "standards of
conduct" and "manners"?
U. Why does Grandma reprimand Xiǎo Yun? Do you think she was
justified?
After you have answered these questions yourself, you may want to
take a look at the translation for this conversation. You may also
want to listen to the conversation again to help you pronounce
your answers correctly.
Dialogue and Translation for Exercise 2
In Beijing, two old neighbors meet in their courtyard.
A: Lin Dajiě, xī yifu na!
B: Bù xī zěnme ban, shàng bānde
shàng ban, shàng xuéde shang xué, jiālide shir hai bu shi dōu děi
wǒ zuò!
A: Haizimen dōu mang, you nín zài
jiā, gěi tamen bāng bù shǎo mángr.
B: Ai, nianJi dà le, zuòbuliāo
duōshǎo shir le!
A: Wǒ kàn, nín érxífur zài jiāde
shihour, yě bāng nín zuò bù shǎo shi a.
B: Nǐ shuōde yidiǎnr yě bú cuò,
wǒ nèige érxífur bǐ wǒ érzi hāo-duō le, yí dào jiā, you zuò fàn,
you xǐ yifu, you shōushi wūzi, ài! Kěxi wǒ bù néng shénme shir dōu
kào ta ya.
A: Wèishenme ne?
B: Rénjia duō mang! Yíge yuè cái
néng hui jiā yícì.
A: Nà tā bù néng zài nín jiāli
zhùxialai ma?
B: Bù xíng a! Wūzi tài xiǎo!
Erxífur huílaile, ràng ta zhù zai nǎr?
A: Shi a! Yàoshi you fángzi,
yijiā rén zhù zai yíkuàir, hùxiāng bāngmángr, nà you duō hǎo! Duì
le, ting wǒ nuér shuō, tāmen xuéxiào nèibiānr gàile hǎo duō xīn
fángzi.
Older Sister Lin, doing your laundry?
If I didn’t do it what would we do; everyone is either at the
office or at school, don’t I have to do all the house work in the
end!
Your children are all busy, but you’re at home helping them out a
lot.
(Sigh), I’m getting old, I can’t do very much any more!
I see that when your daughter-in-law is home she helps you do a
lot of things too.
You’re absolutely right. That daughter-in-law of mine is much
better than my son. As soon as she gets to the house, she cooks
and washes and straightens up the room. (Sigh), it’s too bad I
can’t depend on her for everything.
Why not?
She’s so busy! She can only come home once a month.
Well, can’t she move in with you?
That wouldn’t do! The house is too small! If my daughter-in-law
came back, where would I have her stay?
Yes! If you had enough housing, how nice it would be to have the
whole family living together and helping each other. Oh yes—I hear
from my daughter that a lot of new buildings have been built over
by their school.
B: Fángzi wèntí shi ge dà shir,
zhèngfǔ bú huì bù guǎn. Yǒule xǐn fangzi, zánmen jiu hǎo le.
A: Kě bu shi ma! Dàole nèige
shihour, nín jiu bú yòng dǎnxǐn le. Nín gēn nín érxífur yídìng
néng bǎ zhèige jiā nòngde shūshufufude.
B: Shi a! Nà jiu hǎo le!
A: Hǎo, Lin Dàjiě, bù zǎo le,
wǒ yě gāi hui jiā zuò fàn qu le. You shíjiān zài liáo a.
B: Méi shir jiu lái zuòzuo.
Màn zǒu a!
The housing problem is a big thing; the government wouldn’t ignore
it. After we get some new housing Tin this areai we’ll be all
right.
That’s for sure! When that time comes you won’t have to worry any
more. I’m sure you and your daughter-in-law will be able to make a
very comfortable home.
Yes.’ Then everything will be all right.’
All right, Older Sister Lin, it’s getting late, and I should
really be going back home to fix dinner. We’ll chat some more when
we have time.
Stop in sometime when you’re not busy. Take care!
Dialogue and Translation for Exercise 3
In Běijīng, a S^-year-old man (M) talks with his 23-year-old woman
friend
(F). They have been close friends for
M: Xiǎo Lán, jǐntiǎn wǒ bàba zài
jiā, wǎnshang dào women jiā chǐ fàn ba!
F: Wǒ bú qù.
M: Wèishénme? Wǒ bàba rén hěn
hǎo, nǐ bú bì dǎnxǐn.
F: Wǒ mā shuō . . .
M: Nǐ mā shuō shénme?
F: Wǒ mā shuō: nǐ jiā rén duō, nǐ
yéye, nǎinai hái zài, xiōngdì jiěmèi hǎojǐgè, jiāli guīju yě bù
shǎo, pà wǒ qùle yǐhòu chǐ kǔ.
a while.
Xiǎo Lán, my father is home today, why don’t you have dinner at
our house tonight?
I’m not going.
Why? My father’s a very good person you don’t have to worry.
My mother said . . .
What did your mother say?
My mother said that you have a big family. Your grandparents are
still alive, you have so many brothers and sisters, and your
family has such a strict code of behavior, that she was afraid I
would have a rough time after I went Ci.e., after I married you
and went to live with your family!.
“shūshufufude, "very comfortable" *“yě gāi, "really
should"
M: Hai, nǐ xiǎngde tài duō le, wo
nainai guòqǔ zuò érxífude shihou chǐguo hěn duō kǔ, suōyǐ tā duì
wō mama tèbié hǎo, nǐ xiǎng wǒ nǎinai, wǒ mama tāmen zěnme huì
rang ni chǐ kǔ ne?
F: Xiànzài dāngrán hái hǎo, yǐhòu
ne? Yídàjiā rén zhǔ zai yíkuàir, shíjiān chángle zǒng shi hěn
máfande.
M: Zhèi yidiǎn wǒ yě xiǎngdàole,
niánji dàle, xiǎngfa youde shihou he niánqīng rén bǔ tài yíyàng,
yǐhòu youle fángzi women bānchulai jiu xíng le.
F: Shénme shíhour cái néng yǒu
fángzi ne?
M: Bié jí, wǒ xiǎng bǔ huì děng
hěn cháng shíjiānde.
F: Èng.
M: Nàme, jīntiān wǎnshang dào
women jiā qu, hǎo ma?
F: Mm . . . Jīntiān wǎnshang dōu
yǒu shéi?
M: Zhǐ yǒu wǒ bàba, māma, hé wǒ,
xiōngdì jiěmèi dōu bǔ zài.
F: Nà, yéye, nǎinai ne?
M: Yéye nǎinai hē cháde shihou
guòlai zuò yixiar, ránhòu jiu hui tāmen wūzi xiūxi qu le.
F: Tōuyicì qǔ, wǒ dài diǎnr
shénme hǎo a?
M: Shénme dōu bǔ yào dài.
Oh come on, you’re thinking too much. Back when my grandmother was
a daughter-in-law she had quite a rough time, so she’s
particularly good to my mother. Really, how could my grandmother
and mother give you a hard time.’
Of course it’s okay now, but how about later on? When a large
family lives together, it always gets difficult after a while.
I’ve thought of that too. When people get older, their way of
thinking is sometimes kind of different from young people.
Afterwards when we get a place Cof our own] we’ll move out, and
then it will be all right.
And when will we be able to get a place to live?
Don’t worry, I don’t think we’ll have to wait too long.
Mm.
Then, how about going to our house tonight?
Mm . . . Who’s going to be there tonight?
Just my father, mother, and I. None of my brothers and sisters
will be there.
What about your grandparents?
They’ll come out and sit for a while when we have tea, and then
they’ll go back to their room to rest.
What should I bring, since this is my first visit?
Don’t bring anything at all.
"Fángzi here refers to any type of housing, including an
apartment or just a room. The housing situation in Běijīng is so
tight that this couple will probably have to wait months to get
one room.
F: Na zěnme xíng? Tǐngshuō nǐ
yéyede zì xiěde hěn hǎo a?
M: Shǐ a, zěnme la?
F: Wǒ hàha you yítǎo shǒuchāode
Si Shū, song gěi nǐ yéye hǎo hu hǎo?
M: Na tài hǎo le.
F: Wǒ hui jiā shōushi yixiar jiu
lái.
M: Děng yihuǐr wǒ lái jiē ni a.’
B: Èi!
How can I do that? I hear your grandfather is very good at writing
characters?
That’s right. Why?
My father has a handwritten copy of the Four Books. How about if I
give it to your grandfather?
That would be great.
I’m going to go home now to straighten up a bit and then I’ll be
right there.
I’ll come and get you in a while.’
Okay.’
Dialogue and Translation for Exercise U
Conversation between a grandmother
A: Xiǎo Yun na.’ Bādiǎn ban le,
hai bu qǐlai.’
B: Nǎinai, jintiān shi Xīngqītiān,
rang rénjia duō shuì yihuǐr ma.’
A: Xiǎnzǎide niánqīng rén zhēn
you fūqi, shuì dao bādiǎn ban hái bu xiǎng qǐ. Women zuò érxífu-de
shihou, wǔdiǎn zhōng jiu děi qǐlai, zuò quánjiā rénde zǎofǎn le,
nǎr néng shuì dao bādiǎn ban?!
B: Nà dōu shi guǒqùde shir le!
A: Shi a. Guǒqùde shi, zhēn shi
méi bǎnfar shuō. Wǒ gēn nǐ yéye jiēhūnde shihou, nǐ yéye Jiā hěn
you qián, yě you bù shǎo tǔdì, wǒmen jiāli méi shenme cáichǎn,
dǎole rénjia jiāli, yídàjiā rén dōu kǎnzhe wǒ zhèige xīn láide
érxífu. Zěnme ban ne? Wǒ zhī-hǎo zuǒle zhèiyangr zuǒ nèi-yangr*,
yìtiān dǎo wǎn méiyou tíngde shihou. Ai! Xìngkuī nǐ
zuǒle zhèiyangr zuǒ nèiyangr: ’’After i.e., "do one task
after another."
and granddaughter in Běijīng.
Xiǎo Yun! It’s half past eight, aren’t you getting up!
Grandma, today’s Sunday. Let me sleep a little later!
Young people today are so fortunate. They sleep until eight-thirty
and still don’t want to get up. When we were daughters-in-law, we
had to get up at five o’clock and make breakfast for the whole
family. Who could sleep until eight-thirty!
Those are all things of the past!
Yes. The things of the past are really sad to recall. When I
married your grandfather, his family was rich and had a lot of
land. Our family didn’t have much property. When I arrived in his
household, everyone in that huge family stared at me, the new
daughter-in-law. What could I do? Just keep slaving away. I didn’t
stop the whole day long. (Sigh) It’s a good thing your grandfather
having done this thing, do that thing,"
yéye shi ge hao rén, wode rìzi cái hǎo guò yidiǎnr.
B: Xiànzài bù tong le, xiànzài
niánqīng rén jiéhūn yīhòu hú yòng zài dǎnxǐn zhèixiē le.
A: Kěshi guīju háishi děi you a!
Dei you lǐmào, jiǎli lǎorén dōu qǐlai le, nǐ hái shuì zài
chuángshang, nà zěnme xíng?
B: Hǎo le, hǎo le, nǎinai, wǒ mǎ-
shàng jiu qǐlai le. Nī tīng, shéi zài qiǎo men na?!
A: Hái wen shenme?’ Hái hu shi
nīde péngyou lái le.
B: Láojià, láojià, hǎo nǎinai,
nín qù kǎi mén ha, wǒ kuài hǎ wūzi shōushi yixiar.
A: Hǎo hǎo hǎo, wǒ jiù qù, kuài
shōushi ha!
was a good man; that’s the only thing that made life a little
easier.
Things are different now. Now young people don’t have to worry
about that sort of thing after they get married.
But you still have to have standards of conduct! You have to have
manners. If the old people in the family are up and you’re still
in hed sleeping, is that any way to act?
Okay, okay, grandma. I’ll get up right away. Listen, who’s
knocking at the door?.’
You have to ask? It’s your friend, of course.
Oh, please, please, would you go get the door, dear grandma? I’ll
straighten the room real quickly.
Okay, I’ll get it right away. You hurry and straighten up.
°Hái, "still" is used in rhetorical questions; here it
implies "The answer to your question is so obvious, why are
you still asking?" Shénme, here in the neutral tone, means
"why, what for" rather than "what."
°Hái bu shi is used in rhetorical questions; literally, it means,
"Is it not still (a case of...)," or in more colloquial
English, "Could it be anything but...." Here, it is best
translated as "of course."
°hǎo nǎinai: A rather theatrical, humorously cajoling form of
address, "dear grandma." The girl uses this term in
order to get her grandmother to do her the favor of answering the
front door.
UNIT 5
Traditional Attitudes and Modern Changes
INTRODUCTION
Grammar Topics Covered in This Unit
1. The pattern yě hǎo, ...yě hǎo, "whether... or"
2. The adverb cai marking necessary condition.
3. Placement of specifier after a modifying phrase.
U. Wèile, "in order to."
5- Comparison of two words for "afterwards," yǐhòu
and hòulǎi.
Functional Language Contained in This Unit
1. Inquiring about customs in the culture.
2. Expressing that you don’t understand something and asking
another’s interpretation of it.
3. Expressing that you don’t see the value of something and
asking another's point of view on it.
4. Expressing partial agreement, specifying one's
reservations.
1.
A:
Zhèi liǎngnián, nǐmende shōurù zěnmeyàng?
What has your income been like the past couple of
years?
B:
Zhèi liǎngnián, nongyè shēngchǎn qíngkuàng bu cuò,
shōurù yě hái hǎo.
The past couple of years, agricultural production
conditions have been pretty good, and our income has
been all right, too.
2.
A:
Tāde shuōfǎ wǒ méi ting-dong, nǐ tǐngmíngbai le ma?
I didn’t understand the way he said that. Did you
understand it?
B:
Méiyou, wǒ yě méi tīngmíngbai, érqiě zhèige tímu yě
tài nán le.
No, I didn’t understand it either.
Moreover this topic is too hard.
7. A: Tā wèishénme zǎohūn?
B: Qùnián tā fùqin sǐ le, méi rén zhàogu ta, zhǐ hǎo
jiehūn le.
8. A: Duōshù rén dōu xǐhuan zìyou.
B: Kěshi, hú shi hěn duō rén néng dédao zìyou.
9. Weile néng hùxiāng zhàogu, tāmen yìjiā sāndài
zhù zai yiqi.
10. A: Tīngshuō cóngqián, nǐmen zhèli you hěn
duō you yìside fēngsú.
B: Shi a. Hòulái gōngshāngyè fādá le, fēngsú yě
gǎibiàn le.
ADDITIONAL REQUIRED VOCABULARY
11. láodòng
12. láolì
13. gōngyè
11. shāngyè
15. dàduōshù(r)
16. huó
17- xíguàn
18. ting
Why did she get married early?
Last year her father died and there was no one to
take care of her. All she could do was get married.
Most people like freedom.
But not many people can obtain freedom.
All three generations live together so that they can
take care of each other.
I’ve heard that in the past you had a lot of
interesting customs here.
Yes. Later, when industry and commerce developed,
customs changed, too.
to labor; labor
labor force, labor
industry
business, commerce
the great majority
to live; to become alive; to survive; to be
live/alive/living; to be movable/moving
habit, custom, usual practice; to be accustomed to,
to be used to
to heed, to obey (someone’s orders)
VOCABULARY
bǎochí
to keep, to preserve, to maintain
cái
only in that case, only under this condition
dàduōshù(r)
-dài
the great majority
generation (counter); era, (historical) period
de dédao duōshù(r)
to get
to get
the majority of, most of
fādá
to be (highly) developed, to be flourishing, to be
prosperous
fēngsú
custom(s)
gǎibiàn gōngyè gōngshāngyè
to change
industry
industry and commerce
hǎochù hòulái huó
benefit, advant age
later, afterwards
to live; to become alive; to survive; to be
live/alive/living; to be movable/moving
láodòng láodònglì láolì
to labor
labor force, labor; able-bodied persor labor force,
labor
míngbai
to understand, to be clear on, to comprehend; to be
clear, to be obvious
nóngyè
agriculture
shāngyè shēngchǎn shōurù shuōfǎ
commerce, business
to produce; production
income, earnings
way of saying a thing; statement, version, argument
sǐ
to die
tímu (tímù)
topic, subject; title; (test) question, problem
ting tóngyì
to heed, to obey (someone’s orders) to agree, to
consent; agreement, consent
wèile
in order to; for the purpose of; for the sake of
lUT
xíguàn habit, custom, usual practice;
to
be accustomed to, to be used to
. . .yě hǎo, ...yě hǎo whether...or...;
both...and...
yě jiù you hǎochù
accordingly, correspondingly, so to be beneficial, to be
good (for)
zǎohūn
early marriage; child marriage; to marry as a child, to
marry early
zhàngfu zhǎogu zhèng
husband
to take of; care
just, precisely, right
3. A: Xué pinyin yě hǎo, bù xué pinyin yě hǎo, Zhōngguo zì zong
děi xue.
B: Shi a, zhèiyang Zhōngguo wénhuà cái néng bǎochíxiàqù.
Whether you study romanization or not, you’ll always have to study
Chinese characters.
Yes, this is the only way Chinese culture can continue to be
preserved.
U. A: Jiāli láodònglì duō, shēnghuo yě jiù huì hǎo yidiǎnr.
B: Kěshi xiànzài rénkǒu duō bù yídìng yǒu shénme hǎochù.
5. A: Zài nàr xiě zìde neige rén shi bu shi tā zhàngfu?
B: Zheng shi tā!
6. A: Gōngshāngyè fādá you shénme haochù?Nali dōu name zāng!
B: Zhèi yìdiǎn wǒ bù tōngyì, gōngshāngyè fādá you bù shǎo hǎochù.
If a family has more manpower, then it follows that life will be a
little better.
But now it’s not necessarily an advantage to have a lot of people.
Is that person writing over there her husband?
That’s him all right!
What benefit is there in having a flourishing industry and
commerce? It’s so dirty everywhere!
I don’t agree with that. There are a lot of benefits to having a
flourishing industry and commerce.
1. A: Zhèi liSngnián, nīmende shōurù zěnmeyàng?
B: Zhèi liSngnián, nongyè shēngchǎn qíngkuàng hú cuò, shōurù yě
hái hao.
What has your income heen like the past couple of years?
These past couple of years agricultural production conditions have
heen pretty good, and income is all right, too.
Notes on No. 1
zhèiliǎngnián: See Unit U, Notes on No. 3-
shōurù: "income, earnings" While in English you say
"income" is "large" or "small," in
Chinese you say "much" (duō) or "little"
(shǎo).
Tāde shōurù hù shao. Her income isn’t small. (lit.,
"little")
Tāde shōurù hú tài duō. His income isn’t very high.
shēngchǎn: "to produce (agricultural or industrial products),
to manu-facture (industrial products); production, operation (of a
plant)"
Nīmen dōu shēngchǎn shénme?
Yōu rén shuō xiāngxiade shēngchǎn hé shēnghuo qíngkuàng hǎo yìdiǎn
le.
A: Wō zhǎo Lī Guoqiáng.
B: Duìhuqī, xiànzài shi shēngchǎn shíjiān, hù néng zhǎo rén.
What (all) do you produce?
Some people say that production and living conditions in the
countryside have gotten somewhat better.
I’m looking for Lī Guoqiáng.
I’m sorry, it’s production time now You can’t visit people.
2. A: Tāde shuōfǎ wō méi tīng-dōng, nī tīngmínghai le ma?
B: Méiyou, wō yě méi tīngmínghai, érqiě zhèige tímu yě tài nán le.
I didn’t understand the way he said that. Did you understand it?
No, I didn’t understand it either.
Moreover, this topic is too hard.
Notes on No. 2
mínghai: "to he clear on, to understand," literally,
"hright-white" This is an adjectival verh which may or
may not he followed hy an object:
Xiànzài wō míngbai le.
Now I see.
Wō míngbai nīde yìsi.
I understand what you mean.
Gāngcǎi nǐ you gěi wǒ jiǎngle Now that you've just explained it to
yícǐ, wo bǐjiǎo míngbai le. me again, I understand it
better.
Míngbai can also be used to mean "to be clear, to be
obvious," as in:
Zhèijiàn shìqing hěn míngbai. This matter is very clear/obvious.
tīngmíngbai: "to hear and understand" This is a compound
verb of result with an adjectival verb, míngbai indicating the
result. As just stated míngbai can mean either "to
understand" or "to be clear," but tingmíngbai means
only "to understand by listening," NOT "to hear
clearly." Use tīngqǐng-chu to mean "to hear
clearly."
Zuótiānde ke wǒ yidiǎnr dōu tīngbumíngbai.
I couldn't understand a thing in yesterday's class.
Gāngcāi lǎoshí shuōde wo méi tīngqīngchu.
I didn't hear (clearly) what the teacher just said.
Another verb of perception which can take míngbai to show the
result is kàn, "to see, to read."
Nǐ kàn méi kànmíngbai zhèige Did you understand the (test)
question
tímu? (when you read it)?
As a compound verb of result, tingmíngbai can take the syllables
-de- and -bu- to add the meaning of "can" and
"can't." (For the following example you need to know
wàiwén, "foreign language," and bù guǎn, "no
matter.")
Gang xué yìzhong wàiwénde shihou, When you're just beginning to
study bù guǎn tīngdemíngbai tǐngbu- a foreign language, it's
good for
míngbai, duō ting duì nǐ yídìng you to listen a lot whether you
you hǎochù. understand or not.
tímu: This noun has three commonly used meanings: (1) "topic,
subject," (2) "title," and (3) "question,
problem" (e.g., on a test or in an exercise).
Wǒmen jīntiān huàn yíge tan huàde tímu, tányitǎn shēnghuó
fāngmiànde shi.
Today let's change the topic of conversation and chat about things
from daily life.
Zhèiběn shūde tímu shi Zhōngguó-
The title of this book is Chinese
de Shèhuì."
Society.
Zuótiān kǎoshìde tímu name duō, wǒ zhēn bù zhīdao xiān zuò něige
hǎo.
There were so many problems on yesterday's test, I didn't know
which to do first.
Zhèiyangde tímu wǒ zài gāozhōng de shihou dōu zuòguo, xiànzài dōu
wangle.
I did this sort of problems when I was in senior high school, but
now I have forgotten all about them.
"gāozhōng, "senior high," short for gǎojí zhōngxué
3. A: Xué pinyin yě hǎo, bù xué pinyin yě hǎo, Zhōngguo zì zǒng
děi xué.
B: Shi a, zhèiyang Zhōngguo wénhuà cai néng bǎochíxiàqù.
Whether you study roma.ni y.a+.ì nn or not, you’ll always have to
study Chinese characters.
Yes, this is the only way Chinese culture can continue to be
preserved.
Notes on No. 3
. . . yě hǎo, . .. yě hǎo: This pattern can mean either (1)
’’whether... or... ”
or (2) ’’both. . . and....’’
Nǐ qù yě hǎo, bú qù yě hǎo, wo yídìng qù.
Tā ting yě hǎo, bù ting yě hǎo, zǒng you yìtiān tā huì míngbaide.
Tā lái yě hǎo, bù lái yě hǎo, zánmen xiān chī fàn ba.
Nǐ qù yě hǎo, huòshi wō qù yě hǎo, zǒng děi you yíge rén qù.
In the review dialogue, you will see an and..
Buguò wō xiǎng, dàlù yě hǎo, Tái-wān yě hǎo, jǐshínián lái dōu
yōule hěn dàde gǎibiàn.
Zhōngguo rén yě hǎo, Měiguo rén yě hǎo, dōu yīnggāi bǎochí tāmende
wénhuà chuántōng.
Whether or not you are going, I'm going for sure.
Whether he listens or not, there'll be a day when he understands.
Whether or not he comes, let's start eating.
Whether you go or I go, somebody has to go.
example of the second meaning, "both...
But I think that both the mainland and Taiwan have undergone big
changes in the past few decades.
Chinese people and American people should both preserve their
cultural heritage.
cái: You've already seen cái in talking about TIME ("not
until") as in Tā zuotiān cái láide, "He didn't come
until yesterday." Here you see another use of cái, "not
unless." It points out a NECESSARY CONDITION.
Zhèijiàn shi,
tā guǎn
cái xíng.
As for this
(if) he takes
only in that
case
matter,
care of it,
will it be
okay.
"it won't be okay unless he takes care of this matter."
Here are other examples:
Shi ge Zhèiyang Piānyi Nǐ qù
Zhèitào pānziwǎn you kèren lāi
cāi gòu.
cāi hǎo. wǒ cāi mǎi. wǒ cāi qù.
wǒ cāi yòng.
"No fewer than ten is enough." "Only in this way is
it good." "I won’t huy it unless it’s cheap."
"I won't go unless you do." "I don’t use this set
of dishes
unless I have guests."
bǎochí: "to keep, to preserve, to maintain"
Yàoshi nǐ néng hǎochí měitiān jì’ sìge xǐn zì, yìniān kéyi jì
yìqiān duō ge zì le.
Zhōngguo shèhuì hěn duō dìfang dōu hǎochízhe lǎode fēngsú xíguǎn.
If you can keep on memorizing four new characters a day, you'll he
ahle to memorize over a thousand a year.
There are a lot of places in Chinese society which are still
holding on to old customs and hahits.
U.
A:
Jiāli lāodònglì duō, shēnghuo yě jiù huì hǎo yidiǎnr.
If a family has more manpower, then it follows that life
will be a little better.
B:
Keshi xiànzài rénkǒu duō bù yídìng you shénme hǎochù.
But now it's not necessarily an advantage to have a lot
of people.
Notes on No. h
lāodònglì: "work force," literally
"lahor-power"
Fùnu zài nóngcūn shi xiāngdāng In rural areas, women are a very
zhòngyàode lāodònglì. important source of labor.
Lāodònglì may also he used to refer to ahle-hodied individuals who
do manual labor:
A: Tāmen jiā you jǐge lāodònglì? How many able-bodied persons
are there in their family?
B: You sìge ban lāodònglì. There are four and a half.
(The half
may be a child or an older person who cannot do as much work.)
-lì hy itself means "power" or "ability," and
is used in combinations:
nénglì ability rénlì manpower
diànlì electric power tīnglì hearing ability
huōlì firepower; thermal shuǐlì water power,
hydraulic
dònglì motivating power, force, power
impetus, driving force
°Jì, "to remember," can also mean "to commit to
memory."
yě Jiù: "accordingly," literally "also then"
Other translations for this are "correspondingly,"
"so." The tone of Jiù is often neutral.
Tā duì wǒ hěn hu kèqi, wo yě Jiu "bù gēn tā shuō huà le.
Wo Jiao ta bu yào bāng wo xǐ wan, tā yídìng yào xí, wǒ yě Jiu ràng
ta xǐ le.
Wǒ shi liangnián yǐqián xuéde Zhōngwén kěshi yìzhí mei Jihui shuō,
yě Jiu wàng le.
Wǒ xiǎng qù, kěshi méi biérén yào qù, yě Jiu suàn le.
Wo gang xué Zhōngwénde shíhou, hěn zhùyì fāyīn, shíjiān chángle yě
Jiu bù guǎn le.
He was very rude to me, so I won’t talk with him anymore.
I told him not to help me wash the dishes, but he insisted, so I
let him wash them.
I studied Chinese two years ago, but I never had the chance to
speak it, so I forgot it.
I wanted to go, but nobody else did, so I said the heck with it.
When I first started studying Chinese I payed a lot of attention
to pronunciation, but as time went on, I stopped paying attention
to it.
hǎochù: "benefit, advantage" You may also hear hǎochù
(Neutral-tone -chu). The phrase yǒu hǎochù means "to be
advantageous, to be beneficial."
Nǐ tiāntiān dōu he Jiǔ you shénme hǎochù.’
What good does it do you to drink every day.’
Use the pattern duì...yǒu hǎochù for "to be good for..., to
be of benefit to..
A: You rén shuō he piJiǔ duì shěntǐ you hǎochù.
B: Bù yídìng ba, wǒ you xuěyā gāo, duì wo méi shenme hǎochù.
Some people say that it is good for the health (body) to drink
beer.
Not necessarily! I have high blood pressure. It’s not good for me.
Women yíkuàir niàn shū duì liǎngge rén dōu yǒu hǎochù.
It would be advantageous to both of us to study together.
5. A: Zài nàr xiě zìde nèige rén Is that person writing over
there shi bu shi tā zhàngfu? her husband?
B: Zheng shi tā! That’s him all right!
Notes on No. 5
zài nàr xiě zìde nèige rén: ’’the person writing over there"
Notice once again that the preferred word order is to put the
specifier-number-counter between the modifying phrase and the
noun.
Specifier-Number-
Modifying phrase____________Counter__________Noun
xiě zìde
nèige
rén
hěn hǎo kànde
nèi sānge
nuháir
It is also possible to put the nèige or zhèige at the head of the
phrase (nèige xiě zìde rén) but especially in longer phrases it
sounds better to keep nèige or zhèige close to the noun, as in the
Reference List sentence above.
zhèng: "just, right, exactly, precisely Like other adverbs,
zhèng is placed in front of a verb.
Wo zheng yao zhao ni shangliang zhèijiàn shìqing.
Nǐ chuān zhèige yánsè zhèng héshì.
Wǒ yào kànde zhèng shi zhèiběn shū.
Zuótiān lái kàn nǐde zhèng shi zhèige rén.
Zhèng shi yǐnwei zhèige, tā cái zǒu le.
Jiù shi is more colloquial than zhèng shi tā!
I was just looking for you to talk about this matter.
This color is just right for you (to wear).
This is just the book I want to read.
This is precisely the person who came to see you yesterday.
That’s precisely why he left.
shi. For 5B, you could also say Jiù
6. A: Gōngshāngyè fādá you shénme hǎochù? Náli dōu nàme zāng!
B: Zhèi yìdiǎn wǒ bú tōngyì, gōngshāngyè fādá you bù shǎo hǎochù.
What benefit is there in having a flourishing industry and
commerce? It’s so dirty everywhere!
I don’t agree with that. There are a lot of benefits to having a
flourishing industry and commerce.
Notes on No. 6
gōngshāngyè: ’’industry and commerce’’ This is a compound of
gōngyè ’’industry'* and shāngyè, "commerce. ’’ Gōngyè and
nongyè can also combine as gōngnongyè, as in gōngnongyè shēngchǎn,
"industrial and agricultural production."
fādá: "to be developed, to be well-developed; to be
prosperous, to be flourishing" This is an adjectival verb,
that is, it describes a state or condition. A literal translation
of the Reference List sentence above might be: "(For)
industry-commerce to be flourishing, there is what benefit?"
In addition to describing industry, fādá can be used to describe a
person’s muscular build or a developed country.
Zhèige guójiā hěn fādá. This country is very
prosperous.
Tāmen nàrde wenhuà hěn fādá. The culture there is very
developed.
Don’t confuse the state verb fādá with the action verb fāzhǎn,
which can take an object, e.g., fāzhǎn nongyè, "to develop
agricultureT”
náli dōu...: "everywhere" Here you see another example
of a question word (here náli "where") used to mean
"every..." or "any..." In order to get such a
meaning, you must use náli (or shéi, shenme, etc.) before dōu or
yě. Notice that the question word can come in various places in
the sentence.
Q: Tā xiàtiān xiǎng qù shénme dìfang?
B: Tā shénme dìfang dōu bú qù.
Q: Shéi yào qù nèibiānr kāi huì?
A: Shéi dou qù.
Zěnme zuò dōu bù xíng.
Where is he going this summer?
He is not going anywhere.
Who is going to the meeting there?
Everybody is going.
Any way you do it, it Just doesn’t work.
tongyì: "to agree, to consent; agreement, consent" As a
verb, the meaning of tongyì is the same as in English. But there
is a difference in how you say WHO it is you agree with. In
Chinese, you don’t agree with a person; you agree with an idea,
opinion, statement, etc. In sentence
6b, the object zhèi yìdiǎn
is up front in the sentence. Notice the placement of the object in
the sentences below.
Tāde xiǎngfa ní tongyì ma?
Do you agree with his opinion?
Wo tongyì tāde kànfa.
I agree with him (his ideas).
CAUTION: Often speakers of English want to say gēn...tongyì
because we say "agree with..." in English, but there is
no such form in Chinese. Instead, use the last example above.
Tongyì may also be directly followed by a clause, as in
Tā bù tongyì tāmen jiēhūn.
He doesn’t approve of (OR won’t agree to) their getting married.
As a noun, tongyì means "agreement” or "consent."
Women xūyào tāmende tongyì cái néng zuò zhèijiàn shi.
We need their consent before we can do this.
7. A: Tā wèishénme zāohūn? Why did she get married
early?
B: Qùnián tā fùqin sǐ le, méi Last year her father died and there
rén zhàogu ta, zhǐ hao was no one to take care of her, so
jiēhūn le. all she could do was get
married.
Notes on No. 7
This exchange illustrates that old ways of thinking persist in
China today. Although in urban areas an increasing number of women
are self-sufficient, great variations in social and economic
conditions are starkly obvious in a comparison of city and country
life.
zāohūn: "early marriage" This can refer to two different
things, sometimes causing confusion.
First, it refers to the Chinese practice of marrying a young girl
off long before she was an adult in order to bring some money into
her parents’ home and to add to the number of able-bodied workers
in her in-laws’ home. Her "husband" was also very
young—as young as twelve to fourteen years old, and often younger
than she.
Second, these days zāohūn can simply mean marrying at a somewhat
younger age than is normally expected. This is the meaning in
exchange 7-
Ershisìsuì jiēhūn zěnme néng How can you say getting married
at
shuō shi zāohūn? twenty-four is early marriage?
Zhōngguo guòqù dàduōshù rén dōu In the past most people in China
zāohūn. married at an early age.
sǐ: "to die" This is a process verb, like bìng "to
become ill, to get sick," and therefore corresponds to the
English "to become dead" rather than "to be
dead." Sǐ is a process verb; it describes an instantaneous
change of state. In English one can say of a person with a
terminal illness that he "is dying," but this cannot be
translated directly into Chinese. Rather, one must say Tā kuài
(yào) sǐ le, "He is about to die," or Tā huōbuliāo duō
jiǔ le, "He won’t live much longer," or Tā huōbucháng
le, "He hasn’t long to live."
Tīngshuō Lāo Liūde fùqin sǐ le. I heard that Lāo Liu’s father has
died.
The verb sǐ is not usually negated with bù, but rather with méi or
hái méi (even when it corresponds to English "to be
dead").
Nèi shihou, tā fùqin méi sǐ, At that time, his father was
alive,
kéyi chángcháng zhàogu ta. and was able to take care of
him.
Sǐ can "be used directly "before a noun as an adjective
meaning "dead." Shi side may "be used to mean ”is
dead.”
Zhèi shi yìtiáo sǐ yu. This is a dead fish.
Zhèitiáo yu shi side. This fish is a dead one OR This
fish is dead.
Sǐ may he considered "blunt and uncouth or inauspicious when
used for people. To he respectful, use guòqu le, ’’passed away,”
or qùshì le, ’’left the world.” Sometimes you can avoid saying sǐ
hy using hái zài or hái huozhe, ’’still living,” e.g., Nèi shihou
tā yeye hái zài/hái huozhe, ”At that time, his grandfather was
still living.” (See Notes on No. 15-)
In some parts of traditional China, the usage of sǐ was affected
hy superstition. This is especially true in Taiwan. Even today,
during the lunar New Year holidays, some traditionalists take
pains to avoid uttering sǐ, ”to die,” lest they he plagued hy had
luck and death in the clan for the next twelve months. In Taiwan,
the superstition extends to the similar-sounding word si, ’’four.”
Some hospitals have no fourth floor; sìlou, ’’fourth floor,” could
too easily become sǐlou, ’’death floor,” in rapid speech. For a
similar reason, some motorists refuse to drive cars with license
plates hearing the number h. And if money is given as a wedding
present, the figure must not contain the number h, or the donor
would be guilty of wishing death on the couple.
zhàogu: ’’to look after, to take care of; care” You zhàogu can
mean ’’to be well taken care of, to receive good treatment.” (For
the first example, you need to know that yòueryuán means
’’kindergarten.”)
Háizimen zài Jiāli bǐ zài yòuér-yuánli you zhàogu.
Tā yíge rén zài jiā, méiyou zhàogu bù xíng.
Tā bìngde hěn lìhai, xūyào tèbié-(de) zhàogu.
Tāde háizi duì tā hěn hǎo, tāde shēnghuó you zhàogu.
The children get better care at home than they would at
kindergarten.
With his being all alone at home, it won’t do for him to be
without care.
He is very ill and needs special care.
His children are very good to him;
his daily needs are well taken care of.
8. A: Duōshù rén dōu xǐhuan zìyou. Most people like
freedom.
B: Kěshi, hú shi hěn duō rén néng But not many people can obtain
dédao zìyou. freedom.
Notes on No. 8
duōshù(r): "majority, most," literally, "the larger
number" Dàduōshù(r) is "the great majority." In
many instances, there isn’t much difference in meaning between
duōshù and dàduōshù. Duōshù can be used to modify a noun, as in
duōshùdǎng, "the majority party," or duōshù mínzú,
"majority nationalities." CThe opposite of duōshù is
shǎoshù, "minority." See Traveling in China module, Unit
1.J
bú shi: "it is not the case that" To translate the
subject "not many people" into Chinese, you need to use
a verb (shi or you). You can’t put bù directly before hěn duō rén.
Other examples:
Nèige dìfang, bú shi nǐ xiǎng qù jiù kéyi qù(de), nǐ děi xiān
dédao tongyì.
Bú shi wǒ bú yuànyi gēn ni jiēhūn , shi wǒ fùmǔ bù tongyì.
You can’t go there any time you want You need to get approval
first.
It’s not that I don’t want to marry you; it’s that my parents
don’t approve.
dé: "to get, to receive" Dé is much more limited than
English "to get." Use dé only for passively receiving a
prize, a degree, a grade, and the like. (For these examples, you
need to know kǎoshì, "test"; yōu, "excellent"
Fused in mainland schools like the grade "A" in the
U.S.!; fēn, "points"; jiǎng, "prize"; shuǒshì,
"Master’s degree.’’)
Zuótiānde kǎoshì wǒ déle ge I got an "A" on
yesterday’s test,
"you."
Tǎ déle yìbǎi fēn. He got 100 (points).
Shéi dé jiǎng le? Who won the prize?
Tā shi něiniǎn déde shuǒshì? What year did he receive his
Master’s
degree?
De is also used for "contracting" diseases. (in the
second example, lǎnwěiyǎn is "appendicitis.")
Tā dé bìng le, bù néng qù le. He came down with something and
cannot go.
Tā déle lānwěiyán, děi mǎshǎng He got appendicitis and had to be
kāi dāo. operated on immediately.
dedao: "to receive, to get, to gain, to obtain" Add the
ending -dào to the verb de to get the meaning of successful
obtaining (cf. jièdao, "to successfully borrow," in Unit
1).
Tā dédao hùzhào yǐhòu mǎshàng He left immediately after getting
jiù zǒu le. his passport.
Tā gēn ta jiēhūn, jiù shi xiǎng dédao tāde qián.
Hěn duō rén débudào zìyóu.
Tā cóng zhèli débudào shenme hǎochù.
He only married her to get her money.
Many people are unable to obtain freedom.
He won’t be able to gain anything from this.
"To get" in English often means to actively seek to
obtain a thing. In those cases, do not use dé(dào). Use such verbs
as ná/nádào/nálai, zhǎo/zhǎodào/ zhǎolai, nòngdao/nònglai, or a
more specific verb such as mǎi, yào ("to ask for"), jiè;
and qǐng(lai) or jiào(lai) for "getting" people.
9. Wèile néng hùxiāng zhàogu, All three generations
live together
tāmen yìjiā sāndài zhù zai so that they can take care of
each
yìqǐ. other.
Notes on No. 9
wèile: "in order to, for the purpose of; for the sake
of" A phrase with wèile may come at the very front of the
sentence or after the subject.
Tā wèile yào dào Zhōngguo qù Because he wants to go to China to
gōngzuǒ, suóyi xiànzài zài xué work, he is studying Chinese now.
Zhōngwén ne.
Wèile kàn diànyǐng, tā méi qù He didn’t go to class so he could go
shàng kè. see a movie.
Wèile may also come after shi:
Zhèijiàn shi dōu shi wèile tā. This was done all for him.
This prepositional verb covers a range of meanings falling under
the categories of (1) benefit, (2) purpose, or (3) motive. It is
sometimes hard to pinpoint exactly which of these meanings is the
one expressed by a particular sentence.
Benefit, sake
Wǒ wèile tā cái láide. I came only for his sake.
Wǒ wánquán shi wèile nǐ. I am (doing this) entirely for
your
sake.
Purpose, goal
Wèile qián, tā shenme dōu zuǒde-chūlái.
Wèile mǎi zhèiběn shū, tā qùle liùge shūdiàn.
Nǐ pǎo zhème yuǎnde lù, jiù shi wèile ná zhèizhāng piào?
Wèile bǎochí niánqīng, tā yòng niūnǎi xǐzǎo.
Wèile yào is a common combination
Wèile yào qù kàn péngyou, jīntiān wǒ děi zǎo yidiǎnr xià bān.
Wèile yào niàn shū, wǒ zhèige Xǐngqītiān bù chūqu le.
Wèile bú yào tài lèi, wǒ měitiān dōu zuǒ chē shàng bān.
Wèile néng dull shēnghuō, tā hěn zǎo jiù líkāi fùmǔ le.
For money, he is liable to do anything
He went to six bookstores in order to get this book.
You came all this way just to get that ticket?
She washes with (cow's) milk to preserve her youth.
which often means the same as wèile:
In order to go visit a friend, I have to leave work a little early
today.
I'm not going out this Sunday so that I can study.
In order not to get too tired, I take the bus to work every day.
In order to live independently, she left her parents very early.
Motive or reason for some act, thought, or feeling
Wèile zhèijiàn shi, wǒ juéde hěn bù hǎo yìsi.
I feel very embarrassed about (because of) this matter.
Wèile zhèijiàn shi, tā yíyè dōu shuìbuzháo jiào.
Wǒ jiù shi wèi(le) zhèijiàn shi láide.
He couldn't get to sleep all night on account of this matter.
I have come precisely because of this matter.
Jiù wèi(le) zhème yidiǎnr shi, You got angry over such a small nǐ
jiù shēngqì la? thing?
Even though you will find that wèile is sometimes idiomatically
translated as "because," as in these last examples, it
is still not completely a synonym of yǐnwèi. When you want to say
"because," you should use yǐnwèi. When you want to say
"for the sake of" or "for the purpose of," use
wèile.
10. A: Tīngshuō cóngqián, nǐmen I’ve heard that in the past
you had zhèli you hěn duō you a lot of interesting
customs here,
yìside fēngsú.
B: Shi a. Hòulái gōngshāngyè Yes. Later, when industry and
fādále, fēngsú yě gǎibiàn le. commerce developed, customs
changed, too.
Notes on No. 10
fēngsú: "custom” The definition of fēngsú in a Chinese
dictionary reads: ’’the sum total of etiquette, usual practices,
etc., adhered to over a long period of time in the development of
society.” Compare this with xíguàn: "behavior, tendency or
social practice cultivated over a long period of time, and which
is hard to change abruptly." Notice that xíguàn may refer to
the practices or habits of either an individual or a community,
whereas fēngsú refers only to those of a community.
Guòqù Zhōngguo you zǎohūnde In the past China had the
custom
fēngsú. of early (child) marriage.
hòulái: "afterwards, later" Both hòulái and yǐhòu are
time nouns which can be translated as "afterwards" or
"later." But there are differences between them:
(1) Differences in patterns: Yǐhòu can either follow another
element (trans-lated as "after...") or it can be used by
itself.
Tā láile yǐhòu, women Jiù zou le. After he came, we left.
Yǐhòu tā méiyou zài láiguo. Afterwards, he never came back
again.
Hòulái can only be used by itself.
Hòulái tā jiù shuì jiào le. Afterwards he went to sleep.
(2) Differences in meaning: Both jrǐhòu and hòulái may be used to
refer to
the past. For example, either yǐhòu or hòulái may be used in the
sentence
Kāishǐde shihou tā bù zhǐdào zěnme bàn, kěshi hòulái/yǐhòu
xiǎngchūle yíge hǎo
bànfa, "in the beginning, he didn’t know what to do, but
later he thought up a good way."
But if you want to say "afterwards" or "later"
referring to the future, you can only use yǐhòu. When it refers to
the future time, yǐhòu can be translated in various ways,
depending on the context:
Yǐhòude shìqing, děng yǐhòu zài Let’s wait until the future to see
shuō• about future matters.
Yǐhòu n? you kòng, qǐng cháng In the future when you have time,
lái wán. please come over more often.
Wo yǐhòu zài gàosu ni. I’ll tell you later on.
Tāde hāizi shuōle, yǐhòu tā His child said that someday, he
wants
yào gēn yíge Rìběn rén jiēhūn. to marry a Japanese.
Usage Note: Yǐhòu has the literal meaning of "after
that." It implies that some past event functions as a
dividing point in time, a sort of time boundary. Yǐhòu refers to
the period from the end of that time boundary up to another point
of reference (usually the time of speaking). It is often
translated as "since."
Tā zhǐ xiěle yìběn shū, yǐhòu He only wrote one book, and hasn’t
zài méi xiěguo. written any since (if he is
still
alive) OR He wrote only one book, and after that never wrote
another. (if he is dead)
gāibiàn: "to change; change"
Wǒ bù míngbai tā wèishénme háishi I don’t understand why he still
can't bù néng gaibiàn tāde guānniàn. change his ideas (way of
thinking).
Biàn, which you learned in Unit 3, can be used only as a verb, not
as a noun. Biàn and gāibiàn may be interchangeable in a small
number of contexts, but there is an essential difference between
them: Biàn is a process verb, "to become different," and
gāibiàn is an action plus process, "to alter in such a way as
to become different."This can cause English-speaking students
confusion because the English verb "change" covers both
these meanings. Here are some examples:
Tāde xiāngfā biàn le. His way of thinking changed
(became
different).
Women yínggāi gāibiàn zhèige We should change this state of
qíngkuāng. affairs (alter this state of
affairs
so that it becomes different).
Notes on Additional Required Vocabulary
lāodòng: The verb "to do physical labor, to labor, to
work" or the noun "physical labor, manual labor."
shēngchān lāodòng productive labor
lāodòng shōurù income from work
huo: "to live" Huō, shēnghuo, and zhù may all be
translated as "to live" but actually have different
meanings. Huo basically refers to the body’s having life or
breath, and is the opposite of sǐ. Shēnghuo emphasizes day-to-day
living; it is used mostly when describing the needs or quality of
daily life. Zhù is used to talk about residence in a particular
place, either as one’s home, or temporarily (zhù lūguān, "to
stay at a hotel," and zhù yuan, "to stay in the
hospital").
Yu zai shuǐli cai neng huo. Fish can live only in water.
Nèige dìfangde rén kéyi huó dao The people there live to be
very
hěn lǎo. old.
Tā huóde hěn cháng.
Tā dàgài huóbucháng le.
Huó often means "to live" in the sense
Tā Jin yīyuànde shihou, shéi dōu xiǎng tā bù néng huó le, kěshi tā
you huóle yìnián cái sǐ.
Huó can modify a noun directly, for example, huó yu, live
fish," huó rén, "living person." But to say,
"is he alive?" you must use huó with the ending -zhe: Tā
huozhe ma?
Huó can also mean "movable, moving," as in: huózì,
"movable type"; huóyè, "loose-leaf"
Chuóyèjiāzi is "loose-leaf binder"!; huóshuǐ,
"flowing water."
xíguàn: As a noun, this means "habit" or, in a more
general sense,
"custom, usual practice."
Tǎng zai
chuángshang4
kàn shū shi yíge bù hǎode xíguàn.
Wo you zǎo qǐde xíguàn.
Taitai bù xǐhuan tā xiānsheng bànyè yīhòu cái hui jiāde xíguàn.
Zhèige jùzi bù zhīdào wèishenme zènme shuō, zhèi jiù shi wǒmen-de
xíguàn.
He had a long life.
He probably won’t live much longer.
of "to survive":
When he went into the hospital, no one thought he could live
(survive), but he lived another year before he died
It’s a bad habit to read in bed.
I’m an early riser. (Lit., "I have the habit of getting up
early.")
The wife doesn’t like her husband’s habit of not coming home until
after midnight.
I don’t know why this sentence is said this way. It’s just the way
we say it.
'to get/be used to,
As a verb, xíguàn means
Jīntiān shi wǒ dìyītiān dài yǎn-jìng, wǒ hái méi xíguàn. Wǒ xīwàng
hěn kuài jiu kéyi xíguàn le.
Wǒ hěn bù xíguàn chī zhèrde fàn.
Wǒ yījīng xíguàn zhème zuò le, hěn nán gǎi.
to become/be accustomed to":
Today is my first day wearing glasses and I’m not used to them
yet. I hope I can get used to them quickly.
I’m not at all used to the food here.
I’m already used to doing it this way It’s very hard to change.
ting: This word., which you already know as "to listen,"
can also mean "to heed, to obey" someone’s suggestions,
directions, or orders.
Tā shuōde yǒu dàolǐ, nǐ yīnggāi What he says makes sense. You
should ting tāde huà. listen to him (do as he
says).
Wǒ gàosu tā yīnggāi zhèiyang I told him he should, do this,
but
zuò, tā bù tīng. he wouldn't listen.
Hǎo ba, tīng nīde. Okay, I’ll do as you say.
(nīde is
short for nīde huà.)
Lǐ Ping (B), Tom (A), and Lī Ping’s classmate from Taiwan, Wáng
Chéng (D), have Just gone to the movie The Dream of the Red
Chamber*. On their way home , they chat.
B: Tāngmǔ, nī zěnme bù shuō huà?
A: Duìbuqī, kàn zhèige diànyīng,
shizài ràng rén bu shūfu, tèbié shi kàn dao nèige dìfangr . . .
D: Nǎge dìfang?
A: Jiù shi Dàiyù side shihou . . .
B: Ng, duì le, Dàiyù sīde shihou
zhèng shi Bǎoyù Jiēhūnde shihou. Kan dao zhèli, zhēn shi ràng rén
hěn bu shūfu.
D: Nīmen you méiyou zhùyidào, hěn
duō nude kàn dao zhège dìfang dōu kū le.
A: Wǒ kàndao le. Ai, yǒude shihou,
wǒ zhēnde bù míngbai, wèishenme hěn duō shūli háishi shuō
Zhōng-guō chuántǒngde dà Jiātíng you bù shǎo hǎochu, hǎochu zài
náli? Wèile bǎochí dà Jiātíngde chuán-tǒng, ràng niánqīngde yídài
huò-zhě Jīdài chī name duō kǔ, zhè Jiù shi dà Jiātíngde hǎochù ma?
D: Dà Jiātíngde hǎochù xiànzài bu
duō le. Nīmen zhīdào Zhōngguode dà Jiātíng gēn lìshī you guānxī.
Zhōngguo shi nongyè shèhuì, shēngchǎn dōu yào kào rénlì, shéi
Jiāde láolì duō, shéi Jiāde shēnghuo Jiù huì hǎo yìdiǎn. Lī Ping,
nǐ xiǎng shi bu shi zhèyàng ne?
B: Shi, shi zhèiyangde.
A: Nàme, xiànzài qíngxing bù tong
How come you aren’t talking, Tom?
I’m sorry. Watching this movie was really distressing. Especially
when it got to that part . . .
Which part?
The part when Dàiyù dies . . .
Mm, right, Dàiyù dies Just when Bǎoyù is getting married. At that
point, I really felt uncomfortable.
Did you notice, a lot of women started crying when it got to that
part.
Yes. (Sigh) Sometimes I really don’t understand why a lot of books
say that there were many advantages to the traditional Chinese
large family. What advantages? Just in order to preserve the
tradition of the large family, the younger generation or
generations were made to suffer so much. That’s the advantage of
the large family?
The large family doesn’t have many advantages any more. You know,
the large family has to do with Chinese history. China was an
agricultural society, and production depended on manpower. If a
family had a larger labor force they had a better life. Lī Ping,
do you think that’s right?
Yes, that’s right.
But now the situation is different.
’This novel by Cáo Xuěqín (172U?-1?6U) tells of the twilight years
of the Jiǎ family, grown wealthy in the service of Qīng Dynasty
emperors. The story revolves around the spoiled and effeminate
young man of the house, Jiǎ Bǎoyù (Precious Jade), and his love
for his cousin, Lin Dàiyù (Black Jade).
le, xiànzài gōngshāngyè fādá le, wèishenme hái yǒu ren shuō dà
Jiātíng hao ne?
D: Dà Jiātíngde guānniàn yǐjíng
yǒu Jǐqiānniánde lìshǐ le, yào gaibiàn tā, xūyào bǐjiào chángde
shíjiān. Dàlùde qíngxing wǒ bù qíngchu, Taiwānde qíngxing shi dà
Jiātíng yuè lái yuè shǎo le. Suīrán Zhōngguo rén xǐhuan dà
Jiātíng, Juédé dàjiā zhù zai yìqǐ, hùxiāng yǒu zhàogu, dànshi
gōngshāngyè fādá le, gōngzuòde Jíhuì duō le, xiǎo Jiātíng yě Jiu
yuè lái yuè duō le.
B: Xiànzài dà Jiātíng yuè lái yuè
shǎo, zǎohūnde fēngsú yě Jiu méiyou le.
A:
Zāohūn hé dà Jiātíng yǒu shénme
guānxi ma?
D: You guānxi. Zhè zhǔyào° shi láo-
lìde wèntí.
B: Nǐ xiǎng, zāohūn, zǎo you háizi,
Jiāli láodònglì duō, lǎorén yě Jiu kéyi zǎo yidiǎn dédào zhàogu.
A: Kěshi zài gōngshāngyè shèhuìli,
duōshù lǎorén dōu yǒu shōurù. Xiànzài Táiwān yǐjíng shi
gōngshāngyè shèhuì, zhèiyangde wèntí yě Jiu méiyou le.
B: Dànshi, nǐ bié wàngle, dàlù hái
shi nongyè shèhuì, zhàogu lǎorén-de wèntí hái shi dà wèntí,
zǎohūnde fēngsú yě háishi yǒu.
A: Nǐ dàgài nòngcuòle ba, dàlùde
zhèngfù zěnme huì tongyì rénmen zāohūn ne?
Now that industry and commerce are highly developed, why do some
people still say that the large family is good?
The concept of the large family has already existed for several
thousand years. It’ll take a rather long time to change it. I
don’t know about the situation on the mainland. But on Taiwan, the
situation is that there are fewer and fewer large families.
Although the Chinese like big families and think that if everyone
lives together they can take care of each other, industry and
commerce are flourishing and there are more Job opportunities, so
there are more and more small families.
Now as large families grow fewer and fewer, the custom of child
marriage will disappear.
Is child marriage related to the large family?
Yes. It’s mainly a question of labor force.
After all, with child marriage, children are born sooner, the
family has more work hands, and the old people can get taken care
of sooner.
But in an industrial-commercial society, most of the old people
have an income. Today Taiwan is already an industrial-commercial
society, so that kind of problem doesn’t exist there anymore.
But don’t forget that the mainland is still an agricultural
society. Caring for old people is still a big problem, and the
custom of child marriage still exists there.
You must be mistaken. How could the government on the mainland
agree to let people marry as children?
zhǔyào, "mainly"
B: Wǒ shuōde shi nóngcūn,! shénme
zǎohūn na, zhòng nán qīng nú a, zhèizhǒng shi zǒng shi he Jīngji
bù fādá you guānxide.
D: Wǒ shizài bù xǐhuan zaohūn. Wo
xiang duōshù zǎohūnde rén hòulái-de shēnghuó dōu you diǎn wèntí.
B: Tèbié shi fùnū.
A: Duì le, wǒ tīngshuōguo zhèiyang
yìzhong shuōfā: Zhōngguo fùnu méiyou Jiēhūn yǐqián yào ting
fùmǔde, Jiele hūn děi tīng zhàngfude, zhàngfu sǐle děi tīng
érzide.^ Qīngwèn, Zhōngguo fùnu shénme shihou cái néng you tāmen
zìjǐde xiǎngfǎ, shénme shihou cái néng you yidiǎnr zìyóu ne?
B: Ou, xiànzài méiyou rén Jiǎng
zhèixiē le.
A: Suīrán méiyou rén Jiǎng, kěshi
zhèizhǒng chuántong sīxiǎng^ hái-shi you a!
D: Nī shuōde yě you dàolǐ, háishi
nàjù huà, Jīqiānniánde lǎo guānniàn bǔ shi hěn kuài kéyi
gǎibiànde.
B: Ììg, búguò wǒ xiǎng, dàlù yě
hǎo, Táiwān yě hǎo, Jīshínián lái dōu yǒule hěn dàde gǎibiàn,
fùnude dìwei yě dōu yǒule tígāo, chuántǒngde guānniàn yě zài biàn.
A: Ng, zheyidian wo tongyi.
I’m talking about rural areas, Things like child marriage or
regarding males as superior to females always have to do with an
undeveloped economy.
I really don’t like child marriage. I think that most people who
are married as children have problems later on in life.
Especially women.
Right. I’ve heard a saying to the effect that before a Chinese
woman gets married she has to obey her parents, after she gets
married she has to obey her husband, and after her husband dies
she has to obey her son. I ask you, when will Chinese women be
able to think for themselves? When will they be able to have a
little freedom?
Nobody is strict about those customs anymore.
Nobody is strict about them, but the traditional thinking is still
there!
That’s right. It’s still the same old story. Ideas which are
several thousand years old can’t be changed very quickly.
Yeah, but I think that both the mainland and Taiwan have undergone
big changes in the past few decades. The status of women has
improved, and traditional ideas are changing.
Mm, that I agree with.
I'nóngcūn, "rural area" (See Unit 6)
^Zhōngguo funu meiyou jiēhūn yiqian yao tīng fùmǔde: (1) méiyou
jiēhūn yǐqián is completely equivalent to Jiēhūn yǐqián
"before getting married". The méiyou does not change the
meaning. (2) Tīng fùmǔde is equivalent to tīng fùmǔde huà,
"to obey one’s parents."
^sīxiǎng, "thought, thinking" (See Life in China module,
Unit h)
^tígāo, "raise, improve(ment)" (See Traveling in China
module, Unit 2)
B: Hǎo, women dào jiǎ le. Wang
Chéng jìnqu zuòzuo ba!
D: Hǎo, jìnqù yíxià.
Okay, we are at my house. Come in for a while, Wang Chéng, okay?
Okay, I’ll come in for a while.
Exercise 1
This exercise is a review of the Reference List sentences in this
unit. The speaker will say a sentence in English, followed, by a
pause for you to translate it into Chinese. Then a second speaker
will confirm your answer.
All sentences from the Reference List will occur only once. You
may want to rewind the tape and practice this exercise several
times.
Exercise 2
This exercise is a conversation between a grandmother and her
high-school-age granddaughter in Tianjin.
The conversation occurs only once. After listening to it
completely you’ll probably want to rewind the tape and answer the
questions below as you listen a second time.
Here are the new words and phrases you will need to understand
this conversation:
Zhāng Lǐ Shi (an old way of referring to a
woman whose own surname is Lǐ and whose husband’s surname is
Zhāng)
zài shuō besides, moreover
Questions for Exercise 2
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you can
talk about them in class.
1. Can you infer how people generally learn about new policies
like birth control in China?
2. What does Grandma think of the new policy?
3. What is the difference between the old and the new custom
with regard to taking one’s husband’s surname after marriage?
After you have answered these questions yourself, you may want to
take a look at the translation for this conversation. You may also
want to listen to the dialogue again to help you practice saying
your answers.
Note: The translations used in these dialogues are meant to
indicate English functional equivalents for the Chinese sentences
rather than the literal meaning of the Chinese.
Exercise 3
In this conversation two classmates are talking in Hong Kong about
the situation on the mainland.
Listen to the conversation once straight through. Then, on the
second time through, look below and answer the questions.
Here are the new words you will need to understand this
conversation:
shichang market
nóngmín peasant
For this conversation, you also need to know what "free
markets" are. The Chinese term is zìyou shìchǎng. These are
government-controlled, negotiated-price markets which individual
peasants, brigades, or communes hold in the cities at officially
designated locations to sell agricultural products, livestock, and
fish. After units have fulfilled state quotas for an agricultural
sideline product, any surplus (with the exception of certain
restricted products) may be sold on the open market. Free markets
are supposed to encourage agricultural sideline production,
stimulate the exchange of urban and rural products, improve the
supply of non-staple foods in the cities, and supplement
state-operated commerce.
Questions for Exercise 3
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you can
talk about them in class.
1. How do free markets help peasants? How do they help
agricultural production?
2. How do free markets improve life for people in the cities?
3. What other developments in the countryside do the
classmates think will affect the mainland’s economic
situation?
U. For how long did classmate B’s family live in the Jiangxi
countryside?
After you have answered these questions yourself, you may want to
take a look at the translation for this conversation. You may also
want to listen to the conversation to help you practice saying the
answers which you have prepared.
.Exercise U
In this exercise two classmates in Hong Kong discuss a death in
the family of a friend.
Listen to the conversation straight through once. Then rewind the
tape and listen again. On the second time through, answer the
questions.
You will need the following words and phrases:
lǎoxiānsheng old gentleman
gǔhuī ashes (of a person)
sònghuiqu to take back
Questions for Exercise U
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you can
talk about them in class.
1. Where will Mr. Wang’s remains be buried?
2. What was the nature of family clashes between Mr. Wang and
his five sons?
3. From Mr. Wang’s point of view, what were the advantages in
having his sons get married young?
U. What did his sons think about early marriage?
5. What did Mr. Wang gradually come to understand that made him
give up trying to have his sons marry early?
6. What sentence can you say to someone in a conversation to
suggest that you talk about a different topic?
After you have answered these questions, you may want to take a
look at the translation for this conversation. You may also want
to listen to the conversation again to help you pronounce your
answers correctly.
Dialogue and Translation for Exercise 2
In Tiānjīn, a grandmother talks with her high school age daughter.
A: Xiǎolán, kàn hào na!
B: Nǎinai, jǐntiǎn hàoshang shuōle,
"Yíge zuì hǎo, liǎngge gòu le, sānge tài duō"!
A: Shénme? "Yíge zuì hǎo"? Wǒ
méi tīngmínghai.
B: Nà shi shuō shēng háizi, shēng
yíge zuì hǎo, liǎngge jiù gòu le, sānge tài duō.
A: w"Shēng yíge zuì hǎo"?
Shēng ge nuháizi zěnme hàn? Hái děi zài shēng yíge nánde ma!
B: Ei, nǎinai, nuháizi you shenme
hù hǎo? Nánháizi yě hǎo, nuháizi yě hǎo, dōu shi zìjīde háizi ya!
A: Nà hù yíyàng, nuháizi jiēle hūn,
shēngle háizi, háizi děi xing zhàngfude xìngr, nī xiǎng nánháizi
he nuháizi yíyàng ma?
B: wNà wǒ hù tongyì. Nín yě shi nude,
nín wèishenme nàme kànbuqī fùnu a?
A: Bu shi kànhuqǐ, shèhuìde qíng
xing jiù shi zhèiyangr. Nǐ yéye xing Zhāng, wǒ zìjǐ xing LǏ,
jiēhūn yǐhòu rénjia jiào wo Zhāng Lǐ Shi, zěnme méiyou rén jiào wo
Lǐ Zhāng Shi?
B: Zhèi shi jiù fēngsú, xiànzài
méiyou zhèixiē shuōfǎr le. Wǒ shi Zhāng Xiǎolán, jiēhūn yǐhòu wǒ
hái shi Zhāng Xiǎolán.
A: Yǐhòu háizi yě xing Zhāng ma?
B: Zěnme bù kéyi, nín kàn duìmiànr-
de Wáng Āyí, yǒule háizi jiào Wang Lin, yě méiyou rén shuō bù kéyi
ma! Zài shuō, duō shēng háizi you
Reading the paper, Xiǎolán?
Grandma, today it says in the paper, "One is best, two are
enough, three are too many"!
What? "One is best"? I don't understand.
It's about having children. It's best to have one, two are enough,
and three are too many.
"It's best to have one"? What do you do if you have a
girl? Then you have to try to have a boy!
But Grandma, what's wrong with girls? Boys or girls, they're all
one's own children!
It's not the same thing. When a girl gets married and has a child,
the child has to take the husband's surname. You think boys are
the same as girls?
That I don't agree with. You're a woman too. Why do you look down
on women so much?
It's not that I look down on them. That's the way society is. Your
grandfather's name is Zhāng and mine is Lǐ. After we got married
people called me Zhāng LǏ Shi. Why didn't anyone call me Lǐ Zhāng
Shi!
That's the old custom. Those terms aren't used anymore. I'm Zhāng
Xiǎolán, and after I get married I'll still be Zhāng Xiǎolán.
And will your children use the surname Zhāng too?
Why not? Look at Auntie Wáng across the way. When she had her
child it was called Wáng LÍn, and no one said there was anything
wrong with that.
shénme hǎochur, dajiā shōurù dōu bù duō, háizi duōle, dàren duō
kǔ!
A: Hǎole, hāole, jiù suàn nǐ shuōde
duì. Kuài chī fàn ba! Chīwánle hái děi shàng xué qu na!
Besides, what’s the advantage in having a lot of children?
Everyone has a small income, and if there are a lot of children,
how hard it is for the adults!
Okay, okay, let’s say you’re right. Hurry up and eat! You have to
go to school after you finish eating!
Dialogue and Translation for Exercise 3
In Hong Kong, two classmates are talking.
A: Nǐ zuìjìn kàn bào le meiyou?
B: Shénme bào?
A: Dàlù bàozhī. You yíjiàn shìqing
hěn you yìsi, bù zhīdào nǐ zhùyì le meiyou?
B: Shénme shi?
A: Zìyóu shìchāng.
B: Ng, wǒ yě kàndao le, wǒ xiàng
zhei shi yíge bāngzhu nóngmín zhuàn qiánde hāo bànfa.
A: Lìngwài yidiǎn, nóngmínde shōurù
duō le, duì nóngyè shēngchǎn yě you hāochu.
B: Duì, wǒ xiǎng wèile ràng xiāng-
xiade shēngchǎn hé shēnghuó qíngkuàng hǎo yidiǎn, zhèiyangde
shìchāng yǐnggāi bànxiaqu.
A: Erqiě, chéngli rénde shēnghuó yě
huì hǎo yidiǎnr, tāmen kéyi zài zìyóu shìchāng mǎidao xīnxiande
cài, zhēnshi bú cuò.
B: Yǐhòu zìyóu shìchāng yuè bàn
yuè hǎo, xiāngxiade xiǎo gōngshāngyè yě huì fādáqilai, dàlùde
jīngji qíngkuàng huì you hěn dàde gǎibiàn.
Have you been reading the papers lately?
What papers?
The mainland newspapers. I wonder if you’ve noticed something very
interesting.
What?
Free markets.
Mm, I’ve seen that too. I think it’s a good way to help peasants
make money.
And another point is that it will be good for agricultural
production if the peasants’ income goes up.
Right. I think they ought to continue running these markets in
order to make production and living conditions in the country
better.
What’s more, life will be better for people in the cities. They
can buy fresh foods at the free markets. It’s really pretty good.
In the future, free markets will get better and better, small
industry and commerce in the countryside will begin to prosper,
and there will be big changes in the mainland’s economic
situation.
A: Wǒ jìde nǐ lǎojiā zài Jiangxi.
B: Shi. Ting wǒ fùqin shuō, tāmen
jǐdài rén dōu zhù zai Jiāngxǐ xiāngxià.
A: Xiànzài lǎojiā hái yǒu rén ha?
B: Yǒu, wǒ tíngshuō nerde qíngkuàng
xiànzài hú cuò le.
A: Nà hǎo, yǒu jíhui xiǎng huíqu
kànkan ha?
B: Yídìng!
I remember your family is from Jiāngxǐ.
Yes. My father tells me that they lived in the Jiāngxǐ countryside
for several generations.
You still have family there, don’t you?
Yes. I understand that the situation there is pretty good now.
That’s good, if you have the chance do you want to go hack to
visit?
Sure!
Dialogue and Translation for Exercise u
Conversation between two classmates in
A: Wǒ tíngshuō Wang Tāode fùqin sǐ
le.
B: Shi. Wang Tāo hé tā mǔqin xià
Xīngqīyī yào bǎ lǎoxiānshengde gǔhuǐ sònghuiqu.
A: Tāmen lǎojiā zài nǎr?
B: Zài Guǎngdōng.
A: Tíngshuō Wang Lǎoxiānsheng huó-
zhede shihou chángcháng xǐhuan tan lǎojiāde shir?
B: Shi a! Wang Lǎoxiānsheng rén
hěn hǎo, jiù shi yǒu diǎnr lǎo guānniàn, zǒng xiǎng bǎochí dà
jiātíngde chuántǒng, kěshi jiā-lide niánqīng rén duōshu dōu bù
ting tāde huà, you shihou tā yě hěn bu gāoxìng.
A: ' Nǐ néng bu néng gěi wo jiǎng-jiang ne?
Hong Kong.
I hear that Wang Tāo’s father died.
Yes. Wang Tāo and his mother are going to take the old gentleman’s
ashes back next Monday.
Where’s their family from?
Guǎngdōng.
I understand that when Mr. Wang was alive he often liked to talk
about the way things were back in their old home, is that right?
Yes! Mr. Wang was a very good person, but he was a bit
old-fashioned in his way of thinking. He always wanted to keep the
tradition of the large family, but most of the young people in the
family wouldn’t listen to him. So sometimes he was very
displeased.
Can you tell me about it?
°It is the custom to take the remains back to one’s hometown.
B: Xíng a! Wáng Lǎoxiānsheng you
wǔge érzi, tā yuànyi érzimen zǎohūn, tā xiǎng, zǎo jiēhūn, zǎo you
sūnzi, nà duo hǎo!
A: Zǎohūn, lǎorén yě kéyi zǎo
yidiǎnr you zhàogu, zhè bú cuò.
B: Wáng Lǎoxiānsheng zhèng shi
zhèige yìsi. Keshi érzimen bú nàme xiǎng.
A: Tāmen zěnme xiǎng?
B: Tāmen shuō nèizhǒng "zǎohūn,
jiāli láodònglì duō, shōurù jiu duō, shēnghuo jiu hǎo" de
xiǎngfǎ shizài shi tài jiù le. Tāmen shi niánqīng rén, tāmende
guānniàn dōu shi xīnde.
A: Wáng Lǎoxiānsheng zěnme bàn ne?
B: Hòulái tā mànmànde yě míngbai
xiànzài gēn guòqù wánquán bù tong le, tā yě jiù bù shuō shenme le.
Suōyi yìzhí dào Wáng Xiān-sheng sǐ, Jiāli yě méiyou shenme dà
wèntí.
A: Hǎo le, women huàn ge tímu ba,
tántan nīde qíngxing. Nī zuìjìn zěnmeyàng? Niàn shū niànde hǎo bu
hǎo?
B: Bu cuò, jiù shi máng. Jǐntiǎn
you diǎn shíjiān xiūxi xiuxi, women qù hē chá hǎo bu hǎo?
A: Hǎo, zǒu ba!
Sure! Mr. Wáng had five sons. He wanted his sons to marry early.
He thought that if Chis sons3 got married young, he would get
grandsons sooner, and how great that would be.
With early marriage, old people can be cared for sooner; that's
good too.
That's exactly what Mr. Wáng had in mind. But his sons didn't
think think so.
What did they think?
They thought the idea that "early marriage brings the family
more manpower, and therefore more income and a better life"
is really too old. They're young people and all their ideas are
new ones.
What did Mr. Wáng do?
Later he gradually came to understand that things are completely
different now from the way they used to be, so he stopped talking
about it. So there weren't any big problems in the family up until
Mr. Wáng died.
Okay, let's change the subject and talk about your situation. How
have you been lately? Are your studies going well?
Pretty well, its just that I'm busy. But today I have time to take
a break. Let's go have some tea, okay?
Okay, let's go!
UNIT 6 Politics and. Culture
INTRODUCTION
Grammar Topics Covered, in This Unit
1. -de huà, ’’if," ”in case.”
2. Choosing between -guo and -le.
3. More on zài, "in the midst of.”
U. Bù guǎn. .. , ’’no matter.’’
5. Nǎr used in rhetorical questions to make a denial.
6. Reduplicating adjectival verbs for vividness.
7. Qù and lai expressing purpose.
8. (Amount of time) lai, ’’in the past...,” ’’over the
past....’’
Functional Language Contained in This Unit
1. Requesting to speak with someone.
2. Making a comment in order to verify a piece of information.
3. Expressing that you are disturbed by a troublesome
circumstance.
U. Expressing scandalized disapproval.
1. A: Nǐ yàoshi xiǎng tīng gùshi-de huà, wǒ gěi ni jiǎng yíge
ya!
B: Suàn Le. Wǒmen xiǎ qí ba!
2. A: Tīngshuǒ jiěfàng yǐhòu, Gǒngchǎndǎng zuǒle xiě hǎo shi.
B: Eng, you xiě zhèngcè shi hú cuò, you xiě hú tǎi hǎo.
3. A: Lǎo Wangde érzi rùguo Tuan ma?
B: Méiyou, tīngshuǒ cānjiǎguo Hongwèibīng.
U. A: Nǐ tīngshuǒ le ma, Lǎo Zhǎngde nuér àishang Xiǎo Wang le.
B: Zhè zhēn shi mafan shir, Lǎo Zhang zuì hen Wang-jiǎde rén.
5. A: Rúguo nī hú jièyìde huà, wǒ xiǎng hé nǐde mishu tan Jifēn
zhōng.
B: Tā zài dǎ zì, mashàng Jiù lai.
If you want to listen to a story, I’ll tell you one.
Forget it. Let’s play chess.
I’ve heard that the Communist Party did some good things after
liberation.
5
Yes, some policies were all right, hut some weren’t too good.
Did Lǎo Wang’s son ever Join the Communist Youth League?
No, hut I’ve heard that he was in the Red Guards.
Have you heard? Lǎo Zhang’s daughter has fallen in love with Xiǎo
Wáng.
This is really trouble. Lǎo Zhāng really hates the Wáng family.
If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk with your secretary for a few
minutes.
He’s typing, he’ll be here in a moment.
6.
A:
Zhèige háizi bú xiàng huà, bù guǎn zěnme shuō dōu bù tīng.
B: Duì ma, zhè nǎr xiàng Xīn Zhōngguode értong!
This child is too much. No matter what you say, he Just doesn’t
listen.
Yes, he’s certainly no Cnot like anyl child of "New
China."
7. A: Zhèipiān duǎnpiān xiǎoshuō xiěde shi shénme?
B: Xiěde shi yíge nongcūn
gànhude gùshi.
8. A: Nǐ Jí Jímángmángde, zuò shénme qu a?
B: Shàng xué qu a!
9. A: Zhèngfǔ shǐ hu shi hǎohù rénmende cáichǎn?
B: Shǐ. Zhèngfǔ shíxíng
hǎohù rénmen cáichǎnde zhèngcè.
10. Zài Gòngchǎndǎng lǐngdǎoxià, Zhōngguo zài shǐjièshangde
dìwei yǒule hěn dàde gǎihiàn.
What is this short story about?
It’s the story of a cadre in a rural area.
What are you in such a hurry to go do?
I’m going to school!
Does the government protect people’s property?
Yes. The government is carrying out a policy of protecting
people’s property.
Under the leadership of the Communist Party, China’s position in
the world has changed greatly.
11. A: Shínián lái, zhèi liǎngge chéngshǐde gōngshāngyè yuè
lái yuè fādá le.
B: Zhè hé zhèngfǔde lǐngdǎo
shi fēnbùkāide.
In the past ten years industry and commerce in these two cities
have hecome more and more developed.
This can’t he separated from the government’s leadership.
ADDITIONAL REQUIRED VOCABULARY
12. dang
13. yuányīn
1U. Jiārù
political party; (capital D-) the (Communist) Party
reason, cause
to Join
VOCABULARY
ài àishang
to love
to fall in love with
bǎohù
bù guan
bú xiàng huà
to protect
no matter (what, whether, etc.)
to be ridiculous, to be outrageous, to be absurd (talk,
acts, etc.)
canjiā
to participate in, to take part in, to Join, to attend
chéngshì
city; urban
dang dǎ zì -de huà duǎnpiān
(political) party to type (on a typewriter) if; in case;
supposing that short (stories, articles)
értóng
child (formal word)
fen fēnkāi
to divide, to separate, to split to separate, to split
up
gànbu Gòngchǎndǎng gùshi
cadre
the Communist Party story
hen
Hóngwàibīng
to hate, to loathe, to detest (a) Red Guard; the Red
Guards
Jiǎrù Jiěfàng jièyì jíjímángmang jímáng
to join
to liberate, to emancipate; liberation
to mind, to take offense
in a big hurry
to be hasty, to be hurried
...lái lǐngdǎo
for the past...(amount of time) to lead, to direct, to
exercise
leadership (over); leadership; leader, leading cadre
nóngcūn
country, rural area; rural; village
ru
rù Tuan
to enter; to Join
to Join the Communist Youth League (Gòngqingtuán or
Gòngchǎnzhǔyì Qīngniántuán)
-shang
(verb ending indicating starting and continuing)
shàng xué
to go to school; to attend school
shijiè shijièshang shíxíng
world
in the world, in the whole world
to practice, to carry out, to put into effect, to
implement
-tuán Tuan
group, society
the (Communist Youth) League
-xia xia qí
under
to play chess
yuányīn
reason, cause
zhèngcè zhèngfǔ
policy government
1. A: Nǐ yàoshi xiǎng tīng gùshi- If you want to listen to a
story, de huà, wǒ gěi ni Jiang I’ll tell you one.
yíge ya!
B: Suàn le. Women xià qí ha! Forget it. Let’s play chess.
Notes on No. 1
gùshi: "story," only in the sense of a short, fictional
tale. Remember that another word you have learned, xiǎoshuō, can
also be used for "story" in the sense of a literary
work. Also take special note that a news "story" should
be translated as xǐnwěn (NOT gùshi).
"To tell stories" is Jiǎng (OR shuō) gùshi (don’t use
the verb gàosu).
Nǐmen zhèr yǒu shénme értǒng Do you have any children’s stories
gùshi ma? here? (in a bookstore)
Zhèipiān gùshi xiěde zhēn hǎo. This story is very well written.
Gùshi may take as a counter either -ge, -duàn, or -pian (for
written stories).
-de huà: "if," "in case," or "supposing
that" Used at the end of a clause which tells a hypothetical
situation, often in combination with another word for
"if" (yàoshi, rúguǒ, etc.) earlier in the same clause.
Yàoshi nǐ bu qùde huà, wǒ yě bu If you don’t go, I won’t go. qù.
Chǐ fàn chībǎo le, yàoshi zài chǐ If you eat more after you’re
already de huà, dùzi Jiu bù shūfu le. full, your stomach won’t
feel well.
Wǒ qǐlai tài zǎode huà, wǒ Jiù If I get up too early I feel tired,
huì Juéde lèi.
Yào shi wǒde huà, wǒ bu nàme zuò. If it had been me, I wouldn’t
have
done it that way.
xià qí: "play chess" This is actually a general word for
several different kinds of chess or other board games. CSpecific
names do exist for each game: xiàngqí, "Chinese chess";
tiàoqí, "(the Chinese form of) checkers"; wéiqí,
"go" (a board game); guojì xiàngqí (PRC) or xǐyáng qí
(Taiwan), "international or Western chess"; etc.J
Nǐ gēn shéi xià qí?
Who did you play chess with?
Tā xià qí xiàde hěn hǎo.
He plays chess very well.
2. A: Tīngshuǒ jiěfàng yīhòu, Gòngchǎndǎng zuole xiě hǎo shi.
B: Eng, you xiě zhèngcè shi hú cuò, you xiē hú tài hǎo.
I’ve heard that the Communist Party did some good things after
liberation.
Yes, some policies were all right, hut some weren’t too good.
Notes on No. 2
jiěfàng: "to liberate, to emancipate; liberation" This
word is applied in Communist ideology to the overthrow of what is
considered "reactionary" rule. In China today jiěfàng
may be used to refer to the actual occupation of an individual
area by Communist forces at any time from 19^+5 up until 1950
(when the administrative authority of the Communist government had
finally extended throughout the mainland and Hǎinán Island). For
example, if someone says
Women zhèige dìfang jiěfàngde Our area was liberated late (in the
wǎn. revolution).
this means that Communist forces reached their area at a late date
(perhaps in late 19^+9 or early 1950). Jiěfàng may also be used to
refer to the end of "China’s War of Liberation," marked
by the official proclamation of the People’s Republic of China on
October 1, 19^+9. For example,
Jiěfàng yīhòude jīnián, wǒ zhù For the first few years after
liber-zai Shànghǎi. ation I lived in
Shànghǎi.
Gòngchǎndǎng: "the Communist party," literally
"share-property party" In a mainland China context, the
Communist party is often referred to simply as Dǎng, "the
Party.” The official name is Zhongguo Gòngchǎndǎng, "Chinese
Communist Party (CCP)."
zhèngcè: "policy" (especially of a government)
Zuìjìnde zhèngcè gǎibiàn le. The (government’s) policy has
changed
recently.
3. A: Lǎo Wangde érzi rùguo Tuán ma?
B: Méiyou, tīngshuǒ cānjiāguo Hǒngwèibīng.
Notes on No. 3
Did Lǎo Wang’s son ever join the Communist Youth League?
No, but I’ve heard that he was in the Red Guards.
rù: "to enter" Rù is most often used in literary
Chinese. In the spoken language, it is mainly used in a handful of
set phrases like rù xué, "to enter school, to start
school," or rù yuàn, "to be hospitalized."
Otherwise, "to enter" is expressed by the verbs jin,
jìnlai, or jìnqu.
In the set phrases rù Tuán, "to join the Communist Youth
League," and rù Dǎng, "to Join the Communist
Party," rù is actually short for the verb jiǎrù (No. 11+ on
the Reference List), which means "to join" an
organization.
Tuan: "the League," short for Zhongguo Gòngchǎnzhùyì
Qīngniāntuān, "China Communist Youth League," also
abbreviated as Gòngqingtuān. This is a nationwide organization for
working youth and students between the ages of fourteen and
twenty-five. Its aim is to cultivate members’ political awareness
and their cultural and scientific knowledge. The League’s history
goes back to 1922, but its name, goals, and influence have changed
over the years. During the Cultural Revolution, the functions of
the League were largely taken over by the Red Guards (see note on
next page), but in 1973 the League began to recover its former
influence. Today, the League organizes political study sessions as
well as educational and recreational activities at schools,
universities, factories, and other places of work. The League also
provides leadership for the Young Pioneers (Shàoxiǎnduì), an
organization for children from seven to fourteen.
The connection between the Communist Party and the League is a
close one, although the League is independently organized and has
its own central committee with a national congress that meets
periodically. Policy leadership for the League comes from the
Youth Department of the Communist Party Central Committee. By no
means do all League members go on to become Party members, but
leadership experience in League activities makes many likely
candidates for later Party membership.
cānjiǎ: "to Join; to participate in, to take part in; to
attend"
Canjiā refers to the action of Joining a group or Joining in an
activity. It also means "to participate" or "to
take part in." Cānjiǎ is also the word to use for "to
attend" a meeting, convention, or other gathering (but not a
play, film, or other non-participatory event).
Zhōngguo cānjiǎ Shìjiè Yínháng le.
Women jìhuà xià xīngqī kai ge wanhuì,° nǐ xiǎng bu xiǎng cānjiǎ?
Dàjiǎ dou yinggāi cānjiǎ lāodòng.
Tā cānjiāle yíge xùnliànbǎn."
Wǒ yào qù cǎnjiǎ míngtiǎn xiàwude huì.
China has Joined the World Bank.
We’re planning to have an evening party next week. Would you like
to Join in?
Everyone should participate in (physical) labor.
He is attending a training class OR He attended a training class,
(depends on context)
I’m going to attend the meeting tomorrow afternoon.
rùguo Tuan, cǎnjiǎguo Hongwèibing: You were introduced to the
marker -guo in the Biographic Information module, with sentences
like NǏ cōngqiān lāiguo ma?, "Have you ever been here
before?" You also saw that -guo can provide by itself the
meaning of "ever": Tǎ qùguo Zhōngguo ma?, "Has he
ever been to China?" In exchange 3, the speakers use -guo
with the meaning of "ever" having done something.
"wǎnhuì, "evening party" xùnliànbǎn,
"training class"
Why use -guo and not -le in these sentences? A helpful rule of
thumb is to use -guo in Chinese when you would say
"ever" in English. But -guo and "ever" do not
always correspond; as you can see in sentence 3B, the English does
not contain the word "ever." The reason speaker B
decided to use -guo there rather than le is that he knows Lǎo
Wang’s son is no longer in the Red Guards. Using -guo rather than
le implies that the Joining (cānjiā) was later undone—that the son
is not a Red Guard now.
The verb cānjiā tells an action that results in a new state: the
action of Joining results in the state of being part of something.
Similar verbs include zuò, "to sit," (the action of
sitting results in the state of being seated) and chuān (the
action of putting on clothes results in the state of the clothes
being on). Process verbs as well show the change from one state to
a new state, like bìng (to go from wellness to sickness), dào (to
go from not being here to being here). When -guo is used with
these kinds of verbs it often implies that the resulting state is
no longer in effect.’
Hongwèibíng: "the Red Guards," lit., "Red
Guard-Soldiers" It was in Beijing in 1966 that middle school
and college students first began to form groups calling themselves
Hóngwèibìng. At that time CCP Chairman Máo Zedong had been trying
with little success to stir up a mass movement against
"revisionist" elements in the Chinese Communist Party,
and to infuse the country with a new revolutionary spirit. The
newly formed Red Guard groups first directed their efforts at
reactionary leaders in the schools. After Mao publicly expressed
his support for the Red Guards, their movement quickly grew into a
major force in the first stage of the Cultural Revolution. Their
opposition to Liu Shàoqí, then Chairman (head of state) of the
PRC, was instrumental in his downfall. Before long, groups of Red
Guards were crisscrossing China by train, bus, any means of
transportation—many on foot—to spread the concepts of the Cultural
Revolution. The scale of these excursions is difficult to imagine;
Red Guards, other student groups, and tagalongs— altogether
millions of young people—were to be seen everywhere, bringing
Beijing’s political movements to the rest of the country.
After their inception, the thousands of Red Guard groups
nationwide had difficulty forming a cohesive organization, and
after the first three years of the Cultural Revolution (1966 to
1968) their power began to wane. They remained a prestige group,
however, until their official abolishment in 1978.
Outside observers, as well as many Chinese, had mixed opinions of
the Red Guards. That they were a major force in stirring the
country to Join in the movements of the time is beyond question.
But the zealous excesses and cruelties of many Red Guards toward
people of "undesirable" political or family backgrounds
are equally well known.
’-Guo may also be used when the speaker does not know for sure
whether the state is still in effect. But do not use -guo when you
know for sure that the state is still in effect. For example, if
you know that a person has come here and is still here, you can
only say Tā lái le.
b. A: Ní tīngshuǒ le ma, Lǎo Zhāngde nuěr àishang Xiǎo Wang le.
B: Zhè zhēn shi máfan shir, Lǎo Zhang zuì hen Wáng jiāde rén.
Notes on No.
Have you heard? Lǎo Zhang’s daughter has fallen in love with Xiǎo
Wáng.
This is really trouble. Lǎo Zhang really hates the Wáng family.
ài: ’to love (state verb)
Wǒ xiǎng tǎ shi zhènde ài ní. I think she really loves you.
Tā you ài xuéxí, you ài láodòng, She loves study and loves
physical shi ge hǎo tongzhì. labor. She is a good
comrade.
Ai can also mean to like, to be fond etc. It is usually used
before a verb,
Wǒ zuì ài chī tángcù páigǔ le!
Tā zhēn ài jiǎng huà.
A: Nǐ ài kàn diànyǐng ma?
B: Bú ài.
Wǒ fùqin ài xià qí.
àishang: "to fall in love (with
Zài zhèige xuéxiào shàng kè yíge yuè yǐhòu, tā jiu àishang tāde
Zhōngwén lǎoshī le.
Cong dìyīcì kànjian ta, wǒ jiu àishang ta le.
Wǒ zhīdao nī bú ài wo le, xīhuan shang Wáng Cheng le.
a food, hobby, sport, activity, as in the following examples:
I just love sweet and sour spareribs!
He really loves to talk.
Do you like to go to the movies?
No.
My father is fond of (playing) chess.
someone)’’
After attending classes at this school for one month, he fell in
love with his Chinese teacher.
I fell in love with her right from the first time I saw her.
I know you don’t love me anymore; you’ve taken a liking to Wáng
Cheng.
Particularly in Beijing speech, the ending -shang added to some
verbs has the meaning of starting and then continuing, "to
set about (doing something), to fall into the habit of (doing
something), to take to (doing something)."
Tāmen you xiàshang qí le.
Nī you chōushang yān* le?!
They have started to play chess again OR They’re back playing
chess again.
You’re smoking again?!
chǒu yān, "to smoke"
Rénjia shuì jiào le, nǐ zěnme chàngshang gē le?.’
There are people trying to sleep. What are you doing singing?.'
Kànshang means "to take a fancy to, to settle on":
Wǒ kànshang nèizhǒng chē le, děng wǒ yǒule qián wǒ yídìng mǎi
yíliàng.
I've taken a fancy to that kind of car. When I have money I'll cer
tainly "buy one.
àishang Xiǎo Wang le: A new-situation le is extremely common when
presenting an event as "hot news," as the speaker does
in this sentence. Hot news should, after all, he presented to the
listener as something he doesn't already know—as a new situation.
(For the second example you need to know zǒngtǒng,
"president," and fǎngwèn, "to visit.")
Wǒ zhǎodao yige xīnde gōngzuò I've found a new joh! le!
Jǐntiǎn hàozhǐshang shuō Měiguo It says in today's paper that the
zǒngtǒng yào dào Zhōngguo lái president of the U.S. is going to
fǎngwèn le. come visit China!
Of course, this le is sometimes optional. It may he omitted in the
above two examples, hut not in sentence
Ua.
hen: "to hate," only in the literal meaning of "to
loathe, to detest, to have intense ill feelings toward"
Wǒ hen nèiyìjiā rén. I hate that whole family.
Wǒ hen ta gěi wo dàilaile name I hate him for bringing me so much
duō máfan. trouble.
Wǒ zuì hen zuò zhèizhōng shi. I detest doing this sort of thing
most of all.
"To hate" in the milder sense of "to dislike"
or "to wish to avoid" is expressed in Chinese by other
words. (For the last example below you need to know tǎoyàn,
"to dislike, to be disgusted with.")
Zǎoshang wǒ zhēn bú yào qǐlai. I hate to get up in the
morning.
Zhèiyang máfan nǐ, wǒ zhēn bù hǎo I hate to put you to all this
yìsi. trouble.
Xiàng tā zhèiyangde rén méiyou I hate to see someone like him yíge
hǎo gōngzuò, tài kěxī le. without a good job.
Wǒ tǎoyàn mǎi dōngxi.
I hate shopping.
*chang gē, "to sing (songs)" (a verb plus general
object, like niàn shū)
5. A: Rúguo nǐ bú jièyìde huà, wǒ xiǎng he nǐde mishu tan
jifěn zhong.
B: Tā zài dǎ zì, mǎshàng jiù lái.
If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk with your secretary for a few
minutes.
He’s typing, he’ll be here in a moment.
Notes on No. $
jièyì: "to take offense, to mind' a negative word (bù or
bié).
Wǒ shi shuǒzhe wánrde, xīwàng nǐ bú yào jièyì.
A: Nǐ bú huì jièyì ba?
B: Bú huì.
Nǐ Jièyì bu Jièyì wǒ míngtiān dài ge pengyou qù canjiā nǐde
wǎnhuì6?
This is mostly used when preceded by
I was kidding (when I said that). I hope you don’t take offense.
You don’t mind, do you?
No, that’s all right.
Do you mind if I take a friend along to your party tomorrow night?
dǎ zì: "to type" on a typewriter, literally "to hit
characters."
Tā dǎ zì dǎde hěn kuài. He types very fast.
Zì here is a general object like huà in shuo huà. Speakers of
English are often tempted to say dǎ zì zhèige for "type
this," but that is incorrect. To specify the thing which is
typed, use dǎ without the word zì. Some verb
endings, especially -chulai, are often
Gěi wo dǎ yíxiàr (zhèige).
Qǐng ni bǎ zhèifēng xìn dǎ yíxiàr.
Wǒ děi qù dǎ yifeng xìn.
Nǐ dǎwán nèifēng xìn le ma?
Nèifēng xìn dǎchulai le meiyou?
Wǒ bǎ zhèige dǎchulaile mǎshàng gěi ni sòngguoqu.
Used as a noun, dǎ zì means "typing"
Wǒ xuéguo dǎ zì.
Tā zài yíge zhōngxué Jiāo Yǐngw dǎ zì.
used with da:
Type this for me.
Please type this letter.
I have to go type a letter.
Have you finished typing that letter?
Has that letter been typed?
I’ll bring this over to you as soon as I finish typing it.
like the school subject):
I’ve studied typing.
She teaches English typing at a middle school.
Zì, by itself, may be used as follows:
Wǒ dǎcuòle yíge zì. I typed a character (letter or
word)
wrong.
Zhèiběn shū, zì tài xiǎo.
The type is too small in this hook.
zài dǎ zì: "He’s (in the midst of) typing" You first
learned zài, the marker of ongoing action, in Meeting, Unit 2: Tā
zài kāi huì, "He is (in the midst of) attending a
meeting." Use zài to specify that an action is in the midst
of progressing or evolving.
Because zài denotes "continuing action," it is used with
action verbs, which indicate the event has duration. On the other
hand, process verbs, which indicate simply a change of state, are
not compatible with zài: sǐ, "to die," dào, "to
arrive," ting, "to (come to a) stop," qù, "to
go." The verb sǐ, for example, describes the instantaneous
transition from a living state to a dead state. It makes no sense
to speak of being "in the midst of dying"; a person is
either alive or dead." Likewise, you have either arrived
(dàole) or not; are either stopped (tingle) or still moving; are
either gone (qùle) or still present.
You can make zài negative with either bù or méi. Questions are
usually best formed with shi bu shi zài; some speakers use you
méiyou zài or zài bu zai.
Sentences with zài often end in ne, the emphatic marker of absence
of change (see Unit U, Notes on No. 2).
6. A: Zhèige háizi bú xiàng huà, This child is too much. No
matter bù guǎn zěnme shuō dōu what you say, he Just
doesn’t
bù ting. listen.
B: Duì ma, zhè nǎr xiàng Xīn Yes, he’s certainly no Cnot like
Zhōngguōde értōng! any] child of "New
China."
Notes on No. 6
bú xiàng huà: "to be outrageous, to be ridiculous, to be
absurd" Literally this means "doesn’t resemble
speech." As used today, bú xiàng huà may be applied not only
to things which are said, but also to situations and people.
Zhèiyang zhēn bú xiàng huà, Jiù yào qián bú zuò shi, zěnme xíng!
Bú xiàng huà, bǎ wūzi nòngde zhème luàn, yě bù shōushi shoushi.
This is outrageous! To Just want money but not work. How can that
do!
This is too much! He made the room such a mess and doesn’t even
straighten up.
Zhèige háizi yìtiān dào wan wánr, This child plays all day long
and bú niàn shū, zhēn bú xiàng huà. doesn’t study. He’s really too
much.
bù guan: ”no matter...” The first half of a bù guan sentence
contains either (1) an interrogative word, e.g.,
Bù guǎn
shénme
No matter what
shéi
who
shénme shihou
when
nǎr
where
wèishénme
why
zěnme
how
duōshǎo
how much
duo lèi
how tired
etc
or (2) a clause expressing alternatives, e.g.,
Bù guǎn
tā qù bu qù shi bu shi zhēnde tā shi Zhōngguo rén háishi
Měiguo rén jintiǎn (háishi) míngtiān
No matter whether he goes or not whether it’s true or
not whether he is Chinese or American whether it’s today
or tomorrow etc.
The last half of a bù guan sentence usually (not always) has dōu
or sometimes yě.
Bù guan ní gěi duōshāo qián, wō dōu (yě) bú mài.
Bù guan ní xǔyào shénme, tā nèr yídìng (dōu) yōu.
No matter how much money you offer, I’m not selling it.
No matter what you need, he is sure to have it at his place. (Dōu
is optional and yě is not used here.)
Bù guan xià bu xià yǔ, wō dōu qù. Whether it rains or not, I’m
going.
nǎr: Literally ’’where,” used in rhetorical questions to make a
denial. Compare this with Náli!, which you learned in the
Biographic Information module to deny compliments.
A: Zhèixiē fángzi dōu shi nǐde ma?
B: Nǎr a!
A: Tā dào nǎr qù le?
B: Wō nǎr zhīdao!
A: Wō qù wen ta.
B: Tā nǎr zhidao! (stress on "tā")
Do these houses all belong to you?
Heck no!
Where did he go?
How should I know! (MAY BE IMPOLITE)
I’ll go ask him.
He doesn’t know! (MAY BE IMPOLITE)
Sāndiǎn zhōng nǎr néng dào!
How could we possibly arrive by three o’clock!
értong: "child" This is the word used in formal
contexts. It usually refers to children under approximately ten
years of age.
értong wénxué értong yīyuàn
children’s literature children’s hospital
7. A: Zhèipiān duǎnpiān xiǎoshuō What is this short story
about? xiěde shi shénme?
B: Xiěde shi yíge nongcūn It’s the story of a cadre in a
gànbude gùshi. rural area.
Notes on No. 7
duǎnpiān: "short," of written compositions. Duǎnpiān
xiǎoshuō, "short story"?1In
China, the short story began to develop as a genre as early as the
Tang and Song dynasties. In modern times, Chinese short story
writers were greatly influenced by Western short stories.
nongcūn: This has three main uses: (1) "country, rural
area"; (2) "rural," when used to modify a noun; and
(3) "rural community, farm village" (counter: ge). In
mainland China, this third use is no longer common because of the
reorganization of rural areas into communes, with village-sized
units becoming production brigades (shēngchǎn dàduì).
In the Welfare module, you learned another word for "country,
rural area": xiāngxià. Xiāngxià and nongcūn are comparable in
meaning. Xiāngxià is chiefly a conversational word, however,
rarely used in formal contexts. Xiāngxià may even be used in a
disparaging manner; nongcūn, being more neutral
in connotation, cannot.
Tāmen Jiā zài nongcūn.
Nōngcūnde kōngqì bǐ chéngli hǎoduō le.
Tā māma cong nongcūn lai, dàilai hǎo duō xīnxian Jídàn.
Tā zài yíge nongcūn(de) yíyuàn gōngzuō.
Zhèige xuéxiàode xuésheng dōu dào nongcūn cānjiā lāodòng qu le.
Their home is in the country.
The air in the country is much better than in the city.
His mother came from the country and brought lots of fresh eggs
with her.
She works in a rural hospital.
The students of this school have all gone to the country to
participate in labor.
’The expressions zhèige cūnr, "this village," wǒmen
cūnr, "our village," nǐmen cūnr, "your
village," etc., are nevertheless still used in the PRC.
Zhèige nóngcūn yǒu duōshǎo What is the population of this
farm
rénkǒu? village? (not mainland,
usage)
gànbu: Usually translated into English "by the French word
"cadre," this word has two meanings in
China.7
First, it can refer to full-time functionaries of the (usually
central) Party or government. Second—this is the sense of gànhu in
sentence 7B—it can have the broader meaning of any person who has
a leadership job. There are cadres in the army, factories,
schools, communes, anywhere leadership positions exist. It is
always clear who is a gànbu and who is not; positions and people
are well defined as cadre or not. Gànbu is contrasted with
qúnzhòng, "the masses." For example, certain meetings
may be attended by "cadres" but not by "the
masses," and certain documents are distributed to
"cadres" of a certain level but not to "the
masses."
Most cadres are "not engaged in production" Ctuōchǎn
lei, but some are "half released from production" Ebàn
tuōchǎnJ. Very few are "not released from production"
Ebù tuōchǎnJ. In general, cadres’ salaries are higher than
ordinary workers, and they have more privileges.
Lǎo gànbu is translated as "veteran cadre," that is, a
cadre from before liberation.
In the PRC, the English word "cadre" is usually
pronounced "cah-der," with the first syllable stressed.
8. A: Nǐ jíjímangmangde zuò What are you in such a
hurry to
shénme qu a? go do?
B: Shàng xué qu a! I’m going to school!
Notes on No. 8
jíjímangmǎng: "in a great hurry" This comes from a
repetition of each syllable of the adjectival verb jímang, which
means "hasty, hurried." Jí means "anxious" and
mang, which you have learned as "busy," here means ^īn a
rushed manner."
Many adjectival verbs may be reduplicated to make them more vivid.
For example:
A: Něige shi Chén Bin?
B: Gǎogāode neige.
A: Něige gǎogāode? Nǐ shi shuō hēihēi shòushòude neige?
B: Bú shi. Báibǎi pàngpàngde neige.
Which (of those people) is Chén Bin? The tall one.
Which tall one? You mean the dark, thin one?
No. The pale (light-complexioned), fat one.
Bǎobǎode means "very full":
Wǒ chide bǎobǎode.
I’m very full.
Adjectival verbs of two syllables are reduplicated in an AABB
pattern: repeat the first syllable twice and then the second
syllable twice.
gāoxìng becomes gāogāoxìngxìng
píngcháng becomes píngpíngchángcháng
kèqi becomes kèkeqìqì
Adjectival verbs reduplicated this way can be used to modify
nouns, as in
Tā Jiù shi yíge píngpíngcháng- He is Just an ordinary fellow,
chángde rén.
or to modify verbs, as in
Women kèkeqìqìde tántan. Let's talk it over politely.
Tāmen gāogāoxìngxìngde zǒu le.
They left happily.
These reduplicated adjectival verbs are not made negative or used
in a comparative sentence.
zuò shénme qu: Literally, "you are going in order to do
what?" Qù and lái may be used at the end of a sentence to
show purpose: "go in order to..." or "come in order
to..." Whether you choose lai or qu depends, in many cases,
on the direction of the action; if the direction is towards
"here," use lai, and if it is "away," use qu.
Wen tā qu ba! Go ask him!
Nǐ kuài máng qu ba! Go about your business!
Wǒ kàn ni lai le. I’ve come to see you.
Putting qu or lai before or after the verb phrase gives about the
same meaning. In fact, in Běijīng speech, they may be used both
before and after the verb phrase. The following three patterns are
equivalent:
Nī qù wen tā.
Nī wen tā qu.
You go ask him.
He came (has come) to get the tickets.
Nī qù wen tā qu.
Tā
Tā
Tā
lái ná piào le.
ná piào lai le. lái ná piào lai le.
Here are more examples:
Tā zuò shénme qu le? Shuì Jiào qu le. Hui Jiā qu le. Xī yīfu qu
le. Nòng fàn qu le. Mǎi dōngxi qu le.
What did he go to do?
He went to go to bed.
He went to go home.
He went to do some laundry.
He went to get dinner ready.
He went to do some shopping.
Sometimes there can he ambiguity about whether qu and lai are
being used to express ’’purpose” or "direction.” For example,
the phrase ná piào lai means "bring the tickets here" if
lai is a directional ending, but "come here in order to get
the tickets" if lai indicates purpose.
shàng xué: This phrase means either "to go to school" in
the sense of "it’s eight o’clock, the children have already
gone to school," or "to attend school," as in
"I attended high school in Chicago." Xué is a general
object like shū in niàn shū, "to study." You can replace
it by a more specific object such as xiǎoxué, "elementary
school," or Jíngshān Zhōngxué, "Jíngshān Middle
School."
Tā shàng xué qu le. He has gone to school.
Suīrán tā niānji dà le, kěshi Although he’s old, he still wants to
tā hái xiang shàng xué. go to school.
9. A: Zhěngfǔ shi bu shi bǎohù rénmende cáichǎn?
B: Shi. Zhengfǔ shíxíng
bǎohù rénmen caichande zhèngcè.
Does the government protect people’s property?
Yes. The government is carrying out a policy of protecting
people’s property.
Notes on No. 9
zhèngfǔ: "government" Zhèng originally meant
"political affairs," and fǔ was the word for
"government offices."
Tā zài Měiguo zhèngfǔlí gōngzuò. He works in the U.S. government.
Distinguish zhèngfǔ from guojiā, "the state."* In PRC
terminology, guojiā is the entire organization by means of which
the ruling class exercises its rule, including administrative
bodies, the military, police, courts, and prisons. Zhèngfǔ refers
to the administrative bodies of the state—for example, the State
Council.
bǎohù: "to protect" from harm or loss, or "to
safeguard"
huánjìng bǎohù
fùnu értong bǎohù
Cong xiǎo jiù děi bǎohù yǎnjīng.
Ní kàn rénjiade chē bǎohùde duo hǎo, níde ne?!
Women yǐnggāi bǎohù guojiā cáichǎn.
environmental protection
woman and child protection
One should protect one’s eyes from the time one is a child.
Look at how well maintained his car is! But yours!
We should protect state property.
Here we are not talking about guojiā*s other meaning,
"country, nation."
Even "before liberation, the Chinese Communists attempted to
allay widespread fears that a Communist government would signal an
end to private property "by proclaiming bǎohǔ rénmín cáichǎn
as an official policy.
shíxíng: "to carry out, to put into practice/effect, to
implement" an idea, plan, policy, system, or program.
Zhèige jìhuà néng bu néng shíxíng Whether or not this plan can be
im-hái shi ge wèntí. plemented is still a
question.
Xiàge yuè women yào kāishǐ shi- Next month we are going to put a
new xíng yìzhǒng xínde kǎoshì method for testing into
practice,
bànfǎ.
10. Zài Gòngchǎndǎng lǐngdǎoxià, Zhongguo zài shìjièshangde
dìwei yǒule hěn dàde gaibiàn.
Notes on No. 10
lǐngdǎo: "to lead, to direct, to leader, leading cadre"
Tāde lǐngdǎo nénglì hěn qiáng.°
Tā nàme niánqǐng jiu lǐngdǎo name duō rén?
A: Nǐmende gōngzuò zuòde bú cuò.
B: Nà dōu shi zhèngfǔ lǐngdǎode hǎo.
Under the leadership of the Communist Party, China’s position in
the world has changed greatly.
Zhèijiàn shìqing women děi wèn-wen lǐngdǎo.
Tā lǐngdǎo zhèige gōngzuò, zhèijiàn shi yídìng zuòbuhǎo.
Gòngqǐngtuán lǐngdǎo Shàoxiān-duì.
exercise leadership (over); leadership;
He has great leadership ability.
He is in charge of so many people at such a young age?
You do your job well.
It’s all thanks to the good leadership of the government. (Lit.,
"That is all because the government leads well.")
We’ll have to ask our leading cadres about this.
If he directs this project, it surely won’t be done well.
The Communist Youth League exercises leadership over (provides
guidance for) the Young Pioneers.
so
-xià: "under," used only after certain nouns. The ones
you have learned far in this course are lǐngdǎo, qíngkuàng,
bāngzhù, zhàogu.
Zài zhèizhǒng qíngkuàngxià, zuì In this kind of situation, it is
hǎo shénme dōu bú zuò. best not to do anything.
“nénglì, "ability"; qiáng, "strong"
shi j iè: ’’world.”
Zhèige dìfang duì tā lái shuō To him, this place seemed like a new
hǎoxiàng shi yíge xǐn shìjiè. world.
Tā duì dìsān shìjiè guójiāde He is interested in the
political
zhèngzhi qíngkuàng you xìngqu. situation in third world countries.
To say "in the world,’’ use shìjièshàng. This is often
equivalent to English ’’in the whole world."
Shìjièshàng méiyou yíge rén There is no one like him in the
xiàng tā zhèiyang. whole world.
Ruìshì hiǎo zài shìjièshàng hěn Swiss watches are famous
throughout you ming. the world.
Shìjiè can also he used to modify other nouns:
Zhōngguo shi Shìjiè Yínhángde China is a member country of the
chéngyuánguō.° World Bank.
11. A: Shínián lái, zhèi liǎngge In the past ten years, industry
and chéngshìde gōngshāngyè commerce in these two cities
have
yuè lái yuè fādá le. become more and more developed.
B: Zhè hé zhèngfǔde lǐngdǎo This can’t be separated from the shi
fēnbukāide. government’s leadership.
Notes on No. 11
shínián lái: "for the past ten years" or "over the
past ten years"
Shínián lái, wǒ xuéle hěn duō Over the past ten years, I’ve
learned Yíngwén. a lot of English.
Jǐnián lái wǒ dōu méiyou shōudao I haven’t gotten any letters from
her tāde xìn le. for the past few years.
Lái is usually used with a relatively long period of time,
especially months or years. There are no definite rules for how
long is "long," but you would not, for example, use lái
to say "for the last half hour" (which would be zhèi
bànge zhōngtōu).
The expression of time may be preceded by zhèi, "these,"
for example, zhèi jǐnián lái, "for the past few years."
chéngshì: "city" or "(comparatively large)
town" Originally chéng meant a city wall and shi a
"market." (Shi is now also an administrative unit, as in
Běijīng shi, "Běijīng municipality.’’) "chéngyuánguō,
"member country"
You have already learned the word chéng for "city,
town." Cheng, which originally meant "city walls,"
is now mostly used in set phrases such as jin cheng, "to go
into the city, to go into town, to go downtown" (to the part
within the original city walls); or chénglǐ, "in the
city," and chéngwài "outside the city" (again using
the walls to differentiate the two). Chéng is also used to
translate "town" in foreign place names, e.g.,
Qiáozhìchéng, "Georgetown." The Chinese also use xiǎo
chéng to translate "town" when referring to foreign
situations, as in
Tā zhù zai lí Niǔ Yuē hù yuǎnde He lives in a little town near New
yíge xiǎo chéngli. York.
But xiǎo chéng is not used to speak of a town in China; instead
people say "county" (xiàn) or "commune"
(gōngshè) or Just "place" (dìfang).
To translate "city," chéngshì is the word you will use
most often.
Lúndūn shi shiJiè you míngde London is a world-famous
metropolis,
dà chéngshì.
Shànghǎi shi shìjièshang zuì Shànghǎi is the largest city in
the
dàde chéngshì. world.
fēnhukāi: "cannot he separated" A more English-sounding
translation for sentence 11B would he, "This is directly
related to the government's leadership."
The verh fēn means "to separate, to divide," as in
Women fēn yige píngguǒ, hǎo hu Let's split (share) an apple, okay?
hǎo?
Bǎ nèige píngguǒ fēn liǎngkuài. Divide the apple in two.
Píngguǒ fēn hǎo duo zhong. There are lots of different
kinds
of apples. (Lit., "Apples are divided into many kinds.”)
The verh ending -kāi, which you have seen meaning "open"
as in dǎkai, here is something like English "apart."
Bǎ hāizimen fēnkāi. Keep the children apart.
Bǎ hóngde gēn lānde fēnkāi. Keep the red ones separate from
the
hlue ones.
Zhèi liǎngzhāng zhǐ shi fēnde- These two sheets of paper can he
kāide. taken apart.
Notes on Additional Required. Vocabulary
yuányǐn: "reason, cause"
Nà shi shénme yuányǐn?
A: Shi shénme yuányǐn ta jīntiān méi lái?
B: Shéi zhīdao, wèn tā zìjǐ qu ha!
Wo niàn Zhōngwénde yuányǐn shi yīnwei wǒ yào dào Zhongguo qu
gōngzuò.
Wo ding’ zhème duō Zhōngguo hàozhǐ shi yǒu yuányīnde.
Why
is that?
Why
is it he didn’t come today?
Who
knows? Go ask him!
The reason I’m studying Chinese is that I am going to go work in
China.
There’s a reason for my subscribing to so many Chinese newspapers.
Nǐ zuò zhèige jìhua yǒu méiyou shénme tèbiéde yuányǐn?
Is there some special reason why you are making this plan?
Méiyou shénme tèbiéde yuányǐn yào zhèiyangr zuò.
There’s no particular reason for doing it this way.
jiārù: This is the formal word for "to join." (You will
recognize jiā, "add," from canjiā and rù,
"enter," from rù Tuan.)
Ding is the same word you learned in the Meeting module for
"to reserve."
On the balcony of Lǐ Ping’s apartment, Tom (A) and Lǐ Ping’s
sister Lǐ Wen (ē) have a
conversation.
A: Lǐ Wen, nǐ yíge rén zài zhèr Are you playing chess
all by your-
xia qi?
E: Suíbiàn wānrwanr, jǐntiǎn Bàba
bú zài jiā, píngchāng zǒng shi wǒ he Bàba xià qí. Zenme, nǐ yě
xiǎng wánr ma?
A: Bù, wǒ bú tài huì xià; rúguǒ
nǐ you kǒng, wǒ xiǎng he ni liāoliao.
E: Wǒ yě zhěng xiǎng he ni liao
liao ne, qǐng zuò.’ Rúguǒ nǐ bú Jièyìde huà, wǒ xiǎng wen nǐ
liǎngge wèntí.
A: Bú yào kèqi, qǐng wen ba.’
E: Měiniǎn shǔjiàde shihou, nǐ
dōu líkāi jiā, yíge rén qù lùxíng ma?
A: Chàbuduō shi zhèiyangr.
E: Nàme, nǐde fùmǔ hěn you qian
ba?
A: Tāmen dōu zài dàxué jiāo shū,
bú shi hěn you qiánde rén, érqiě wǒ luxíngde qian dōu shi wǒ zìjǐ
zhuànde. Píngchāng shàng xuéde shihou, wǒ hai zuò diǎnr shir,
xiàng dǎ zì, fānyi diǎnr xiǎo wénzhāng shenmede. Zhuànle qian,
shǔjiàde shihou chūqu zǒuzou, kànkan shìjiè.
E: Zhēn bú cuò. Nǐ néng fānyi,
nàme nǐde Zhōngwén hěn hǎo le? Néng shuō yě néng kàn?
A: Néng kàn yidiǎnr. Wo duì
Zhōngguo wénhuà, Zhōngguo shè-huì hěn you xìngqu, hěn xiǎng yanjiū
yanjiū. Suǒyǐ, rúguǒ nǐ
self out here, Li Wen?
Just fooling around. My father isn’t home today. Usually he and I
play against each other. What’s up? Do you want to play too?
No, I’m not too good at chess. But if you’ve got the time I’d like
to chat with you a bit.
It just so happens I felt like talking with you myself. Have a
seat. If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you a couple of
questions.
Certainly, go right ahead.
Do you leave home and go traveling by yourself every summer?
Just about.
Then your parents must be very rich, I guess?
They both teach college, Csol they’re not very rich; besides, I
earn my own travel money. During the school year I usually do some
outside work like typing, translating little articles, and so on.
Then when I’ve earned the money I go away to see the world during
summer vacation.
That’s great. If you’re able to translate, your Chinese must be
very good. You can speak and also read?
I can read a little. I’m very interested in Chinese culture and
society, and I’d like very much to study them. So, if you don’t
mind,
°Lǐ Wén may be working out chess strategies or playing Chinese
chess (which can be done alone).
E:
A:
E:
A:
A:
E:
A:
E:
bú jièyìde huà, wo yě hěn xiǎng wèn nǐ jǐge wèntí.
Qīng!
Tīng Lǐ Ping shuō, nǐ zhīdao xiě dàlùde qíngkuàng.
Wo you hěn duō tóngxué he péngyou, tāmen dōu shi cong dàlù laide.
Tāmen zài nàr shēnghuole èrsānshínián, dāng-rán hěn qīngchù. Wo he
tamen chángcháng zài yìqǐ, yě jiù zhīdaole yidiǎnr.
Tīngshuǒ, Zhōngguo zhèngfǔ shíxíng nánnù píngděngde zhèngcè, suōyi
Zhōngguo fùnǔde dìwèi tígāole hěn duō, Jiātíngde qíngkuàng yě he
Jiěfàng yǐqián bù yíyàng le.
Nī shuōde duì. Zài Gòngchǎndǎng lǐngdǎoxià, bù guǎn shi nongcūn
háishi chéngshì, nu-háizi hé nánháizi yíyàng, dōu kéyi shàng xué,
zhǎngdàle yě yíyàng ké^ri you gōngzuò. Jiātíng, fùnu hé értong,
dōu kéyi dédao shèhuìde bǎohù.
Zhè bú shi hěn hǎo ma?
Mm, yīnggāi shi hěn hǎo, kěshi cōng Liù Liù nián dào Qī Liù niàn,
zài zhèi shíniánlī, shèhuì-shang yǐnwèi zhèngzhide yuányǐn youle
hěn duō wèntí. Wo kéyi gěi ni jiǎng yige gùshi.
Nǐ kuài shuōshuo ba!
Nī tīngzhe, ā. You yíwèi lǎo gànbu, zài Shànghǎi gōngzuò. Tā zhǐ
you yíge nuér. Kěshi zài Liù Qī niánde shihour, līngdǎo shuō tā
you zhèngzhi wèntí.
I’d like to ask you a few questions.
Be my guest!
I hear from Lǐ Ping that you know a bit about the situation on the
mainland.
I have a lot of classmates and friends who come from the mainland.
They lived there for twenty or thirty years, so naturally they
know quite well what goes on there. I spend a lot of time with
them, so I’ve gotten to know something about it too.
I understand that the Chinese government carries out a policy of
equality of men and women, so the position of women has improved a
great deal, and families are in quite a different way than before
liberation.
That’s right. Under the leadership of the Communist Party, no
matter whether in the countryside or the cities, girls can go to
school Just as boys can, and when they grow up they can also get
jobs Just the same. Families, women and children all receive
society’s protection.
That’s great, isn’t it?
Yeah, it ought to be great, but in the ten years from *66 to *?6,
a lot of social problems came about because of political reasons.
I can tell you a story.
Oh, please do!
Listen t" this. There was this old cadre who worked in
Shànghǎi. She only had one daugher. But in ’67 the the leadership
said she had political problems.
A: Zāogāo.’ Na tā nǔér yě yǒu
māfan le.
E: Yidiǎnr dōu t>ú cuǒ. Zhèige
nǔhāizi bù néng rù Tuan, bù néng cānjiǎ Hongwèibīng. Péngyou,
tongxué dōu líkāile ta. Yǒude shihour, zài dàjiēshang, hěn
shóuxǐde rén yě hǎoxiàng bú rènshi ta yíyàng.
A: Nà, tā zěnme bàn ne?
E: Nèige shíhou, tā juéde shēng-
huó zhěn shi yidiǎnr xīwàng yě méiyou. Tā kāishí hèn tāde mǔqin.
Tā yào líkāi ta, tā yào líkāi tāde jiā.
A: Hǒulái ne?
E: Hǒulāi, tāmen zhēnde fēnkāi le.
Nuér dàole nóngcǔn.
A: Zhèiyang, tāde qíngkuāng huì
hǎo yidiǎnr ba?
E: Yidiǎnr yě méiyou. Zài nongcǔn
suīrān tā gōngzuòde hěn hǎo, tā hāishi méiyou shénme zhèngzhi
shēnghuo, lǐngdǎo hé rénmen yě méiyou yīnwei tā líkāile mǔqin jiu
gāibiàn duì tāde kànfǎ.
A: Nà, tā dàgài bú huì you shénme
péngyou, yě bù róngyi àishang shénme rén.
E: Shi. Tài nan le. Tā àishangle
yíge nānhāizi, nèige nānhāizi yě ài tā, érqiě yīnwei tā, bù né^g
yǒu ge bǐjiǎo hǎode gōngzuǒ.
A: Zhè shízài tài bú xiàng huà le.
E: Jiǔniān yǐhòu, lǐngdǎo nǒng-
qǐngchǔ le, tā mǔqin méiyou wèntí. Zhèige nuhāizi jíjímāng-māng
pǎohuí Shànghǎi, kěshi tā zài yě jiànbudào tāde mǔqin le. Tā mǔqin
yǐjīng sǐ zài yīyuànli le.
Uh-oh.’ Then her daughter was in for some trouble too.
Absolutely right. This girl couldn’t join the (Communist Youth),
League or the Red Guards. Her friends and classmates all left her.
Sometimes when she was walking down the street, people she knew
well would act as if they didn’t know her.
Well then, what did she do?
At that time she felt that her life was completely hopeless. She
began to hate her mother. She wanted to leave her. She wanted to
leave her home.
And after that?
Afterwards, they really did split up. The daughter went to the
countryside.
That way her situation got a little better, I guess?
Not a bit. Although she worked very well in the countryside, she
still didn’t have any political life. The leadership and the
people didn’t change their opinion of her just because she left
her mother, either.
Well then, she probably didn’t have any friends, and it probably
wasn’t easy to fall in love with anyone.
Yes. It was really hard. She fell in love with a boy, and he loved
her. But because of her, he couldn’t get a better job.
That’s really absurd.
Nine years later, the leadership got it straightened out that her
mother was (politically) okay. The girl rushed back to Shanghai in
a flurry, but she was never to see her mother again. She had
already died in a hospital.
A:
E:
A:
E:
E:
A:
E:
A:
Yíge jiātíng jiù zhèiyang wan le! Ní zěnme huì zhīdao zhèige
gùshi?
Yàoshi nī zhùyi yíxiàr Qī Qī nian, Qī Bā niande Zhōngguo bào-zhī,
jiu kéyi kàndao hěn duō zhèiyangde gùshi. Wo zài gěi ni jièshao
yìhěn shū.
Shénme shū?
Zhōngguo Yī Jiǔ Qī Qī nian dào Yī Jiu Ofc Bā nian Duǎnpiān
Xiǎoshuō.
Nī zhīdao, ruguo yōu rén xiǎng dōngde Zhōngguo shèhuì, Jiù yídìng
yào yánjiū cōng Liù Liù nian dào Qī Liù niànde qíngkuàng. Yánjiūle
yīhòu cai néng míngbai jīntiānde Zhōngguo zhèngfǔ hé Zhōngguo rén
wèishenme yào gǎi-biàn zhè shínián lái zhèngzhi-shang,
Jīngjishangde qíngkuàng, ràng Zhōngguo rén zhěnde dédao jiěfàng.
Nī néng bāng wo zhǎodào nèiběn shū ma?
Wō yōu zhèiběn shū, kéyi song’ gei ni. Kàn shū hái bu gòu, yōu
jīhui qù dàlù kànkan.
Wō yōu jīhui yídìng qù.
Just like that, a family was destroyed! How do you happen to know
this story?
If you watched the newspapers in '77 and ’78 you could see lots of
stories like that. Let me recommend a book to you, too.
What book?
Chinese Short Stories of 1977-1978.
You know, if someone wants to understand Chinese society they have
to study the situation from ’66 to ’76. Only after you’ve studied
it can you understand why today the Chinese government and people
are trying to change the political and economic conditions of the
past ten years and let the Chinese people really be liberated.
Can you help me find that book?
I have it, and I can give it to you. But reading isn’t enough. If
you get the chance, go visit the mainland.
If I get the chance, I certainly will.
*Sòng here means ”to give” something as a gift.
Exercise 1
This exercise is a review of the Reference List sentences in this
unit. The speaker will say a sentence in English, followed by a
pause for you to translate it into Chinese. Then a second speaker
will confirm your answer.
All sentences from the Reference List will occur only once. You
may want to rewind the tape and practice this exercise several
times.
Exercise 2
This exercise is a conversation in which an evening university
teacher visits the home of her student, Gāo Xiǎohuà, who also
works in a Shànghǎi factory, to talk with her mother.
The conversation occurs only once. After listening to it
completely, you’ll probably want to rewind the tape and answer the
questions below as you listen a second time.
Here are the new words and phrases you will need to understand
this conversation:
yèdà evening university
pǎolai pǎoqù to run around
xuéhuì to learn, to master
gōngchǎng factory
Questions for Exercise 2
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you can
talk about them in class.
1. What kind of student is Xiǎohuà?
2. What was Teacher Liu’s main concern in visiting Comrade
Fang Bǎolán?
3. What were schools like during the Cultural Revolution?
U. Did Teacher Liu come as a representative of the university,
factory, or both? How do you know?
After you have answered these questions yourself, you may want to
take a look at the translation for this conversation. You may also
want to listen to the dialogue again to help you practice saying
your answers.
Note: The translations used in these dialogues are meant to
indicate the English functional equivalents for the Chinese
sentences rather than the literal meaning of the Chinese.
Exercise 3
In this exercise a husband and wife in the city of Harbin in
northeast China talk at home.
Listen to the conversation once straight through. Then, on the
second time through, look below and answer the questions.
Here are the new words and phrases you will need to understand
this conversation:
Xiǎo Èr (the couple’s son,
"Little No. Two,”
so called because he is their second child)
zhǐ yào as long as, provided that
gāogàn senior cadres
běnrén herself, himself, oneself,
myself, etc.
Questions for Exercise 3
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you can
talk about them in class.
1. Where did Xiǎo Er go after work?
2. What kind of trouble does Xiǎo Èr’s father anticipate?
3. What does Xiǎo Èr’s mother think of his girlfriend?
4. To whom does she refer when discussing political trouble?
Why?
After you have answered these questions yourself, you may want to
take a look at the translation for this conversation. You may also
want to listen to the conversation to help you practice saying the
answers which you have prepared.
Exercise 4
In this exercise a student talks with another student from
mainland China in their dorm in Hong Kong.
Listen to the conversation straight through once. Then rewind the
tape and listen again. On the second time through, answer the
questions.
You will need the following new word:
wénxuéJiā
writer, literary man
Questions for Exercise U
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you can
talk about them in class.
1. Why do the roommates decide to stay home? What do they
decide to do instead?
2. Where did Chén Bin learn to play chess? Why do you suppose
he was living there?
3. What was the countryside like during the Cultural
Revolution?
4. What did Chén Bin do besides play chess?
5. After Chén Bin’s experience, what does he think of the
situation in mainland China?
After you have answered these questions, you may want to take a
look at the translation for this conversation. You may also want
to listen to the conversation again to help you pronounce your
answers correctly.
Dialogue and Translation for Exercise 2
A young woman named Gāo Xiǎohuá works at a factory in Shànghǎi and
attends the factory’s evening university. One afternoon her
teacher (A) at the university pays a visit to Gāo Xiǎohuá*s
mother, Fāng Bǎolán (B).
A: Nǐ shi Fāng Bǎolán Tongzhì
ma?
B: Shi. Nín guìxìng?
A: Wǒ xing Liu, shi Gāo Xiǎohuá
Tongzhì zài yèdàde lǎoshī.
B: Ou, shi Xiǎohuáde lǎoshī.
Kuài qǐng jìnlai zuò.
Are you Comrade Fāng Bǎolán?
Yes. May I ask your name?
My name is Liú. I’m Comrade Gāo Xiǎohuá*s teacher at the evening
university.
Oh, Xiǎohuá*s teacher! Please come in and sit down.
(Gāo sits down and Fāng brings some tea.)
B: Liu Lǎoshī, Xiǎohuá zài yèdà
zěnmeyàng a?
A: Xiǎohuá hěn yònggōng, xuéxide
hěn hǎo. Kěshi wǒ zǒng juéde Xiǎohuá shēntǐ bú gòu hǎo. Měitiān
dōu hǎoxiàng hěn lèi, shi bu shi shuìde bú gòu?
B: Yidiǎnr dōu bú cuò, shi
xiūxide bú gòu. Zhèi háizi měitiān huílai niàn shū dōu děi niàn
dao liǎng-sāndiǎn zhōng.
A: Xiànzàide niánqīng rén zhèi
yang niàn shū shi you yuányīnde.
B: Shéi shuō bú shi ne? Shínián
lái xuéxiàode qíngxing tài bú xiàng huà le. Nèi shihou háizi-men
niànbuliǎo shū, cānjiāle Hōngwèibīng, yìtiān dào wǎn zài wàibiānr
pǎolai pǎoqù, shénme yě méi xuéhuì. Xiànzài cānjiāle gōngzuò, zài
bú niàn shū, zěnme néng bǎ gōngzuò zuòhǎo ne?
A: Kěshi, shíniánde shū bú shi
shítiān bànyuè* kéyi niànwánde.
How is Xiǎohuá doing in the evening university, Teacher Liú?
Xiǎohuá is very hardworking and does very well in her studies, but
it does seem to me that her health is not good enough. She seems
tired every day. Is it because she doesn’t get enough sleep?
Absolutely right. She doesn’t get enough rest. Every day the child
comes home and studies until two or three o’clock.
There’s a (good) reason for the way young people study now.
That’s for sure! For the past ten years conditions in the schools
have been unspeakable. During that time, students couldn’t study.
They joined the Red Guards and were out running around from
morning till night. They didn’t learn a thing. Now that they are
participating in work, if they go on without studying, how can
they do their work well?
But you can’t complete ten years of study in ten days or half a
month.
’This is an idiom for "a short time.”
Women zuò lǎoshǐde, zuò fùmǔde hái děi bǎohù tāmende jiànkāng. Bù
neng ràng tāmen tài lèi le. Nǐmen Xiǎohuá měitiān yídìng yào zǎo
diǎnr xiūxi.
B: Zhēn xièxie nín. Nín huíqu
yǐhòu yě tì wǒmen xièxie gōngchǎng he yèdàde lǐngdǎo.
A: Bú kèqi. Zhèixiē dōu shi wǒmen
yínggāi zuòde.
B: Wǒ yě huì zhàogu Xiǎohuá, ràng
tā hǎohāor gōngzuò, hǎohǎor xuéxi.
A: Hǎo, wǒ zǒu le. Zàijiàn!
B: Zàijiàn! You kòngr lái zuò a!
Those of use who are teachers and parents still must protect their
health. We can't let them get too tired. Your Xiǎohuá must go to
bed earlier.
Thank you very much. When you get back, thank the leadership at
the factory and the evening university.
Not at all. All this is what we should be doing.
And I’ll take care of Xiǎohuá, and see that she works well and
studies well.
All right. I’ll be on my way. Good-bye.
Good-bye. When you have time, come over and sit a while.
Dialogue and Translation for Exercise 3
In at
the city of Harbin in northeast China, a mother (B) and father (A)
talk home.
V w V v
A: Ei, Xiao Er xiale ban, Jiji-
mángmángde you dào nǎr qù le?
B: Tā shuō, qù gēn tāde yíge tǒng-
xué xué Yǐngwén dǎ zì.
A: Xué Yǐngwén dǎ zì? Shi nán-
tóngxué háishi nùtongxué?
B: Jiù shi shàngcì láiguode nèige
nutongxué.
A: wXiǎo Er yàoshi àishang nèige
nǔháizi jiù máfan le.
B: You shénme máfan? Nà háizi
shi dàxuéshēng, you you lǐmào, láile hái bāng wǒ zuò fàn
shenme-de. You shénme bù hǎo?
A: Nǐ zhǐdao shénme? Tā fùqin
you zhèngzhi wèntí.
Say, where did Xiǎo Èr go off to in such a rush after work?
He said he was going to learn English typing from a classmate.
To learn English typing? Was it a male classmate or a female
classmate?
It’s the female classmate who was over last time.
If Xiǎo Er falls in love with that girl it’s going to be trouble.
What trouble? That girl is a college student, and well mannered.
And when she came over she even helped me cook and so on. What's
wrong with that?
What do you know? Her father has political problems.
B: Bu duì ha?.’ Wǒ tīng Xiǎo Èr
shuō, jīnniān xiàtiān tā rù Tuan le. Yàoshi tā fùqin yǒu zhèngzhi
wèntíde huà, tā néng rù Tuan ma?
A: Néng, xiànzài you zhèngcè, zhǐ
yào hāizi hǎo, jiù kéyi rù Tuan, bù guǎn tā fùmǔde wèntí you duo
dà.
B: Zhè jiù duì le ma, wǒ shuō
nèi hāizi shi hǎo hāizi!
A: Bù xíng, hāishi děi ràng tāmen
fēnkāi, yǐhòu māfan tài duō!
B: Shéi méiyou māfan? Gāogànde
hāizi jiù méiyou māfan le? Lin Biāo cóngqiān yě shi dà gànhur, nǐ
néng ràng nǐ érzi gěn tā nuér jiēhūn ma?
A: Hǎo hǎo hǎo, hié shuō le.
Hāizide shi zhēn hù hǎo hàn!
B: You shénme hù hǎo hànde?! Zhǐ
yào nèi hāizi hěnrén hǎo, tāmen you hùxiāng xǐhuan, jiù xíng le.
A: Hǎo hǎo hǎo! Tīng nīde.
You must he wrong! I’ve heard from Xiǎo Èr that she joined the
(Communist Youth) League this summer. If her father had political
problems, could she join the League?
Yes. Now there’s a policy that as long as the child is good, he or
she can enter the League, no matter how great his or her parents’
problems are.
There you have it, then! I said she was a good child.
No, it won’t do. We should still make them break up. There will be
too much trouble later on.
Who doesn’t have trouble? Do you think the children of senior
cadres don’t have any trouble? Lin Biāo was a big cadre too, but
would you let your son marry his daughter?
Okay, okay. Don’t say any more! Children’s matters are really hard
to handle.
What’s hard to handle? As long as the girl herself is good, and
they like each other, it will be fine.
Okay. We’ll do as you say.
Dialogue and Translation for Exercise H
In Hong Kong, a student (A) talks with in their dorm.
A: Chén Bīn, jīntiān wǎnshang bù
chūqu ma?
B: Wàimian zài xià yǔ, bù xiǎng
chūqu le, nǐ ne?
A: Wǒ yě bù chūqu, women xià qí
hǎo bu hǎo?
B: Hǎo a!
another student from mainland China (B)
Chén Bīn, aren’t you going out tonight?
It’s raining outside. I don’t want to go out. How about you?
I don’t want to go out either.
How about playing chess?
Okay!
A: Duì le, nǐ xià qí xiàde zhème
hǎo, shi zài nǎr xuéde?
B: Nnnn . . .
A: Duìbuqī, rúguo nǐ bú jièyìde
huà, jiù jiǎng gěi wo tíngting.
B: Méiyou shenme. Nǐ zhǐdao,
wǒ zài nongcūn zhùguo shinian.
A: Wǒ zhǐdao.
B: Wǒ zhùde nèige dìfang zài shān-
li, méiyou gōnggòng qìchē, gèng méiyou huǒchē. Erqiě, nèige shihou
wǒ jiālide rén yě dōu cōng chéngshì bān dao xiāngxià qu le.
A: Nà, nī yìnián sānbǎi liùshiwǔ-
tiān bù líkāi nèige dìfang le?
B: Jiù shi.
A: Nǐ měitiān zuò shénme ne?
B: Nèige dìfang you ge xiǎo tú
shūguǎn .
A: Lībianr you shénme shū?
B: Ou, chúle zhèngzhi shū yīwài,
jiù shi értong gùshi, méi shénme yìsi.
A: Nà nǐ zěnme bàn?
B: Túshūguǎnli yě you rén xià qí,
wǒ gēn tāmen xué, mànmànde, wǒ xià qí xiàde bú cuò le.
A: Chúle xià qí nī hái zuò shénme?
B: Ou, xiěguo yidiǎn duǎnpiān
xiǎoshuō.
A: Òu! Nǐ shi ge wénxuéjiā! You
jǐhui gěi wo kànkan, xíng bu xíng?
Say, you play chess so w*»ll. Where did you learn it?
Mnnn . . .
Excuse me, if you don’t mind, tell me about it.
That’s all right. You know I lived in the country for ten years.
I know.
The place I lived was in the mountains. There were no buses, much
less trains. Also, at that time my whole family had moved from the
city to the country.
Then you didn’t leave the place 365 days a year?
That’s right.
So what did you do every day?
There was a small library there.
What kind of books did it have?
Oh, apart from political books, there were only children’s
stories, which weren’t very interesting.
Well then, what did you do?
There were people who played chess in the library. I learned from
them. By and by I began to play chess pretty well.
What did you do besides playing chess?
Oh, I wrote a few short stories.
Oh, you’re a writer! When you have a chance, let me read some,
okay?
B: Xiěde bù hǎo.
A: Hai, hu yào kèqi ma! Duì le,
you yíge wèntí, wǒ hěn zǎo jiù xiǎng wen ni.
B: Shénme wèntí?
A: Xiànzài nǐ dàole Xianggang,
kàndàole hù tōngde shìjiè, nǐ xiǎng shénme? Nǐ hú hèn nèi
shíniánde shenghuo ma?
B: Měi yícì xiǎngdào nèi shí
niánde shēnghuo, wǒ dōu hěn nánshòu, kěshi nèi hú shi wǒ yíge
rénde shi, shi shèhuìde wèntí. Wǒ xiǎng xiànzài zhèngfǔde zhèngcè
yǒule gǎihiàn. Wǒ xí-wàng zài zhèige zhèngfǔ lǐngdǎo-xiàde
Zhōngguo rén hú yào zài you nèi shíniánde qíngkuàng.
A: Wǒ yě xǐwàng. Hǎo, women
xià qí ha.
They’re not very good.
Oh, don’t he polite! Oh yes, there’s a question I’ve heen wanting
to ask you for a long time.
What?
Now that you’ve come to Hong Kong and seen a different world, what
do you think? Aren’t you hitter about life during those ten years?
I’m always sad whenever I think of those ten years of life. But I
am not alone in this, it’s a problem of society. I think that the
government’s policy has changed. I hope that under the leadership
of this government, what went on during those ten years will never
happen to the Chinese people again.
Me too. Okay, let’s play chess.
UNIT T
Social Problems
INTRODUCTION
Grammar Topics Covered, in This Unit
1. (Adjectival Verb)-duō le, "much more...."
2. (Verb) (Verb) kàn, "try and (Verb)."
3. How to express "not anymore," "never
again."
U. The pattern cong X (Verb)-qǐ, "to start (Verb)-ing from
X."
5. How to express billions.
6. The pattern lián...dōu..., "even."
7. The pattern zhǐ yào...Jiù..., "provided that...."
8. Lái indicating that someone will perform a specified
action.
9. The pattern bú shi...Jiù shi...,
"either.•.or...."
10. Shǐ, "to cause/make/enable."
Functional Language Contained in This Unit
1. Stating hypotheses about the causes of phenomena.
2. Stating hypotheses about the interrelationships of
phenomena.
3. Expressing value Judgments about abstract phenomena.
U. Expressing different degrees of agreement and disagreement.
1. A: Nǐ juéde zuìjin shèhuìshang āndìng yidiǎnr ma?
B: Dāngrán, yǒule xǐn fǎlù, fàn zuìde rén shǎoduō le.
2. A: Wǒ xiǎng kànkan jǐntiǎn you shénme guǎnggào.
B: Zhèr you yífèn Huáshèngdùn Youbào, náqu zhǎozhǎo kàn ha!
Do you think society has heen calmer lately?
Of course. Since there have heen new laws, there are far fewer
people committing crimes.
I’d like see what ads there are today.
Here’s a copy of the Washington Post. Take it and try to find
some.
3. A: Zuìjin jǐnián jiàoyu gōngzuò you hěn dàde jìnbù.
B: Shi a, xuéxiàoli zài yě méiyou shénme luànqǐbāzāo-de qíngkuàng
le.
U. A: Nǐ shuō, zōngjiàode zéren shi shénme?
B: Zhèi hú shi yíge j iǎndānde wèntí, wǒmen děi cong lìshǐ tánqǐ.
5. A: Zài dàlùde shíyì rénkǒu-zhōng you duǒshǎo shi shòuguo
jiàoyude?
B: Wǒ xiǎng xiànzài lián lí chéngshì hěn yuǎnde nǒngcūn dōu you
xuéxiào, shòuguo jiàoyude rén dàgài hù shǎo.
There’s heen a lot of progress in work in education these past few
years.
Yes, schools aren’t so messed up anymore.
What do you think the responsibility of religion is?
That’s not a simple question. We have to begin by talking about
history.
How many of the one billion people on the mainland have received
an education?
I think that now even villages far from the city have schools, so
there are probably a lot of people who are educated.
6. A: Ming Bào bú cuò, shìjièxìng- The Ming Pao is not bad. It has
de xǐnwén tā dōu yǒu. all the world news.
B: Duì le. Ming Bào bú cuò, Yes, the Ming Pao is quite good. You
bù néng bu kàn. have to read it.
7. A: Zhǐ yào nǐ lái hang máng women jiù yǒu hànfa.
B: Zhè yǒu shénme? Yinggāide ma.
8. A: Nǐ kàn, zhèipiān wénzhāngli hú shi xǐ dú, jiù shi shā
rén.
B: Kàn zhèizhǒng xǐnwén, zhǐ néng shǐ rén nánshòu. Suàn le, hú yào
kàn le.
As long as you help out, we’ll he ahle to do it.
This is nothing. It’s only right.
Look, there’s nothing in this article hut taking drugs and
killing.
Reading this kind of news will only make you feel had. Forget it,
don’t read it.
9. Běnlái tāde Zhōngwén hú cuò, líkāi Zhōngguo jiǔle, wàngle
hěn duō.
Originally, his Chinese was pretty good, hut he’s heen away from
China for a long time and he’s forgotten a lot.
ADDITIONAL REQUIRED VOCABULARY
10. luàn
11. yǒu xiào
to he confused, to he chaotic to he effective; to he valid
VOCABULARY
āndìng
to "be stable/settled/quiet
běnlái
originally, in the beginning, at first; to begin with,
in the first place
"bù néng bu
to have to, must
cóng...(Verb)-qǐ
to start (Verb)-ing from...
fǎlū fan fàn zuì
law
to violate, to offend to commit a crime
guǎnggào
advert i s ement
Huáshèngdùn Youbào
the Washington Post
j iǎndān jiàoyu jìnbù
to be simple
to educate; education to progress; progress
(V V) kàn
try and (V), (V) and see how it is
lái
(used before a verb to express that something will be
done)
lián...dōu/yě... luàn
even...
to be in disorder, to be chaotic, to be in a mess;
indiscriminately, recklessly, arbitrarily, any old way
luànqībāzāo
in a mess, in confusion, in disorder; miscellaneous,
jumbled, all thrown in together
Ming Bào
Ming Pao (a Hong Kong newspaper)
shā
to kill (in general); to kill (specifically with a knife
or knifelike instrument); to try to kill
shǐ
to cause, to enable (followed by a verb)
shìjièxìng shòu jiàoyu
worldwide to receive an education
xī dú
-xing
to take drugs
nature, -ness, -ibility
you bànfa, (duì...) you xiào
to be able to deal with (something) to be effective; to
be valid
zài yě bù/méi zéren zhǐ yào -zhōng zōngjiào zuǐ
never again responsibility if only in; among (organized) religion
crime; guilt
1. A: Nǐ Juéde zuìjǐn shèhuìshang ending yidiǎnr ma?
_ „ w „ w à
B: Dangran, youle xin falu, fàn zuìde rén shǎoduō le.
Do you think society has "been a little calmer lately?
Of course. Since there have "been new laws, there are far
fewer people committing crimes.
Notes on No. 1
ending: "to he
political and social
stable/settled/quiet," used to describe lives, countries
situations. Ān is "peaceful" and ding is
"settled."
Xiànzài yéye nǎinai shēnghuo anding, shénme dōu hǎo.
Wo xiǎng zhè hé zhèngzhi bù ending yǒu guānxi.
Zhèige guójiāde zhèngfǔ zhèi Jǐnián hěn bù āndìng.
Āndìngxiàlai means "to situation, a place, or
Now grandpa and grandma have a settled life; everything is fine.
I think this has to do with political instability.
These past few years this country’s government has been very
unstable.
a
settle down, to calm down," used in speaking of a person’s
feelings.
Xiànzài hāizi dōu you gōngzuò le, shēnghuo cái āndìngxiàlai le.
Now that the children all have Jobs, our life has finally settled
down.
Shèhuìshang fàn zuìde wèntí tài duō, dàjiāde shēnghuo jiu méi
bànfa āndìngxiàlai.
When there’s too much of a crime problem in society, people’s life
can’t settle down.
fǎlu: "law"
Zhèi yǐjíng biànchengle fǎlǔ.
Zhèige wèntí you fǎlu zài, fēi-cháng qingchǔ.
Yǒu fǎlu guǎn zhèjiàn shi ma?
Wǒmende fǎlǔ bǎohù értóng.
Tā xiànzài niàn fǎlu.
This has already become the law.
Laws exist (lit., "there are laws there") on this
question. It’s very clear-cut.
Is there a law dealing with this?
Our law protects children.
He is studying law now.
xin fǎlǔ: In March, 1978, after the first session of the Fifth
National People’s Congress, the Chinese government began to adopt
many new laws. Beginning July 1, 1979, the Fifth National People’s
Congress passed into effect twelve new legal codes, including a
criminal code.
fàn: "to violate, to offend, to transgress, to commit
(wrongs, crimes, errors)" Here are some other words commonly
used with the verh fàn:
fàn zuì to commit crimes fàn fǎ to break the law
fàn guī to violate regulations
Zhèige háizi méi xīwàng le, There is no more hope for this
child,
fànle you fàn, zong shi bù He violates the rules time and
again,
gǎi. and never reforms.
zuì: "crime, guilt," used in phrases like fàn zuì,
"to commit a crime," and you zuì, "to be guilty (of
a crime)."
Wǒ fànle shénme zuì, wèishénme yào chi zhème duō kǔ?
What crime have I committed? Why do I have to suffer so much?
Tā shi bu shi zhēnde you zuì, lìshǐ huì huida wǒmende.
History will give us an answer as to whether he is really guilty
or not.
...shǎoduō le: "a lot less, far fewer" The adjectival
verb duō, "to be many, to be much," can be used after
other adjectival verbs which can be qual-fied by degree, such as
hǎoduō le, "a lot better," duōduō le, "a lot
more." In such phrases, the first adjectival verb is used as
a process verb, showing a change of state, and therefore the
phrase always ends in le_.
Nǐ bǐ yǐqián shòuduō le.
Qībānián yǐhòu, dào Zhōngguo
qùde jǐhui duōduō le.
You’re a lot thinner than before.
Since '?8, there have been a lot more opportunities to go to
China.
2.
A:
Wǒ xiǎng kànkan jīntiān you shénme guǎnggào.
I’d like today.
see what ads there are
B:
Zhèr you yífèn Huáshèngdùn Youbào, náqu zhǎozhǎo kàn ba!
Here’s a Post, ' some.
copy of the Washington take it and try to find
Notes on No. 2
Youbào: "Post," in the name of a newspaper. The syllable
you means "post" or "mail," as in yōujú,
"post office." CNames of other newspapers are translated
using the same pattern, X-bào: Shíbào is "Times," Rìbào
is "Daily," Kuàibào is "Express."!
náqu...: "take away" This is a compound verb of
direction. Many of the compound verbs you have seen have three
syllables. But like dàolai in Unit 1 of this module (dàolai yìbēi
chá), náqu has only two: the main action verb and the relative
motion (away). The direction of the action (up, down, in, out,
etc.) is not specified. (See the display on the next page.)
°shc>u, "to be thin"
Relative Motion
Main Verb
Direction Towards or Away
ná ì zěu 1 pǎo > kāi I bān J
r chu "ù Jin
/ xià \ flái
\ shàng / ]qù
gUO
I qǐ’ J
°-qī- is used only with -lái, never with -qù.
zhǎozhǎo kàn: ’’try to find” Zhǎo is the verb ”to look for, to
search.” It is reduplicated here, meaning that the action lasts an
indefinite amount of time: ’’look a little bit.” Kàn following a
reduplicated verb means ’’and see (if it works, if it’s okay, if
you can do it, etc.).”
Ní shishi kàn ba.
Nǐ zuòzuo kàn, zhèige shāfā zhēn shūfu.
A: Nī xiǎng tā kěn° Jiè wo tāde diànshì ma?
B: Bù zhīdào, nǐ qù wènwen kàn.
• A: Wo duì nī zhèipiān wenzhāng you bù tóngde kànfǎ.
B: Nī shuōshuo kàn.
Give it a try and see (if you can do it, if he will cooperate,
etc.).
Sit down and try it out. This sofa is really comfortable.
Do you think he’d be willing to lend me his television?
I don’t know. Go ask him and see.
I have a different point of view on (what you say in) your
article.
Let’s hear what it is.
3. A: ZuìJin jǐnián Jiàoyu gōngzuò you hěn dàde jìnbù.
B: Shi a, xuēxiàoli zài yě meiyou shenme luànqībāzāo de qíngkuàng
le.
There’s been a lot of progress in work in education these past few
years.
Yes, schools aren’t so messed up anymore.
Notes on No. 3
Jiàoyu: ”to educate; education” Jiào is the same character as
Jiāo, ”to teach,” but in jiàoyu is pronounced with a Falling tone.
Yù means ”to cultivate, to raise.Jiàoyu has some different uses
from English ”to educate.” It is used not only for institutional
education but also for parents’ education of their children, and
in the PRC for ’’education” of the people by the Communist Party.
(For the first example, you need to know nǔlì, ”to make efforts.”)
*kěn, ”to be willing to”
Fùmǔ yǐnggāi jiàoyu háizi nǔlì xuexí.
Nèige háizi meiyou jiàoyuhǎo.
Wǒmen vào gěi háizi aide jiàoyu.
Jiātíng jiàoyu he xuéxiào Jiàoyu yíyàng zhòngyào.
Zhèiběn shū duì wǒ jiàoyu hěn dà.
Kànle zhèige diànyǐng gěile women hěn dàde jiàoyu.
Parents should teach their children to study hard.
That child was poorly trained (in manners, morals, general
knowledge).
We should give children a loving education. (Taiwan usage)
Education in the home is Just as important as school education.
(Jiātíng jiàoyu consists of parents acting as examples in morals,
character, family relations, hygiene, etc. )
This hook has educated me a lot. (PRC usage)
Seeing this movie has taught us a great deal. (PRC usage)
Another sense of jiàoyu is to try through reason to convince a
person to do things according to certain rules, instructions, or
demands:
Nǐ děi jiàoyu jiàoyu nǐde háizi, You have to try to straighten out
tā yuè lái yuè huài. your child. He is becoming more
and more of a scoundrel.
Jiàoyu is commonly used in the phrase shòu Jiàoyu, "to
receive an education," which is discussed in No. 5 below.
jìnbù: "to make nrogress, to advance" or, as a noun,
"progress." Literally "to put forward steps."
Yīxué jìnbùde nàme kuài. Medicine is advancing so
rapidly.
Tāde Yǐngwén you jìnbù le. He has made some more progress
with
his English.
Tāde Zhōngwen jìnbù tài màn. His Chinese is progressing too
slowly.
Jìnbù is commonly used with the verb you, especially you hěn dàde
jìnbù.
Zuìjin jīge yuè wǒmende xuéshěng Our students have made great
progress yǒule hěn dàde jìnbù. these last few months.
You jìnbù is used as an adjectival verb, "to be
improved."
Nèige xuexiào hěn you jìnbù. That school is greatly
improved.
In the PRC, jìnbù is used as an adjectival verb meaning "to
be (politically) progressive," that is, suited to the needs
of the times and stimulating the development of society.
zài yě méiyou...le: "not anymore..." The advert zài and
a negat ive, such as méiyou, can be used to express the idea of
not doing something anymore. There are two word orders:
méiyou ì C(yě) méiyou
) zài OR zài <
bú J I(yě) bù
For examples of the first pattern, see Unit 3, Notes on No. 5» bú
zài kū le, "doesn't cry anymore."
The second pattern is more emphatic. The word zài should be given
special stress in these sentences:
Wǒ ZAI bù huilai le!
I'm never coming back here again!
If yě is added between zai and the negative, the meaning is about
the same.
Wǒ ZAI yě bù chi tang le. I'm never going to eat candy
again.
Nèitiáo lù hěn wēixiǎn, nǐ ZAI That road is very dangerous,
don't
yě bié zǒu neitiao lù le. ever take it again.
luàn: "to be in disorder, to be in a mess, to be
chaotic"
Zhèr tài luàn, dào wàimian qu tantan.
Zhèi jǐnián nèige guojiā yǒu diSnr luàn.
Shìjiè hǎo duō dìfang hěn luàn.
Tāde zhuōzishang zǒng shi hěn luàn.
Zhèr tài luàn, Jiào xiǎoháir chūqu wánr.
Duǐbuqǐ, wǒ xiěde hěn luàn, ni kàndedǒng ma?
As an adverb, luàn means "arbitrarily, iy.”
Luàn Jiang!
Bú yào luàn xiě.
Nǐde dōngxi bú yào dàochù luàn fang.
*dàochù, "everywhere"
It's too chaotic (noisy) in here.
Let's go outside to talk.
That country has been a little bit chaotic the last few years.
So many places in the world are in disorder.
His table top is always a mess.
It's too noisy in here. Tell the children to go out and play.
I'm sorry I wrote this so messily.
Can you read it?
any old way, at random, indiscriminate-
Baloney! (southern Chinese usage)
Don't write it Just any old way.
Don't leave your things all over the place.
Tāmen zuótiān luān chǐ luān he.
Nèige rén luān gǎo nánnù guānxi.
Bu yào luàn pǎo.
luànqībāzāo: "to be in disorder, seven-eight-rotten"
Some people have sevens." It can refer to physical or
Duìbuqǐ, fángjiān luànqǐbāzāode, wǒ jǐntiǎn hái méiyou shíjiān
shōushi.
Zheijiàn shìqing běnlái hěn hǎo, dànshi nèige rén bǎ ta gǎode
luànqībāzāo.
Tā gēn yíge luànqǐbāzāode nánrén chūqu le.
They ate and drank like crazy yesterday.
He/she is (sexually) loose.
Quit running all over the place.
to be in a mess," literally "chaotic-translated this as
"at sixes and
moral messes.
I’m sorry, the room is a mess. I haven’t had the time to
straighten up- yet today.
Everything was fine at first, but then he came along and messed it
up.
She went out with a disreputable (unsavory) character.
Luànqībāzāo is not made negative and is not used in comparative
sentences.
h. A: Nī shuō, zōngjiàode zéren shi shénme?
B: Zhèi bú shi yíge jiǎndānde wèntí, women děi cóng lìshǐ tánqǐ.
What do you think the responsibility of religion is?
That’s not a simple question. We have to begin by talking about
history.
Notes on No. h
shuō: Followed by a question, nī shuō is used to ask the
listener’s
The forms nǐ shuō ne or nī shuō shi bu shi may be used at the end
opinion.
of a statement to ask for confirmation.
Nī shuō wǒ yīnggāi zěnme bàn?
Wǒ xiǎng jiātíng jiàoyu hé shè-huì jiàoyu dōu bǐ xuéxiào jiàoyu
zhòngyào, nī shuō ne?
Nèige guǎnggào hěn you yìsi, nī shuō shi bu shi?
What do you think I should do?
I think that education in the home and in society are more
important than school education. Do you agree?
That’s a great advertisement, don’t you think?
zéren: "responsibility, duty" Also pronounced zérèn.
Rúguǒ zhèijiàn shiqing zuòde bù hǎo, wǒ you zéren.
If this thing isn’t done well, it’s my responsibility.
Lǎoshīde zéren jiù shi bāngzhu xuéshēng hǎohāor xuexí.
A: Jiaoyu haizi shi funúde zéren ma!
B: Xiànzài fùnu jiěfàng le, nánrén yě you zéren zuò zhàixiē
shìqing.
Shìqing nòng dao xiànzài zhài-yangr, zéren bú zài wǒmen.
The teacher’s responsibility is to help the students apply
themselves to their studies.
Rearing (educating) children is the responsibility of women!
Women are liberated now. Men also have the responsibility to do
these things.
It is not our responsibility that the situation was made the way
it is now.
cong lìshǐ tánqǐ: ’’begin by talking about history’’ In Unit 3 of
this module, you learned that the directional ending -qilai,
besides indicating upward motion, could also be used to indicate
beginning an action (Nǐ jiějie zěnme duì zhengzhi wentí ràxǐnqilai
le?). The ending -qǐ in tanqǐ also means ”to start,” but is used
only in the fixed pattern cóng X (Verb)qǐ, "to start
(Verb)-ing from X.” While the English translation for sentence UB
says "begin by talking about history," the Chinese says
literally, "start talking from history."
Zheijiàn shi cong nǎr shuōqǐ? Where should I begin? (when about to
tell a story, etc.)
Wǒ bù zhǐdào cong nǎr xiěqǐ. I don’t know where to begin
writing.
Women děi cong tour zuòqǐ. We have to start from the
beginning
again. (Cong tour means "from the beginning.")
cong ling zuòqǐ to start from scratch (lit.,
"start
from zero")
5. A: Zài dàlùde shíyì rénkǒuzhōng you duoshǎo shi shòuguo
jiàoyude?
B: Wǒ xiǎng xiànzài lián lí chéngshì hěn yuǎnde nongcun dōu you
xuéxiào, shòuguo jiàoyude rén dàgài bù shǎo.
How many of the one billion people on the mainland have received
an education?
I think that now even villages far from the city have schools, so
there are probably a lot of people who are educated.
Notes on No. 5
shíyì: "one billion," literally "ten
one-hundred-millions" Here are some more examples of how to
express billions in Chinese:
1 billion
1.1 billion
2 billion
10 billion
10.5 billion
1,000,000,000
1,100,000,000
2,000,000,000
10,000,000,000
10,500,000,000
shíyì shíyǐyì èrshiyì yìbǎiyì yìbǎilíngwǔyì
zài...rénkōuzhōng: "in the population, of the
population" The syllable -zhōng can be added, to nouns, like
the locational ending -lǐmiàn, to give the meaning "in"
or "among." It is often used with the verb zài.
Zài zheige jìhuàzhōng women hái you liǎngge xiǎo wèntí xūyào zài
tan.
There are still a couple of little questions we have to discuss in
this plan.
Xuéshēngzhōng you bù shǎo shi cong nongcūn láide.
Zài dìsān shìjiè guójiāzhōng, bù shǎo shi Yǎzhōu he Fēizhōude
guojiā.
Many of the students are from the country.
Many of the countries of the third world are countries of Asia and
Africa.
Shèhuì shēnghuózhōngde wèntí, We can't very well ignore the women
yě bù néng bú zhùyì a.' problems of life in society.
shòu: "to receive" The types of things which can be
"received" using the verb shòu are limited. Shòu is
usually followed by a verb being used as a noun.
Zhèige zhōukān zài Měiguo hěn shòu huānyíng.
This weekly is very well received (popular) in the United States.
(Receiver)
shòu
(Action)
Fùnu ertong
shòu
falúde baohu.
(Women and children
receive
the protection of the law.)
shòu jiàoyu: "to receive an education" Shòuguo jiàoyu
means "educated" (because of -guo, which indicates
having experienced something).
She is an educated person. How could she do such a thing?
Tā shi (yíge) shòuguo jiàoyude rén, zěnme huì zuò zhèizhōng shi?
Tā shòuguo dàxué jiàoyu.
He has (received) a college education.
lián...dōu: "even..." Lian is a prepositional verb which
literally means "including," but in the lián...dōu
pattern, "even." A lián phrase always precedes the verb.
Either the adverb dōu or yě is used in a sentence with lián.
Notice how lián can be used with subjects, objects, and verbs:
With subject
Lián (Subject)
dōu/yě . . . .
Lián Lián
xiǎoháizi shòuguo j iào-
yude rén
dōu dong zhèijiàn shi.
dōu tíngbudǒng tāde huà.
"Even children understand this."
"Even educated people can't understand what he says."
Jintiān tiānqi bù hǎo, lián tā zhème ài wánrde rén dōu hu chūqu
le, nǐ wèishenme yào qù?
Nǐ hai shuō méiyou zhèijiàn shi, hú zhǐ shi Xiānggǎng hàozhǐ, lián
Běijīngde hàozhǐ dōu xiěle zhèitiáo xǐnwén.
The weather is had today. Even he, who likes to play so much,
isn't going out. Why are you?
How can you say it's not true. Not only the Hong Kong papers
reported this piece of news, it was even in the Beijīng papers.
With object
lián (Object) dōu/yě . . . •
Tā
Tā
lián lián
zìjǐde míngzi guǎnggào
dōu bú huì xiě. dōu kàn.
"He can't even write his own name." "He even reads
the ads."
Tā jīntiān bù shūfu, lián fàn yě bù xiǎng chī le.
Wō lián yíge zì dōu bú jìde le.
Jīntiān lián yìdiǎn fēng yě méiyou.
He isn't feeling well today. He won't even eat.
I don't even remember one word.
There isn't the least bit of wind today.
With verb
lián’ (Verb) dōu/yě méi/bù (Verb)
Tā
lián
kàn
dōu
méi kàn wo.
Tā
lián
tīng
dōu
bù tīng.
Tā
(lián)
wèn
dōu
bú wèn.
"She didn't even look at me." "He wouldn't even
listen." "He didn’t even ask."
’lián is often optional in this pattern.
A: Zhāng Sān shi nǐde lǎo péngyou ba?
Zhāng Sān is an old friend of yours, isn't he?
I've never even met him. How could he be an old friend of
mine?
You didn't even taste the dish. How could you know it doesn’t
taste good?
B: Wo lián Jiàn dōu méi Jiànguo ta, zěnme huì shi lǎo péngyou
ne?
Nǐ lián cháng dōu méi cháng, zěnme zhīdao zhèige cài bù hǎo chī
ne?
6. A: Ming Bào bú cuò, shìjièxìng- The Ming Pao is not bad. It
has de xǐnwén tā dōu you. all the world news.
B: Duì le. Ming Bào bú cuò, Yes, the Ming Pao is quite good, you
bù néng bú kàn~ have to read it.
Notes on No. 6
Ming Bào: A Hong Kong newspaper known for reporting without an
overly dominant political point of view.
shǐjièxǐng: The syllable -xing, "character, nature,
quality," can be used after a noun like the English endings
-ness, -ity, or -ce, as in "onesidedness,"
"creativity," "importance." The resulting
abstract noun can be used alone or is frequently used, followed by
-de, to modify another noun.
kěnéngxǐng
possibility, likelihood
zhòngyàoxìng
importance
dulìxìng
independent character
xíguànxìng
habitual
liúxíngxìng
epidemic
lìshǐxìng
historical
yàoxìng
property of a medicine
youxìng
oiliness
tā: You have learned tā as "he'
" or "she," but sentence 6A is the first
time in this course that tā has been
used as "it." (The word tā may also
be omitted from the sentence without changing the meaning.) You
know that Chinese most often does not use any word for
"it," as in
Wǒ qù ná. I’ll go get it.
Zài zhuōzishang. It * s on the table.
Furthermore, "it" is sometimes expressed in Chinese by
repeating the entire noun phrase, for example
A: Nǐ néng bāng wo zhǎodào Can you help me find that
book?
zhèiběn shū ma?
B: Wǒ you zhèiběn shū, kéyi I have it, and I can give it
to you.
song gei ni.
Least often, "it" is expressed by the pronoun tā.° There
is no single rule which will tell you when you can use tā. It is
often used as the object of bā:
Nǐ bǎ ta ná dao nǎr qu le? Wǒ Where did you take it to? How come
zěnme zhǎobudào? I can’t find it?
Hái you yíge Jiǎozi, nǐ bǎ ta There’s one more dumpling left; you
chile. eat it.
bù néng bu: "cannot not"—in other words, "cannot
but; have no choice but to; must" The second bu is unstressed
and usually neutral tone.
Wèile Jiātíngde guānxi, wǒ bù For the sake of my family, I have no
néng bu zhèiyang zuò. choice but to do this.
Gēn zhèizhǒng rén zài yìqǐde When together with this sort of
shihou, bù néng bu xiǎoxīn person, one must be rather
careful,
yidiǎnr.
°One stylistic feature of modern written Chinese is that tā is
used for "it" much more than in true spoken Chinese.
This was originally an imitation of the structure of Western
languages.
7. A: Zhǐ yào nǐ lái hang máng As long as you help out, we’ll
he women Jiù yǒu bànfa. ahle to do it.
B: Zhè you shénme? Yǐnggāide This is nothing. It’s only right! ma!
Notes on No. 7
zhǐ yào: "as long as, provided that" This is used in the
pattern
zhǐ yào...Jiù.
Bu yào kǎolu tài duō, zhǐ yào nǐ Don’t think it over so much. If
you xǐhuan Jiù hǎo le. like it, that’s all that
matters.
Zhǐ yào wǒ Jīntiān wǎnshang yǒu kòng, Jiù kéyi hǎ zhèiběn shū
kànwán.
As long as I have time tonight, I
can finish reading this hook.
Nǐ zhǐ yào hǎ shū niànhǎole, zhǎo gōngzuò Jiu méiyou wèntí le.
As long as you do well in your studies, you won’t have any trouble
finding a Joh.
lái: In commands and suggestions, this verb merely indicates that
a person will perform some action, and can usually go
untranslated. When talking about one’s own intention, lái can be
translated as "let me" or "let’s."
Wǒ lái wèn ni.
Wo lái shuō liǎngjù.
Women lái tántan zhèige wèntí.
A: Zhèige zì xiěde duì bu dui?
B: Wo lái kànkan.
Xiànzài qǐng Wáng Anmín Tongzhì lái gěi women JiǎngJiang huà.
Nǐ kuài qù máng ba! Women lái shōushi.
Chile fàn women zài lái zuò kāfēi.
Wǒmen yìqǐ lái ban. Wo lái ban zhèr, nǐ dào nèibianr qù.
Lǐ Zhènhàn, qǐng nǐ lái niàn.
Let me ask you.
Let me say a few words.
Let’s discuss this question.
Is this character written correctly?
Let me take a look.
Now let’s ask Comrade Wáng Anmín to speak to us.
You go take care of what you have to do. We’ll straighten up.
After dinner let’s make some coffee, (zài means "then"
here.)
Let’s move this together. I’ll take it from here, and you go over
there
Lǐ Zhènhàn, would you read aloud please?
yǐnggāide: This is short for Wo bāngzhu ni shi yīnggāide, "it
is right that I help you." Use the phrase yǐnggāide to
respond when someone thanks you for doing a favor which you
consider natural under the circumstances.
8. A: Nǐ kàn, zhèipiān wénzhāngli bú shi xǐ dú, jiù shi shā rén.
B: Kàn zhèizhōng xǐnwén, zhǐ néng shǐ rén nánshòu. Suàn le, bú yào
kàn le.
Look, there’s nothing in this article but taking drugs and killing
people.
Reading this kind of news will only make you feel bad. Forget it,
don’t read it.
Notes on No. 8
"if it’s not...then it’s..." or
"either...or..."
bú shi...jiù shi...:
Bú shi tā, jiù shi nǐ, chúle nǐmen yǐwài hái you shéi huì zhèiyang
zuò?
It was either he or you. Who would do something like that besides
one of you?
Lǎo Wang’s cooking is always either too salty or too hot.
If he isn’t at home, then he’s at the office. He wouldn’t go
anyplace else.
He’s always eating something or other. His mouth never stops
going.
Lǎo Wáng zuò cài, bú shi tài xián jiù shi tài là.
Tā bú shi zài jiā, jiù shi zài bàngōngshì, biéde dìfang tā bú huì
qù.
Tā bú shi chǐ zhèige, jiù shi chǐ nèige, zuǐ° méiyou tíngde
shihou.
xǐ dú: "to take drugs" Literally "to inhale
poison," but used for any method of drug taking. (For the
last example you need to know kěkǎyǐn, "cocaine," and
hǎiluòyǐn, "heroin.")
Tā yìtiān máng dào wǎn, zěnme He’s busy all day long. He wouldn't
huì qù xǐ dú? go and take drugs!
Nèige háizi xǐ dú xīle hǎo Jǐ- That kid has been taking drugs for
nián le, shēnt? yǐjīng huài le. years, and his health has gotten
bad.
Tā xǐ shénme dú? Kěkǎyǐn háishi What drugs does he take? Cocaine
or hǎiluòyǐn? heroin?
shā rén: "to kill, to murder" or "to try
(unsuccessfully) to kill/ murder" The Chinese verbs for
"kill" often consist of two parts: a verb telling the
action (stab, shoot, beat, etc.) and a verb telling the resulting
process of dying. Here is a list of some common ones (this is only
here to clarify a point of grammar—you don't have to memorize all
these words):
hàisǐ (by scheming)
zhāsǐ (by stabbing)
diànsǐ (by electric shock) dúsǐ (by poisoning)
zuǐ, "mouth"
diàosǐ (by hanging)
biēsǐ (by suffocation or drowning) lēisǐ (by strangling with a
cord) qiāsī (by strangling with the hands) yǎsī (by crushing or
running over) zhuàngsǐ (by a collision) qìsī (by making someone
angry!) dǎsī (by a blow, beating, or gunshot)
and the most general term of all
nòngsǐ (by any means)
In classical Chinese, shā originally meant "to kill with a
knife" or "to slaughter (an animal)." Today, shā is
still used for "to slaughter" or "kill"
animals, as in
Nǐ huì bu hui shā Jī? Do you know how to kill
a chicken?
In modern Chinese, shā can have (1) a general meaning or (2) a
specific meaning.
(1) The general meaning of shā is the same as nòngsǐ or the
English "to kill, to murder." This is the way shā is
used when the method of killing is not stated or not known.
Tā bā nèige rén shāsǐ le. He killed that person. (method
not
considered)
(2) The specific meaning of shā is to kill with a knife or
knifelike instrument (e.g., a bayonet). In this meaning, shā
contrasts with all the other ways of killing listed above. When in
your sentence you want to express the method of killing, you must
choose an appropriate verb. It would be wrong to say Tā yòng qiāng
bǎ nèige rén shāsǐ le. Instead, you should say
Tā yòng qiāng bǎ nèige rén dǎsǐ He killed that man with a gun. le.
Shā takes on its specific meaning as soon as you start talking
about methods, so in such sentences, you must choose your verb
according to the mode of killing.
A: Tā bǎ tā tāitai shāsǐ le. He killed his wife.
B: Zěnme nòngsǐde? How did he kill her?
A: Dúsǐde. He poisoned her.
One last point: Shā may express the action of only trying to kill,
without implying that the person or animal actually died.
Tā shā jī shāle liǎngdāo kěshi He cut the chicken twice, but
didn’t méi bǎ ta shāsǐ. kill it.
‘qiāng, "gun"
shi: "to cause, to make"
shǐ (Object) (Verb) . . .
shǐ zhēn shǐ shǐ shǐ
rén wo wo tā
nanshòu
gāoxìng
juéde you xǐwàng wàngle nèijiàn
shi
Tā xiǎngle bù shǎo banfǎ, yě méi shǐ tā érzi duì shàng dàxué you
xìngqu.
Kàndao tā shǐ wo Juéde hěn gāo-xìng.
makes one sad
"really makes me happy"
"makes me feel that there’s hope
"made him forget that matter"
He tried lots of different things, but couldn't interest his son
in (going to) college.
It made me very happy to see him.
If there is an aspect marker, it goes with the verb following shǐ,
never with shǐ itself:
Shi shénme yuányǐn shǐ tāmen What was it that caused them to
fēnkāi le? split up?
Shǐ sometimes means "to enable," particularly if
followed by néng or other words of that meaning:
Chile zhèizhōng xīnde yào, shǐ By taking this new medicine, the
pa-bìngren hǎode hěn kuài. tient was able (enabled) to
recover
very quickly.
Although shǐ may sometimes be translated by "make,"
"make" may not always be translated by shǐ. When
"make" means "to compel" someone to do
something, it can be translated by jiào:
Lǐ Xiānsheng jiào tā zài xiě Mr. Lǐ made him write it over
again,
yícì.
9- Běnlǎi tāde Zhōngwén bú cuò, Originally, his Chinese
was pretty
líkāi Zhōngguo jiǔle, wàngle good, but he’s been away from
hěn duō. China for a long time and has
forgotten a lot.
Notes on No. 9
běnlǎi: "originally, in the beginning, at first; to begin
with, in the first place" This is a moveable adverb; that is,
it may come before or after the subject, but always before the
verb.
Běnlǎi has two main uses: (1) to indicate that the situation was
originally one way but then it changed, and (2) to express that
something has been the case since the beginning and is still the
case. On the next page are examples of both meanings.
(1) SITUATION HAS CHANGED
Wǒ běnlái bú qù, xiànzài qù le.
Wǒ běnlái bù xǐhuan ta, kěshi xiànzài xǐhuan ta le.
Běnlái shuō shi yào dào Xīngqī-wù cái néng zuòwán, dànshi wo
tíngshuō tāmen yào zǎo yidiǎnr zuòwán.
Běnlái wǒ xiǎng jīntiān xiàwu qù kàn diànyīng, hòulái tíngshuō kāi
huì. Suàn le, wǒ yǐhòu zài qù ba.
Běnlái wǒ Jīntiān yào qù Guǎng-zhōu, kěshi tiānqì bù hǎo, dàgài
děi míngtiān cái néng zǒu le.
Zhèijiàn shi běnlái shi kéyi bànde, kěshi shéi xiǎngdào huì yǒu
zhèige qíngkuàng?
(2) SITUATION WAS LIKE THIS TO START
Originally I wasn’t going to go, but now I will.
Originally I didn’t like her, but now I do.
Originally it was said that they wouldn’t be finished until
Friday, but now I hear they’re going to finish sooner.
Originally I wanted to go see a movie this afternoon. Later I
heard there was a meeting. Oh well.
I’ll go another time.
Originally I was going to Guǎngzhōu today, but the weather is bad,
so now I probably won’t be able to go until tomorrow.
It could have been done, but who expected this to happen?
:th AND STILL IS
Translations for this meaning include ”to begin with"
place." In this use, běnlái is often followed by Jiù.
and "in the first
Wǒ běnlái Jiù bù xǐhuan ta, xiànzài hái bu xǐhuan ta.
A: Nǐ bié qù nèige dìfang!
B: Wǒ běnlái Jiù bú qù.
A: Nǐ bié zài qù le.
B: Wǒ běnlái Jiù méi qù.
A: Wǒ háishi Juéde nǐ yīnggāi qù yítàng.
B: Wǒ běnlái Jiù yào qù.
Běnlái Jiù gāi zhèiyang bàn.
A: Zhèige kāfēi zěnme zènme hēi?
B: Kāfēi ma, běnlái Jiù shi hēide.
I never did like her, and I still don’t like her.
Don’t go there!
I wasn’t going to go there in the first place.
Don’t ever go there again.
I never did go there.
I still think you ought to go there.
I am going. (I was intending to go even before you told me to.)
We should have done this in the first place.
Why is this coffee so black?
Coffee is supposed to be black!
A clause with běnlái is often related to another with dāngrán:
Zhèige dōngxi běnlái Jiù shi nǐ- This thing belongs to you; of
course de, wǒ dāngrán yào huán gei ni! I would return it to you.
Běnlái tā zài dàxué niànde shi She studied sociology in college,
shèhuixué, tā dāngrán duì she- so of course she’s interested in
hui wèntí you xìngqu. social problems.
Note on Additional Required Vocabulary
you xiào: "to be effective; to be valid"
Zhèige yào hěn you xiào. This medicine is very
effective.
Zhèizhāng piào hái you xiào ma? Is this ticket still valid?
Lǐ Ping (B), Tom (A), and Lǐ Wen (E) are talking in the Li’s
living room.
A: Nǐ zài kàn shénme hàozhǐ?
B: Ming Bào. Ming Bào hú cuò,
hěn you yìsi.
E: Zài Měiguo yě xiàng Xiānggǎng
zhèiyang, shénme luànqībāzāode xǐnwén dōu wang hàozhǐshang xiě ma?
A: Píngchāng wǒ kàn Huashèngdùn
Youbào. Zhèige hàozhǐ hú cuò, guōnèi, guōwàide xǐnwén dōu you,
dāngrán guǎnggào yě hù shǎo. Zhōngwén hàozhǐ, wǒ yě kàn, nèi
shànghianr yě you nǐ shuōde nèizhong "luànqībāzāo" de
xǐnwén.
B: Nimen zhèiyang shuō, wǒ hù
zěnme tōngyì. Shénme shi "luàn-qǐhāzāo"? Shèhuì shēnghuó
běnlái jiù shi zhèiyang ma.’
E: Suàn le ba.’ Jīntiān shi shā
rén, míngtiān shi xī dú, wǒ bú yào kàn.
A: Kàn háishi xūyào kànde, yǐnwèi
shèhuì shēnghuózhōngde wèntí, wǒmen yě bù néng bú zhùyì a!
E: Xiānggǎngde shèhui wèntí zhēn
duō! Shénme dìfangrde rén dōu you, shénmeyàngrde wèntí yě dōu you.
A: Shèhui wèntí shi shìjièxìngde,
bù zhǐ shi Xiānggǎng you.
E: Ng, nàme, rénmen duì zhèixie
wèntí jiu méiyou shénme bànfǎr ma?
B: Bànfǎ hěn duō, dìfang bù tong,
bànfǎ yě bù yíyàng. Kěshi zhèixiē bànfǎ shi bu shi you xiào jiu bù
zhīdào le.
What newspaper are you reading?
Ming Pao. It’s pretty good, very interesting.
In America is it the same as in Hong Kong: they put all kinds of
crazy news in the paper?
I usually read the Washington Post. It’s a pretty good paper. It
has domestic as well as international news. Of course there are a
lot of ads, too. I read Chinese newspapers too, and they have
"all kinds of crazy news ’’ in them, as you put it.
I don’t really agree with what you are saying. What is "all
kinds of crazy news"? That’s exactly the way life in society
is!
Forget it! Today it’s killing, tomorrow it’s drugs. I don’t want
to read that.
We still need to read it, because we can’t very well ignore the
problems of life in society.
Hong Kong sure has a lot of social problems. There are people from
everywhere, and all kinds of problems.
Problems in society are worldwide. Hong Kong isn’t the only place
that has them.
Mm, then is there nothing people can do about these problems?
There are a lot of ways to deal with them. Different places have
different ways of dealing with them. But whether these ways work
or not is another question.
A: You rén shuō zǒngjiào shi
yìzhōng banfǎ, bù guǎn shénme Jiào, dōu shi Jiào rén zuò hǎo
shìrde. Kěshi wō xiǎng jiàoyu hěn zhōngyào, shòu jiàoyude rén yuè
duō, shèhuide wèntí yuè shǎo.
B: Erqiě jīngji fāda yě hěn yào-
jǐn. Jīngji bù fǎdáde dìfang, rénmen fàn zuìde jīhui Jiu gèng duō.
E: Jiù shi ma, rén yào chī fàn,
lián fàn dōu chībubǎo, tāmen zěnme néng bú fàn zuì ne?
A: Wō xiǎng méi nàme jiǎndān.
Fàn zuì hé hěn duō shi yōu guānxi, tèbié shi hé jiātíng yōu
guānxi.
E: Nī jiǎngjiang kàn.
A: Zài jīngji fādáde dìfang, xiǎo
jiātíng yuè lái yuè duō, érqiě fùmǔmen dōu yōu gōngzuò, dōu hěn
máng, méiyou shíjiān duō guǎn háizi. You xiě niánqīngde fùmǔ yě
hěn shǎo xiǎngdào zìjīde zéren, méiyou shénme jiātíng guānniàn.
E: Nǐde huà yōu dàolī, kěshi dà
lùde qíngxing ne? Nīmen zěnme xiǎng?
B: Shi a. Dàlù jīngji bù fādá,
érqiě dàjiā yě dōu yōu jiātíng guānniàn. Kěshi, kànkan bàozhī,
dàlùshang fàn zuìde rén yě bù shǎo.
A: Wō xiǎng zhè hé zhèngzhi bù
āndìng yōu guānxi, tèbié shi cóng Liù Liù nián dào Qī Liù nián.
Some people say that religion is one way. No matter what the
religion, it always teaches people to do good. But I think
education is important. The more educated people there are, the
fewer social problems there will be.
And also, a developed economy is important. In places where the
economy isn’t well-developed, there are more opportunities for
people to connnit crimes.
Exactly. People have to eat. If they can’t even get enough to eat,
how can you expect them not to commit crimes?
I don’t think it’s so simple. Crime is related to many different
things, especially to the family.
Would you explain what you mean?
Where the economy is developed, there are more and more small
families; also, both parents have jobs and are very busy, so they
don’t have time to take good care of the children. Some young
parents seldom think of their own responsibilities and don’t have
much of a sense of family attachment.
That makes sense. But what about the situation on the mainland?
What do you two think?
Yeah, the mainland’s economy isn’t developed, and furthermore
everyone has a sense of attachment to the family. But read the
papers: there are quite a few people committing crimes on the
mainland too.
I think this has to do with the political instability, especially
from ’66 to ’?6.
B: Shi ma, nèige shihou, shénme
fǎlu dōu méiyou. Lián fàn zuì hú fàn zuì dōu nòngbuqīngchu, shèhui
wèntí zěnme huì shǎo?
A: Nǐde kànfǎ, wǒ hěn tongyì. Wǒ
xiǎng, zhǐ yǒu shǐ zhèngzhi āndìng, JǐngJi, wénhuà fādá, cái néng
shǐ shèhui jìnbù.
(Grandma Lǐ walks in.)
G: Nǐmen zài tán shénme, tánde
zhème gāoxìng?
A: Lǐ Nǎinai, women zài tán shèhui
wèntí.
G: Hǎo le, nǐmen tángòu le meiyou?
Chile fàn zài tán xíng hu xíng?
A, B, E: Xíng, chile fàn zài tán.
Yes. During that time there wasn't any law at all. If you can’t
even tell the difference between committing a crime and not
committing one, how can social problems be reduced?
I agree very much with your view. I think that society can only be
made to progress if the political situation is stabilized and the
economy and culture are made to flourish.
What are you talking about so cheerfully?
We’re talking about social problems, Grandma Lǐ.
Well, have you talked enough? How about continuing the
conversation after dinner?
Okay! We’ll talk more after dinner.
Unit 7, Tape 2 Workbook
Exercise 1
This exercise is a review of the Reference List sentences in this
unit. The speaker will say a sentence in English, followed by a
pause for you to translate it into Chinese. Then a second speaker
will confirm your answer.
All sentences from the Reference List will occur only once. You
may want to rewind the tape and practice this exercise several
times.
Exercise 2
This conversation begins when two young friends run into each
other at a trolley stop on the west side of Běijīng.
The conversation occurs only once. After listening to it
completely, you’ll probably want to rewind the tape and answer the
questions below as you listen a second time.
Here are the new words and phrases you will need to understand
this conversation:
bang to be great, to be fantastic
bú jiàn bú don’t leave until we’ve met
up’,
sàn!
Questions for Exercise 2
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you can
talk about them in class.
1. Where is Xiǎo Liú working and what is he doing there?
2. How does he keep up with his English?
3. What does the article say about education in the U.S.?
U. What does Xiǎo Liú’s friend want him to do?
After you have answered these questions yourself, you may want to
take a look at the translation for this conversation. You may also
want to listen to the dialogue again to help you practice saying
your answers.
Note: The translations used in these dialogues are meant to
indicate the English functional equivalents for the Chinese
sentences rather than the literal meaning of the Chinese.
Exercise 3
In this exercise two sisters talk in the home of a Chinese family
in Washington, D.C.
Listen to the conversation once straight through. Then, on the
second, time through, look helow and answer the questions.
Questions for Exercise 3
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you can
talk about them in class.
1. Why do they say that the Ming Pao is a good newspaper?
2. What is the procedure for mail-ordering a television for
one’s relatives in Guangzhou?
3. Why would overseas Chinese want to take advantage of this
procedure? (Can’t their relatives in China buy a television
themselves?)
h. To whom do the sisters want to send the television? Why?
5. In what form will they make the payment?
After you have answered these questions yourself, you may want to
take a look at the translation for this conversation. You may also
want to listen to the conversation to help you practice saying the
answers which you have prepared.
Exercise h
In this conversation a father and son in Běijīng talk about
religion.
Listen to the conversation straight through once. Then rewind the
tape and listen again. On the second time through, answer the
questions.
You will need the following words
and. phrases:
xiāngxìn
to believe in
j iàotáng
church
zuò lǐbài
to worship, to attend religious services
Nan Měi
South America
tour
head, chief, boss
xué hao
to learn from good examples, to
learn to be a good person
gōngkè
homework, schoolwork, classwork
Questions for Exercise U
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you can
talk about them in class.
1. What does the son think is so strange? Why is this on his
mind?
2. What did the son read in the newspaper? What was his
reaction?
3. What does his father have to say about religion? (There are
four points.)
U. Xué hǎo is considered very important for teenagers in
China. How does this fit into the son’s concept of religion?
After you have answered these questions, you may want to take a
look at the translation for this conversation. You may also want
to listen to the conversation again to help you pronounce your
answers correctly.
Dialogue and Translation for Exercise 2
Two young friends run into each other at a trolley stop on the
west side of
Beijing.
A: Hēi, Xiǎo Liu! Hǎo jiū hú jiàn.
Nǐ xiànzài zài nǎr gōngzuò ne?
B: Jiù zài zhèr, Beijing Túshūguǎn.
A: Hei, hǎo gōngzuò! Zài túshūguǎn
zuò shénme?
B: Fǎnyì.
A: Yīngwén fǎnyì?
B: Yǐngwén fǎnyì.
A: Nǐ zhēn you hànfa! Xuéle jǐ-
niande Yīngwén zhēn you yòng le. Xiànzài zài fǎnyi shénme?
B: Jintiǎn fǎnyide shi Huashèngdùn
Yoùbàode yìpiǎn wénzhāng, xiěde shi guǎnyú jiàoyude wèntí.
A: Zhēn hù jiǎndǎn°! Lian hàozhǐ
dōu néng fǎnyi le. Nī you shí-jiǎn ma? Néng hu néng gěi wo jiǎng
diǎnr?
B: Wǎnshang wǒ hai děi xué Yīngwén, jiù néng gēn ni liáo jīfēn
zhōng.
A: Nǐ hái xué Yīngwén?
B: Yīngwén hú gòu, hù néng hù xué
ya!
A: Shéi jiǎo ni?
B: Wǒ gēge jīnnián xiàtiǎn cong
Měiguo huilai le, tǎ jiāo wo.
Hey, Xiǎo Liú! Long time no see. Where are you working now?
Right here, at the Beijing Library.
Hey, what a great joh! What do you do there?
Translation.
English translation?
English translation.
You’re really something! Those few years you’ve spent studying
English really turned out to he useful. What are you translating
now?
Today I’m translating an article from the Washington Post on the
topic of education.
That’s amazing! You can even translate newspapers now. Do you have
some time? Can you tell me a little about it?
Tonight I have to study English, so I can only chat with you for a
few minutes.
You’re still studying English?
My English isn’t good enough. I have to study!
Who teaches you?
My brother came back from the U.S. this summer. He’s teaching me.
°bù jiǎndǎn, "not simple/ordinary/commonplace," in other
words, "amazing, phenomenal."
A: Zhēn hang’. Duì le, kuài’ shuō-
shuo nèipiān wenzhāng, wǒ tǐngshuō zài Meiguo shòuguo dàxué
jiàoyude rén hěn duō.
B: Duì le, Měiguo shi dàxuéshēng
zuì duōde guójiā.
A: Zhēnde?
B: Zhēnde, dàjiā yìfāngmiàn gōngzuò,
yìfāngmiàn xuéxí, yōu bù shāo rén dōu’ wǔshisuì le, hái zài dàxué
niàn shū ne.
A: Wō xiǎng zhèi shi Měiguo Jìnbù-
de yíge yuányǐn! Zhèipiān wénzhāng nǐ fānwánle ma?
B: Kuài fānwán le, dàgài míngtiān
jiu fānwán le.
A: Néng bu néng gěi wo kànkan?
—Zhōngwénde.
B: Wō wen yíxià wōmende lǐngdǎo,
dàgài méiyou shenme wèntí.
A: Nà míngtiān wǎnshang liùdian
bàn, wō hái zài zhèr děng ni, bú jiàn bú sàn a!
B: Xíng, bú jiàn bú sàn!
That’s fantastic! Oh yeah, tell me about that article. I hear that
there are a lot of people with a college education in the U.S.
Yes, the U.S. is the country with the most college students (in
the world).
Really?
Really. Everyone works and studies at the same time. There are
quite a few people who even at the age of fifty are still studying
at a university.
I think that’s also a reason why America is so progressive! Have
you finished translating the article?
Almost. I’ll probably finish tomorrow.
Could you give it to me to read?
—the Chinese.
I’ll ask our leader. There probably won’t be any problem.
Then tomorrow evening at six-thirty I’ll wait for you here. And
don’t leave until we’ve met up!
Okay, we won’t leave until we’ve met up!
’kuài here should not be translated as "quickly" or
"hurry up"; it simply conveys the eagerness of the
speaker to hear about the article, something like the British,
"Do tell me about that article."
° °Dōu here means "as much as, even," so dōu wǔshisuì le
means "as old as fifty" or "even fifty years
old."
”’Fānwán le means the same as fānyiwán le, "finished
translating."
Dialogue and Translation for Exercise 3
Two sisters talk in the home of a Chinese family in Washington,
D.C.
A: Èrjiě, nǐ kàn shénme hào ne?
B: Ming Bào, wǒ xǐhuan zhèige
hàozhǐ, hù zuǒ yě hú you.
A: Erqiě, shìjièxìngde xǐnwén tā
dōu you. Zhèige hào zhēnde hú cuò.
B: Wǒ yě xǐhuan tāde guǎnggào, duì
women zhèixie zhù zai guǒwàide Zhōngguo rén hěn yǒu yòng.
A: Nǐ kànjian shénme guǎnggào le,
zhème yǒu xìngqu?
B: Nǐ lai kàn, zhèr yǒu yige
diànshì guǎnggào.
A: Zěnme shuōde?
B: Zhèige guǎnggào shuō, zhǐ yào
women jì yìzhāng zhīpiào dào Xiānggǎng, Jiù kéyi gěi Jiāli rén mǎi
cǎisè diànshì le.
A: Shi ma? Dàlù rén mǎi diànshì
hù rōngyi. Women lái kànkan, kàn néng hu néng gěi yéye nǎinai mǎi
ge diànshì.
B: Bànfa shi zhèiyangr: Women hǎ
qian hé yéyede dìzhī Jì dao Xiānggǎng, Xiānggǎngde gōngsī Jì
yìzhāng dānzi gěi tāmen, tāmen jiu kéyi zài Guǎngzhōude hǎihuò
gōngsǐ qǔ diànshì le.
A: Rúguǒ nèige diànshì hù hǎo
zěnme hàn?
B: Nà shi gōngsǐde zéren, tāmen
yídìng kéyi gěi° huàn yige hǎode.
What newspaper are you reading, Sister No. Two?
Ming Pao. I like it; it's neither too left nor too right.
And it has all the world news. It's really quite a good paper.
I like its advertisements too. They are very useful to us Chinese
who live abroad.
What ad did you see that you're so interested in?
Come look, there's an ad for a television here.
What does it say?
It says that if we just send a check to Hong Kong, we can huy a
color television for our family.
Oh? It's not easy for people on the mainland to huy televisions.
Let's look and see if we can huy a T.V. for grandpa and grandma.
This is the way it works: We send the money and grandpa's address
to Hong Kong, and the company in Hong Kong sends them a receipt,’
and then they can pick up the television at a department store in
Guǎngzhōu.
What if the television has something wrong with it?
That's the company's responsibility. I'm sure they would exchange
it for a good one.
Dānzi here refers to a tíhuòdān, "bill of lading," hence
it may be translated loosely as "receipt." (The specific
translation for "receipt" is shōujù or fāpiào.)
°°Gěi is a colloquial abbreviation for gěi tamen, "for
them."
B: Duì, women jǐntiǎn jiù bǎ
zhǐpiào jìchuqu.
Right. Let’s send out the check today.
A: M, nà bú cuò, xiànzài yéye
nǎinai shēnghuo ǎndìng, shénme dōu hǎo, jiù shi shǎo yige diànshì.
Yōule diànshì, tāmen yídìng hěn gāoxìng.
Mm, that’s good. Now grandpa and
grandma have a settled life, and all
is well for them; the
only thing
they
lack is a television.
When they
have
a television I’m sure happy.
they’ll be
very
Dialogue and Translation for Exercise U
A father (B) and son (A) talk in Beijing.
A: Bàba! Xiànzài zěnme you zenme
duō rén xiāngxìn zǒngjiào le, zhēn qíguài!
B: Nǐ kànjian shénme shi le?
A: Zài lùkǒurshang nèige jiàotāng,
jǐntiǎn yōu hěn duō rén zài ner zuò lǐbài, yě yōu niánqīngde rén!
B: Wōmende fǎlū shuō Zhōngguo rén
kéyi yōu zǒngjiào zìyou, zhèi méiyou shénme qíguài ma!
A: Wō jìde bàoshang shuō, zài Nan
Měide yíge guojiā yōu yìzhōng shénme zōngjiào yōu hěn duō rén
xiāngxìn, zhèixiē rén bǎ zìjǐde qián dōu gěile zhèige zōngjiào-de
tour, kěshi zhèige tour shi ge huàirén, xīdú, shā rén, shénme
luānqǐbāzāode shir dōu zuò. Suóyi wō juéde zōngjiào zìyou yě bù
yídìng hǎo.
B: Zōngjiào bú shi yíjiàn Jiǎndān-
de shi. Zōngjiào hé fàn zuì méiyou yídìngde guānxi. Zōngjiào yōu
tāde dúlìxìng, yōude shihou hé zhèngzhi, wénhuà yōu guānxi, yōude
shihou méiyou. Děng dào nǐ zhǎngdàle yǐhòu, rúguǒ n? yōu xìngqu
kéyi yánjiū yanjiu.
Dad, how come there are so many people who believe in religion
now? It’s so strange!
Why, what have you seen?
In that church on the corner, today there were a lot of people
worshiping. There were young people there too.
Our law does give the Chinese people freedom of religion. There’s
nothing strange about that!
I remember it said in the newspaper that there was some religion
in South America a lot of people believed in, and the people gave
all their money to the head of this religion, but he was a bad
person who took drugs and killed people and did all sorts of crazy
things. So I don’t think that freedom of religion is necessarily
good.
Religion isn’t a simple thing. It doesn’t have a definite
relationship to crime. Religion has its independent character;
sometimes it’s related to politics and culture, and sometimes it
isn’t. When you grow up, if you’re interested, you can study it.
“yìzhōng shénme zōngjiào, "some religion" Shénme here
acts as an indefinite pronoun modifying zōngjiào and means that
the speaker does not know how to describe or specify the religion
precisely.
A: Wǒ tingshuǒ shìjièshang you hěn
duō bù tóngde zōngjiào, yě you hěn duō you yìside zōngjiào gùshi,
zài zhèixiě gùshili you xiě shi ràng rén xué hǎo, shi duì rén you
hǎochùde.
B: Zhèi shi zhēnde. Yánjiū zōng-
Jiào xūyào hěn duōde zhishi, tèbié shi lìshǐ zhishi, shi hěn you
yìside. Hǎo le, zhèige wèn-tí women yǐhòu zài tan. Nǐde gōngkè
zuòwánle meiyou?
A: Hái you yidiǎnr, wǒ mǎshàng
jiù qù zuò.
B: Hǎo, kuài qù ba! Zuòwánle
gōngkè zài tan.
A: Hǎo!
I hear that there are many different religions in the world and
that there are a lot of interesting religious stories. Some of the
stories have the purpose of teaching people from good examples, so
they’re good for people.
That’s true. To study religion, you need a lot of knowledge,
especially a knowledge of history. It’s very interesting. All
right, we’ll talk about this question later. Is your homework
done?
I still have a little. I’ll go do it right away.
Okay, hurry up! When you’ve finished your homework, we’ll talk
some more.
Okay!
UNIT 8 Directions for the Future
INTRODUCTION
Grammar Topics Covered in This Unit
1. Action-Process compound verbs.
2. The directional ending -hui, "hack."
3. The patterns (Verb) dong (Verb) xi and dǒng (Verb) xi
(Verb).
U. The marker -de after phrases with a parallel structure.
5. The adverb you, "after all," "anyway."
6. The adverb phrase yě bu, "don't even," "won't
even," "wouldn't even."
Functional Language Contained in This Unit
1. Asking for an explanation of the causes/motives behind a
situation.
2. Politely asking someone to quiet down.
3. Expressing appreciation to someone for their hospitality.
U. Taking leave of a group of people in the middle of a
conversation.
1. A: Míngtiān clou yǒu shéi kǎoshì ?
B: Deng yíxià wǒ gěi ni xiě yíge dānzi.
2. A: Bomǔ shuì wǔjiào ne ha?
B: X, xiǎo shēng diǎnr. Bié bǎ ta chǎoxǐng le.
3. A: Nǐ kàn zhèicìde shēngyì zěnmeyàng?
B: Bù zhǐdào. Yào kàn yùnqi le.
U. A: Wǒ xiǎng qù mǎi xiě gǒngyìpǐn dàihuí Meiguo.
B: Wǒ zhèr zhènghǎo yǒu jǐjiàn, nǐ dōu dàishang ba.
5. A: Hǎoxiàng shi Xiǎo L? cǒng ménkǒur guòqu le.
B: N? hǎohāorde zài zhèr niàn shù ba! Bié xiǎng dōng xiǎng
xīde.
Who’s taking the test tomorrow?
I’ll write you a list in a minute.
Is your mother taking a Enoontime3 nap?
Sh! Keep it down. Don’t wake her up.
How do you think business will go this time?
I don’t know. It depends on luck.
I want to go buy some handicrafts to take back to America.
I just happen to have some here.
Take them with you.
That looked like Xiǎo L? who just passed by the door.
You just tend to your studies
Eproperly!! Don’t be thinking of this and that.
6. A: Qùnián tade Yǐngwén hái shuō-de name nántǐng, jīnnián
hǎoxiàng hǎoduǒ le. Shi zěnme hui shi?
B: Shi zenme hui shi, tā mùqin téng ta, song ta qù Yīngguó niànle
yìnián shù.
Last year his English still sounded so awful, but this year it
seems a lot better. What happened?
It’s this way: his mother dotes on him and sent him to school in
England for a year.
7. A: Tā hái qù zhǎo Xiǎo Lán gàn shenme, rénjia you bù xǐhuan
ta!
What is he going to see Xiǎo Lán for? After all, she doesn’t like
him.
B: Nǐ bié jí, wǒ lái quànquan ta.
Don’t get upset, I’ll try to persuade him.
8. A: Nǐ shuō wō gāi hu gai qu?
B: Nǐ kànzhe hàn ha, tíngshuō nèige dìfangr kuài dǎ
zhang le.
9. A: Gāngcái wǒ qù gěi Wáng Dàifu sòngxíng, tā shuō
tā yuànyi gěi nín kànkan.
B: Zhèi yíxiàzi hǎo le. Děng tā huilai wō qù kàn ta.
10. A: Zhèige shǎ háizi, zènme dàde shir yě hu zǎo
diǎnr gàosu wo!
B: Wō yuánlái gēn nín shuōguo, nín wàng le.
ADDITIONAL REQUIRED VOCABULARY
11. gànmá
12. lái
13. hófù
Do you think I should go?
You do as you see fit, hut I hear that there’s about to
he a war there.
Just now when I went to see Dr. Wang off, he said he
would he willing to see you CmedicallyD.
(Now) that’s great. I’ll go see him when he gets hack.
What a stupid kid, why didn’t you tell me about this
before, since it’s such an important thing.
I did tell you, but you’ve forgotten.
(colloquial) why on earth, what for; to do what
to do (something), to perform (something), to have (an
event), to help oneself (to food, etc.), to Join in (a
game, etc.)
uncle (father's elder brother); term for the father of
one's friend
VOCABULARY
bófù
bómǔ
uncle (father’s elder brother); term for the father of one’s
friend
aunt (wife of father’s elder brother); term for the mother of
one’s friend
chǎo
chǎoxǐng
dàishang
dānzi
dǎ zhang
děi kàn (or yào kàn)
děng
děng yíxià
gāi
gànmá
gànshenme
gōngyìpǐn
guòqu
hǎohǎor
hǎoxiàng
-hui
kàn
kànzhe
kǎo
kǎoshì
lai
to be noisy; to disturb by making noise
to wake (someone) up by being noisy
to take along (Beijing)
list; form
to fight a war, to go to war
to depend on
when; by the time; till
wait a while; in a little while
should, ought to; to be someone’s turn to
to do what; (colloquial) why on earth, what for
to do what; (colloquial) why on earth, what for
handicrafts
to pass
well; properly; thoroughly to seem as if
(counter for shi, ’’matter")
to depend on
(followed by a verb) as one sees fit, as one deems reasonable
to take/give an exam, test, or quiz
to take/give an exam, test, or quiz;
exam, test
to do (something), to perform (something), to have (an event), to
help oneself (to food, etc.), to join in (a game, etc.)
nántíng
to be unpleasant to hear; to sound bad, to offend the ears; to be
scandalous
quàn
shǎ
to advise, to urge, to try to persuade
to be stupid, to be dumb, to be silly, to be naive
shēngyì (shēngyi) sòngxíng
téng
wǔj iào
yào kàn (or děi kàn)
yuánlái
yuànyi
yùnqi
zěnme (yì)huí shi
zenme (yì)huí shi zhèi yíxiàzi zhème hui shi zhènghǎo(r)
"business, trade
to see (someone) off, to wish (someone) a good trip; to give a
going-away party
to be (very) fond of, to be attached to, to dote on
noontime nap
to depend on
anyway; after all (used in questions and negative statements)
original, former; originally, formerly; (expresses finding out the
true situation)
to wish, would like, to want to; to be willing to
luck
what's it all about
like this
after this, as a result of this
like this
it just so happens that, to happen to, as it happens; Just in
time, Just right, Just enough
Unit fl, Reference Notes
1. A: Míngtiān dōu you shéi
kǎoshì?
B: l)ěn[-; yíxià wǒ gěi ni xiě yígo dānzi .
Notes on No. 1
kǎoshì: "to take/give an exam, t used as a verb-object
compound or as if the context makes it clear.
Kǎoshì yThou tā lei le.
Zhèicì kǎoshì tā kǎode bú cuò.
NT Jīntiān kǎode zěnmeyàng?
NTde JTngJixué kǎode zěnmeyàng?
Wǒ lái kǎokao nT.
Kǎowán shi yThòu (OH Kǎowánle yThòu), women qù kàn diànyTng, hǎo
bu hǎo?
Who’s taking the test tomorrow?
I’ll write you a list in a minute.
est, or quiz; test, exam" This may be noun. Kao as a verb may
be used alone
She was tired after taking the test.
He did pretty well on the test this time.
How did the test(s) go today?
How did you do on your economics exam?
ī.et me quiz you.
het’s go to the movies after we’re done taking the test.
děng yíxià may have its literal meaning, "wait a minute, wait
a while," or it may mean "in a minute, in a while."
"WAIT A MINUTE, WAIT A WHILE"
Děng yíxià, wǒ yào dǎ ge diànhuà, dǎwánle women Jiù zǒu, hǎo bu
hǎo?
NT děng yíxià, wǒ lái bāngzhu ni.
"TN A MTNUTE, TN A WHILE"
NT xiān chT, děng yíxià wǒ xTwánle yTfu Jiù lái.
NTmen xiān zǒu ba, děng yíxià wǒ zài qù.
Deng yíxià yǒu yíwèi xing Wángde )ai zhǎo wo, qTng ni ràng ta J
ìnJ ai .
Wait a second, I want to make a phone call. We’ll go as soon as
I’m finished, okay?
Wait a second, let me help you with that.
You go ahead and eat. I’ll come as soon as I’ve finished washing
the clothes.
You go ahead and leave. T’il go in a will It?.
In a while a Mr. Wáng will be coming to see me. Please let him in.
2. A: Bómǔ shuì wǔjiào ne ba? Is your mother taking a
CnoontimeJ nap?
B: X, xiǎo shēng diǎnr. Bié Sh.' Keep it down. Don't
bǎ ta chǎoxǐng le. wake her up.
Notes on No. 2
bómǔ: "wife of father's older brother," but also a term
for the mother of one’s friend. Relationships between friends are
often thought of and even spoken of in terms similar to family
relationships. Friends are like brothers and sisters, and
therefore a friend’s parents are addressed as aunt (bómǔ) and
uncle (bófù).
shuì wǔjiào: "to take a nap," literally "to sleep
the afternoon sleep." Wǔshuì shíjiǎn is "afternoon nap
time," as in a school or organization.
Wǒ Jīntiān méi shíjiǎn shuì wǔjiào.
I didn’t have time to take my afternoon nap today.
A: Jīntiān nǐmen yǒu meiyou wǔshuì shíjiǎn?
B: Méiyou. Zhōngfàn yǐhòu Jiù kǎi huì.
Do you have an afternoon nap today?
No. We have a meeting right after lunch.
Many Chinese take a rest after the midday meal. Work, school, and
store schedules often make time for this, especially in hot
weather.
X: "Sh."' This is the "word" you use to signal
someone to keep quiet. It is said with rounded lips—like
whispering the syllable xū.
chǎoxǐng: "to wake up by making noise" Chǎo can mean
"to be noisy," or as in chǎoxǐng, "to disturb by
being noisy." lit can also mean "to quarrel, to
squabble."J Xǐng (Welfare module, Unit 1+) is "to wake
up," a process verb. The compound chǎoxǐng is therefore made
up of an action verb plus a process verb, with the meaning
"by performing the action, to cause the pro
cess (change of state) to occur. You useful compound verbs:
Nǐ zǒulèi le ba, zuòxia xiūxi yihuǐr.
A: Tā zěnme bìng le? Shi bu shi zuótiān hede tài duō?
B: Bú shi hēde tài duō, shi chīde tài duō chǐbìng le.
Nǐ shuì gòu le ma?
Tā bǎ yǎnjing kǔhóng le.
can use this pattern to make a lot of
You must be tired (from walking). Sit down and rest a while.
How come he got sick? Was it that he had too much to drink
yesterday?
No, he didn’t have too much to drink. He got sick from eating too
much.
Did you get enough sleep?
She cried her eyes red.
3. A: Nǐ kàn zheicìde shēngyì How do you think business
will
zěnmeyàng? go this time?
B: Bu zhīdao. Yào kàn yùnqi le. I don’t know. It depends on luck.
Notes on No. 3
shēngyì: "business, trade" Also pronounced shēngyi.
yào kàn: "depends on..." By itself, kàn (which you know
as "to look at" and "to think, to have the opinion
that") has another meaning, "to depend on, to be up to,
to be determined by." Often yào or děi is added before it.
A: Nǐ míngtiān shi qù háishi bú qù?
B: Ng, děi kàn tiānqi.
A: Wǒ jǐntiǎn kéyi zǎo diǎnr hui jiā ma?
B: (Yào) kàn nī zuòdewán zuòbu-wán zhèixiē shi.
A: Nī néng gēn women qù Jiāzhōu ma?
B: Jiù kàn shíjiān le, yào shi xiàtiān jiu kéyi le.
Kàn nǐde le!
Are you going tomorrow or not?
Mm, that depends on the weather.
Can I go home early today?
That depends on whether you can finish these tasks.
Can you go to California with us?
That only depends on the time. If it’s in the summer I can go.
It’s all up to you now!
yùnqi: "luck; to be lucky" This word can be used either
as a noun or as an adjectival verb. The following sentences show
some of its uses as a noun:
Tāde yùnqi zhēn bú cuò. He really has good luck.
Nī yùnqi zhēn hǎo! You’re really lucky!
CTo say "to be unlucky," use dǎoméi or bù zǒu yùn.1
U. A: Wǒ xiǎng qù mǎi xiē gōngyì- I want to go buy some
handicrafts pǐn dàihuí Měiguó. to take back to
America.
B: Wǒ zhèr zhènghǎo yǒu jǐjiàn, I just happen to have some here.
nǐ dōu dàishang ba. Take them with you.
Notes on No. U
dàihuí: "to bring/take back" You have seen hui used as a
main verb meaning "to return to," in hui jiā, "to
return home," and hui guo, "to return to one's
country," and with the endings -lai and -qu as in huílai,
"to come back." Here you see it used as a directional
ending. Dàihuí can only be
used if it is followed by a place name, like Meiguo in sentence
Ua. Otherwise you should use
dàihuilai or dàihuiqu, depending on whether the direction is
toward or away from the point of reference.
Zhèixiē cài women chībuwán, kéyi dàihuiqu ma?
A: Zenme yuǎnde lù, zǒubuhuíqù le ba?
B: Zǒudehuíqù. Xiànzài cái wǔ-diǎn zhōng, zǒuhuiqu zhǐ yào
yíge bàn zhōngtóu jiu gòu le.
Nǐ bǎ péngyou sòngqu yǐhòu, děi bǎ chē kǎihuilai, wǒ yào yòng.
zhènghǎo(r):
We can’t finish these dishes (of food May we take them back with
us?
It’s such a long way. We can’t walk back, can we?
Sure we can. It’s only five o’clock now. It will only take an hour
and a half to walk back.
After you’ve dropped your friend off, you have to drive the car
back here I want to use it.
tt
(1) "just right; just in time; just enough
Nǐ zhèishuǎng xié wǒ chuān zhènghǎo (r).
Nǐ láide zhènghǎo(r), wǎn jifēn zhōng wǒ jiu zǒu le.
Zhèixiē qián zhènghǎo(r) mǎi nèige diànshì.
(2) "to be opportune"
Nǐ zài zhèr zhènghǎo(r), bang wo yíge máng.
(3) "as it happens, it just so happens"
Jīntiān zhènghǎo(r) pèngdao Lǐ Xiansheng, jiù bǎ shìqing bàn le.
These shoes of yours fit me just right.
You came just in time. If you’d come a few minutes later, I would
have already left.
This money is just enough to buy that T.V.
It’s a good thing (lit., "opportune") you’re here. You
can help me out.
I just happened to run into Mr. Lǐ today, so I took care of that
matter.
Wǒ běnlái xiǎng xiàge yuè mǎi I was originally going to buy a sofa
shāf ā”, jīntiān zhènghǎo(r) next month, but today I
happened to
pèngdao héshìde, jiù mǎi le. come across the right kind, so
I
bought it.
*pèngdao, "to run into, to come across"
**shāfā, "sofa"
dàishang: ”to take along with one" In the Beijing dialect,
the verh ending -shang is sometimes used to mean "along
with" a person. (For the first example you need to know tí,
"to carry from the hand at the side of the body.")
Tā tíshang shūhāo Jiu zǒu le. She picked up her schoolbag and
left.
Zhèige sǎn nǐ náshang ba. Take this umbrella along with
you.
Nǐ bàoshang háizi, wǒ názhe You carry the child, and I’ll
hold
zhèige. this.
Speakers who are not from Beijing would use different endings in
these cases, for example -zhe or -qu (depending on the meaning of
the sentence).
5. A: Hǎoxíàng shi Xiǎo Lǐ cong měnkǒur guòqu le.
B: Nǐ hǎohāorde zài zhèr niàn shū ba! Bié xiǎng dǒng xiǎng xǐde.
Notes on No. 5
guòqu: "to pass, to go over" guòqù (Falling-tone qù),
"the past"
Guòlai is "to come over."
That looked like Xiǎo Lǐ who Just passed by the door.
You Just tend to your studies
Iproperly3! Don’t be thinking of this and that.
Contrast guòqu (neutral-tone qu) with (see Unit U of this module).
Nǐ guòqu kànkan.
Menkǒu guòqu yíge rén.
Nàr guòlai yíge rén.
Yìhuīr Jiu guòqu le.
Kuài guòlai!
Guòlai zuò yihuǐr ba.
Guòlai!
Go over there and take a look.
Someone passed by the door.
Someone is coming over from there.
It will pass in Just a while.
Come on over here!
Come over (to my house) for a while.
(Lit., "Come over to sit awhile.")
C’mere! OR Get over here. (CAN BE IMPOLITE)
Guòqu is also a polite or respectful word for "to die,"
similar to English "to pass away." As mentioned in Unit
5» Chinese often avoid using the stark-sounding sǐ.
hǎohāor: "well; industriously; properly; thoroughly" In
Unit 1 of this module, you learned mànmānr "slowly,"
which is a reduplication of the adjectival verb màn "to be
slow." In Beijing conversation, the second màn is said with
the first tone, and -r is added, making mànmānr. In many other
parts of China, it is said as mànmàn. Likewise, Beijing hǎohāor is
often heard as hǎohǎo elsewhere. Reduplication allows an
adjectival verb to be used before a verb as a modifier, with or
without -de, for example, mànmàn(de) chi, "to eat
slowly," hǎohǎo(de) ting, "to listen well."
Hǎohǎorde (hǎohǎode) has more specific meanings than Just
"well." It can mean "properly,"
"thoroughly," or "nicely," or "in
perfectly good condition, with nothing the least bit wrong."
Xiànzài hǎohǎorde niàn shū, yǐhòu hǎohǎorde gōngzuò.
Gāngcái hai hǎohǎorde, xiànzài bù zhī zěnme hui shi you kū-qilai
le.
Zhèngzhide shìqing gen xiǎohǎizi wǎnr yíyàng, liǎngtiǎn yǐqián hai
hǎohǎorde, liǎngtiǎn yǐhòu Jiu dǎqilai le.
Study properly now, and do your Job properly later on.
Everything was fine Just a minute ago. Now I don’t know what
happened, but she’s crying again.
Politics is like children playing. First everything’s fine, and
then a couple of days later they’re fighting.
xiǎng dong xiǎng xǐ: "to think of this and that, to let one’s
mind wander*1Pong, "east,"
and xǐ, "west," are used in the patterns (Verb) dōng
(Verb) xǐ and dōng (Verb) xǐ~(Verb) to express that a person’s
action has no
definite aim or that something is done haphazardly. More examples:
kàn dōng kàn xǐ
xué dōng xué xǐ zōu dōng zōu xǐ zhǎo dōng zhǎo xǐ
You can also say dōng xiǎng xǐ xiǎng, examples in sentences:
Guò mǎlùde shihou, bié zhème kàn dōng kàn xīde, duó wēixiǎn a.'
Tā zong shi xué dōng xué xīde yǐjīng shínián le, hái méi cong
dàxué bìyè.
Nǐ shénme dōngxi diū le, zhǎo dōng zhǎo xīde.
looking here and there studying this and that walking all about
searching here and there
dōng kàn xǐ kàn, etc. Here are some
Don’t let your eyes wander when you cross the street. It’s very
dangerous !
He’s been studying this and that for ten years, and still hasn’t
graduated from college.
You’re hunting all over the place. What did you lose?
Zhèi liSngnián wǒ yìzhí zou dōng zou xǐ, méi shíjiān gēn Jiāli rén
zài yìqǐ.
The past couple of years I’ve been traipsing all over the place,
and haven’t had any time to be with my family.
...-de: Here you see a new use of the marker -de. After certain
phrases, especially ones with a parallel structure, -de means
"that way," describing a way of looking, acting, or Just
a state of affairs. (For the following examples, you need these
three items: lǎo, "all the time, always";
bù huāng bù máng, "calm, not the least injection. ’’)
Nǐ gànmá lǎo zǒuchǔ zǒujìnde?!
Shíjiǎn kuài dào le, nǐ zěnme hái bù huāng bù mángde?
Zhèi bànge duō yuè, you dǎ zhēn you chī yàode, tāde tuǐ hǎoxiàng
yǐjíng hǎo le.
Zhèi shi shénme xie! Yìzhī dà yìzhī xiǎode!
bit flustered"; and dǎ zhēn, "to get an
How come you keep walking in and out?.’
It’s almost time, how can you be so calm?
During the past half month or so, with all the injections and
medications , her leg seems to have already recovered.
What kind of shoes are these, with one bigger than the other!
6. A: Qùnián tāde Yǐngwén hái shuode nàme nántīng, jīn-nián
hǎoxiàng hǎoduō le. Shi zěnme hui shi?
Last year his English still sounded so awful, but this year it
seems a lot better. What happened?
B: Shi zènme hui shi, tā mǔqin téng ta, song ta qù Yīng-guō niànle
yìnián shū.
It’s this way, his mother dotes on him and sent him to school in
England for a year.
Notes on No. 6
téng: "to be fond of, to be attached to, to dote on"
Zhèige háizi, bù guǎn nǐ zěnme téng ta, tā yě bu tīng huà.
Nǎinai zhēn téng wǒ dìdi!
Zhèi háizi zhēn
kěài8!
Ràng rén bù néng bu téng!
Tā tèbié téng érzi, zǒng pà tā chībuhǎo.
This kid! No matter how fond of him you are, he never does what
you say.
Grandma is really attached to (OR dotes on) my younger brother.
This child is adorable; you can’t help but be fond of him!
She is especially attached to her son, and is always afraid that
he won’t eat well.
zěnme hui shi: "what happened; what’s it all about; what’s
the story" Also said as zěnme yìhuí shi. Zěnme here means
zěnmeyàng, "what kind, of what nature." Hui is a counter
for shi, as in You zhèihuí shi ma?, "is there such a
thing?" or "Did such a thing (really) happen?" In
the phrase zěnme yìhuí shi, the number yī is often dropped from
yìhuí just as it can be dropped in phrases like chǐ (yí)ge
píngguǒ, "eat an apple."
Zhèi shi zěnme hui shi? Wūli What is this, anyway? Why is this
zěnme nàme zāng? room so dirty?
Zhèi shi zěnme hui shi? Dōngxi What's going on, anyway? Things are
yìtiān bǐ yìtiān guì!
getting more and more expensive every day.
zènme hui shi: Also zhème hui shi. This phrase has two main uses:
(1) Used before telling the facts or details of an event, as in
sentence 6B.
(2) Said after one learns the facts or outcome of an event, e.g.,
Yuánlái shi zhème hui shi!
Oh, so that's the story.'
ào zhīdao shi zhème hui shi wǒ J iu bù lái le.
If I had known that was what it was all about, I wouldn't have
come.
Iā you qù zhǎo Xiǎo Lan gàn shenme, rénjia you bù xǐhuan ta!
What is he going to see Xiǎo Lan for? After all, she doesn't like
him.
Dotes on Do
bié Ji, wǒ lái quànquan .a.
Don't get upset, I'll try to persuade him.
zhǎo: Literally, "to look for," but when the object is a
person it can mean, "to call on" a person. This is the
way zhǎo is used in sentence TA, hence the translation "going
to see Xiǎo Lán," rather than "going to look for Xiǎo
Lan."
Xīngqītiān tǎ zǒngshi qù zhǎo péngyou.
On Sundays, he always goes to see his friends.
Zhèizhǒng wèntí zhǎo tǎ méi cuò!
When you have that kind of problem, you won't go wrong if you go
to him.
Zhǎo wǒ méi yòng, wǒ bù guǎn zhè shi.
It's useless to come to me about this matter, I'm not in charge of
it.
gàn shénme: "to do what; what for, why" Gan is the verb
"to do." Gan shénme and the similar gànmá can be used
(1) to ask what someone is doing; (2) like wèishénme, except with
a livelier, more conversational tone; or (3) rhetorically, to
question the value or use of something.
Nǐ gànmá ne?
What are you doing?
ǐ míngtiǎn gàn shénme?
What are you doing tomorrow?
Gàn shénme lǎo gēnzhe wǒ!?
What are you doing always following me?
gēn, "to follow"
Gànma mǎi zhèige? Name guì!
Ní gànma zong ting tāde?!
Hai zài zhèr gàn shénme? Kuài hui jiā ha!
Zhèi shi xiǎo shìqing ma! Ní gànma zhème shēngqì?
Zhèige dōngxi shi gànmáde?
A: Wǎnshang ní yídìng dào tā jiā qù yítàng.
B: Gàn shenme?
A: Bǎ zhèige sòngqu.
What did you "buy this for? It’s so expensive!
How come you always do what he says?!
Why are you still here? Hurry up and go home!
This is such a small matter! Why should you get so angry?
What’s this thing for?
You have to go to her house tonight.
What for?
To take this to her.
Lián ní dou hú qù, wǒ gàn shenme qù?!
If you aren’t even going, why should I go?
you: You have seen the adverb you meaning (1) ’’again,” as in Ní
you lái le, ’’You’re here again” and (2) ’’both.. .and.as in You
hǎo you piányi, T^Both good and inexpensive.” In sentence TA, you
is used to stress that the speaker thinks what he is saying is a
strong reason why something should he otherwise. This you is
usually used in sentences with the verb made negative, or in
rhetorical questions (those to which no answer is expected).
IN SENTENCES WITH THE VERB MADE NEGATIVE
Tā you hù shǎ.
Wǒ you hù zhīdào jintiǎn xià yǔ.
Ní you méi kànjianguo ta, ni zěnme zhīdao tā hù hǎo?
Tā you hú shi wàijiāoguān, zěnme zài dàshiguǎn gōngzuò?
IN RHETORICAL QUESTIONS
Tā you zhīdao shénme?
Shéi you néng kànde nàme yuǎn ne?
He’s no dummy, after all.
After all, I didn’t know it was going to rain today.
You’ve never seen him, after all; how could you know he’s no good?
He’s not a diplomat, after all; why is he working in the embassy?
What does he know, anyway? (Means, ”He doesn’t know anything.”)
Who could have seen that far ahead, after all? (Means, ”No one
could have seen that far.”)
Bùzhǎng you zěnmeyàng?
So what if he’s a (government) minister? (Means, ’’The fact that
he’s a government minister is unimpressive.”)
Yàoshi tā hù néng zuò, shéi you If he can't do it, who can?
(Means, néng zuò ne? "if he can't,
nobody can.")
quàn: "to advise" or "to try to persuade" a
person. This describes the action of talking to someone in order
to bring them around to a certain way of thinking. Sentence 7B
might be translated simply as, "Don't get upset, I'll talk to
him."
Wǒ quàn ni háishi bú yào xué wénxué, bìyè yǐhòu zhao gōngzuò nan
na.'
My advice to you is not to study literature. It would be awfully
hard to find a job after you graduate.
Tāde shi nǐ bú yào quàn, tā huì gěi ni zhǎo máfande.
You'd better not try to advise him about his affairs, otherwise
he'll give you trouble.
8. A: Nǐ shuō wō gāi bu gai qù? Do you think I should go?
B: Nǐ kànzhe bàn ba, tíngshuō You do as you see fit, but I
hear
nèige dìfangr kuài dǎ that there's about to be a war
zhàng le. there.
Notes on No. 8
gāi: "should; ought to; to be someone's turn to (do
something)" Gāi is an auxiliary verb very similar in meaning
to yinggāi.
Kuài qīdiǎn bàn le, wǒ gāi shàng It's almost seven-thirty. I
should bān qu le. be leaving for work.
Wǒ gāi shuō shénme ne? What should I say?
Gāi is frequently used before the subject of a clause. In such
cases it can also mean "to be (someone's) turn to (do
something)."
Míngtiān gāi tā qǐng kè le. Tomorrow it's his turn to
treat.
Zhèixiē shi běnlái gāi wǒ zuòde, bìngle zhèi jǐtiān, tǒngshì-men
dōu bāng máng zuòwán le.
Zhèicì gāi wǒ qǐng ni kàn dianyǐng le.
Gāi nǐ zǒu le OR Gāi nǐ le.
It should have been me who did these things in the first place,
but with me being sick the past few days, my colleagues finished
them all for me.
This time it's my turn to treat you to a movie.
Your move OR It's your turn, (in playing a game)
kànzhe: In front of another verb, kànzhe means "(do
something) as one sees fit." The "locking" in
kànzhe refers to looking at the situation in order to decide what
one is able to do and what is best to do. The most common phrase
in which kànzhe appears is kànzhe bàn, "to do as one thinks
bes
A:
Nǐ shuō wǒ shi qù hǎo ne?
Do you think it would be best for me
Háishi bú qù hǎo?
to go or not to go?
B:
Zěnme shuō ne? Nǐ kànzhe
What should I say? Do what you think
bàn ba!
best!
A:
Nī yào mǎi shenme yánsède
What color shirt do you want to buy?
chènshǎn?
B:
Nǐ kànzhe mǎi ba.
Buy what you think best.
dǎ zhang: ”to fight a war, to go to war” This is a verb plus
general object, like niàn shū. Zhang is not used by itself (except
in a construction like Zhèi yízhang dale hǎojǐge yuè, ’’This
battle/war was fought for many months," in which zhang simply
precedes dǎ instead of following it).
If you want to say ’’war" by itself, you have to use another
word, zhànzhēng, which is taught in the next module.
9. A: Gangcái wǒ qù gěi Wang Daifu sòngxíng, tǎ shuo tǎ yuànyi gěi
nín kànkan.
B: Zhèi yíxiàzi hǎo le. Děng tǎ huílai wǒ qù kàn ta.
Just now when I went to see Dr. Wáng off, he said he would be
willing to see you Cmedically].
(Now) that’s great. I’ll go see him when he gets back.
Notes on No. 9
sòngxíng: (1) "to see off, to
Xiàwǔ liǎngdiǎn wǒ dào jīchǎng gěi Zhāng Xiansheng, Zhāng Tàitai
sòngxíng.
wish (someone) a good trip"
At two this afternoon I’m going to the airport to see Mr. and Mrs.
Zhāng off.
(2) "to give a going-away party"
A: Nǐ jǐntiǎn wǎnshang yǒu Are you busy tonight?
meiyou shi?
B: Women jǐntiǎn wǎnshang chūqu We’re going out for dinner
tonight chǐ fàn, gěi péngyou song- to have a going-away party
for a xíng. friend.
zhèi yíxiàzi: "as a result of this" This means that
something has happened which brings a new turn to the situation.
It can often be translated into English simply by using the word
"now." (in sentence 9B, it may be best just to omit it
from the translation.)
Qián lái le, zhèi yíxiàzi keyi The money has come. Now we can buy
mǎi fángzi le! the house!
Zhèi yíxiàzi zǎogǎo le, wǒde This is terrible! I don’t have
qián bú gòu le. enough money (e.g., to pay for
the
things I just brought to the cashier).
děng: "when, by the time; till" This word, which you
first learned as "to wait," can have these other
meanings in a dependent clause. This use is similar to that of
děng dào, which you learned in Unit 3 may be used for
"when" or "by the time.’
Děng wǒ dàole Běijīng wǒ cái zhīdao tā yě zài Běijīng.
It wasn’t till I got to Běijīng that I found out he was there too.
10. A:
Zhèige shǎ háizi, zenme dàde shir yě bu zǎo diǎnr gàosu wo!
What a stupid kid, why didn’t you tell me about this before, since
it’s such an important thing.
B: Wǒ yuánlái gēn nín shuǒguo, I did tell you, but you’ve
forgotten, nín wàng le.
Notes on No. 10
shǎ: "to be stupid, to be silly, to be naive"
Nī zhen shǎ! Qián fàng zai yin- You’re really silly. It’s such a
hángli duo hǎo! Fàng zai jiāli gàn shénme?
good idea to put your money in a bank, what are you keeping it at
home for?
Shǎ háizi, bié zǒng wèn nèixiě shǎ wèntí, hǎo bu hǎo?
You silly kid, would you quit asking such silly questions all the
time?
zǎo: Besides "early," zǎo can also mean "before,
sooner," or "long ago." Here are more examples.
Tāmen jīge nútongxué zǎo jiu pǎo dao hǎibiānr qu wánr le.
Hài!
.i! Wǒ zǎo lái yìtiān jiu hǎo le.
Those women students took off for the beach a long time ago.
(Sigh) If only I had come a day earlier.
Sometimes zǎo only conveys the speaker’s feeling of regret and
irritation. "A long time ago" might actually be no more
than a moment ago. In such cases, zǎo can be translated by
intonation alone:
Nī zěnme bù zǎo shuō! Xiànzài hái láidejí ma?
Wǒ zǎo zhīdào tā shi zhèige yàngzi jiu bú huì zhème shǎ le.
Why didn’t you say so (before)’. How can we make it in time now?
If I had known that he was this way I wouldn’t have been so naive.
yě bu: "don’t even, won’t even, wouldn’t even" do
something that one should do.
Bādiǎn bàn le, nī yě bu zǎo diǎnr It’s half past eight! Why didn’t
you jiào wo, wǒ xiànzài láibují le. get me up before? Now I won’t
make it in time.
Ní yě "bu kuài diǎnr shōushi, wǒmen dōu děngjí le.
Tā yě "bu kuài diǎnr lai, cài yījīng liáng le!
Will you hurry up and get your things ready? We’re all getting
itchy (from waiting).
What is keeping him C"Won’t he even come a little faster’’!?
The food is cold already!
yuānlāi: (1) "originally” In this meaning, it is usually
interchange
able with běnlái, which you learned in Unit T.
Tā yuánlái bù chī ròu, xiànzài He didn’t used to eat meat. No he’s
bù zhídào zěnme chiqilai le. started eating it for some
reason.
Wǒ yuánlái méi jìhua qù Ōuzhōu, I hadn’t originally planned to go
to hòulái tā yídìng yào qù, wǒ Europe. Then she insisted on
going,
yě jiu
gēnqu9
wánrle yítàng. so I went along for the fun of it.
(2) Used when revealing a fact which was not previously known,
especially when that fact provides an explanation or solution to a
puzzling situation. .This can sometimes be translated by "it
turns out that..." or by ’’So...’."
(Běnlái cannot be used for this meaning.)
Wǒ xiǎng shi tā xiěde, yuánlái jiù shi ní xiěde!
À! Yuánlái nī jiù shi Xu Xian-sheng? Huānyíng, tài huānyíng le!
À, yuánlái shi zhème hui shi!
(3) Yuánláide may be used to modify a
Women yuánláide jìhua shi xiàge Xīngqíwǔ qù.
Tāmen yuánláide fángzi zài chéngwàitou, xiànzài bān dao chéngli qu
zhù le.
Oh, so you wrote this! I thought he wrote it.
Oh! So you’re Mr. Xú? Welcome! Welcome indeed!
Oh! So that’s what happened!
noun, with the meaning "original":
Our original plan was to go next Friday.
Their original house was outside the city, (but) now they’ve moved
into the city.
Unit 8, Review Dialogue
In Lǐ Ping and Tom’s room, Tom (A) is getting his things packed,
when
Lǐ Ping (B) comes in.
B: Tāngmǔ, wo tǐngshuō nǐ yào qù
dàlù le?
A: Shǐ a, shàngwu wǒ dào lǐngshi-
guǎn qù kàn yige péngyou. Zhèng-hǎor you yige gongsǐ dào dàlù qu
tan shēngyì. Tāmen yào yige dǎ zì dǎde kuài, you dong diǎnr
Zhōngwěnde rén.
B: Nǐ yùnqi zhēn hú cuò. Yào
qù duō jiǔ ne?
A: Yào kàn qíngkuàng, dàgài
hànge yuè dào yíge yuè.
B: Wǒ yě dào Taiwan qù hànge yuè.
Wáng Chéng qǐng wǒ hé Xiǎo Wén dào tā jiā qu wānr.
A: Āhà! Zhè yíxiàr zhēn hú cuò,
wǒ qù dàlù, nǐ qù Taiwǎn, huílai yǐhòu women lai yige kǎoshì,
kàn-kan shéi duì shèhui qíngkuàng yǎnjiūde hǐjiǎo hǎo.
B: Hǎo’
(Lī Ping’s grandmother (C) enters
C: Xiǎo Ping, Tāngmǔ, nīmen dou
zài zhèr ne!
B: Nǎinai, nín zěnme hú shuì wǔ-
jiào le?”
A: Lǐ Nǎinai, duìhuqǐ, women hǎ
nín chǎoxīng le.
Tom, I hear you’re going to the mainland?
Yeah! I went to the consulate this morning to visit a friend, and
there Just happened to he a company going to the mainland on
business. They wanted someone who could type fast and who
understood a little Chinese.
You’re so lucky. How long are you going for?
We’ll have to see. Prohahly two weeks to a month.
And I’m going to Taiwan for two weeks. Wáng Chéng invited Xiǎo Wén
(Lǐ Wén) and me to his house.
That’s great! You’re going to Taiwan and I’m going to the
mainland. When we get hack we’ll have to have a little contest and
see who’s done a better job of studying society.
Okay.
Hi, Xiǎo Ping. Hi, Tom.*
How come you’re not taking your nap, grandma?**
I’m sorry Grandma Lī, we woke you up.
C: Méiyou, wǒ yě gāi qǐlai le.’
Tāngmǔ a, nǐ dào dàlù qu, bú xiàng zài Měiguo, zài Xianggang; yào
zhīdao duō zhàogu zìjǐ. Xiǎo Ping mama chūqu gěi ni mǎi diǎnr
dōngxi dàishang.
A: Lǐ Nǎinai, wǒ shénme dōu you,
bú yòng dài le.
(Xiǎo Wén (E) comes in quietly.)
E: Wǒ nǎinai, wǒ mā dōu téng ni,
nǐ jiu dàishang ba!
A: Lǐ Nǎinai, wǒ hui Měiguo
yǐqiān, hai xiǎng zài lai yícì, xíng bu xíng?
C: Zhèi haizi, zěnme bù xíng ne?
Zhèr jiù shi nǐde jiā ya!
A: Nín yào wǒ gěi nín dài diǎnr
shénme dōngxi a?
C: Duì le, zhèr yǒu yìzhāng
dānzi,”1011 12 shi
yìxiē gōngyìpǐn, qian Jiù zài zhèige xìnfēngrli, nǐ kànzhe mǎi ba!
E: Nǎinai, zánmen jiā you name
xiě gōngyìpǐn, hái mǎi tā gàn shénme!
C: Shǎ háizi, děng dao nǐ jiēhūnde
shihou jiu yǒu yòng le.
E: Name nántīng!
C: Nà you shénme nántīng, hǎo shir
ma!
No you didn’t. It was about time I got up anyway.
Tom, when you go to the mainland, it won’t be like America or Hong
Kong; you’ll have to know how to look after yourself. Xiǎo Ping’s
mother went out to get you some things to take with you.
I have everything, Grandma Lǐ, I don’t need to take anything else.
My grandmother and mother are fond of you, go ahead and take the
things!
Grandma Lǐ, I have to come back here once again before I go to
America. Will that be okay?
Oh, this youngster! How could it not be all right? This is your
home!
Did you want me to bring you back something?
Yes, here’s a
list.10
’ It’s some handicrafts. The money is in this envelope. Buy what
you can.
We have so many handicrafts already, why do you want to buy more
of them?
Silly girl! They’ll come in handy when you get married.
Ugh! That sounds awful!
What’s so awful about that? That (marriage) is a happy event.
E: Nimen zài zhèr, wǒ qu kànkan,
hǎoxiàng mama huílai le.
(Xiǎo Wen leaves.)
A: Nǎinai, Xiǎo Wen zhēnde yào.
jiēhūn le?
B: Shi zhème hui shi, Xiǎo Wen
zài Yingguo niàn shūde shihou rènshile yíge Rìběn ren, xiànzài tǎ
he Xiǎo Wen zài yíge yínhǎngli zuò shi, duì Xiǎo Wen hú cuò. Kěshi
. . .
C: Yuǎnlǎi, wǒ he Xiǎo Wen tǎ
hàba dōu hù tóngyì. Nǐ xiǎng ma, Zhōngguo rén he Rìběn rén zěnme
yě méi hànfar hiàncheng yìjiǎzi’ ya! Kěshi Xiǎo Wen hé tǎ mǎma
yuànyì, wǒmen yě jiu hù néng shūo shénme le.
A: Xiǎo Wen mǎma zěnme shuō ne?
C: Tǎ quànle wo hǎojǐcì. Tǎde
huà you dàoli. Tǎ shuō, Zhōngguo rén hé Rìběn rén shi dǎguo zhàng.
Kěshi xiànzài, shìqing yǐjǐng guòqu jǐshíniǎn le, wèishenme hai
yào ràng hǎizimen chǐ kǔ ne?
A: Bómǔ shuōde duì. Ei, wǒ lai
Xiǎnggǎng zènme duō tiǎn le, zěnme hai méi kànjian ta ne?
C: Tǎ hui Rìhěn kàn tā mǎma qu le,
nèi shi ge xiàoshunde haizi. Děng nǐ cong dàlù huílaide shihou, tǎ
yě gǎi huílai le.
A: Zhēn you yìsi!
Don’t get
up.1314 I
think mom is hack, I’m going to go see.
Is Xiǎo Wén really getting married, grandma?
It’s like this: When Xiǎo Wén was studying in England she met a
Japanese guy. Now he works at the same hank as she does. He’s very
nice to her, hut . . .
Originally, Xiǎo Wén’s father and I were both against it. After
all, there’s Just no way that Chinese and Japanese can
"become part of the same family. But Xiǎo Wén and her mother
wanted it, so there wasn’t anything we could say about it.
What did Xiǎo Wén’s mother say about it?
She tried to persuade me many times. What she said makes sense.
She said that the Chinese and the Japanese did go to war, but now
that it’s all been over for a few decades, why should the children
still be made to suffer for it?
She’s right about that. By the way, I’ve been here in Hong Kong
for so many days now, how is it that I haven’t seen him?
He went back to Japan to visit his mother. He’s a very filial boy.
He should be back by the time you come back from the mainland.
That’s so interesting!
C: You yìsi "ba,! Tāngmǔ, nǐ "bù zhǐ- Oh, it’s
interesting all right,
dào, rén lǎo le, guānniàn yě lǎo You don’t know, Tom, when a
person
le, youde shíhour zhēnde yào gǎi- gets old, their ideas get old
too.
gai le. Sometimes one really has to
change
a hit.
(Xiǎo Ping’s mother CF1 comes in carrying some things.)
B: Mā, nī huilai le?
F: Huilai le.
A: Bómǔ, wǒ shuō shénme hǎo ne?
Nín shizài tài kèqi le.
F: Zhèidiǎn chide, yòngde, dōu
dàiqu, zhèliǎngjiàn yīfu děngyixià chuānchuan kàn, héshì hu héshì.
A: Bomǔ, nà jiu xièxie le.
F: Nàme yidiǎndiǎn dōngxi xiè
shenme. LÙshang hǎohǎo zhàogu zìjī, shìqing wǎnle jiu huílai,
xiūxi jītiān zài hui Měiguo.
A: Ng, wǒ yídìng huílai.
C: Guò liǎngtiǎn, Xiǎo Ping, Xiǎo
Wén yě yào zǒu le. Xiǎo Ping mā,2 jīnr^ wǎnshang
zǎm1* hú zuò fàn le. Děng huǐr Xiǎo
Ping bàba huílai, yíkuàir chūqu chi wǎnfàn, gěi hǎizimen songsong
xíng, hǎo bu hǎo?
F: Hǎode, hǎode.
Hi mom, you’re back?
Hi, yeah, I’m back.
Auntie, what can I say? This is really too polite of you.
This food and these things are for you to take with you. And these
two things to wear you can try on later and see if they fit you.
Well then, thanks a lot, auntie.
Why should you thank me for these odds and ends! You just look
after yourself very carefully while you’re traveling, and when the
job is finished come back here and rest up for a few days before
you go back to America.
Okay, I’ll be sure and come back.
In another day or two Xiǎo Ping and Xiǎo Wén will be leaving too.
Mom, let’s not make dinner tonight. When Xiǎo Ping’s father gets
back, we’ll all go out to dinner and have a going-away party for
the kids, okay?
All right.
Exercise 1
This exercise is a review of the Reference List sentences in this
unit. The speaker will say a sentence in English, followed, by a
pause for you to translate it into Chinese. Then a second speaker
will confirm your answer.
All sentences from the Reference List will occur only once. You
may want to rewind the tape and practice this exercise several
times.
Exercise 2
In this exercise a mother and son talk in their apartment in
Hangzhou.
The conversation occurs only once. After listening to it
completely, you’ll probably want to rewind the tape and answer the
questions below as you listen a second time.
Here are the new words and phrases you will need to understand
this conversation:
xiǎo diǎnr shēngr a little more quietly
hǎo to wrap
tan liǎn'ài to be in love, to be going
together
(having a courtship)
Questions for Exercise 2
Exercise 3
In this conversation a mother talks to her daughter in Běijīng
about her grandparents.
Listen to the conversation once straight through. Then, on the
second time through, look below and answer the questions.
Here are the new words for this conversation:
qiánxiē nian a few years back
zài shuō besides, moreover
Questions for Exercise 3
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you can
talk about them in class.
1. What is Xiǎo Yun doing? Why?
2. What is the latest news about Xiǎo Yun’s grandfather?
3. Why does the mother seem to have little regard for the
company she talks about?
U. According to the mother, what is the grandfather’s attitude
toward work?
5. What does the mother ask her daughter to write into the letter
to grandfather?
After you have answered these questions yourself, you may want to
take a look at the translation for this conversation. You may also
want to listen to the conversation to help you practice saying the
answers which you have prepared.
Exercise U
Zhū Lǎozǒng (an affectionate name for Zhū
De,
a military leader of China and commander of the Eighth Route Army
during the -war of resistance against Japan.)
jūnduì army
Questions for Exercise h
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you can
talk about them in class.
1. What did Wáng Lǎo Shífu do before the war of resistance
against Japan? Was it a secure job?
2. What happened to his business during the war of resistance
against Japan?
3. What did "Zhū Laozǒng" (Zhū De) do at that time?
What did Wáng Lǎo ShTfu do for Zhū Laozǒng?
After you have answered these questions, you may want to take a
look at the translation for this conversation. You may also want
to listen to the conversation again to help you pronounce your
answers correctly.
Dialogue and. Translation for Exercise 2
A mother (B) and her son (A) talk in their apartment in Hangzhou.
A: Ma, wǒ jiějie shénme shihou zǒu
a?
B: Wǎnshang shiyidiǎn zhōngde
huǒchě. Nǐ xiǎo diǎnr shēngr shuō huà. Bié bǎ tǎ chǎoxǐng le, ràng
ta zài duō shuì yihuǐr.
A: Ao, jiějie shuì wǔjiào na, wǒ
xiǎo diǎnr shēngr. Mā, jiějie yào dàizǒude dōngxi dou zhǔnbèi-hǎo
le ma?
B: Chàbuduō le, jiù shi hái you
yìxiē gōngyìpǐn méiyou nònghǎo, nǐ huílaile, zhènghǎo bangbang
mang, bǎ zhèixiē dōngxi bǎoqilai.
A: Jiějie shi dào Měiguo qù niàn
shūde, dài gōngyìpǐn gàn shénme?
B: Zài dàxuélī niàn shū zong huì
you ge hǎo péngyou, wàiguo rén xǐhuan Zhōngguo gōngyìpǐn, dàishang
yidiǎnr, songsong rén, bú shi hěn hǎo ma?
A: Hǎo, wǒ yihuǐr jiù bǎohǎo le.
Ma, when is older sister leaving?
On the 11:00 train this evening. Speak a little more quietly.
Don’t wake her, let her sleep a little while longer.
Oh, sister is taking a (noontime) nap. I’ll speak more softly. Ma,
have all the things older sister is going to take along with her
been gotten ready?
Just about, there are Just a few handicrafts not yet taken care
of. You’ve come back just in time to help by wrapping these
things.
Sister’s going to America to go to school; what is she taking
handicrafts for?
In college you’re always going to have a good friend. Foreigners
like Chinese handicrafts. So isn’t it a a good idea to take some
along to give people as gifts?
Okay, I’ll have them wrapped in a minute.
B: Duì le, nǐ zài zhèr nòng, wǒ
dào chúfáng kàn yíxià, kànkan cài hǎole méiyou.
A: Wǎnshàng hai you kèren ma?
Oh—you take care of this here, and I’ll go take a look in the
kitchen to see if the food is done.
Are there guests coming tonight, too?
B: You. Děng yíxià Zhōu Bómǔ hé
tā érzi lai gěi nǐ jiějie sòng-xíng.
A: Mā, wǒ kàn, wǒ jiějie gēn Xiǎo
Zhōu hǎoxiàng bú cuò ma!
B: Shǎ haizi! Nǐ jiějie gēn Xiǎo
Zhōu tan liàn’ài kuài yinian le, nǐ hái bù zhīdào!
Yes, in a little while Mrs. (Auntie) Zhōu and her son are coming
over to give your sister a send-off.
Ma, I think older sister and Xiǎo Zhōu seem to be getting along
pretty well!
You dumb kid! Your sister and Xiǎo Zhōu have been in love for
almost a year now. Didn’t you know?!
A: Ao! Yuánlái shi zenme hui
shir! Hǎo, mā, nǐ kuài máng qu ha! Zhèi diǎnr gōngyìpǐn jiāo gěi
wǒ le.
B: Nǐ kuài hǎo, hāowánle, dào
chúfāng lai hǎng wo máng.
A: Xíng, wǒ yìhuǐr jiù lái.
Oh, so that’s what’s heen going on all along. Okay, mom, you go
ahead with your work. Hand the handicrafts over to me.
Get these wrapped quickly. When you’re done, come to the kitchen
and help me.
Okay, I’ll he there in a minute.
Dialogue and Translation for Exercise 3
In Běijīng a mother (B) talks with her daughter (A).
B: Xiǎo Yun na, zuotiān kǎoshì
kǎowán le, jǐntiǎn hái zài wūli máng shénme na?
A: Xiě jīfēng xìn, zhèixiě xìn
zǎo jiù gāi xiě le, Jǐntiǎn you yidiǎnr shíjiān, wǒ xiǎng hǎ
ta-men xiěwán.
B: Gěi yéyede xìn xiěle méiyou?
Yéye name téng nǐ, kuài gěi tā xiě fēng xìn ha!
A: Shāngcì yéye lái xìn shuō,
tāmen gōngsī qǐng tā qù hāng máng ne. Zhèijiàn shir, nín zěnme
xiǎng?
B: Tāmen gōngsī xiǎng gēn wàiguo
rén zuò shēngyì, qǐng yéye qù hāng máng, zhèijiàn shir, wǒ shénme
yě hú yuànyi shuō.
A: Wèishénme ne?
B: Qiánxiē nián, tāmen gōngsíde
rén shuō nǐ yéye, shuōde nàme nántīng. Xiànzài tāmen you wèntí le,
you xiǎngdào nǐ yéye le.
Suàn le ha, ràng tāmen kànzhe hàn ha. Wǒ hù xiǎng quàn nǐ yéye qù
hāng zhèige máng. Niánji dàle, hǎohǎorde zài jiāli xiūxixiūxi hi
shénme dōu hǎo.
Xiǎo Yun, your exams were over yesterday. What are you still
working on here today?
Writing a few letters. I should have written them a long time ago.
I have a little time today, so I wanted to get them written.
Have you written grandfather? He's so fond of you, you really
should write him a letter!
The last time grandfather wrote, he said that their company had
asked him to go help out. What do you think of that?
Their company wants to do business with foreigners, so they asked
your grandfather to help out. I don’t want to say anything about
this.
Why?
A few years back, the people in the company were saying such awful
things about your grandfather. But now, they go to him with their
problems. The hell with it! Let them do what they like.
I don’t want to advise your grandfather to help them. When a
person gets old, it’s best for him to stay at home and get a lot
of relaxation.
“This means "No comment. If I said anything about this, it
wouldn’t be complimentary."
A: Mā, wǒ xiǎng yéye yídìng bù
tongyì nínde shuōfǎr. Guòqùde shir yǐjíng guòqu le. Xiànzài you
rén qǐng ta hang mang, zài shuō zhèixiē shir duì guojiā you
hǎochù, tā yídìng huì qù zuòde.
B: Wǒ yě zhīdao, nǐ yéye nèige
rén zhǐ yào yǒu gōngzuò, hù guǎn duō nan, tā yě huì pīnmìng qù
zuòde. Nǐ xiě xìnde shíhou, hié wàngle xiěshang, ràng tā hié tài
lèi le, měitiān shuì ge xiǎo wǔjiào.
A: Hǎo. Xiěshang le. Nǎinai huì
hǎohāor zhàogu yéyede. Nín fàng-xīn hǎo le.
B: Ài! Hǎo le, wǒ yào chūqu mǎi
dōngxi, nǐde xìn xiěwán le méiyou? Wǒ lai gěi nǐ jì.
A: Zhèi sānfēng xìn xiěwán le,
děng yíxiàr, wǒ tieshang youpiào. Hǎo, xiànzài hǎo le. Nín názǒu
ha.
B: Wǒ zǒu le.
A: Mā, nín zǎo diǎnr huílai!
Ma, I’m sure that grandfather wouldn’t agree with that. What’s
over is over ("Past things are already past"). Now
someone asks him to help out, and besides, these things are good
for the country. I’m sure he’ll do it.
I know that too. Your grandfather is the kind of person who, as
long there’s a joh, will knock himself out to do it, no matter how
hard it is. When you write the letter, don’t forget to write that
he mustn’t tire himself out too much, and to take a little
noontime nap every day.
Okay. It’s written. Grandma will take good care of grandfather.
Don't you worry.
(Sigh) Okay, I’ve got to go out to huy some things. Have you
finished writing your letters? I’ll mail them for you.
These three are finished. Wait a second while I put stamps on
them. Okay, they’re ready. Here they are.
I’m leaving.
Ma, don’t he gone long!
Dialogue and Translation for Exercise h
In the office of a factory in Běijīng, are on the night shift:
A: Wáng Lǎo Shīfu, nín xiūxi yì-
huǐr ha. Wǒ zài zhèr kànzhe, nín hié dānxīn, wǒ hú huì shuì
jiàode.
B: Ou, wǒ hú lèi, zánmen liǎ
liáoliao tiānr ha!
an older man (B) and a younger man (A)
Old Master Wáng, you rest a while. I’ll watch things here, don’t
worry. I won’t fall asleep.
I’m not tired. Let’s us two have a chat!
A: Wáng Lǎo Shīfu, wǒ tīngshuō, Old Master Wáng, I’ve
heard that
nín jiěfàng qian jiù cānjiǎ gé you joined the revolutionary
ranks
mi ng le, nínde gùshi yídìng hù before liberation. You must
have
shǎo, gěi wo jiǎngjiang ba! a lot of stories; tell me one!
°liǎ: A colloquial word meaning liǎngge.
B: Nǐ zhǐdao, jiěfàng qian wǒ shi
zuò xiǎo mǎimaide, nèi shihou zuò xiǎo mǎimai duo nán! Neng bu
néng zhuàn yidiǎnr qián dōu yào kàn yùnqi hǎo huài.
A: Hòulái ne?
B: Hòulái Rìběn rén lái le, Rìběn
rén gēn zánmen dǎ zhàng. zhèi yí-xiàzi wǒde mǎimai . . .
A: Zuòbuxiàqu le.
B: Bu shi, wǒde mǎimai yuè zuò
yuè dà le.
A: Zěnme ne?
B: Nǐ xuéguo lìshǐ. Nǐ zhīdao nèi
shihou Zhu Lǎozǒng gēn Rìběn rén dǎle yízhàng . . .
A: Zhǐdao, nèi yízhàng dǎle hǎo
jǐge yuè. Nèi shihou nín gàn shénme ne?
B: Wǒ? Wǒ yìtiān dào wǎn názhe
dānzi gěi Zhū Lǎozǒngde jūnduì mǎi dōngxi ya! Shénme chide,
chuānde, yào a, wǒ dōu néng mǎidào.
A: Ēi, zhēn you yìsi, nín zài gěi
wo jiǎngjiang.
B: Ou, xiànzài bù néng jiǎng le.
Zánmen gāi chūqu kànkan le. Yàoshi méiyou shénme wèntí, huílai wǒ
zài gěi nǐ jiǎng.
A: Nà zánmen zǒu ba!
You know, before liberation I was in small business. At that time,
it was so hard to do small business. Whether or not you could make
a little money depended on whether your luck was good or bad.
And later?
Later the Japanese came. After the Japanese went to war with us,
my business . . .
You couldn’t carry it on.
No, it got bigger and bigger.
How was that?
You’ve studied history. You know that at that time Zhū Lǎozǒng
(Zhū Dé) fought with the Japanese . . .
Yes, they fought for many months. What were you doing at that
time?
Me? From morning to night T was carrying a list buying things for
Zhū Cé’s army. Food, clothes, medicine, T could buy them all.
Gee, that’s fascinating, tell me more.
I can’t now. It’s time we went out and took a look. If there
aren’t any problems, I’ll tell you more after we get back.
Then let’s go!
VOCABULARY
ài
to love
7.6
ài shang
to fall in love with
7.6
āndìng
to "be peaceful and stable, to be
7.7
quiet and settled
bàba
father, dad, papa
7-U
báitiān
daytime
7.3
-ban
(counter for class of students)
7.3’
bàng
to be great, to be fantastic, to be terrific
T.U’, 7.7
bang máng
to help; help
7.U
bangzhu
to help; help; as a help to, for
7.2
bāo
to wrap
7.8’
bǎochí
to keep, to preserve, to maintain
7.5
bǎohù
to protect
7.6
bèihòu
behind someone’s back
7.2’
-bèizi
all one’s life, lifetime
7.2
běnlái
originally, in the beginning, at first; to begin with,
in the first place
7.7
běnrén
herself, himself, oneself, nyself, etc.
7.6’
bí
to compare
7.1’
biàn
to change, to become different
7.3
biànchéng
to change into
7.2’, 7-3
bìcǐ
each other, one another, both; the same to you
7-5’
bìngrén
sick person, patient
7.3’
bómǔ
aunt (wife of father’s elder brother);
(term for the mother of one’s friend)
7.8
boshì
Ph.D.
7-2’
bú fàngxīn
to worry
7.3’
bù guǎn
no matter (what, whether, etc.)
7.5’, 7.6
bù huāng bù máng
calm, not the least bit flustered
7.8’
bú Jiàn bú sàn
don’t leave until we’ve met up
7.7’
bù Jiǎndān
not ordinary, not commonplace; remarkable
7.7’
bù néng bu
to have to, must
7.7
bù shǎo
to be quite a lot, to be much, to be many
7.U
bú shi...Jiù shi...
if it isn’t...then it’s...; either... or...
7.7
bú xiàng huà
to be ridiculous, to be outrageous, to be absurd (talk,
acts, etc.)
7.6
cai
only (before an amount)
7.3
cái
only in that case, only under this
7.5
condition
caichan
property
7.1
cānjiā
to participate in, to take part in;
7.6
to Join; to attend
cháng
to be long
7.1
chang gē
to sing (songs)
7.6°
chāo
to be noisy; to disturb by making
7.8
noise
chǎoxǐng
to wake (someone) up by being noisy
7.8
-chéng
(verb ending) into
7.3
chéngshì
city; urban
7.6
chéngyuánguó
member country
7.6°
chǐbuxiàqù
to be unable to eat
7.3
chi kǔ
to suffer, to undergo hardship
7.1
chōu yān
to smoke (tobacco)
7.6
chuáng
bed
7.2°, 7.5
chuántong
tradition, traditional
7.1
conglái
ever (up till now), always (up till
7.3
now)
conglái bù/méi
never (up till now)
7.3
cóng...(Verb)-qī
to begin (Verb)-ing from...
7.7
cūnr
village
7.6°
dàduōshù(r)
the great majority
7.5
-dài
generation; era, (historical) period
7.5
dàishang
to take along (Běijīng)
7.8
dàjiě
"older sister" (a respectful term
7.1'
of address for a woman about one’s own age or older)
dàlù
mainland, continent
7.1
dang
(political) party
7.6
dǎnxǐn
to be worried, to be uneasy
7.1
dānzi
list; form
7.8
dào
to pour, to dump
7.1
-dào
(resultative ending used for percep-
7.3
tion by one of the senses: Jiàndao, kàndao, tīngdao,
etc.)
-dào
(resultative ending used to indicate
7.3
reaching; in xiǎngdào, tándào, etc., translated as
"about" or "of")
dàochù
everywhere
7.7'
dàodé
morality, morals, ethics
7.2
dào lājī
to take out (dump) the garbage
7.3
dàolī
principle, truth, hows and whys;
7.2
reason, argument, sense
dàxuéshēng
college student
7.1
dǎ zhàng
to fight a war, to go to war
7.8
dǎ zhen
to get an injection
7.8
dǎ zì
to type (on a typewriter)
7.6
de
to get
7.5
dédao
to receive, to get
7.5
-de huà
if; in case; supposing that
7.6
děi kàn
to depend on
7.8
děng
when; by the time; till
7.8
děng dào
wait until; when, by the time
7.3
děng yíxià
wait a minute; in a little while
7.8
-diǎn
point
7.1
diào yǎnlèi
to cry
7.3
dìwei
position, status
7.2
dǒngde
to understand, to grasp, to know
7.1
duǎnpiān
short (stories, articles)
7.6
dúlì
to be independent; independence
7.2
duo (duō)
how (to what extent)
7.It
duo hǎo!
how great that is!
7.2
duōshù(r)
the majority (of), most (of)
7.5
éi say!
(interjection telling that the*
speaker just thought of something)
értong child (formal
word)
érxífu(r) (-fer)
daughter-in-law*
fādá
to be (highly) developed, to be flourishing, to be
prosperous
7.2*, 7.5
fǎlū
law
7.7
fān
to translate
7.7*
fàn
to violate, to offend, to commit; to
7.7
have an attack (of an old disease)
fǎnduì
to oppose, to be against
7.1*
-fāngmiàn (-mi an)
aspect, side, area, respect
7.1
fǎngwèn
to visit
7.6*
fǎnzhèng
anyway, in any case
7.3*
fàn zuì
to commit a crime
7.7
fāzhǎn
to develop, to expand, to grow
7.5
fēn
points
7.5*
fēn
to divide, to separate, to split
7.6
fēngsú
custom(s)
7.5
fēnkāi
to separate, to split up
7.6
fùnū
woman; women, womankind
7.2
fúqi
blessings, good fortune
7.
gāi
will probably
7.it’
gāi
should, ought to
7.It’, 7.8
gài
to build, to construct
7.1+’
gāibiàn
to change; change(s)
7.1’, 7-5
gànbu
cadre
7.6
gǎnjué
feeling, sensation; to feel, to
7.1
perceive
gànmǎ
to do what; (colloquial) why on earth,
7.8
what for
gàn shenme
to do what; (colloquial) why on earth,
7.8
what for
gǎnxiè
to be thankful, to be grateful
7.3’
gāogàn
senior cadres
7.6’
gāozhōng
senior high school
7.1’, 7.2’, 7.5
gèguó
various countries
7.1’
gémìng
revolution
7.8’
gēn
to follow
7.8’
gōng
male (for animals)
7.2’
Gòngchǎndǎng
Communist Party
7.6
gōngchǎng
factory, mill, plant, works
7.6’
gōnggong
grandfather, grandpa (paternal)
7.1+’
gōngkè
homework
7.7’
Gòngqǐngtuǎn
Communist Youth League
7.6’
gōngshāngyè
industry and commerce
7.5
gōngyè
industry
7.5
gōngyìpǐn
handicrafts
7.8
guǎn
to take care of; to mind, to bother
7.2
about
guǎnggào
advertisement
7.7
guānniàn
concept, idea, notion
7.2
guānxin
to be concerned/care about
7.1’
guānyú
as to, with regard to, concerning,
7.1
about
gǔhuǐ
bone ashes, ashes (of a person)
7.5’
guǐju
rules of proper behavior, social
7.3°, 7.1+
etiquette, manners; special customs, established
practice, rule (of a community or organization)
guoJiā
country, state, nation; national
7.1
guòqù
the past
7.1+
guòqu
to pass; to pass away, to die
7.8
guò rìzi
to live; to get along
7.1+’
gùshi
story
7.6
gǔshū
ancient book
7.1’
hai fairly, passably
hǎiluòyín heroin
hǎochù benefit, advantage
hǎohǎor properly, carefully, thoroughly
hǎo shi hǎo, kěshi... well, okay, but...
hǎoxiàng to seem as if, to seem like
7.1+
7.7’
7.5
7.1’, 7.8
7.3’
7.8
hēiyè hèn Hongwèibīng hòulái Huáshèngdùn Youbào
-hui
huì huó
húshuo hùxiāng
(darkness of) night, nighttime
to hate, to loathe, to detest
(a) Red Guard; the Red Guards
later, afterwards
7-2*,
Washington Post
(counter for shi,
"matter")
might; to he likely to; will
to live; to become alive; to
survive;
to be live/alive/living; mobile, moving
to talk nonsense; nonsense,
drivel*
mutually
Jì
to remember; to commit to memory
7.5*
-Jiā
(counter for families)
7.U
j iàndān
to be simple
7.7
jiǎng
to stress, to pay attention to, to
7.3
be particular about
Jiǎng
prize
7.5’
jiǎngjiu
to be particular about; to be
7.3’
elegant, to be tasteful
jiàotáng
church, cathedral
7.7’
Jiàoyu
to educate; education
7.7
jiārù
to join
7.6
Jiātíng
family
7.3
Jīdòng
to be agitated, to be worked up
7.1’
Jiè
to borrow; to lend
7.1
jièdao
to successfully borrow
7.1
J iěfàng
to liberate, to emancipate; liberation
7.6
Jiēhūn (jiēhūn)
to get married
7.2
Jièyì^
to mind, to take offense
7.6
jíjímángmáng
in a hurry, extremely rushed
7.6
Jímang
to be hasty, to be hurried
7.6
Jìnbù
to progress; progress
7.7
Jìndàishǐ
modern history
7.1’
J īngshén
energy, spirits
7.3’
jīnr
today (Běijīng)
7.8’
jīnzhāng
to be nervous, to be upset
7.3’
jìzhu
to remember
7.1’
-Jù
sentence; (counter for sentences or
7.1
utterances, often followed by huà, "speech")
Jūnduì
army
7.8’
júzi shuǐ(r)
orange juice (Běijīng)
7.1’
(V V) kàn
try and (v), (v) and see how it is
7.7
kàn
to depend on
7.8
kànbuqǐ
to look down on, to scorn, to despise
7.^
kàndao
to see
7.3
kànzhe
(followed by a verb) as one sees fit, as one deems
reasonable
7.8
kao
to take/give an exam, test, or quiz
7.8
kào
to depend on, to rely on; to lean against; to be near,
to be next to
7.2
kǎolu
to consider, to think about; consideration
7.1
kǎoshì
to take/give an exam, test, or quiz; exam, test
7.8
keài
to be loveable, to be adorable
7.8°
kekǎyǐn
cocaine
7.7’
Kekǒukělè
Coca Cola
7.1’, 7.3
kelián
to be pitiful
7.3°
ken
to be willing to
7.7’
kū
to cry
7.3
...lái
for the past... (amount of time)
7.6
lái
(used before a verb to express that
7.7
something will be done)
lái
to do (something), to perform
7.8
(something), to have (an event),
to help oneself to (food, etc.),
to join in (a game, etc.)
lǎjī
garbage
7.3’
lánwěiyán
appendicitis
7.5°
lǎo
all the time, always
7.8*
láodòng
to labor
7.5
láodònglì
labor force, labor; able-bodied
7.5
person
lǎolao
grandmother, grandma (maternal)
7.b’
láolì
labor force; labor
7.5
lǎo shīfu
old master
7.5
lǎoshǔ (láoshu)
mouse or rat
7.2*
lǎoxiānsheng
old gentlemen
7.5’
lǎoyé
grandfather, grandpa (maternal)
7.U*
lǎozǒng
(used with surname as an affectionate
7.8’
term for a high-ranking PLA commander)
liǎ
(Beijing colloquial word meaning
7.8*
liǎngge, ”two”)
lián...dōu/yě...
even...
7.7
liáo
to chat
7.3
liáo tiān(r)
to chat
7.3
lǐmào
manners, politeness
7.U
lǐngdǎo
to lead, to direct, to exercise lead-
7.6
ership (over); leadership; leader, leading cadre
liùshi niándài
the decade of the sixties
7.1*
liúxia
to leave
7.1*
liúxíng
to be common, to be popular, to be prevalent
7.2
luàn
to be in disorder, to be in a mess, to be chaotic;
arbitrarily, recklessly, any old way
7-7
luànqǐbāzāo
in a mess, in confusion, in disorder; miscellaneous,
motley, all thrown in together
7.7
ma
(marker for obviousness of reasoning)
7.3
mànmānr (manman) slowly; gradually, by and by; taking
one’s time (doing something); (tell) all about, in all details
méi yìsi to be uninteresting/boring; to be
pointless/meaningless; to be a drag; to be without value, not
worthy of respect, cheap
míngbai to understand, to be clear on, to
comprehend; to be clear, to be intelligible
Ming Bào Ming Pao (a Hong Kong newspaper)
mǔ female (for animals)
7.1
7.2
7-5
7.7
7.2*
nàinai
grandmother (paternal)
7.k
nà hai yòng shuō
that goes without saying
7.2*
Nan Mei
South America
7.7*
nánnū
men and women, male-female
7.2
nánshòu
to be uncomfortable; to feel bad,
7.3
to feel unhappy
nántīng
to be unpleasant to hear; to sound
7.8
bad, to offend the ears; to be
scandalous
ne
(used in questions asking the where
7.1**
abouts of someone/something)
nénglì
ability
7.6*
niánji (niánjì)
age
7.U
niánqīng
to be young
7.1
nòng (neng)
to do; to fool with; to get
7.3
nóngcūn
country, rural area; rural
7.5*, 7.6
nònglai
to get and bring
7.3
nóngmín
peasant
7-5*
nongyè
agriculture
7.5
nylì
to make efforts
7.7*
nushěng
coed, woman student
. 7.3*
pà
to be afraid
7-1*
pǎolai pǎoqù
to run around
7-6
pèngdao
to run into, to come across
7.8
-piān
(counter for sheets, articles or
7.2
pieces of writing)
piān
to fool, to deceive
7.2
pǐchá bǐng
pizza
7.1
píngděng
equality, to be equal (of people)
7.2
pǐnmìng
with all one’s might, for all one
7.2
is worth, desperately, like mad; to risk one’s life, to defy death
pīzhǔn
to give permission, to approve;
7-5
approval, permission, sanction
pópo
grandmother, grandma
7.U
qiāng
gun
7.7
qiáng
to be strong
7.6
qiánxiě nián
a few years back, in recent years
7.8
qiāo men
to knock at the door
7.U
qíguài
to be strange, to be odd, to be surprising
7.3
qǐlai
to get up (in several senses)
7.
-qilai
(resultative ending which indicates starting)
7.3
Qīnghǎi
(a province in western China)
7.3
qíngkuàng
situation, circumstances, condition, state of affairs
7.1
qíngxing
situation, circumstances, condition, state of affairs
7.1
quàn
to advise, to urge, to try to persuade
7.8
quánjiā rén
the whole family
7.U
ràng
to make (someone a certain way)
7.1
rén
person; self; body
7.
rénj ia
people; other people; someone else;
7.U
they; he, she; I
rèxǐn
to be enthusiastic and interested,
7.3
to be warmhearted, to be earnest
rèxīnqilai
to become enthusiastic and interested
7.3
rìzi
day; date; time
7.3
rù
to enter; to join (an organization)
7.6
rù Tuán
to join the Communist Youth League
7.6
(Gongqǐngtuán or Gongchǎnzhǔyì Qǐngniántuán)
shā
to kill (means unspecified); to
7.7
kill (specifically, with a knife
or knifelike instrument); to try
to kill
shā
to be stupid, to be dumb, to be
7.8
silly, to be naive
shāfā
sofa
7.8’
-shang
(verb ending indicating starting
7.6
and continuing)
shàng xué
to go to school; to attend school
7.6
shāngyè
commerce, business
7.5
Shàoxiānduì
Young Pioneers
7.6’
shèhuì
society; social
7.1
shēngchǎn
to produce; production
7.5
shēnghuó
to live; life; daily life; livelihood
7.2
shēngyì (shēngyi)
business, trade
7.8
shēnqīng
to apply (for)
7.2*
shēntǐ
body; health
7.it
shi
to cause (followed by a verb), to
7.7
make, to enable
shìchāng
market
7.5’
shìjiè
world
7.6
shijièshang
in the world, in the whole world
7.6
shìjièxìng
worldwide
7.7
shíxíng
to practice, to carry out, to put
7.6
into effect, to implement (a
method, policy, plan, reform, etc.)
shizài
really; to be real
7.2
shòu
to receive
7.7
shòu
to be thin
7.7’
shōuchāode
handwritten
7.it’
shòu Jiàoyu
to receive an education
7.7
shōurù
income, earnings
7.5
shōushi
to straighten up; to get one’s
7.it
things ready
shujià
summer vacation
7.1
shuōbuqǐngchu
can’t explain clearly
7.1
shuōdao
to speak of; as for
7.3
shuōfǎ
way of saying a thing; statement,
7.5
version, argument
shuòshì
Master’s degree
7.2’, 7-5
sǐ
to die
7.3’, 7.5
Si Shū
the Four Books (Dàxué, Zhōngyōng,
7.it
Lunyǔ, Mengzǐ)
sǐxiǎng
thought, way of thinking
7.5’
sònghuiqu
to take/escort back
7.5’
sòngxíng
to see (someone off), to wish
7.8
(someone) a good trip; to give
a going-away party
suàn le forget it,
let’s drop the matter,
let it go at that; come off it, come on
sūnnu granddaughter
(through one’s son)
sūnzi grandson
(through one’s son)
suǒyǒude...dou all
tán liàn’ài
to be in love, to be going together (courtship)
7.8
tǎoyàn
to dislike, to be disgusted with
7.6
téng
to be very fond of, to be attached to, to dote on
7.8
tí
to carry (from the hand at the side of the body)
7.8
tiào
to jump, to leap
7.3
tímu (-mù)
topic, subject; title; examination question, test
problem
7.5
tīng
to heed (advice), to obey (orders)
7.5
tongjū
to cohabit; cohabitation
7.2
tongyì
to consent, to agree
7-5
tour
head, chief, boss
7.7
-tuán
group, society
7.6
Tuan
(Communist Youth) League
7.6
tǔdì
land
7.1+
wàigōng
grandfather, grandpa (maternal)
7.1+°
wàipo
grandmother, grandma (maternal)
7.1+°
wàiwén
foreign language
7.5°
wǎnhuì
evening party
7.6°
wǎnliàn wǎnhūn
late involvement and late marriage
7.2’
wèile
in order to; for the purpose of; for
7.5
the sake of
wénhuà
culture; schooling, education,
7.1
literacy
wénxuéJiā
writer, literary man
7.6°
wénzhāng
article, essay; prose (writing) style
7.2
wǒde tiān na!
my God!
7.1°
wǔjiào
noontime nap
7.8
-xià under
xiàndài to be modern;
contemporary; modern
times
xiǎng to sound, to
make a sound
xiàng to be like, to
resemble; like;
such as
xiǎngbuchū
can’t think up, can’t come up with
7.2*
xiangdāng
quite, pretty, considerably
7.2
xiǎngdào
to think of
7.3
xiāngxìn
to believe (in); to trust, to
7.7’
be convinced (that)
xiǎo
young
7.1’
xiǎo diǎnr shēng(r)
a little more quietly
7.8’
xiǎo péngyou
little friend; kids
7-^
xiàoshun
to be filial; filial obedience
7.3
xiǎoshuō(r)
fiction, novel
7.1
xià qí
to play chess
7.6
-xiaqu
(resultative ending which indicates
7.2
continuing an action)
-xiaqu
down (directional ending used for
7.3
eating or drinking down)
xǐ dú
to take drugs; drug taking
7.7
xíguàn
habit, custom, usual practice; to be
7.5
accustomed to, to be used to
xǐn
heart
7.3
-xing
nature, -ness, -ity
7.7
xìngkuǐ
fortunately, luckily
7.U’
xìngqu
interest
7.2
xīnli
in one’s heart, in one’s mind
7.1’
xīnshì
something weighing on one’s mind,
7.1’
worry
xīnwén
news
7.2
Xīnwén Zhōukān
Newsweek
7.2
xué hǎo
to learn from good examples, to learn
7.7’
to be a good person
xuéhuì
to learn, to master
7.6’
xuéqǐ
semester, term (of school)
7.1
xuéshēnghuì
student association
7.1’
xué yī
to study medicine
7.2
xùnliànbān
training class
7.6’
yánjiū (-jiu, -jiù)
to study (in detail), to do research on; research
7.1
yào kàn
to depend on
7.8
Yàzhōu (Yǎ-)
Asia
7.1
yèdà
evening university
7.6’
yě gāi
really should
7.U’
.•.yě hǎo, ...yě hǎo
whether...or...; both...and..•
7.5
yě jiù
accordingly, correspondingly, so
7.5
yéye
grandfather (paternal)
7.1’, 7.U
yǐ
medical science, medicine (used in
7.2
phrases like xué yǐ)
yǐ
as soon as
7.1’, 7.U
-yì
hundred million
7.3
yìbiān(r)...
doing...while doing...
7.1
yìbiān(r)...
yìfāngmiàn..., yì-
on the one hand...on the other hand;
7.2
fāngmiàn...
for one thing..., for another thing...
yìjiāzi
one family; the whole family; the same family
7.8'
yímiàn(r)...
yímiàn(r)—
doing...while doing...
7.1
yìtiān dào wan
all day long
7-3
yīxué
medical science, medicine
7.2
yīyuàn
hospital
7.3'
yìzhí
all along, continuously, all the time (up until a
certain point)
7.2
yònggōng
to be hardworking, to be industrious (in one’s studies)
7.3
you
excellent
7.5'
yǒu
to come up to (a certain level)
7.2'
you
also
7.U
you
anyway; after all
7.8
you bànfǎ, (duì...)
to be able to deal with (something)
7-7
you bāngzhu
to be helpful
7.2
you dàolǐ
to make sense
7.2
yòuéryuán
kindergarten
7.5'
you guǐju
to have manners, to be proper
7.U
you hǎochù
to be beneficial, to be good (for)
7.5
yǒu lǐmào
to be well mannered, to be polite
7.U
you qián
to be rich
7.U
you xiào
to be effective; to be valid
7.7
yǒu xìngqu
to be interested
7.2
yǒu yánjiū
to have done research on; to know a lot about
7.2
yǒu yòng
to be useful
7.3
yuánlái
original, former; originally, formerly; it turns out
that...» so...! (expresses finding out the true
situation)
7.8
yuànyi
to wish, would like, to want to; to be willing to
7.8
yuányǐn
reason, cause
7.6
yuè lái yuè...
more and more..., increasingly
7.2
yuè...yuè...
the more...the more...
7.2
yùnqi
luck
7.8
zài shuō
furthermore, besides, moreover
7.5°, 7.8°
zài yě bù/méi
never again
7.7
zǎo
a long time ago
7.3°
zāohūn
early marriage; child marriage; to
7.5
marry as a child; to marry early
zěnme (yì)huí shi
what’s it all about
7.8
zènme (yì)huí shi
like this
7.8
zéren (-rèn)
responsibility
7.7
zhěng
to grow
7.3
zhāngdà
to grow up
7.3
zhàngfu
husband
7.5
zhànzhēng
war
7.U*
zhāobudào
can’t find, to be unable to find
7.2*
zhàogu
to take care of; care
7.2*. 7.5
zhèi yíxiàzi
after this, as a result of this
7.8
zhème (yì)huí shi
like this
7.8
zhèng
Just, precisely, right
7.5
zhèngcè
policy
7-5*. 7.6
zhèngfǔ
government
7.1**, 7.6
zhènghāo(r)
it Just so happens that, to happen
7.8
to, as it happens; Just in time,
Just right, Just enough
zhèngzhi
politics; political
7.1
zhi hāo
can only, to have to, to be forced to
7.1*
zhishi
knowledge
7.2
zhi yào
provided that, as long as
7.6*, 7.7
-zhong
in
7.7
Zhongguo QIngnián
China Youth (a periodical)
7.2*
zhòng nán qing nd
to regard males as superior
7.3
to females
Zhōngxuéshēng
High School Student (a periodical)
7.2*
zhōukān
weekly publication, weekly magazine
7.2
zhuàn qián
to earn money, to make money
7.3
zhǔrén
host, master
7.3*
zhùxialai
to move and stay (in a place), to
7.1*
settle down
zhǔyào
mainly
7.5*
zìyóu
freedom; to be free
7.2
zìyóu shìchāng
free market
7.5*
zōng
always; inevitably, without
7.1
exception; after all, in any case
zōngjiào
(organized) religion
7.7
zōngtōng
president
7.6*
zuì
mouth
7.7*
zuì
crime, guilt
7.7
zuìJin
lately, recently; the near future,
7.3
soon
zuò
to be, to act as
7.3
zuòbuliāo
to be unable to do
7.1*’
zuò llbài
to worship, to go to church
7.7*
zuòxia
to sit down
7.1
283
1
Others: sentences with certain adverbs like yídìng, with potential
resultative verbs, with the aspect marker -guo, etc.
2
’According to those pandas who answered our surveys.
3
~bèihòu~ "behind the back"
You, as used in the second example above, can be thought of as
meaning "comes up to (a certain level)." Gēn, which is
usually used with yíyàng as in the example just cited, connotes
exact comparison, so when your sentence compares concrete,
measurable qualities like height or weight, it is usually better
to use ...gēn...yíyàng—. For example, Nǐ gēn tā yíyàng gāo states
explicitly that you are the same height as he, so it would be
inappropriate to use xiàng there.
4
chuáng, "bed"
5
The term "liberation" is used with such frequency that
we introduce it here despite the controversy over whether anything
in fact was liberated or freed. For most people in China it is
simply Jargon for referring to 19^9» and the semantic content is
of little importance.
6
*In English "He is dying" may look like an ongoing
action, but it actually means "He is very near to passing
from a living state to a dead state." The passing itself is
instantaneous. So to translate "He is dying" into
Chinese, you have to rephrase the thought, e.g., Tā kuài yào sǐ
le, "He is going to die soon," or Tā huobucháng le,
"He won’t live long."
7
The word gànbu is also used in Taiwan, although not as frequently
as on the mainland, to refer to people in positions of leadership
in many kinds of organizations, especially government, the army,
and large corporations.
8
kěài, "to be loveable/adorable"
9
’Notice that grandma says literally "You are both here."
This, however, is not a statement made after looking for the two
and finally finding them.
It’s simply a common way of greeting or starting a conversation:
you state the obvious.
’’More literally, "How is it you are no longer taking your
nap?" (New-situation le)
10
In other words, they did wake her up with their talking.
11
Grandma is referring to living conditions—it’s not as comfortable
on the mainland as in the U.S. or Hong Kong.
12
This is a natural example of how one who has freely extended
favors is not shy to ask a favor in return.
13
More literally, "You people are here." Notice this
simple way of leaving a group. "You’re here" is the
functional equivalent of "You stay here," i.e. "I’m
going to leave. Please go on talking without me." Another
sentence you can use when leaving a group is Nǐmen tǎntan, wǒ xiǎn
zǒu, "You go on talking I’m going to leave."
14
Prepare your answers to these questions in Chinese so that you can
talk about them in class.
1. Why is his sister going to America? Why is she taking
handicrafts?
2. What will happen in the evening?
3. What news does he learn about his sister?
■ i. hoes his mother seem nervous? How can vou tell?
After you have answered these questions yourself, you may want to
take a look at the translation for this conversation. You may also
want to listen to the dialogue again to help you practice saying
your answers.
Note: The translations used in these dialogues are meant to
indicate the English functional equivalents for the Chinese
sentences rather than the literal meaning of the Chinese.
This conversation takes place in the office of a factory in
Beijing where an older man and a younger man are on the night
shift.
Listen to the conversation straight through once. Then rewind the
tape and listen again. On the second time through, answer the
questions.
You will need the following words and phrases:
Lǎo Shīfu old master
gémìng revolution