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Family

Dialogue 1

Gàosu wŏ nĭde qíngkuàng.  -  Tell me about yourself.

bàba

father

māma

mother

gēge

elder brother

dìdi

younger brother

mèimei

younger sister

năinai

grandmother (on father’s side)

yéye

grandfather (on father’s side)

shūshu

uncle (on father’s side)

gūgu

aunt (on father’s side)

wàipó/lăolao

grandmother (on mother’s side)

wàigōng/lăoye

grandfather (on mother’s side)

jiùjiu

uncle (on mother’s side)

āyí

aunt (on mother’s side)

 

Members of the Family

lúndào….

it is [somebody’s] turn to….

qíngkuàng

situation/present condition

tāitai

wife/Mrs

piàoliang

to be beautiful/beautiful

dōu

all

tuìxiū

to retire/retired

háizi

children

míngzi

name

érzi

son

nŭ’ér

daughter

zài

[continuous tense particle]

shàng

to go to/to attend

zhōngxué

secondary/middle school

dà xuésheng

university student (lit “big school student”)

xué

to learn/to study

zhuānyè

subject/major

guánli

management/to manage

yŏu yìsi

to be interesting (lit “have meaning”)

gěi

for/to/to be for/to be to

jiăngjiang

to tell (a tale or story)

zhàngfu

husband

dāng

to become/to act as

 

 

 

 

Notes to Dialogue 1

Foreign names

Most foreign names, including personal names and place names are translated according to their sounds. Some foreign names have standard translations.  For example:

    David              Dàwèi

    Mary                Mălì

    London            Lúndūn

     

Omission of de from wŏde, nĭde and tāde

The word de is most likely to be omitted from wŏde,nĭde and tāde, etc if the noun that follows it is a kinship term.  However, if one-syllable adjectives such as hăo, lăo are used before the noun, de cannot be omitted.  For example:

    Wŏ tàitai bú hùi shuō Yīngwen.

    My wife can’t speak English.

 

    Wŏde hăo dìdi hěn cōngming

    My good younger brother is very clever.

     

Titles used to refer to one’s spouse

In mainland China, the terms àiren (lit: love person) is used both in spoken and written Chinese to refer to both ‘husband’ and ‘wife’.  The formal term for ‘husband’ is zhàngfu and ‘wife’ is qīzi.  The terms tàitai and xiānsheng can mean ‘Mrs.’ and ‘Mr.’ in one context and ‘wife’ and ‘husband’ in another context (xiānsheng can also be used to refer to one’s teacher). In Hong Kong, Taiwan and other Chinese communities, the terms tàitai and xiānsheng are widely used to mean ‘wife’ and ‘husband’. Since most married Chinese women keep their maiden names, it is thus inappropriate to use tàitai to address a married woman.

 

Use of lúndào

The construction Lúndào + pronoun + verb + le can be roughly translated as ‘It is somebody’s turn to do something’. Note that le is used  in this construction to indicate that it is already somebody’s turn to do something.  For example:

    Lúndào wŏ zuòfàn le.

    It’s my turn to cook.

    Lúndào tā yóuyŏng le.

    It’s her turn to swim.

 

Construction shì bù shì

An alternative to the shì... ma? question is .... shì bù shì....  For example:

Nĭ shì Wáng Lín ma?   becomes   Nĭ shì bù shì Wáng Lín?

 

Use of qíngkuàng

Words like qíngkuàng (situation/present condition), which are very vague in meaning, are often used in Chinese to express the English equivalent of ‘yourself’, ‘about’, ‘things’, etc.  For example:

    Qĭng gàosu wŏ nĭ tàitai de qíngkuàng.

    Please tell me about your wife.

 

    Qíngkuàng bù hăo.

    Things are not good.

 

Continuous tense particle zài

In Chinese, the continuous tense, i.e. ‘somebody is/was doing something’, is indicated by the grammar word zài (or zhèngzài) which is placed before the verb.  Depending on the context, sentences with zài or zhèngzài can refer either to something which is happening at present (habitual activity) or something that is happening at the very moment the sentence is uttered.  For example:

    Nĭ bàba hái zài gōngzuó ma?

    Is your father still working?  (habitual)

     

    Wŏ zhèngzài chī wŭfàn.

    I am eating my lunch.

However, you must use zài, not zhèngzài in the following two cases:

    (a)   when the negating word bù is used

    (b)  when an adverb such as hái (still) is used.

For example:

    Tā bù zài chī wănfàn.

    He is not having his supper.

     

    Xiăo Wáng hái zái yóuyŏng ma?

    Is Xiao Wang still swimming?

 

Construction ...bù ...le

The construction ...bŭ + verb + le conveys the meaning of ‘.. no longer/not... any more’.  Often the verbs being negated are verbs indicating habitual behaviour.  For example:

    Tā tàitai bù gōngzuò le.

    His wife no longer works.

     

    Wŏ bù xiăng qù Zhōngguó le.

    I don’t want to go to China any more.

 

Use of dōu

This word, always placed after the pronoun, can convey the meanings of ‘both’ or ‘all’ depending on the context.  For example:

    Tāmen dōu xiăng xiān chī wŭfàn

    They all want to have lunch first.

     

    Wŏ hé wŏ zhàngfu dōu tuìxūi le.

    I and my husband both have been retired.

    Both my husband and I are retired

To say ‘none of us’ or ‘neither’ simple add the negation word before the verb:

    Tāmen dōu bù xiăng xiān chī wŭfàn.

    None of them want to eat lunch first.

     

    Wŏ hé wŏ zhàngfu dōu bù gōngzuó le.

    Neither I nor my husband works any more.

 

Use of the verb shàng

The verb shàng (to go to) is interchangeable with qù (to go to) in most cases.  The main difference  is that shàng is more colloquial and informal.  For example:

    Nĭ shàng/qù năr?

    Where are you going?

     

    Shàng/qù cāntīng.

    I’m going to the dining room.

However, shàng must be used in the following:

    shàng xué            to go to school (any school)

    shàng jiē            to go to the town (lit: go to the street)

When le is used after shàng xué or shàng xiăoxué, it means to have started school:

    Q:  Nĭde érzi shàng xué le ma?

          Has your son started school yet?

    A:  Méi shàng.

          Not yet.

Let us see the difference between shàng and qù in the following sentences:

    Jane yĭjing shàng xiăoxué le.

    Jane has started primary school.

     

    Jane yĭjing qù xiăoxué le.

    Jane has gone to the primary school.

When the words xiăo (small), zhōng (middle/medium) and dà (big/large) precede xué (to study) we get:

    xiăoxué            primary school

    zhōngxué        middle school/secondary school

    dàxué                university

If we add the word shēng (one who studies) to xué we have the noun xuésheng (student) (note the neutral tone).  We can then add xiăo,zhōng and dà to give us:

    xiăo xuésheng            primary school pupil

    zhōng xuésheng        secondary school student

    dà xuésheng                university student

     

To negate yŏu yìsi

To negate yŏu yìsi (interesting) you must use méi.  You can say either méi yŏu yìsi or méi yìsi to mean ‘to be not interesting’ or ‘to be boring’.  If adverbs such a hěn (very) are used (a) they must be placed before the negation word; and (b) yŏu is always omitted.  For example:

    Zhè běn shū méi yŏu yìsi.

    This book is not interesting.

     

    Zhè ge rén hěn méi yisi

    This person is very boring.

 

Use of gěi

When gěi is used before personal pronouns, it can mean ‘for/to someone’.

 when the gěi phrase is placed before the verb. For example:

    Géi wŏ jièshào yíxià nĭ tàitai, hăo ma?

    To me introduce your wife, OK?

If it means ‘to be for/to somebody’, use the English sentence structure.  For example

    Zhè bēi kāfēi géi nĭ.

    This cup of coffee is for you.

To convey the meaning ‘to tell somebody about something’, use the construction:

    géi somebody + jiăngjiang + something.

For example:

    Géi nĭ yéye jiăngjiang nĭde qíngkuàng ba.

    To your grandpa tell your present situation

    Please tell your grandpa abut yourself.

 

 

Dialogue 2

Nĭ gàn shénme gōngzuò?  -  What do you do?

tīngshuō

to have heard of (lit “hearsay”)

huàn

to change

gàn

to do

dăoyóu

tourist guide

zài

at/in/to be at/to be in

lŭyóu

tourism/to travel

jú

bureau/office

sīchóu

silk

màoyì

trading/trade

xĭhuan

to like

fùmŭ

parents

shēntĭ

health

zhù

to live

dāi

to stay

tiān

day

kŏngpà

I’m afraid….

kěxī

pity that….

zhè cì

this time….

kàn

to see/to visit/to watch/to read

huì

will

 

 

Notes to Dialogue 2

Nĭ gàn shénme gōngzuò?

If you want to ask someone what job he/she is doing, you say:

    Nĭ gàn shénme gōngzuò?

    You do what job?

However, if you want to know what someone is doing at the very moment of your speech, you say

    Nĭ zài gàn shénme?

    What are you doing?

These are the different answers to this question:

    Q:  Nĭ gàn shénme gōngzuò?        

          What are you doing?

    A:  Wŏ shì xiăoxué lăoshī.

          I’m a primary school teacher.

 

    Q:  Línlin, nĭ zài gàn shénme?

          What are you doing, Linlin?

    A:  Wŏ zài chī wănfàn.

          I’m having my dinner.

     

Use of zài

In terms of character representation, this zài is the same as the continuous tense indicator, zài, which must be placed before the verb.  However, this zài can mean ‘to be at/in’ or simply ‘at/in’ and is always placed before the noun in affirmative sentences or before the question word in questions.  For example:

    Wŏ fùmŭ zài Zhōngguó

    My parents are in China.

     

    Nĭ zhù zài năr?

    Where do you live?

Most verbs follow prepositional phrases.  Exceptions to this rule are the verbs zhù (to live) and dāi (to stay), which can be followed by or preceded by prepositional phrases:

    Tā jiějie zhù zài Xī’ān.

    Her elder sister lives in Xi’an.

     

    Tā jiějie zài Xī’ān zhù.

    Her elder sister lives in Xi’an.

 

More on measure words

So far we have learned two measure words, gè before people, swimming pools, restaurants, etc; and bēi before drinks.  In this dialogue we have a new measure word,jiā, which is used before companies, organisations, shops, restaurants, etc.  For example:

    Zhè jiā fàndiàn hén hăo.

    This hotel is very good.

     

    Wŏ bú zài zhè jiā gōngsī gōngzuò.

    I’m not working for this company.

The noun tiān (day) is one of the few exceptions to the rule of using measure words between numbers and nouns.  No measure word is needed between a number and tiān.  Thus we can say, for example, sān tiān (three days) not sān gè tiān.  When sān tiān is used in a sentence, it can mean ‘for three days’.  For example:

    Wŏ zài Běijīng dāi le sān tiān.

    I stayed in Beijing for three days.

 

Showing concern over someone else’s parents

It is very common among Chinese people to enquire about each other’s parents, especially their health. The commonly used expression is:

    Nĭ fùmŭ de shēntĭ hăo ma?

    Your parents’ health is good?

Sometimes de is omitted.

 

Verb kàn

In Chinese, for anything that is seen, we use the verb kàn.  Thus you can say:

    Kàn péngyou.            To visit/see friends.

    Kàn shū.                      To read a book.

    Kàn zhàopiān.            To look at photos.

    Kàn diànyĭng.             To see a film.

    Kàn diànshì.                To watch television.

    Kàn zúqiú.                    To watch football.

 

Construction Qĭng wèn... hăo.

The phrase Qĭng wèn + somebody +  hăo literally means ‘Please ask somebody good’, which can be broadly translated as ‘Please say hello to somebody’ or ‘Please give somebody my regards’.  For example:

    Qĭng wèn nĭ tàitai hăo.

     Please say hello to your wife.

 

    Qĭng wèn nĭ fùmú hăo.

    Please give your parents my regards.

 

Another use of huì

The huì which we saw earlier means ‘to be able to’ or ‘can’.  Another use of huì is to express one’s willingness to do something or to predict that something is likely to happen.  When huì means ‘will’, de follows it in short replies or occurs at the end of the sentence.  For example:

    Q:  Nĭ huì jiàndào Liú Xiăoméi ma?

          Will you see Liu Xiaomei?

    A:  Huì de.

          Yes I will.

 

    Tā huì lái chī wănfàn de.

    He will come for dinner.

 

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