Dialogue 1

Zài cānguăn - At the restaurant

wèi measure word – people (polite) gěn to follow zuò to sit/to sit down píng measure word – bottles and jars píjiŭ beer yíyàng to be the same/same chénzi zhī orange juice càidān menu (lit “dish list”) diăn cài to order (+ food) hăixiān seafood tāng soup niúròu beef chăo to stir fry miàntiáo noodles nín you (polite) Nín ne? what about you?/And you? suānlà hot and sour dòufu tofu jī chicken jī dīng diced chicken shícài seasonal vegetables liăng unit of weight jīn unit of weight = 10 liang or 1/2kilo xiăo lóng small steam-container bāozi steamed bread with fillings è sĭ le to be starving (lit “hungry dead) yī xiăo pán a small plate zhá to deep fry dàxiā king prawn (lit “big shrimp”) tángcù sweet and sour (lit “sugar vinegar) yú fish bái mĭfàn boiled rice (lit “white rice food”) shāo děng just a second (lit “a while wait”)

 Diăn cài ma? – Ready to order?

Waiter:            Wănshàng hăo.  Jĭ wèi?

Li Youde:         Sān wèi.

Waiter:            Qĭng gēn wŏ lái.

(they follow the waiter to a table)

Waiter:            Qĭng zuò.  Nĭmen xiăng xiān hē yìdiăn shénme?

Daniel:             Wŏ yào yī ping Qīngdăo píjiù.

Li Youde:         Wó yě yíyàng.

Waiter:            Xiáojie xiăng hē shénme?

Janet:               Yī bēi chénzi zhī.

Waiter:            Hăo de.  Qĭng kàn càidān.

(the waiter hands them menus)

Waiter:            Diăn cài ma?

Li Youde:         Diăn.  Wŏ xiān diăn.  Yī ge hăixiān tāng hē yī ge niúròu chăo miàntiáo.

Waiter:            Nín ne, xiānsheng?

Daniel:             Yī ge suānlà dòufu tāng, yī ge jī dīng chăo shícài, èr liáng xiăo long bāozi. Wŏ è sĭ le.

Waiter:             Xiáojie?

Janet:               Wŏ yào yī xiăo pán zhá dàxiā, yī ge tángcù yú, hái yào yī ge bái mĭfàn.

Waiter:             Hăo de.  Qĭng shāo děng.

Notes to Dialogue 1

Measure words wèi and píng

Wèi is only used in front of people.  It is a polite form of the measure word gè.  For example:

Waiter:      Jĭ wi?

                   How many people?

Customer: Sì wei.

Four.

Píng is used to indicate bottles and jars.  For example:

Wŏ măi le sān píng píjiŭ.

I bought three bottles of beer.

Use of gēn

 In English you say ‘Follow me’;  in Chinese, you must say ‘Follow me walk’, ‘Follow me read’, ‘Follow me come’, etc. depending on the activity.  For example:

Qĭng gēn wŏ lái.

Please follow me come.

Please follow me/This way please.

Wó yě yíyàng

This phrase can be used if you wish to show agreement with someone else.  It can be broadly translated as ‘Same for me, please’, or ‘Me too’, depending on the context.  For example:

A:  Wŏ yào yī bēi chénzi zhī.

      I’d like a glass of orange juice.

B:  Wó yě yíyàng.

      Same for me, please.

 

A:  Wŏ hén xĭhuān Zhōngguó fàn.

      I like Chinese food very much.

B:  Wó yě yíyàng.

      Me too.

Phrase diăn cài

The phrase diăn cài, literally meaning ‘point dish’, can only be used in restaurant situations. Fore example:

Q:  Xiānsheng, diăn cài ma?

      Ready to order, sir?

A:  Diăn.

      Yes, please (ready)

The verb diăn can be followed by dish names.  For example:

Q:  Ní diăn le shénme cài?

      What have you ordered?

A:  Wó diăn le yī ge tángcù yú.

      I’ve ordered sweet and sour fish.

Note that the word cài can be omitted in the question.

Chinese dishes

Chinese dishes usually have imaginative names such as ‘Beef in Birds Nest’, ‘Aunts Climbing the Tree’, which may be named according to the presentation shape or the way it is cooked. There are fixed expressions for  dishes.  For example, the Chinese word for ‘sweet’ is tián, but you must say tángcù (lit: sugar vinegar) for ‘sweet and sour’ and suānlà (lit: sour chilli) for ‘hot and sour’.

There is also a difference between ‘rice’ and ‘cooked rice’ in Chinese.  The word for ‘rice’ is dàmĭ (lit: large rice).  The word mĭfàn (lit: rice food) is ‘cooked rice’.  Then we have bái mĭfàn (boiled or steamed rice), cháo mĭfàn (fried rice), etc.

Xiăo lóng bāozi is steamed bread with a variety of fillings inside.  The word niúròu (beef) literally means ‘cattle meat’. The word ròu can be added to many animal names: for example, ròu added to zhū (pig) and yáng (sheep) gives us zhūròu (pork) and yángròu (lamb).

More dish names and vegetarian dishes

jiăozi dumplings chūnjuăn spring rolls dàn chăo fàn egg fried rice húntun tāng won ton soup sùcān vegetarian meal chăo dòuyá stir-fried bean-sprouts sù jiăozi vegetarian dumpling sù chūnjuăn vegetarian spring rolls

Unit of weight liăng

Earlier we saw the word jīn, half a kilo.  There is also a smaller unit of measurement, the liăng equal to 1/10^th  jīn.  In other words, 10 liăng = 1 jīn.

Common drinks

Below are the names for some common drinks:

shuĭ water chá tea bōluó zhī pineapple juice kékóu kělè Coca Cola kuàngquán shuĭ mineral water píngguŏ zhī apple juice yēzi zhī coconut juice pútao jiŭ wine (add hóng or bái in front to make it red wine or white wine) mí jiŭ rice wine bái jiŭ spirits (lit: white alcohol)

Verb-adjectives + sĭ le

This is a very useful combibnation to remember.  It can be used to exaggerate things.  Literally, sĭ le means ‘to have died’ or ‘died’.  For example:

Wŏ gāoxìng sĭ le.

I be happy died.

I’m so happy.

 

Wŏ è sĭ le.

I be hungry died.

I’m starving.

 

Verb děng

The expression Qĭng shāo děng (lit: Please a while wait) is a more formal way of saying ‘Just a second’. When it is used in a restaurant situations it is almost equivalent to ‘Thank you’ in English.  On more casual occasions, you can say Děng yíxià (lit: wait a second) or Děngdeng (lit: wait wait).

Dialogue 2

 Nĭ chī guo kăo yā ma? – Have you ever had roast duck?

guo inserted after verbs for definite past “to have been..” or “to have done…” kăo to roast yā duck Shì ma? Is that so? nà in that case děi to have got to/must cháng to taste jīntiān wăngshàn this evening/tonight yŏu kòng to have time/to be free qĭng to invite cānguăn restaurant diàn snack bar/shop Nĭ tài duì le. You are so right. haŏchī tasty (lit “good eat”) duō more dì to pass jiàng sauce bĭng pancake kuài nearly băo to be full rúguŏ if zài once again qíshí in fact de particle to link verbs with adverbs

Qīngqing:            Nĭ chī guo Běijīng kăo yā ma, Xiăohuá.

Xiăohuá:            Méi yŏu.

Qīngqing:           Shĭ ma?  Nà, nĭ yídìng děi chángchang.  Nĭ jīntiān wănshàng yŏu kòng ma?

Xiăohuá:            Yŏu kòng.

Qīngqing:            Nà, wŏ jīnwăn qíng nĭ chī kăo yā, zěnme yang?

Xiăohuá:            Tài hăo le.  Zánmen qù nă jiā cānguăn?

Qīngqing:            Běijīng Kăo Yā Diàn, hăo bù hăo?

Xiăohuá:             Tài hăo le

(later at the Beijing Roast Duck Restaurant)

Xiăohuá:            Nĭ tài duì le.  Zhēn haŏchī.

Qīngqing:           Wŏ zhēn gāoxìng ní xĭhuān kăo yā. Duō chī yìxiē.

Xiăohuá:            Hăo de.  Qĭng dì géi wŏ jiàng.

Qīngqing:            Bĭng gòu ma?

Xiăohuá:            Wŏ gòu le.  Wŏ kuài chi băo le.  Nĭ rúguó xiăng dehuà, jiù zài yào yìxiē.

Qīngqing:            Wŏ qíshí yĭjing chī băo le.  Wŏ bí nĭ chī de kuài.

 

Càidān (zăocan) – Breakfast menu.

yòng to have (polite) zăocān formal word for ‘breakfast’ xīfàn porridge dòushā red-bean paste jiān fried/to fry xián yā dàn salted duck-egg niúnăi milk kăo miànbāo toast (lit “baked bread”) xiánròu bacon mógu mushroom xīhóngshì tomato jiàgé price jīdàn egg (lit “chicken egg) hóng shāo braised in soy sauce (red braise) zhèngcān main course yú tóu fish head qīngjiāo green pepper jī sī shredded chicken

Notes to Dialogue 2

Use of guo

Guo is inserted after some verbs to indicate that something has happened in the indefinite past.  The emphasis is on the past experience as opposed to when it happened.  A verb plus guo is the equivalent of the English expression ‘to have been to.... or ‘to have done something’.  For example:

Nĭ qù guo Zhōngguó ma?

Have you ever been to China?

 

Wŏ chī guo Yìdàli fàn.

I have had Italian food.

To negate verbs with guo following them, use méi yŏu or méi.  For example:

Xiăohuá méi  yŏu chī guo Běijīng kăo yā.

Xiaohua hasn’t had Beijing duck before.

Forming time expressions with jīntiān

In English you say ‘this morning’, ‘this afternoon’ and ‘this evening’, whilst in Chinese you use jīntiān to create:

jīntiān zăoshàng            this morning

jīntiān xiàwŭ                    this afternoon

jīntiān wănshàng           this evening

Note that jīntiān zăoshàng and jīntiān wănshàng  can be shortened to jīnzăo and jīnwăn.

Verb qĭng

We already know qĭng as ‘please’.  It can also be used as a verb meaning ‘to invite’.  If you want to invite someone to dinner, you must say ‘to invite someone eat dinner’. For example:

Wó xiăng qíng nĭ chī wănfàn.

I’d like to invite you to dinner.

If it is a past event, put the past indicator le after chī not qĭng.  For example:

Zuówăn Láo Lĭ qíng wŏ chī le kăo yā.

Lao Li treated me to some roast duck last night.

Verb dì

This verb is usually used together with the preposition gěi to mean ‘to pass something to somebody’. For example:

Qĭng dì gěi wó bĭng.

Please pass me the pancakes

Wŏ gòu le

Grammatically this is not a correct sentence because it means ‘I’m enough’.  However, it has become an accepted expression to mean ‘I’ve got enough’ or It’s enough for me’.

Chī băo le

This is another very popular phrase at the dinner table.  If you are already full and do not wish to have any more food put into your bowl, you can say one of the following:

Wŏ chī băo le.

Chī băo le.

Wó băo le.

I’ve had enough to eat/I’m full.

Conditional word rúguŏ... dehuà

The word rúguŏ, meaning ‘if’, is used either at the very beginning of a sentence or after the subject so that it makes the sentence conditional.  For example:
 

Rúguŏ nĭ bú rènshi Xiăo Wáng, wŏ géi nĭ jièshào.

If you don’t know Xiao Wang, I’ll introduce you to her.

 

Nĭ rúguŏ méi yŏu qián, wŏ kéyĭ jiè géi nĭ yìxiē.

If you don’t have any money, I can lend you some.

Rúguŏ is often used together with dehuà (it has no specific meaning) in the first half of a conditional sentence.  For example:

Rúguŏ nĭ méi kòng dehuà, wŏ zìjĭ qù măi dōngxi.

If you don’t have time I’ll go shopping myself.

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