Transcript, vocabulary, and notes

Text 课文 (Kèwén)

After you have watched the video, check your understanding by reading the transcript and the English translation.

New Words 生词 (Shēngcí)

Language Notes

L13. 喂

喂 means “hello.” It is used only on the telephone.

For example:

Wèi, Wáng Hóng zài ma?
喂， 王红在吗？
Hello. Is Wang Hong in?

L14. 哪位

哪位 means “which person.” 位 is a measure word for people. It is used for courtesy.

Qǐngwèn, nǐ shì nǎ wèi?
请问， 你是哪位？
Excuse me, who are you?

L15. 事（儿）

事, 事儿 means “thing, business, matter.”

For example:

Wǒ méiyǒu shì.
我没有事。
I have no business.

Yǒu shì ma?
有 事 吗？
What’s up?

L16. 几月几号

几月几号 means “What’s the date?”

星期几 is used to ask the day of the week.

L17. 多大

多大 means “how old?” It is used to ask someone’s age. For children under ten years old, we change the question to:

Jīnnián nǐ jǐ suì?
今年你几岁？

For older people, it is more polite to use:

Nín duōdà suìshù?
您多大岁数？

Grammar Notes

G25. Dates

How to read years

How to read months

The date

Both 号 and 日 mean a certain day. 号 is used in the spoken language and 日is used in written language.
Days of the week
The Chinese week begins on Monday.

How to say the date
The order for the expression of a date in Chinese is year-month-day-day of week.

For example:

• èr líng líng qī nián qīyuè shíwǔ rì xīngqīliù
• 二零零七年七月十五日星期六
• Saturday, July 15, 2007

G26. 要

Rule: 要 has several meanings. In this lesson, it means will, be going to.

For example:

• Míngtiān wǒmen yào xué dì-wǔ kè.
• 明天我们要学第五课。
• We will learn Lesson 5 tomorrow.

G27. The pivotal sentence

Rule: When we want to ask/invite some one to do something, we use pivotal construction.

The order for pivotal sentences is:

Subject + Causative Verb + Pivotal word (O/S) + Verb + Object

For example:

• Wǒ qǐng nǐ chīfàn.
• 我请你吃饭。
• I will treat you to dinner.

你 is the object of causative verb 请 as well as the subject of the second verb 吃.

G28. 还是……吧

Rule: The 还是……吧 pattern means “instead.” It is used to suggest choosing a different option.

For example:

• Wǒmen chī Měiguó fàn, zěnmeyàng?
• 我们吃美国饭， 怎么样？
• How about we eat American food?

• Háishì chī Zhōngguó fàn ba.
• 还是吃中国饭吧。
• Let’s eat Chinese food.

G29. 想

Rule: Optative verb 想 means “want, would like to.” It indicates a desire to do something.

Optative verbs are placed before the main verb to express:

• néng 能: possibility
• yào 要, xiǎng 想: wish
• kěyǐ 可以: permission
• yīnggāi 应该: obligation

For example:

• Wǒ xiǎng fùxí Zhōngwén.
• 我想复习中文。
• I would like to review Chinese.

G30. Time

Rule: See the Chinese words used to tell time in this diagram.

When we ask about time, we often say:

• Xiànzài jǐ diǎn?
• 现在几点？
• What time is it now?

Sentence Patterns

These sentences highlight and repeat some of the grammatical concepts introduced in this lesson.

Cultural Notes

You may find the traditional way of counting age in China very surprising. In China, the traditional way of counting age is based on the number of calendar years the person has lived in versus the actual length of time. The first day of the Chinese New Year adds an additional year to the age of a person regardless of the actual month he/she is born in. Everyone is considered to be one year old when they are born, and then they add a year to their age when the New Year begins. For example, if a child was born in December of 2007, after Chinese New Year in February 2008, the child’s age would be 2 years old because that child lived in two calendar years. Officially, however, the age of the child would be one year and a couple of months, the same as in America.

In China, 60 years old is an important age. It signifies the end of a life cycle. At 61 a new life cycle begins. Birthdays are not considered too important before 60 years old. Birthdays are celebrated most at the age of 60 and then every 10 years. In many cases the children celebrate the birthdays of parents who are 60 and older to show thanks and respect to the parent. The tradition is to celebrate with foods that signify happiness, such as noodles and peaches for long life. Presents traditionally include such things as eggs, wine, and red-paper money.

In the 1980’s, China became more open to the rest of the world and began adopting some western traditions. Today, Chinese children are more likely to celebrate their birthdays with parties.