Colloquial Chinese - Textbook
Colloquial Chinese - Textbook
Colloquial Chinese - Textbook
COLLOQUIAL
Chinese
P. C. T'UNG
and D. E. POLLARD
30UTLEDGE
9*
«T •
\
*
COLLOQUIAL
CHINESE
THE COLLOQUIAL SERIES
Ping-cheng Tung
and
D. E. Pollard
ROUTLEDGE
LONDON and NEW YORK
First published in 1982
by Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd
Reprinted 1987, 1988
INTRODUCTION 1
LESSON ONE 10
LESSON TWO 19
LESSON THREE 29
LESSON FOUR 39
LESSON FIVE 52
LESSON SIX 64
LESSON SEVEN 80
LESSON EIGHT 92
LESSON NINE 106
LESSON TEN 119
LESSON ELEVEN 135
LESSON TWELVE 157
LESSON THIRTEEN 180
LESSON FOURTEEN 198
LESSON FIFTEEN 218
LESSON SIXTEEN 243
LESSON SEVENTEEN 264
3 (0 O CO 4>
* * *
CO O COV
3 3 3 3 3
INTRODUCTION
MANDARIN
The national language of China is known to English speakers as
Mandarin, which corresponds to the old term guanhua, 'language
of officials'. In the Republican period (1912-49) it was called guoyu,
'national language', a term still in use in some Chinese communities
outside the mainland. In the People's Republic the name for it is
putonghua, 'common language'. It is based on the speech of Peking
(Beijing), but incorporates such elements from the dialects of other
parts of the country as have been accepted into the national modern
written language. These dialects are not our concern, but it might
be said that the linguistically more remote among them are as
mutually unintelligible as, say, English and German. Fortunately,
Chinese children all over the country learn putonghua at school,
and it is heard everywhere on radio and television and in the
cinema. But though learnt virtually as a second language by speak-
ers of other dialects, the average person's pronunciation of Man-
darin in the provinces often favours a local standard, rather than
that of Peking: regional accents can be a problem.
ROMANIZATION
Many different systems of transcribing Chinese into Latin script
have been devised. That which has been adopted almost universally
now, by news agencies as well as educational institutions, is known
as piny in. We use it here. Piny in was officially endorsed in China
in 1958, and it is employed there in elementary schools and wher-
ever there is a need to indicate pronunciation. The day is still very
far off, however, when it or any other form of romanization will
replace characters as the normal medium for reading and writing.
2 INTRODUCTION
WORDS
The Chinese 'word' may be monosyllabic or polysyllabic. Polysyl-
labicwords are easily broken down into their constituent parts
(morphemes) by virtue of the fact that each such part has its own
graph (character) when written, which makes its meaning immedi-
ately apparent. The single-syllable morpheme is thus the basic
building block of the Chinese language. As several morphemes
may share the same sound, two of a similar meaning are often
joined together to make
word recognizable to the ear, like for
a
example qiguai, 'strange', made up of qi, 'unusual', and guai,
'odd'. Otherwise, polysyllabic words are formed by a process of
accretion, like xidnddihud, 'modernization', literally 'present age
change'.
Most Chinese still think of their language as consisting of char-
acters rather than words, and indeed there are advantages to this
view, the chief one being ease of recognition of the same morpheme
when employed in different combinations. The character text of
these lessons would help in this respect of understanding word
formation, as each character (corresponding to a syllable in pinyin)
is introduced separately with its own range of meanings. In this
text we have space only to deal with whole words.
The finer points of writing pinyin, to do with what constitutes
units of speech that should be written together, have yet to be
settled. Inour practice we have been less concerned with good
form than with revealing the mechanisms of the language, for
example using hyphens to join 'moving parts' to stable elements,
and on the other hand keeping apart elements that others join
together where we think that might help appreciation of their wider
role.
without interrupting the flow of one's speech. For this reason, the
first of them changes to second tone, e.g. hin hdo is said hen
hdo. When three third tones are said together in the same breath,
the first two change to second: wd hen hdo is said wo hen hdo.
Before any other tone, the third tone does not rise at the end of
its downward curve. In effect, then, it is only before a pause that
the third tone completes its full contour. In some words, a third
tone that has been 'neutered', so to speak, still occasions a change
in a proceding third tone: the two elements oixidojie, for example,
are separately xido and jie; jie has lost its tone, but still converts
xido to xido. In such cases we mark the third-tone change, other-
wise we do not.
The fourth tone is also modified when followed by another fourth
tone: its pitch does not fall to its full extent.
In actual speech individual syllables are rarely given their full
tonal value, unless they are isolated for emphasis, and key words
in any given construction get more phonetic attention than lesser
words, as might be expected. In effect, the sequence of sounds
does not follow a step pattern, which would result from each having
4 INTRODUCTION
WORD ORDER
In English, at least in spontaneous utterances, the tendency is to
make one's comment and then say what one is talking about:
first
'Very nice, this cake.' In Chinese the reverse is the case: one first
'tees up' the topic and then delivers one's comment - the comment
being of more moment: 'This cake, very nice.' A similar pheno-
menon can be observed with limiting phrases and clauses: in
Chinese the conditions or particulars are set out before the main
business is come to, so you get formulations like this: 'Next week
can go'; 'You not want go, not need go'; T finish this then go'. In
English, by contrast, the natural word order is for the time phrase,
the conditional clause, and temporal clause to follow the main verb:
T can go next week'; 'You needn't go if you don't want to'; Til go
after I've finished this'. It is in fact a cardinal rule of Chinese syntax
that subordinate elements come before principal elements in a
sentence. It would help to embark on this course anticipating this.
CHINESE CHARACTERS
It is necessary to have a general idea of the make-up of characters
to understand what is being talked about in Lesson 13. The com-
INTRODUCTION 5
GENERAL REMARKS
Though all the Chinese in this book and can readily be
is 'sayable',
turned to use in conversation, the focus for the student will be on
those sequential passages devised as dialogues. These are well
worth memorizing. Though they take their own direction, they are
for the most part the everyday stuff of social intercourse. At the
same time, the trends of the dialogues have been determined by
the need to introduce various constructions and usages in the order
in which we think they will be most assimilable. All the basic syntax
of modern spoken Chinese is contained in these pages.
One complication we could have done without arises from the
gap that has opened up between 'mainland Chinese' and other
kinds of Chinese, principally that spoken in Taiwan. This makes
itself felt immediately in the difference in terms of address ('com-
your own Chinese; you are safe only with the words that are put
together for you. However, given the resources of this book, that
should not cramp your style too much.
We would be glad to receive suggestions for improvement, or
plain complaints.
THE SOUNDS OF MANDARIN
CHINESE
Some of the sounds of Mandarin (represented here in their pinyin
spelling) are so similar to English sounds that they will present no
difficulty to the learner. Others are less similar to sounds in English
but have a close enough resemblance, and a third group of sounds
does not occur in English at all. The IPA (International Phonetic
Alphabet) symbols are given below for consonants of this sort.
INITIALS
j
an unaspirated voiceless palatal affricate, [te]
similar to gesture
4
similar to c/ieap
x a voiceless palatal fricative [fi], between ship
and sip
z an unaspirated voiceless dental silibant affricate
[ts], similar to cads
c an aspirated voiceless dental silibant affricate
4
[ts ], similar to cats
zh an unaspirated voiceless retroflex affricate [ts],
similar to large
ch an aspirated voiceless retroflex affricate [ts'],
similar to larch
sh a voiceless retroflex fricative [s], similar to
shrub
THE SOUNDS OF MANDARIN CHINESE 9
FINALS
a as in father
o as in more
e as in her
e as in there (this e occurs by itself, and in ie, ue)
i as in machme (in isolation i is written as yi)
u as in rule (in isolation u is written as wu)
u like German ti (i rounded to u\ in isolation it
is written as yu)
er like err (American accent)
Where two or more finals follow each other, as in ai, ia, etc., they
each preserve their original sound value, except in the case of ian,
where an is pronounced more like en. In zhi, chi, shi, ri the letter
i represents a sound like ir in American 'sir'. In zi, ci, si the vowel
is pronounced rather like the first syllable of 'wpon'.
SPELLING CONVENTIONS
jii, qii, xii are spelt ju, qu, xu.
As complete syllables, ue, uan, tin are written as yue, yuan, yun.
Re ma? Bu re.
W6 ye hen leng.
I too very cold.
II DIALOGUES
1
A: Zao a! Morning!
B: Zao! Tianqi zhen hao. Morning! The weather's really
nice.
A: Zhen hao, bu 16ng bu re. Really nice, neither cold nor
hot.
B: NImen dou hao ma? Are you all well?
A: Dou hao. QIng zu6, qlng (We're) all well. Please sit
zuo. down.
B: Hao, hao! All right, fine.
A: Hao a! Hello!
B: Ni hao! Hello to you!
A: Tianqi zhen 16ng! The weather's really cold!
B: Zhen ISng. NImen mang Really cold. Are you busy?
bu mang?
A: W6men dou hfcn m&ng. We're all quite busy. What
NImen ne? about you?
B: Wdmen y€ dou h6n mang. We're also all quite busy.
Zaijian. Goodbye.
A: Zaijian, zaijian. Goodbye, goodbye.
Ill VOCABULARY
Noun (N)
tianqi weather
12 LESSON ONE
jlntian
LESSON ONE 13
IV GRAMMAR
1 The definite article
weather .'.
. .
When adjectives form the predicate, i.e. when they say what the
subject is or is not, they function as verbs; there is no additional
word for 'to be'. We call them stative verbs. In the affirmative,
when no more substantial adverb is to be supplied, they need to be
supported by the unstressed adverb hen 'very, quite'. [If not so
supported, a contrast is intended.] You V,l that stative
will see in
verbs may also be the subject of a sentence, in which case they take
on the role of a gerund: Leng bu hao, 'Being/to be cold is not
good'.
3 Negation
The tone of bu, 'not* is fourth, except when the following word is
4 Saving on words
4
5 The particles 'ma', ne' and 'a'
which the other person is to pick one. Lenglbu ling thus offers a
choice between cold/not cold. Choice-type questions have the same
intonation pattern as the declarative sentence, a generally even
one, with a downward curve at the end. The negative alternative
receives less stress.
Third, a question may be formally unmarked but be identified
by high intonation and, where it consists of a number of words, by
a rising final curve. Rel\ has the intonation universally associated
with surprise.
8 Tense
The Chinese verb, being invariable, does not in itself show tense,
nor does tense exist at all in the sense that actions or states have
to be ascribed to a position in time (past, present, etc.). What
Chinese can show is aspect (completion, duration, etc.), but aspect
marking is not mechanical either. In the sentence Zudtidn women
bu mdng, 'Yesterday we (were) not busy', the time word zudtidn
provides the context and no refinements are needed.
9 Adverbs (A)
11 And
There is no word for 'and' as a conjunction for clauses (e.g. 'I
opened the window and looked out'), only for noun constructions
(e.g. 'One man and his dog'). There being no such clause conjunc-
tion, clauses just follow in sequence: Tianqi bu leng bit re '(The)
weather (is) not cold, (and) not hot'.
12 Number
The plural suffix - men is confined to personal pronouns and groups
of people.
V SPEECH PATTERNS
1 Contrastive sentences with stative verbs
VII EXERCISES
1 Make these sentences negative:
1. Jintian lengma?
2. Tianqi hao ma?
3. Nimen re ma?
4. Tamen zao ma?
3 Translate into Chinese:
II DIALOGUES
LESSON TWO 21
ffl VOCABULARY
Specifiers (SP)
zhe this
na that
Nouns
t6ngzhi
lesson two 23
Shanghai Shanghai
Ylngguo England, UK
Meiguo America (USA)
Particle
Interjection (I)
6/6 oh (I see)
Idiomatic expressions
Surnames
Zhang
Wang
IV GRAMMAR
1 Names
r~
24 LESSON TWO
2 Titles
person'.
Xing, be surnamed' performs in the same way as shi: W6
'to
your surname you cannot just reply 'Wang', you have to say (Wd)
xing Wang.
Jido may mean 'be called', when it introduces either the full or
the given name (never just the surname), or it may mean, transi-
tively, 'call', as in Tdmen jido wd Ido Wdng, 'They call me old
Wang'.
5 Place names
Question words (in this lesson shei, 'who'; shenme, 'what'; nii,
'which') dispense with the query particle at the end of the sentence.
Their use does not entail inversion of the word order, as in English:
Ni shi shei? 'You are who?' - 'Who are you?'; Ni jido shenme
mingzi? 'You are called what name?' (In other words, the question
word occupies the same slot as the information sought does in the
reply.) You have noticed, however, that shei may come before,
will
as well as after, the verb shi, but there is a distinction. If you want
to be told about a person, you ask in the normal (Chinese) way,
26 LESSON TWO
7 Possessive pronouns
V SPEECH PATTERNS
1 Sentences with classificatory verbs
Zhang tongzhi.
3. Ta shi Beijing ren, w6men dou jiao ta 'lao Beijing'.
4. Lao Wang zhen hao, w6men dou jiao ta haohao xiansheng.
('Mr Agreeable')
Pattern: Ta shi sheil Zhe shi shenme . Ta shi nii guo ren?
VI EXPANSION DRILLS
1 Ren.
Zhongguo ren.
Shi Zhongguo ren.
Ta shi Zhonggud ren.
Ni yd shi Zhongguo ren ma?
28 LESSON TWO
2 Yinghua\
Jiao YInghua\
Mfngzi jiao Yinghua\
Xing W&ng, mi'ngzi jiao YInghua\
Ta xing Warig, mfngzi jiao Yinghua\
Ta airen xing W6ng, mfngzi jiao Yinghua\
VII EXERCISES
1 Answer the following questions as it suits you:
Peking.
LESSON THREE
I PRESENTATION
Wing xiansheng. Wing taitai shi Ylnggu6 huiqiio.
Wang Mr Wang Mrs are England overseas Chinese.
Ta ch£ng shuo:
She often says:
Zhonggu6 hua!'
China speech!'
n DIALOGUE
Wang: Jlntian kafei zhen hao, nl Today the coffee is really
yi he yidiinr ba! good, you have some too!
Tai: Bu he, w6 zhe ch^ h6n I won't have (any), this
Ill SKETCHES
1
IV VOCABULARY
Verbs (V)
ai
LESSON THREE 33
Adverbs
zhl only
chang, changchang often, habitually
Place words
34 LESSON THREE
2 Unmarked subordination
That one proposition depends on another may be conveyed simply
by the order in which they occur. In a series of clauses without any
connecting words the first is always subordinate: (given) X, (then)
Y. So Wdigud rin chi wdigud fan, yinggdi shuo wdigud
hud means '(Given that) foreigners eat foreign food (then they)
should speak foreign languages'. The unmarked subordinate clause
is often an 'if clause: Ni xidng chi, ni zud ba, '(If) you want to
eat (it), you cook (it)'.
5 Negation
Bu with an action verb, apart from simply meaning 'not' ('is not',
'do not', etc.) may also convey non-intention - 'not going to': Wo
bu xue, 'I'm not going to learn Bu xidng xue,
(it)'. 'Don't intend
to learn/Don't feel like learning' may leave room for argument;
Bu xue is a flat refusal.
When the verb takes an object (which in the case of a modal verb
may be another verb), the negative alternative in a choice-type
question may come either before or after the object: kdn/bu kan
dianshil, 'watch/not watch television?', or kan dianshilbu kan?
'watch television/not watch?'; (with a modal verb) Xidng/ bu xidng
kan dianshil 'intend/not intend watch television?' or xidng kan
dianshilbu xidng? 'intend watch television/not intend?'
7 'Hao bu hao?'
'Ba' may imply that the proposal it is appended to is one that one
would merely go along with, perhaps out of indifference or
resignation.
36 LESSON THREE
VI SPEECH PATTERNS
1 Sentences with action verbs
VIII EXERCISES
1 Change these statements into choice-type questions, with the
object between the affirmative and negative forms of the verb
(or modal verb):
II DIALOGUE
A: Zhen zhen lei!
lei, I'm really tired, really tired!
B: He bei ch^ ba. Shi bu shi Have a cup of tea. Is it
HI SKETCHES
1
IV VOCABULARY
Numbers" 2 (NU)
er two
li&ng two (used with measures), a couple of
san three
si four
wu five
liu six
qi seven > optionally 2nd tone
ba eight ) before 4th tone
jiu nine
shi ten
LESSON FOUR 43
Measures" '
(M)
Nouns
putonghua
44 LESSON FOUR
yfnwei
LESSON FOUR 45
carry a classifier related to the class of the noun: shu, 'book', for
example, carries the classifier bin, 'volume': zhii bin shu, 'this
2 Numbers (NU)
The number 1-10 are listed in the vocabulary. For 2 there are two
words: ir is in counting and compound numbers; lidng is
used
used for two of anything (similar to 'a couple of). In compound
numbers units are added to the tens, so 12 is shfer (10+2). For
multiples of ten, the multiplier precedes shi, 'ten'; 20 then is irshi
46 LESSON FOUR
Ydu covers both possession and existence: 'to have' and 'there is/
are' (cf. French 'il a' and 'il y a'). Ydu is unique among Chinese
verbs in being negated by mei: always mei ydu, never *bu ydu.
An important function of ydu is to introduce a noun of indefinite
reference in the head position in a sentence: Ydu yi wei pengyou
wen td . . . '[There was] a friend (who) asked him . . .'; Ydu ren
the object of qing but the subject of chi. English and Chinese part
company when English resorts to a relative clause: 'I have a friend
who has nine sons'; in Chinese the pivotal device still serves: Wd
ydu yi ge pengyou ydu jiu ge erzi. Compare also Mei ydu rin
bu xihuan chi Zhdnggud cai, 'There is not a person (who) does
not like to eat Chinese food'.
5 How many?
Both ji and dudshao mean 'how many?'. Ji applies to small
numbers (except in a few formulas) and dudshao applies where
the number is known or expected to be over 10. Grammatically
they differ in that ji always combines with a measure word, whereas
This sentence also illustrates the rule that the embedded question
has to be of the choice-type: it cannot be formed with ma. You can
also see that there is no equivalent in Chinese of 'if or 'whether'.
The overall intonation pattern of an indirect question is the falling
one of a statement, not pitched high as direct questions are.
8 'Ye'
When part and whole are mentioned together (e.g. 'two out of my
three teachers'), the whole figures as topic ('as to . . .') and the
part follows as the immediate subject of the predicate: Wd nii
san wii Idoshi, lidng wii hin Ido, yi wii bu tdi Ido,' (As
to, of) my three teachers, two are very old, one is not too old'.
MAs, unlike 'true' adverbs, need not come immediately before the
verb (or another adverb); they may come before the subject/topic.
VI MEASURES
ge: yi ge ren; Hang ge p£ngyou; san ge difang; si ge h£izi; wii ge
shenme?
wei: liu wei pengyou; qf wei laoshi; b& wei huaqi&o; jiu wei t6ngzhi;
jl wei xidojie?
b6n: jiu b6n shu; shf b6n zidian
bei: Hang bei cha; yi bei kafei; san bei jiu
sui: qishi sui
2 Specification of nouns
Patterns: SP NU M N
(a) zhe
50 LESSON FOUR
y6 h6n h&o
shi de n ^ngyou.
also are very good (K) friends.
n 8
kfcshi wanshang nl bu zhun chi yu!'
but evening you not allowed eat fish!'
n DIALOGUE
Zhang:
54 LESSON FIVE
Zhang: Qing ren chi-fan, bu neng (If we) invite people to eat,
mei jiu, mai Hang ping ba! we can't be without wine,
let's buy two bottles!
Wife: Jiu name gui, w6 de qian Wine is so expensive, I
Ill SKETCHES
1
read it?
shi . . .
ba?
B: Shi a, women shi sanshi Certainly, we are old friends
nian de lao pengyou. of thirty years (standing).
A: Qian xiansheng z6ngshi Is Mr Qian always so busy?
name mang ma?
B: Ta zongshi name mang, Yes he is, so we all call him
su6yi wdmen dou jiao ta 'busy bee'.
da mang ren.
A: You ren shuo ta bu he People say he doesn't drink,
jiu, keshi ni kan . . . but look . . .
IV VOCABULARY
jia (N) family; home
keren (N) guest
)6 LESSON FIVE
LESSON FIVE 57
V GRAMMAR
1 Marked co-ordination
X - de 4- nominal construction
marker.
58 LESSON FIVE
4 'Yidianr'
indicate that people should only go to 'a little' trouble, 'a little'
6 Tail-end questions
8 Voice
VI SPEECH PATTERNS
1 Nouns modified by other nouns
Pattern: N N
W6 meimei bu xihuan zuo-fan.
Pattern: N de N
Wo meimei de airen hen xihan zuo-fan.
5a. Lao Zhang jia de nei liang ge haizi dou hen hao.
b. Lao Zhang jia nei liang ge haizi de mfngzi dou hen hao.
1. N6i bao shi nl de? Zhei bao shi w6 de, nei bao yd shi w6 de,
zhei liangbao dou shi w6 de.
2. Nei Hang zhi ji dou shi tamen de ma? Dou shi.
3. Zhei ban ping jiu bu shi nl de ba? Bu shi, shi w6 t6ngxu6 lao
W£ng de.
4. Zhei fen bao shi jintian de bu shi? Bu shi, shi zu6tian de.
5. Duibuqi, zhei ge shi w6 de. NT de? Shei shuo shi nl de?
Pattern: SV N
Ta y6u yf ge xi^o dianshi.
Pattern: SV de N
Ta y6u yi ge hSn xiao de dianshi.
Chi jl
Xiang chi jl
Ta xiang chi jl
Yu.
Y6u yu.
Tamen y6u yu.
Tamen y6u bu shao yu.
Tamen y6u duoshao tiao yu?
Tamen shuo tamen y6u jiushijiu ti^o yu.
Tamen shuo tamen yigdng y6u jiushijiu tiao yu.
LESSON FIVE 63
VIII EXERCISES
1 Into which of the gaps below should the marker 'de' go?
b. Zhongguo ( ) he bu re ( ) tang.
ren bu ai
zidian.
3a. Ta ( ) meimei bu he re ( ) kafei.
b. Ta ( ) meimei ( ) airen bu he hen re ( ) kafei.
4a. Lao Wang ( ) airen yao zuo yi tiao da ( ) yu.
b. Lao Wang ( ) airen yao zuo yi tiao hen da ( ) yu.
5a. Ta ( ) hua bu shi putong ( ) ren ( ) putonghua.
b. Ta ( ) hua shi Shanghai ( ) ren ( ) putonghua.
n DIALOGUE
A: Mingtian lao er shengri, Tomorrow (is) Second Son's
ni shuo mai shenme gei birthday. What do you
ta? suggest we buy for him?
B: Mai dongxi gei ta zhen Buying something for him is
Ill SKETCHES
1
C: Xing, w6men laoshi yong Yes, the one our teacher uses
de jiushi zhei zhong. is just this kind.
B: Hao, jiu mai zhei bSn. All right, we'll buy this one
Yigdng duoshao qian? then. How much altogether?
A: Zidian shi'er kuai, ditu liu The dictionary is 12 yuan, the
kuai san mao wu, yigong atlas is 6 yuan 35, altogether
shiba kuai san mao wu. 18 yuan 35.
B: Yi wu, yi shi, shiwu, (One) five, (one) ten, fifteen,
n
ershi," gei ni ershi kuai. twenty, here's twenty yuan.
A: Xiexie, zhao nin yi kuai Thank you, here's one yuan
liu mao wu. 65 change, (lit: give-in-change
to you . .
.)
A: W6 mai Hang jin ba, huai I'll buy two catties. I don't
IV VOCABULARY
mingtian (TW) tomorrow
shengri (N) birthday
dongxi (N) thing
gei (V) give
rongyi (SV) easy
song (V) give (as present); send, deliver
shouylnji (N) radio receiver
ting (V) listen to; heed
xinwen (N) news
ylnyue (N) music
xianzai (TW) now
jian(M) piece, item
maoyl (N) sweater, woolly
d6i (MV) must; need to
(V) cost (money); take (time)
kuai (M) unit of currency (wr. yuan); piece, lump
pianyi (SV) cheap
shiqing (N) matter
dangran (MA) of course
jiu (A) then (introduces a consequence or
conclusion)
nan (SV) difficult
V GRAMMAR
1 Verbal expressions in series
A sequence like wdmen xidng mdi ge dongxi gii td, 'we intend
buy a thing give him' should by now cause no alarm. Technically
speaking, mdi ge dongxi and gii td are known as 'verbal expres-
sions in series'. The relationship between verbal expressions that
are in series is not explicitly indicated; what is envisaged by the
speaker may simply be a sequence of events in the order in which
they occur - in this case the buying comes before the giving. Further
definition involves judgments which may be somewhat arbitrary.
However, it is reasonably clear that the logical relationship between
them is often one of purpose - the first action(s) being performed
in order to realize the second or last. Purpose appears to be up-
rest follow regularly: Ido er, Ido sdn, and so on. Lao er is
Everyday terms for those who ply certain trades or belong to certain
groups are frequently made up of the verb and object denoting the
activity, plus de. It may be presumed that the 'missing noun' is
We have seen that stative verbs act as the main verb in the predi-
cate: shouyinji hen gui, 'radios are very dear'. If shi is added,
it is not as a superfluity. Shouyinji shi hen gui means 'radios,
it is the case, are very dear'. What shi does here is to stress the
LESSON SIX 71
assumed to be the next lower unit after the one that is mentioned.
For example, in Lidng kudi wu, 'two yuan five', the 'five' must
refer to mdo; in bd mdo wu, 'eight mao five', the 'five' must be
five fen. If there is no figure for an intermediate unit, its absence
zero (mao), five fen'; in these cases the last unit (here fen) must
be specified.
The word qidn (money) is customarily added after sums of a
single denomination, e.g. wu kudi qidn, san fen qidn. The word
'to cost', used in relation with sums of money, is variously d£i or
ydo, both meaning 'need', or mdi 'sell (for)'. For dii see n. 12
below.
ershi kudi duo would mean '20 yuan and more' - i.e. between 20
and 21. See VI. 4 (a).
Ban, 'half functions similarly to duo when it is an additional
fraction: qi kudi ban, '7 yuan (and a) half. But when it restricts
the measure, it comes, as it must, before it: ban ping jiu, 'half
a bottle of wine'. Yi ban, 'one half is, by contrast, a free word,
but whatever it is half of is stated in advance: Td de shit, yi ban
shi Yingwen de, '(Of) his books, one half are English ones' (see
note on part/whole relationship, Lesson 4).
8 'Ye' as 'still'
Apart from meaning 'also', ye can also mean 'still' when it serves
to offset a concession. In this usage it may combine with kishi,
'but', as in . . . kishi hdo de mdoyi yi ydo ershi duo, 'but
good sweaters still cost over 20'.
11 Numbers again
The rule that two of anything is lidng rather than ir does not
apply in all cases. Lidng, 'ounce' attracts ir, presumably to avoid
same sound (indeed the same
repetition of the character). Some
other measure words tolerate either lidng or ir: it is possible, for
instance to say ir wii xidnsheng as well as lidng wii xidnsheng.
Lidng cannot be left suspended at the end of a multiple sum:
not *wu kudi lidng, but wukudi lidng mdo or wu kudi ir.
In studious enumeration, yi 'one' may be prefaced to single
digits. In this lesson money is counted out in notes of five yuan as
yi wu, 'one five', yi shi, 'one ten', but without yi thereafter:
shiwu, irshi, etc.
12 The MV 'dei'
Dii, 'must, have to' has as its negative bu ydng, 'need not' or
bu bound to' (not yet introduced). 'Must not' is variously
bi, 'not
yinji diiwushi kudi. 'This type of radio costs (as much as) ¥50'
with Zhii zhdng shouyinji zhi ydo wu kudi,' only costs . . .
VI SPEECH PATTERNS
1 Units of currency
Basic unit
(yuan) kuai yuan
1/10 yuan m&o jiao
1/100 yu£n fen fen
74 LESSON SIX
(a) Zhei ben shu (mai/yao) duoshao qian?/ ji kuai qian?/ji mao
qian?/ji fen qian?
(b) Pinggu6 duoshao qian yi j!n?/Pinggu6 yi jln duoshao qian?/Yi
jin pfnggu6 duoshao qian?
(c) Zhei zh6ng yan duoshao qian yi bao?/Zhei zhong yan yi bao
duoshao qian?
(d) Pinggu6 zenme mai? 1. Yi jln si mao wu./Si mao wu yi jin.
2. Yi ge mao./Yi mao yi ge.
yi
(a) duo
(b) ban
1. ban - M 2. NU - M - ban
(a) ban ping jiu (a) san zhl ban (jl)
(b) ban tiao yu (b) si ge ban
(c) ban jin shuiguo (c) wu sui ban
(d) san ge ban-tiao yu (3 half- (d) liu jin ban (pingguo)
fishes) (e) qi kuai ban (qian)
(f) jiushiwu kuai ban
3. yi ban
1. mai-bao-de (newsvendor)
2. song-bao-de (paperboy)
3. zud-fan-de (cook)
4. yao-fan-de (beggar)
5. mai-yu-de (fishmonger)
6. bao-xinwen-de (news announcer)
1. Ta tiantian wanshang dou yao he liang bei. (he Hang bei, 'have
a few drinks')
2. Wo mai de pingguo geger dou shi huai de.
3. Tamen niannianr dou yao song wo yi ping jiu.
2 Shi.
Shiqing.
Putong shiqing.
78 LESSON SIX
VIII EXERCISES
1 Translate this table into connected speech:
Article qty ¥
e.g. maoyi 2 55.60
MaoyI Hang jian wushiwu kuai liii.
zidian 4
shouyinji
jiu
ditu
yu
bao
shu
cha
pinggu6
yan
Xi&o W£ng yinwei tai pang Because Wang was too fat,
ren y€ sh6u le, jingshen y£ his person got thin and his
h&o le. spirit good.
n DIALOGUE
Wang: Ei, lcio Sun, ni bu renshi Hey, Sun old man, don't
w6 le? W6 shi xiao Wang you recognize me
a! anymore? I am young
Wang!
Sun: Shenme?! Pangzi xiao What? Young fatty Wang!
Wang! Ni z6nme . . . How come you . . .
Wang: Sh6u le, shi bu shi? I've got thin, isn't that so?
Sun: Shi a, ni yiqian bu shi h&n Indeed, weren't you very
pang ma? fat before?
Wang: Yiqian shi hen pang, y6u Before I was very fat, I
Ill SKETCHES
1
A: Zao a! Morning!
B: Zao! Tianqi lgng le. Morning! It's turned cold.
A: Shi a, mai dongxi de ren Very true, the shoppers are
y£ shao le. fewer as well.
B: Mai dongxi de r6n shao The fact that shoppers are
le, bu shi yinwei tianqi fewer wouldn't be because
leng ba? of the weather being cold
(would it)?
ma? teach?
B: Ta bu jiao le. Ta shuo She's given up teaching. She
jiao-shu zhei zh6ng says the job of teaching is too
gongzuo tai lei le. fatiguing.
IV VOCABULARY
yiqian (TW) before, previously
pang (SV) fat (of persons)
dajia (N) everyone
pangzi (N) fat person
V GRAMMAR
The modal particle 'le' (Speech Patterns 1, 2)
'he has got fat'. Sometimes the inclination may be to use the
comparative form in English to mark the progression ('he is fatter'),
but there is no such mechanism at work in the Chinese. Notice that
le cancels the need for a supporting hin with stative verbs; if hen
. ., 'only/just
. ., not .', which translates as something posi-
. . . .
tive, followed by 'but not .', e.g. above: Hen duo ren zhi . .
3 'ren'
VI SPEECH PATTERNS
1 Sentences with modal particle 'le' indicating change of state
(a) Pattern: SV le
5. Nimen dou hui shuo Zhongguo hua le ba? Dou hui shuo
yidianr le, keshi hai bu renshi Zhongguo zi.
88 LESSON SEVEN
(b) yi..yi
1. Dajia dou xiang xue YIngwen; wdmen ye xiang xue, tamen ye
xiang xue.
2. Ta xihuan chl waiguo cai; Faguo cai yt chl, Deguo cai ye chl.
3. Tianqi hao, wdmen ye gongzuo; tianqi bu hao, w6men ye
gongzuo.
4. Zhei ge difang zhi you zhei zhdng shuiguo; ni chl ye keyi, bu
chl y€ keyi.
(d) yaoshi . .
., jiu . . .
1. Yaoshi taken shuoshuo nei tian de qingxing, na jiu tai hao le.
2. Yaoshi ni bu zhun wo kan dianshi, w6 jiu bu zhun ni ting
shouylnjl.
3. Zheme zuo k6ngpa bu xing ba? Yaoshi ta shuo xing jiu xing.
4. Yaoshi ni mei lingqian, jiu gei w6 yi zhang shi kuaide ba.
2 Hen hao.
JIngshen hem hao.
Ta de jlngshen hen hao.
Ta da quan, su6yi ta de jlngshen hen hao.
Ta da taijiquan, su6yi ta de jlngshen hen hao.
Ta mei tian da taijiquan, su6yi ta de jlngshen hen hao.
Ta mei tian wanshang da taijiquan, su6yi ta de jlngshen hen hao.
YInwei ta mei tian wanshang da taijiquan, su6yi ta de jlngshen hen
hao.
VIII EXERCISES
1 Answer these questions on the basis of the Presentation and
Dialogue:
1. zhi . . . bu . . .
2. yfc . . . yfc . . .
3. sulran . . . kSshi . . .
4. yaoshi . . . jiu . . .
5. yinwei . . . su6yi . . .
W6men liang ge ren dou shi We were both going for the
n 4
diyi ci qu. first time.
LESSON EIGHT 93
n DIALOGUE
A: XiSo Wang, w6 tai e le, Wang, I am starving, I can't
bu n6ng zai z6u le. go any further.
B: Kuai dao le, kuai dao le. We're almost there, almost
Ei! Ditu-shang zdnme mei there. Eh! How come this
y6u zhei su6r fangzi a? house isn't on the map?
A: Qixiangzhan yinggai zai The weather station ought to
b&bianr, kdshi n^ibianr be to the north, but which
shi b£i a? way is north?
B: W6 xianzai y£ bu zhidao I'm not sure of the direction
fangxiang le. Ej NI kan, myself any more. Eh, look,
neibianr y6u ge xi^oh^ir, there's alittle kid over there,
Ill SKETCHES
1
hao? right?
B: W6 zhidao yidianr I know a bit about Chinese
Zhongguo dili, ni wen ba! geography. Ask away!
A: Shandong zai nar? Where is Shandong?
B: Shandong zai Shanxl de Shandong is east of Shanxi.
dongbianr.
A: Hunan ne? What about Hunan?
B: Hunan zai Hubei de Hunan is south of Hubei.
nanbianr.
A: Guangxi ne? And Guangxi?
B: Guangxi zai Guangdong Guangxi is west of
de xlbianr. Guangdong.
A: K6shi Guangdong zai nar But where is Guangdong?
ne?
B: Guangdong dangran zai Guangdong is east of
Guangxi de dongbianr. Guangxi, of course.
A: Zhe w6 yd zhidao. W6 I'm aware of that. What I
IV VOCABULARY
96 LESSON EIGHT
V GRAMMAR
1 Location (Speech Patterns 1-5)
of Chinese grammar.
In this way in which they combine with nouns, RPWs vary in
their versatility: free words with a noun ending may be more or
less comfortable with a linking de; some suffixes may be usable
Zher, 'here' and ndr, 'there' are localizers that can combine
with pronouns and proper nouns (as well as ordinary nouns). Ex-
amples: wo-zher, 'I here', 'here where I am', 'my place'; Ido
Wdng-ner, 'old Wang there', 'Wang's place'.
Place words and place-word phrases occur, as expected, before
the verb: neibianr you ge xido hdizi, 'over there there is a
(young) child'. In a sentence whose only point is to say where a
thing is, however, the place expression cannot occupy a subordinate
position; enter then the verb zdi, 'to be located', which takes the
place as a complement: qixidngzhdn zdi beibianr,
expression
'theweather station is located to the north'; ni zdi ndr"?, 'you are
where?' - 'where are you?'.
Existence, as opposed to location, in a place is taken care of by
you, 'there is/are', as we have seen. Shi, 'is/are' usurps its territory
when the whole of the space visualized is taken up (a similar
division takes place in English): for example, zuobianr dou shi
zhuzi, 'on the left (it) is bamboos', as opposed to zuobianr
all
ydu zhuzi, 'on the left there are bamboos' (but that is not all
there is).
2 Resumption
kudi and jiu, both used in the sense of 'very soon' or 'imminently',
or by the combinations kudi ydo, jiu ydo, 'will soon'. It is a
property of kudi that the particularizing verb (if understood) can
be left out: Kudi lei, 'Soon!' - 'Won't be long!', 'Almost there!',
etc., but there is no form *ydo le or *jiu le.
4 Ordinal numbers
Ordinal numbers are formed very simply by adding the prefix di-
5 shi diyi ci V
women shi diyi ci qu, '(as to) us (it) is the first time of going'.
The formula may be modified by the inclusion of zhe, 'this', nd,
'that' to Zhe shi wdmen diyi ci qu, 'This is for us the first time
of going' - 'This is the first time we have gone'. Note also diji
'which (in a sequence)?; diji cil 'the how many-th time?
VI SPEECH PATTERNS
1 Directions and place words
dong E dongnan
nan S
xl W
bei N
LESSON EIGHT 101
dongbianr xibeibianr
nanbianr beibii
xibianr dongnanbu
beibianr zheibian~zheli = zher
dongnanbianr neibian—nali = nar, ner
neibian?~nali? = nar?
*Yingguo de nanbian may mean either 'in the south' or 'to the
south' of England.
Zhongguo de xlbeibu means only 'in the north-west of China'.
Pattern: N zai PW
Bao zai nar? Zai zhuozi-shang.
7. Fangxiang dui ma? Dui, ni kan Xlhu bu shi zai women zuo-
bianr ma!
3 Existence in a place
Pattern: PW you N
Zhongguo you hen duo da shan.
1. Ylngguo beibu you mei you da hu? You, you bu shao fengjing
hen mei de da hu.
2. Shan-shang you hen duo fangzi, mei suor fangzi qiantou dou
you pingguoshu.
3. Zhuozi-shang you bei cha, bu zhidao shi shei de.
4. Donghii xibianr you yi tiao da lu, lu de liang bianr dou shi zhiizi.
5. Cheng-li you ge mai yu de difang, nar de yu hen pianyi.
6. Wo zher mei you ta yao de nei ge dongxi. (Contrast: Wo mei
you ta yao de nei ge dongxi.)
2 Fangzi.
Da fangzi.
Hao-kan de da fangzi.
H6n hao-kan de da fangzi.
104 LESSON EIGHT
VIII EXERCISES
1 Answer these questions on the basis of the Presentation:
n 6
Jintian xlngqi-ri, lao Li jiu Today Sunday, so Li goes
is
qu gei didi ban zhei jian shi, to tend to this matter for his
zai lii-shang . . . brother; on the way . . .
II DIALOGUE
Wang: Ai! Li shlfu, hao jiu bu Hey, 'old hand' Li, it's
jian, hai renshi w6 ma? been a long time. Do you
recognize me?
still
Dadui. recall.
108 LESSON NINE
Ill SKETCHES
1
B: Bie z6u le, jiu zai wdmen Don't go, have something to
zher chl-fan ba! eat right here with us!
A: Bu le, xiexie. W6 hai d6i I won't, thanks. I still have to
IV VOCABULARY
shifu (N) master craftsman; old hand
tie (N) iron
(gong)chang (N) factory, works
gongren (N) worker, workman
xiaoxue (N) junior school
nan (AT) male
yijing (A) already
jiefangjun (N) Liberation Army; member of same
jiefang (V/N) liberate; liberation
baihud shangdian (N) 'hundred goods shop', i.e.
(department) store
(shang)dian (N) shop, store
dang (CLV) be (in position of), serve as
shouhuoyuan (N) 'sell goods person' - shop assistant
jiemei (N) sisters (older and younger)
didi (N) younger brother
daxue (N) university
nong (N) agriculture
gao (V) do, go in for, make, get up to
shuili (N) water conservancy
ganbu (N) cadre
cud (N/SV) mistake; wrong, in error
bu-cud (IE) that's right; not bad, pretty good
wenhua (N) culture; (standard of) education
shuiping (N) level, standard
gao (SV) high; tall
V GRAMMAR
1 Coverbs (Speech Patterns 1(b), 2,3)
In that they introduce phrases that define when, where, how, for
whom, etc., the action of the main verb takes place or is initiated,
coverbs serve the same function as prepositions: ta air en zai
xidoxue jiao-shu, 'his wife teaches at junior school'. They are
called coverbs, and not prepositions, because they are recognizably
verbs, though some have lost the facility to function independently.
Zai, 'be located', ydng, 'use', and gei, 'give' we have already met
in their role as central verbs; as coverbs they become 'in, at (a
place or time)', 'with' (instrumental), and 'for' (the benefit of)
respectively.Gen as a verb has the meaning 'go along with, follow';
as a coverb it means 'with'. The verb ti means 'substitute for,
replace'; the coverb ti means 'on behalf of (and as such may
112 LESSON NINE
overlap with gii). Wei, 'for the sake of, because of will be met
only as a coverb.
As a type of verb, coverbs can be negated: td bu zai xiaoxue
jido-shu, 'she does not teach at junior school' - she teaches some-
where else. (If the negative governs the central verb it is the activity
that is being negated: td zai jid bit he jiu,' he does not drink at
home' - regardless of whatever else he does there). It is negatability
that distinguishes the coverb gen from the conjunction gen: wo
bu gen td qu, 'I am not going with him', as opposed to 'wo gen
td dou bu qu\ 'I and he are both not going'.
2 Balance
zhei ge zuo gege de, 'this one who is in the position of elder
brother'; dang keren de, 'those who are in the position of guests'.
4 'Jiii'
'precisely, just, the very -' etc. The last applies loosely to some
other occurrences in this lesson: jiu zdi tdmen she-li gdo shuili,
'goes in for water conservancy in their very commune', i.e. no
further afield, 'just' there; and td jiu xihuan gdo xinwen gong-
zud, 'she "just" likes to do news work', meaning that news work
is the very thing she likes to do (other things pale in comparison)
. .
.' (other things are ruled out).
5 Abbreviations
VI SPEECH PATTERNS
1 Verbal expressions in series
(a) First verb as functive verb (the verbs in series are marked by
dots)
8. Ta nar mei y6u shudian. Ta xie xin qing ta gege ti ta m&i shu.
9. Diwu Zhongxue yao zhao ren jiao waiyu, ni keyi jieshao w6
qu ma?
10. Nimen y6u fan chi, y6u shu nian, hai yao shenme?
11. Bu zhun gei ta xie xin: a. Bu zhun xie xin gei ta.
b. Bu zhun ti ta xie xin.
Pattern: S zai PW VO
Ta zai xiaoxue jiao-shu.
1. Jlntian wanshang mei shi, wo xiang zai jia kankan shu, xiexie
xin.
2. Zhang jia de lao er, lao san dou zai Er Zhong nian-shu ma?
Bu-cuo, dou zai Er Zhong.
3. Ni xihuan zai waiguo gongzuo ma? Zhe hen nan shuo.
4. Tianqi tai re le, hen duo ren zai fangzi waitou shui-jiao.
5. Ta xiang zai cheng-wai gao ge xiao gongchang.
6. Haizimen haoxiang dou ai zai hai-bian wanr. (hdi-bian,
'seaside')
LESSON NINE 115
Pattern: zai PW V O de N
zai shangdian mai dongxi de ren
1. Nei tian zai ni jia chi-fan de nei wei xiansheng shi bu shi
xue nong de?
2. Zai zhei ge daxue jido-shu de laoshl dou shi Ylngguo ren
ma?
3. Mei you ren renshi nei wei zai nar he jiu de lao taitai.
4. Zai shu-shang chi pingguo de nei Hang ge haizi shi shei jia
de?
5. Zai Donghu qidnbian mai bdo de nei ge ren yiqian shi xue
xlnwen de.
6. W6 hen xiang zhidao nei wei tiantian zai daxue qidnbian da
taijiqudn de lao xiansheng duoshao sui le.
7. Nei wei jiushi zai women gongshe gdo shuili de Li shifu,
yiqian shi jiefangjun.
8. Wo nei wei gonganju gongzuo de pengyou waiyu
zai
shuiping h6n gao, ye hen hui ban shi.
2 Hao.
Dou hao.
Gongzuo dou hao.
Gongren gongzuo dou hao.
Gongren, geger gongzuo dou hao.
Gongchang de gongren, geger gongzuo dou hao.
Gongshe gongchang de gongren, geger gongzuo dou hao.
Women gongshe gongchang de gongren, geger gongzub dou hao.
VIII EXERCISES
1 Answer these questions in accordance with the Presentation
passage:
LESSON NINE 117
ta zhaoji?
8. LI shifu nei tian qu ban shenme shi?
9. LI shifu de pengyou xiao Wang xianzai zai n6i ge danwei
gongzuo?
10. Xiao Wang meimei de duixiang shi shei?
la.
118 LESSON NINE
Ji nian qian"
2
kaishi xuexf A few years ago he began to
Zhongwen, xianzai yijing study Chinese, now he
renshi liang-san qian ge already knows two or three
Hanzi thousand Chinese characters.
II DIALOGUE
A: Ei, lao Qian! NI zai zher Hey, Qian old fellow, who
deng sh6i a? are you waiting for here?
B: Deng sh&? W6 bu deng Who am I waiting for? I'm
sh6i! W6
d6ng gonggdng not waiting for anybody! I'm
qiche dao ch6ng-li qu mai waiting for a bus to go to
piao. town to buy a ticket.
A: Mai shenme piao? Shi What ticket? Is it a theatre
xipiao h£ishi ticket or a film ticket?
dianylngpiao?
B: Dou bu shi, w6 qu m£i Neither, I'm going to buy a
hu6chepiao. train ticket.
A: Yao qu luxing a? Shi bu You are going travelling? Are
shi dao b&bianr qu? you going up north?
LESSON TEN 121
n6i xie
n 7
gu6jia a? through on the train?
B: W6 hai bu tai qingchu, I'm not too clear as yet, I
III SKETCHES
1
IV VOCABULARY
Lundun (PW) London
tushuguan (N) library
cong (CV) from (used of time and space)
xingqu (N) interest (directed towards, not inherent in
something)
dui X you xingqu take an interest in X
dianying(r) (N) motion picture
geng (A) more, even more
still
V GRAMMAR
1 Further implications of 'jiu'
(a) Following time expressions, jiu implies that the time is com-
paratively soon cong xido jiu dui Zhongguo you
or early: td
manageable'.
It was pointed out that with verbal expressions in series the rela-
tionship between them may be one of purpose. Clearly this will be
the case where the first verb is lai, 'come' or qu, 'go', as one
normally bestirs oneself in order to do something. The odd thing
with lai and qu is that they may occur after the business which is
the object of the coming or going, as either additional to or in
place of the same verb in the first position. That gives three possible
permutations for sentences that combine motion and purpose, for
example:
all of which mean the same thing, T have come to buy a paper'.
When they come after the main business, lai and qu lose whatever
tone they might have had, and have been called 'particles of
purpose'.
zud, 'to sit': Ni weishenme bu zud feiji ne? 'Why don't you ,
6 Choice accentuated
xihuan kdn xi?, 'You like seeing films (or) rather like seeing
plays?' The initial markers shi and hdishi may be reinforced by the
particle ne as an end-marker.
In suggestions, hdishi announces a preference after consideration
of alternatives: Women hdishi zud ditie qu bal, 'Let us rather
(=It would be better to) go by underground'.
7 '(yi)xie'
overlap but also have their own province. Ydu ydu can . . . . . .
be used with verbs and SVs: ydu chi ydu he; ydu kudi ydu
shufu. Ye yi ... is better used with verbs only: yi xue
. . .
VI SPEECH PATTERNS
1 Coming and going
2 To and fro
3 Means of conveyance
3. Lao Li shuo ni yao dao Faguo qu, zuo hubche qu ma? Bu,
w6 zuo pengyou de che qu.
4. Cong zher dao cheng-wai de Donghu y6u dianche ma? Mei
y6u dianche, w6men dei zuo gonggong qiche qu.
5. Qu tamen jia, zuo ji \u che? Tamen jia h£n jin, bii bi zuo
che, zdu-lu qu jiu xing le.
6. Ni shuo w6men zdnme qu hao? Z6u-lu qu ba, tianqi zheme
hao, z6uzou bu shi hen shufu ma?
7. Cong Lvindun zuo hu6che dao Shanghai yao duoshao tian?
Patterns: a. W6 qu chf-fan.
b. W6 chi-fan qu.
c. W6 qu chi-fan qu.
b. Mei ji ge.
1. Ni dou xiang chl shenme? W6 xiang chl dianr ji, y£ xiang chl
dianr yu.
2. Nimen dou dui shenme y6u xingqu? Tamen san ge ren dui
dill y6u xingqu, w6men wu ge ren dui lishi y6u xingqu.
132 LESSON TEN
Patterns: A: . . . . . .?
NI lei bu lei?
Zhei ge hao, nei ge hao?
B: shi A (ne), shi B (ne)l
Ni shi qu (ne), shi bu qu (ne)?
Shi Zhongwen nan (ne), shi Yingwen nan (ne)?
C: (shi) A (ne) hdishi B (ne)?
Ni shi xihuan (ne), haishi bu xihuan (ne)?
Shi ta qu (ne), haishi ni qu (ne)?
VII EXERCISES
1 Answer these questions on the basis of the Presentation and
Dialogue:
II DIALOGUE
A: Xiao Li, ni bie 'dui niu Li, stop 'playing the lute to
tan qin' le, ni shuo-le yi cattle', you have talked for
ge duo zhongtou w6
le, over an hour, and I still don't
haishi bu d6ng, w6men understand, let's change the
tantan biede ba. subject.
B: Tan biede? W6 gao Change the subject? I've
diannao gao-le zheme duo been into computers for so
nian le, xianzai naozi-li many years that now there's
chule diannao, shenme nothing in my brain but
dou mei ydu le. computers.
LESSON ELEVEN 137
III SKETCHES
1
IV VOCABULARY
zaochen (TW) morning
-dian zhong (M-N) hour of the clock
chufa (V) set out
ke (M) quarter (of an hour)
cai (A) only then; not until
huflai (V) come back
hui (V) return to
zhengzheng (A) fully; a whole
shangwu (TW) morning, a.m.
xiawu (TW) afternoon, p.m.
pao (V) to run (to), hurry (to); run away
140 LESSON ELEVEN
V GRAMMAR
1 Further uses of 'le' (Speech Patterns 2-5)
This lesson introduces the verb-suffix and new uses of the sen-
-le
suffix, not the first : Ydu ren jieshao td jin-le zhei jid gongsi,
'Someone introduced him to join this company'.
Where the verb ends the sentence, a final le might combine the
verb-suffix and sentence particle in one, as there is no form, *le le.
Where the object is a simple one, the sentence particle le suffices
to convey finality: W6 yijing mdi piao le, 'I've already bought a
ticket' (end of story). If the verb has a suffix (Wd yijing mdi-le
piao le) it serves to give separate stress to completion of the action.
(See Speech Patterns 4 (b))
Where the object or complement is a quantified one, the sentence
le marks the end of the process as the present moment, and implies
that some further statement as to its continuance or termination is
(d) Negation
haven't .
.' would be
. appropriate; the ne implies that the pre-
existing state of affairs is continuing. For choice-type questions
various formulas are given in VI, 2.
xiwdng, xihuan, etc. It is also not used after verbs that take a
verbal construction as their object, like ddsudn, jueding, kaishi.
It is not applied to habitual, recurring or concurrent actions.
It is not necessary when describing circumstances or relating
sequences of events (if it is used, it breaks the sequence into
separate steps).
For more grammatical contexts where -le is not used, see VI, 5,
and also check back over the text of this lesson.
obligatory.
action itself, and comes before the verb. The time an action persists,
however, figures as a kind of object to the verb (called a 'cognate'
object) and comes immediately after it.
Time clauses introduced by 'when', 'before' and 'after' come
under the heading of 'time when', and so precede the main verb.
But within the time clause, the words specifying the time relation-
ship, .de shihou, 'when' ('at the time of), yiqidn, 'before'
. .
tardy: 'only then'. Like jiu, cdi is a 'true' adverb, and must come
immediately before the verb.
6 Questions of degree
VI SPEECH PATTERNS
1 Time expressions
1. Zuo zhei ge cai yao duoshao fen zhong? H6n kuai, zui duo wu
fen zhong.
2. Jintian de xlnwen chang bu chang? Bu chang, zhi y6u yi ke
zhong.
3. Cong ni jia dao tushuguan dei zuo duo jiu de che? Chabuduo
qi-ba fen zhong.
4. Ta xiang xue duo jiu de Zhongwen? Zui shao si nian.
5. Ta m6i tian jiao ji ge xiaoshi de shu? YI, san, wu, Hang xiaoshi,
er, si, san xiaoshi.
6. Ni mei tian da duo jiu de taijiquan? Zaochen san ke zhong,
wanshang san ke zhong.
Patterns:
a. V O le ma?
Zu6tian ni kan dianshi le ma?
b. V O (le) meiyou? IV le or mei(you) V
1. Zaochen kan bao le ma? Zaochen tai mang le, mei kan. Y6u
shenme xlnwen?
2. Xlngqi-tian shei kan dianyingr le? Xiao Wang kan le, w6men
dou mei kan.
3. Zuotian nimen zai cheng litou mai dongxi le meiyou? Meiyou,
w6men dou mei dai qian.
4. Nei tian ni ye he jiu le ma? Pingchang w6 bu he, keshi nei
tian w6 ye he le.
5. Ni zai nar pengjian shei le? Pengjian lao Wang le.
6. Zuotian xiawu ni mei xie hanzi ma? Meiyou, w6 chuqu le.
7. Ta yijing dao Riben le ma? Zaojiu dao le.
8. Qunian ta xue Zhongwen meiyou? Xue le.
9. Ta hai mei jidshi nei ge wenti ma? Jieshi le, keshi wo haishi
bu qlngchu.
148 LESSON ELEVEN
*
3 Verb-suffix '-le' for 'completed action
Patterns: a. V-le NU M O
Wo zuotian pao-le san ge difang. (1-6)
b. V-le Time How Long (de) O
Ta zuotian zuo-le ba ge zhongtou de feiji. (7-12)
or V O, V-le Time How Long
Ta zuotian zuo feiji, zud-le ba ge zhongtou.
neng qu wanr.
4. Piao mai le ma? Hai mei ne, wo dasuan kan-le lao Li jiu qu
mai.
5. Ta mei tian shenme shihou da taijiquan? Ta chl-le zaofan jiu
da.
6. Ni hen lei ma? Bu lei, zhi shi he-le jiu, hen xiang shui-jiao.
7. Nimen shenme shihou lai? Kan-le dianying lai, xing bu xing?
8. Ni gei ta de xin xie le ma? Xie le, zuotian keren zou-le, wo
jiu xie le.
(a) Where the verb ends the sentence or clause, and le might serve
a double function:
3. Ni xiang chl shenme? Wo gei ni zuo. W6 yijing chi le, bie gei
w6 zuo le.
5. Laoshi jiao ni xie de zi, xie le meiyou? Hai mei ne, wo wang
le.
150 LESSON ELEVEN
(b) Where the suffix -le is included before a simple object only if
completion of the action is stressed:
5. Shi tian qidn ta jiu dao(-le) Lundun le. Zenme m6i ren gaosu
w6a?
6. Bi6 kan dianyingr le, w6 qing ni chl-fan qu. Bu xing, w6
yijing mai(-le) piao le, bu neng bu kan.
1. W6 jintian yijing xie-le wubai ge zi le, bu neng zai xi6 le. (or:
hai d6i zai xi6 wubai.)
2. Ta yijing chl-le wu ge pinggud le, hai xiang zai chl yi ge.
3. Ta xie de nei ben shu, ni kan-le duoshao le? Yijing kan-le yi
ban le.
4. Shenme difang dou mei ydu zhei zh6ng jiu, w6 yijing pao-le
ba ge jiuguanr le.
5. W6 wen-le san ge ren le, dou shuo bu zhidao nei jia diannao
gongsi zai nar.
6. Zhei ge dianyingr ta yijing kan-le san ci le, ni hai xiang qing
ta kan ma?
LESSON ELEVEN 151
7. W6 zai zher yijing zuo-le san ge zhongtou le, dei z6u le.
z6u-le yi ban.
9. Ta zai zhei ge danwei yijing gan-le ershiwu nian le, h6n xiang
dao biede danwei qu.
10. Wang xiansheng jiao-shu jiao-le shfba nian le, ta ziji ye bu
zhidao yigong jiao-le duoshao xuesheng.
11. W6men yijing xue-le shi ge xingqi de Zhongwen le, y6u ren
hai xiang xue, y6u ren yijing bu xiang xue le.
1. Yiqian ta m6i nian dou yao dao Zhongguo qu(X) san ci. (habit-
ual activity) Contrast: Ta qunian dao Zhongguo qu-le san ci.
positional verb)
7. Women zuotian jueding(X) mingtian zaochen chufa. (verbal
construction as object)
y 10. Jie-hun yiqian ta shuo shenme ta dou shuo xing, jie-hun yihou
ta shuo shenme ta dou shuo bu xing.
8 'Jiu' and 'car contrasted (note that *cdi' does not normally
combine with He J )
la. Ta jiu dian zhong jiu lai le, tai zao le.
b. Zhei tiao lu bu jin, w6men z6u-le sishi fen zhong cai dao.
5a. Jian-mian ylqian, w6 jiu cai ta hen piaoliang.
b. Jian-mian yihou, w6 cai zhidao ta h6n piaoliang.
6a. W6men dao-le nar, bu dao yi fen zhong ta jiu lai le.
b. W6men dao-le nar, deng-le yi ke zhong ta cai lai.
7a. Zhei jian shi hen jiandan, ta jiu neng ban. (Ta bu tai n6nggan.)
b. Zhei jian shi hSn bu jiandan, ta cai neng ban. (Ta feichang
n^nggan.)
8a. Ta chl-le ban wan jiu bao le.
b. Ta chl-le wu wan hai bu bao.
c. Ta chl-le ba wan cai bao.
9a. Lao Li hai mei z6u ba? Z6u le, zu6tian jiu z6u le.
b. Lao Li yijing z6u le ba? Hai m€\ ne, ta mingtian cai z6u.
VII EXERCISES
1 Answer these questions on the basis of the Presentation and
Dialogue:
1. Zuotian wo
Lundun qu-le ji ge difang? Ban-le
zai ji jian shi?
2. Wo benlai dasuan shenme shihou hui jia?
3. Wo zai chezhan menkou pengjian shei le?
4. Xiao Li bi-ye yihou dou zud-le xie shenme shi?
5. Xiao Li xianzai zuo shenme gongzuo?
6. Ta zai nei jia gongsl gan-le duo jiu le?
7. Xiao Li benlai de nupengyou weishenme gen ta fenkai le?
8. Diannao shuo xiao Li ylnggai zhao shenme yang de ren zuo
duixiang?
6. Ta jia bu jin, w6 zou-le ershi fen zhong cai dao. (hen jin)
Example: He cha yihou cai y6u jlngshen xuexi. —» He-le cha, cai
y6u jlngshen xuexi.
4. Have you read this morning's paper yet? No, I don't read
newspapers.
5. She told me that her uncle left for America by plane this
morning.
6. I have already given him 20 dollars, but he still says it isn't
enough.
7. The teacher told us to write 90 characters. So far I have only
written 20.
8. I bought a very good Chinese novel on Tuesday and have
already read half of it.
Qu-guo de ren dou shuo nar Those who have been all say
de fengjmg bu-cuo. the scenery there is quite
nice.
II DIALOGUE
A: Wang hao a!
daifu, run Hello, Dr Wang! The scenery
Zher fengjing zhen bu- round here is really quite
cu6! nice!
B: Ei! Xiao LI, shi ni a, chl Ah, it's you, young Li. Have
wufan le ma? W6 zher you had lunch? I've got
ydu sanmingzhi. sandwiches here.
A: Nin qlng ba, wd chi le, Go ahead, I've eaten, I ate
gangcai zai xuexiao just now in the school
shitang chi de. O, canteen. Oh, excuse me,
duibuql, qlng wen nin could I ask what the time is
de shihou, m6nkdu
jinlai just now the big clock at the
de da zhong h3i bu dao yi entrance hadn't got to half
dian ban. past one.
A: Na hao, w6 h^i k6yl zai That's good, I can rest a
xiuxi yihuir. W6men li^ng while longer. We don't begin
dian cai shang ke ne. class until two. You don't
Wang daifu, nin haoxiang seem to have come to our
h^n jiu mei dao wdmen restaurant for a long time
fanguanr lai le, tiantian now, Dr Wang; how can you
chi sanmingzhi z6nme eat sandwiches every day?
xing a?
B: Zuijin tai m^ng le, yijing I've been too busy lately: I
y6u HSng-san ge yue mei haven't been to a restaurant
xia-guo guanzi le. Jia-li for two or three months now.
r^n dou hSo ba? Your family are all well, I
take it?
HI SKETCHES
1
IV VOCABULARY
guo (V/V suffix) pass, cross, go through;
'experiential' suffix
fujin (PW) vicinity, near by
gongyuan(r) (N/PW) park, public gardens
pian (M) stretch, expanse; slice, thin piece
164 LESSON TWELVE
LESSON TWELVE 165
qi (V) ride
zixmgche (N) bicycle
gang (A) just (a short while ago)
fei (V) fly
V GRAMMAR
1 The experiential suffix '-guo' (Speech Patterns 1, 2)
By itself gud means 'to pass*, 'go through'. Some awareness of this
meaning is retained when it is used to amplify the plain form of the
verb as a suffix, typically signifying that the action has 'come to
pass'. The time setting is the indefinite past - particularly in a
person's lifetime, or at some undetermined point within a period
specifically stated or framed by expectations. The first case is plain
enough: Ni kan-guo Zhongguo didnying ma?, 'Have you "ev-
er" seen a Chinese film?' Mei kan-guo, T haven't "ever" seen
(any)'. This usage is often reinforced by adverbs such as yiqidn,
'before' and congldi, 'hitherto'.
of 'at one time or another' may be retained when the
The sense
focus shifts from the question of experience pure and simple, as in
Ta xue-guo duo jiu de Fdwen?, 'How long did he study French
for?': here there is no point of time in mind (as with -le), nor is
there any presupposition about whether the learning was done in
one block or in snatches; what is implicit is a cut-off from the
present, which differentiates this from the 'V-/e time expression —
le' construction.
The same sense of discontinuity with the present is conveyed
when a time span is given: Ddo Yingguo yihdu ta zuo-guo
shenme shi? 'What work has he done since he arrived in Eng-
,
land?' Although the time span ends with the present day, the
question anticipates a number of things that have come and gone
at different times within the period. Guo used as a suffix (you will
see later that it has another role in verb formation) is atonal, as all
suffixes are. Like the suffix -le, -guo normally comes after the
second verb in a series: Wo qu kan-guo td Hang ci, 'I went to
LESSON TWELVE 167
see him twice'. Also like -le, -guo is negated by mei(you), but is
ative: Td (shi) zud hudche zdu de, but not in the negative: Td
bu shi zud hudche zdu de.
Though on the face of it shi de should be a modifying
. . .
'He has come to England how many years?' i.e. 'How many years
is it since he came to England?' The final le indicates that the state
Time that has merely elapsed should not be confused with time
an action persists. In 'I haven't played the lute for two weeks', for
example, for all we know happened is that
the only thing that has
two weeks. 'Elapsed time' such as this
night has followed day for
comes before the verb: Lidng ge xingqi mei tdn(-guo) qin. (The
extends to the present may be indicated
fact that a state of inactivity
by a sentence particle le.) However, negative statements involving
stretches of time are not all of this kind. If one is denying the truth
of a statement, say that one played for two weeks, that is a matter
of the persistence of an action: Mei tan lidng ge xingqi de qin,
zhi tdn-le sdn tidn, 'I didn't play for two weeks, I only played
for three days.'
'Time within which' is also distinct from time spent on some
activity. 'Time within which' expressions also come before the verb:
yi ge xingqi ting shi xidoshi de luyin, 'listen to recordings for
ten hours in a week'.
'Shdng' and 'xia' are in direct contrast as verbs when they mean
respectively 'ascend' or 'board' shdng che) and
(shdng shdn,
'descend' or 'alight from' (xia shdn, xia che), and when they
mean 'engage in' and 'disengage from' regular duties, as in shdng
ban, 'go on shift', xia xue, 'finish school'. But they both can
mean 'to go to'; here one is guided in one's choice by custom:
always shdng ndr?, 'where to?', for example, and preferably xia
gudnzi, 'go to a restaurant' (though shdng gudnzi does occur).
The two are again opposed in their sense of 'last', i.e. foregoing,
and 'next': shdng xingqi, 'last week', xia ci, 'next time', and of
'former/first' and 'latter/second', e.g. shdng bdnlxid ban yue,
'first/second half of the month'.
VI SPEECH PATTERNS
1 Verbal suffix '-guo' as a sign for the indefinite past
Pattern:
172 LESSON TWELVE
14. Nei tian yunqi zhen bu hao: wo zai lu-shang zou, huran yi ge
dongxi dazai wo de tou-shang. . . .
5. W6 h6n jiu mei g6i ta xie xin le, bu zhidao ta zuijin z^nme-
yang?
LESSON TWELVE 175
8 Verbs of locomotion
4
9 Verbs of motion compounded with Mai' and qu'
songqu Ta yao kan zhei ben shu, ni gei ta songqu hao ba?
8. guolai Qing ni guolai kankan zhe shi shenme.
guoqu Qing ni guoqu gen tamen shuo, qing tamen guolai
tantan.
VII EXERCISES
1 Answer these questions on the basis of the Presentation and
Dialogue:
2. W6 ylqian mei zai zhei ge shitang chl ( ) fan, jintian shi diyi
ci.
e.g. Xia xingqi ta yao dao M£iguo qu. —> Ta shi shang xingql
dao Meiguo qu de.
e.g. Ta xue-le san nian (de) Zhongwen le. —> Ta san nian mei
xue Zhongwen le.
10. Where did you go last month, and when did you come back?
11. He never goes to the cinema.
12. He has never been abroad.
LESSON THIRTEEN
I PRESENTATION
Zhuzai w6men san 16u de lao The Zhang couple who live
Zhang y6u liang ge nan
fufu on our 3rd Floor have two
haizi, da de ba sui, xiao de boys, the older being 8, the
liu sui. younger 6.
pang
yidianr, didi bi gege a little taller than the
y6u bu
yidianr, k6shi hai younger, and the younger a
shao ren yiwei tamen shi little fatter than the older,
shuangsheng xiongdi. (but) there are still lots of
people who think they are
twin brothers.
Liang xiongdi cong xiao jiu The two brothers have played
wanr de h£n hao, zheng tian very well from infancy, the
bu
zai yikuair, xing-ylng li. whole day they are together,
and are inseparable.
liang sui, keshi zhidao de only two years older than the
shiqing haoxiang bi didi duo younger, yet the things he
de duo. knows seem to be a lot more
than his younger brother
(knows).
Nei tian waitou yu xia de hdn That day the rain fell heavily
da, bu neng chuqu wanr; outside, they could not go
gege zuozai chuanghu out to play; older brother sat
pangbianr kan-shu, didi beside the window reading,
yibianr xi£-zi, yibianr gen younger brother was writing
gege shuo-hua: as he spoke to his older
brother:
182 LESSON THIRTEEN
II DIALOGUE
A: Ge, ni lai kankan w6 zhei Older brother, come and see
ji ge zi xie de hao bu hao. if I have written these (few)
characters well.
B: NI shi zenme xi6 de?! How did you write these?
Jintian bi zuotian xi£ de Your writing is today even
geng cha le. poorer than yesterday.
A: Weishenme w6 de zi Why are my characters
zdngshi zheme nan-kan always so ugly? I really feel
ne? W6 zhen bu xiang xie like giving up writing!
le!
HI SKETCHES
1
comparatively speaking?
B: W6 xihuan shei dou mei It's no use me liking either
yong, yinwei tamen jiemei one, because neither of the
lia dou bu xihuan w6. two sisters likes me.
A: O! Zhen duibuqi, wo Oh! I'm really sorry, I
yiwei . . . thought . . .
IV VOCABULARY
lou (N) storied building
(M) floor
san lou (PW) 3rd floor (British second)
lou-shang (PW) upstairs
lou-xia (PW) downstairs
fufu (N) husband and wife, married couple
xiongdi (N) brothers; younger brother
lia (N+M) two (=liang ge)
lian (N) face
yanjing (N) eye
zhang (V) grow
de(K) complement marker
zhang de (grow to) be - (descriptive of physical
characteristics)
xiang (SV) be alike
(SV comp)
-jfle extremely
bf(V) compare
(CV) compared with
yiwei (V) think that, have the idea that, assume
(wrongly)
186 LESSON THIRTEEN
V GRAMMAR
1 Comparisons (Speech Patterns 3-5)
compared with his brother is fat' i.e. 'He is fatter than his brother'.
The whole construction can be negated by bit: Td bii bi td didi
pang, 'He is not fatter than his brother'. Geng 'even more' may
be used when the lesser of the two already possesses the quality in
188 LESSON THIRTEEN
3 Loose connection
VI SPEECH PATTERNS
1 Predicative complements
b. V O V de (A) SV
Ta shuo Hanyushuo de h&n liuli.
or O V de (A) SV
Ta Hanyushuo de hSn liuli.
1. Jintian ta de zao bu zao? H6n zao, ql dian zhong jiu lai le.
lai
2 Intensifying complements
LESSON THIRTEEN 191
10. Nei ge xiao niihair, da yanjing, xiao zuir, piaoliang de ren jian
ren ai. (lit: 'people see, people love')
11. Liang tian mei chl-fan, ta e de bu neng zai zou le.
3 Comparison
Pattern: A bi B ging/hdi SV
Ta h£n gao, kgshi ta dldi bi ta geng gao.
5 Degrees of comparison
Pattern: A bi B SV complement
a. Ta bi w6 pang yidianr.
b. Ta bi w6 pang de duo.
c. Ta W w6 pang duole.
d. Ta W w6 pang ba gongjin.
1. NI shuo zhu 16u-shang hio, h^ishi zhu 16u-xia hao? Dagai zhu
16u-shang (bi zhu 16u-xia) hao yidianr.
2. Qiaritou de chuanghu da, h^ishi hdutou de chuanghu
da? Qi^ntou de (bi h6utou de) da yidianr.
3. Nimen lia de YTngwen shei shuo de Hull? Ta(shuode)biwdliuTi
de duo.
4. NI bi ta congming ba? Bu bu bu, w6 bi ta ben de duo.
5. Jintian shi bu shi bi zu6tian 16ng dianr? Jintian bi zu6tian ldng
duole!
6. Ta xi€ de bi cbngqiari hao ma? BI c6ngqi&n cha duole, bu
neng bi.
7. NI bi nl meimei da jl sui? Zhi da yi sui san ge yue.
8. NI de biao kuai bu kuai? Bu kuai, bi xuexiao de zhong man
liang fen.
LESSON THIRTEEN 193
b. S lidn O yildou V
Ta lidn zhei jian shi dou zhidao.
7 'Yldi&nr' and
k
y6u yidianr' contrasted
Patterns: a. A (MB) SV
(yi)didnr (Comparison)
Zhei ge da (yi)didnr.
(bi nei ge)
b. A ydu (yi)didnr SV (Adverb)
Zhei ge y6u (yi)didnr da.
194 LESSON THIRTEEN
Zhei jian shi (bi nei jian shi/bi biede shi) mafan dianr.
3a.
Zhei jian shi y6u diSnr mafan.
b.
4a. Yaoshi ta (bi xianzai) gao yidi&nr, jiu geng xiang ta gege le.
b. Ta zhang de y6u dianr xiang ta gege.
5. Haizimen dou y6u dianr haoqf, su6yi changchang wen daren
mei fazi huida de wenti.
6. Zhei ge ren y6u dianr hutu, lian ziji jia duoshao hao dou bu
zhldao.
(Contrast: Zhei ge ren bijiao congming.)
7. W6 ju6de zhei ke y6u dianr nan.
(Contrast: Ta juede zhei ke hen rongyi.)
8. Ta shuo de nei ge banfa y6u di^nr qiguai.
(Contrast: Ta shuo de nei ge banfa h£n y6u-daoli.)
9. Ni shuo bieren dou bi ta yonggong, ta haoxiang y6u dianr bu
gaoxing.
(Contrast: Ta haoxiang hSn gaoxing.)
jlntian
10. Ta jlntian y6u di^nr bu shufu, bu neng lai shang-ke.
(Contrast: Ta jlntian jingshen hao de hen.)
MI EXERCISES
1 Answer these questions on the basis of the Presentation and
Dialogue:
1. Lao Zhlng fufu zhuzai nai? Tamen nei liang ge haizi zh&ng de
zdnmeyang?
2. Weishenme y6u ren yiwei zhei li^ng ge haizi shi shuangsheng
xiongdi?
3. Gege de xingqing zdnmeyang? Xiang shei?
4. Didi de xingqing zenmeyang? Xiang shei?
5. Gege bi didi da ji duo?
sui? Shei zhldao de shiqing
6. Didi weishenme xihuan wen wenti? Ta dou wen shenme yang
de wenti?
7. Nei tian tamen weishenme mei chuqu wanr?
8. Didi de Hanzi xi^ de hao bu hao? Ta juede xie Zhongguo zi
e.g. Ta y6u shi b6n shu, w6 y6u liu b6n shu, ta bi w6 duo ji bSn?
Ta bi ni duo si bSn.
196 LESSON THIRTEEN
ta duo duoshao?
3. W6 de biao si dian san ke, ta de biao cha ba fen wu dian, ta
de biao bi w6 de kuai duoshao?
4. Ta fuqin sishiwu sui, ta muqin sishi'er sui, ta fuqin bi ta
muqin da ji sui?
5. Ta nei bdn shu liu kuai san, w6 zhei ben shu wu kuai er, w6
de bi ta de pianyi duoshao?
6. Ta shi jiu dian wushi fen dao de, w6 shi jiu dian wushiwu fen
dao de, ta bi w6 zao ji fen zhong?
7. W6 kan-guo ba ci Zhongguo dianying, ta zhl kan-guo san ci,
ta bi w6 sh^io ji ci?
Dengdao dakai xin cai faxian Not until opened the letter
I
yuanlai shi lao Gao xi61ai de. did I discover it was actually
written by old Gao.
II DIALOGUE
A: Lai le, lai le, tingjian le! I'm coming, I'm coming, I
ni SKETCHES
1
home.
B: Na . . . name ni xiang Then . what have you got
. .
IV VOCABULARY
qiantian (TW) day before yesterday
jie(dao) (V) receive
feng (M/V) measure for letters; to seal
youpiao (N) postage stamp
tie (V) stick (on)
204 LESSON FOURTEEN
V GRAMMAR
1 Verb complements
books'.
Directional complements are atonal, unless there is any reason
to emphasize them.
LESSON FOURTEEN 207
VI SPEECH PATTERNS
1 Resultative complements
completion)
-hui (learning mastery) xue, g&o
-d6ng (understanding) kan, ting, g&o
-kai (detachment, separation) kai, d&, la . . .
2 Directional complements
—lai (in this direction) shang, xia, jin, chu, hui, na,
song, dai, ji, ban . . .
12. Yuanlai zhuzai nar de ren yijing banzou le, women dasuan xia
yue san hao banjinqu.
13. Ni kanjian ta nei fu gu huar le ma? Ta benlai yijing nachulai
le, you nahuiqu le.
kanjian ni lai
16. Wo jintian dai de qian bu gou, dei hufqu zai na dianr lai. jia
17. W6 gang zoujinqu, ta jiu naqi yf fen bao lai jiao wo kan.
18. Ni bu shi yijing shui-jiao le ma? Zenme you paoxia lou lai le?
Wo huran xiangqi yi jian shi lai . . .
3 Potential complements
Affirmative Negative
jiande jianbude can be seen; be obvious/
cannot be presented to
chide chlbude may/may not be eaten
tingdejian tingbujian can/cannot hear
zhaodedao zhaobudao can/cannot find
shuidezhao shuibuzhao can/cannot get to sleep
zuodewan zuobuwan can/cannot finish doing
xuedehao xuebuhao can/cannot master
kandedong kanbudong can/cannot make out,
understand, read
jidezhu jibuzhu can/cannot remember
bandeliao banbuliao can/cannot carry out
chldebao chibubao can/cannot eat one's fill
wo yiding kaobushang.
LESSON FOURTEEN 213
13. Ta zhe Hang tian xin-li y6u shi, fan y6 chibuxia, jiao yg
shuibuzhao.
14. Zhei ge difang zuodexia yibai ge ren ma? Zuobuxia, zui duo
zhineng zuoxia sanshi ge ren.
15. Tamen zhuzai ba 16u, nl z6udeshangqu ma? W6 zheme pang,
k6ngpa z6ubushangqu.
16. Sanmingzhi tai nan-chi le, w6 jianzhi chibuxiaqu.
17. Ni kandechulai zhe shi shei xi£ de zi ma? O, w6 m€\ kanchu
zhe shi zi lai.
18. Damen tai xiao, qiche kaibujinqu zSnme ban? W6 y& xiang-
buchu shenme banfa lai.
3a. Ni yijing z6uguo-le Xlmen Dajie, ni kan houtou nei tiao jiu
shi.
b. Ni yiqian z6u-guo Xlmen Dajie ma? Meiyou, zhe shi diyi ci.
4a. Zhuozi-shang de cai mei yang ni dou chlguo le ma? Chiile yu
yiwai, w6 dou chlguo le. (partaken, as expected)
b. Zhuozi-shang de cai mei yang ni dou chi-guo ma? Y6u de
chi-guo, ydu de mei chi-guo. ('ever' eaten)
5a. Zhei fen Zhongwen bao w6 yijing kanguo le, ni naqu kan ba.
(finished reading)
b. Ni kan-guo Zhongwen bao ma? Kan-guo yi ci, kanbud6ng.
shaogei wo didi?
la. Nei ben shu w6 shang xingqi jiu jigei ta le, weishenme ta hai
mei jiedao?
b. Nei ben shu w6 shang xingqi jiu gei ta jiqu le, weishenme ta
c. Nei b6n shu w6 shang xingql jiu g£i ta ji le, weishenme nei ge
ren hai mei jiedao? (= ti ta)
2a. Nei Hang che ni maigei ta le ma?
b. Nei Hang che ni g&i ta mai le ma? (= ti ta)
3a. Zhe shi ta xiegei w6 de lingwai yi feng xin.
b. Zhe shi ta gei w6 xie de lingwai yi feng xin. (1. = a; 2. = ta
ti w6 xie de)
4a. Zhei fenr shi ta de, qing ni nagei ta.
b. Ta mei lai, qing ni g6i ta na yi fenr. (= ti ta)
5a. Zhei b6n shu jiegei w6 kankan, xing bu xing?
b. Qing ni g£i w6 jie bdn shu kankan, xing bu xing? (= ti w6)
4
8 Yi . . . jiu . .
.'
VII EXERCISES
1 Answer these questions on the basis of the Presentation and
Dialogue:
4. Lao Gao shi shenme xueyuan bi-ye de? Ta xianzai zuo shenme
gongzuo?
5. Lao Gao hua-huar de shihou zSnmeyang?
6. Lao Gao jin men ylhdu w6men mashang jiu chl-fan le ma?
7. Ta nei fu gu huar shi shenme shihou mai de? Zai nar mai de?
8. Kan huar yiqian, lao Gao weishenme jiao w6 guanshang
chuanghu, lashang chuangli&nr?
9. W6 juede nei fu huar zenmeyang?
10. W6 gen lao Gao shuo w6 kanbuchulai nei fii zhuzi h^ozai nali,
ta shuo shenme?
5. Xiexie nin, w6 yijing chi-le wu wan fan le, zhende chi( ) le,
6. Zhuozi weishenme zai waitou? Men tai xiao, zhuozi tai da,
banbu( )( ).
7. Ta yijing qu shui-jiao le, biigub y^xu hai mei shui( ) ne.
8. Zheige mingzi tai chang le, w6 ji^nzhi jibu( ), qing ni g6i w6
xie( )( ), key! ma?
9. Ta didi feichang yonggong, yiding kaode( ) daxue.
10. Lian zheme jiandan de wenti w6 dou gao( ) le, zhen bu-
haoyisi.
11. Baihuo shangdian xin lai de maoyi duo de budeliao, yiding
maide( ), bu bi zhaoji.
12. Mingtian kaoshi, ni yubei( ) le meiyou?
13. Chi( ) fan le ma? Zaojiu chi( ) le.
14. Zuotian w6 peng( ) lao Wang le, ta shuo hSn jiu m6i kan( )
15. Nimen yijing nian( ) dijl ke le? Zhei ben shu kuai nian( )
leba?
II DIALOGUE
A: Nin lai le, ji wei a? Qing Good day, how many are
zhei bianr zuo. Nin ba you? Please sit over here.
dayl dou gSi w6 ba. Give me your overcoats,
would you?
B: W6men yig6ng liu ge ren, We are six altogether; have
y6u mei y6u da yidianr de you a bigger table?
zhuozi?
A: Duibuqi, da zhuozi mei I'm sorry, we have no big
y6u le. Nin zao yidianr lai tables left. Itwould have
jiu hao le. Zhe yang ba, been all right had you come
w6 ba zhe Hang zhang earlier. I'll tell you what, I'll
xiao zhuozi gei nm put these two small tables
pinqilai z£nmeyang? together for you, how's that?
B: Hao ba, liu ge ren All right, as long as you can
zuddexia jiu xing. Mafan seat six. May we trouble you
ba caidanr nalai
ni xian to bring the menu first for us
g£i w6men kankan. to look at?
A: Hao, mashang jiu lai. Nin Very well, coming right up.
dou qing zuo, xian he bei Please be seated, and have
cha. some tea to go on with.
B: Zhe caidanr-shang de cai There are really a lot of
zhen bu shao. W6 yue dishes on this menu. The
kan yue bu zhldao dian more I look at it the less I
Ill SKETCHES
1
A: Hai na yangr. Qing zuo, Still the same old way. Have
qing zuo! Ba day! fangzai a seat! Put your coat down
zher ba. Zuijin mang here. What have you been
shenme a? busy with lately?
B: W6men chang yubei ba Our factory is preparing to
shengchan lashangqu, pull up production; everyone
dajia dou bi yiqian mang is a lot busier than before.
duole.
A: W6men gongsi ye mei Our company isn't as cushy
yiqian name shufu le, as before either. In order to
weile yao ba fuwu gao de improve the service, one
geng hao, yi ge ren person often has to do the
changchang dei zuo Hang work of two. The children
ge ren de shi. Haizimen are all OK?
dou hao ba?
B: Xranzai dou da le, They're all grown now, and
zhengtian wang wai pao, are out on the loose all day.
xuexf dou hen cha. Wo Their schoolwork is very
zhen bu zhldao ni zenme poor.I really don't know
more.
put in?
B: Niiinai bu yao, nin gei wo No milk, and two sugars. . . .
le.
IV VOCABULARY
wenming (SV) renowned (N.B. of restricted use)
shijie wenming world-famous
yanjiu (V/N) research, study, investigate
yue . yue
. .(C) . . . themore the more
. . . . . .
V GRAMMAR
1 'yue . . . yue . . .': 'the more ... the more . . .' (Speech
Patterns 8)
2 The sentence particle 'de': 'the way things are' (Speech Patterns
3)
adverbs are always unmarked. But the specific marker -de is usually
attracted to reduplicated SVs (shiishufufude 'comfortably') and
to phrases (you-tido-you-lide) when these are employed as
adverbials. Beyond that, most polysyllabic words can admit the -de
suffix in the right circumstances (like yiwaide 'unanticipatedly');
and those that are 'borrowed' to serve as adverbials tend to require
the -de suffix.
e.g. duo kdn didnr shu, 'read a little more'; shdo hud ji kudi
qidn, 'spend a few dollars less'. The antonyms zdo and wdn fit
come' - 'bring, let's have'; shang 'make to come up' - 'serve'; chu
'make to come out' - 'produce'.
VI SPEECH PATTERNS
1 The *ba' construction
17a. Zher zhuozi tai duo, qing ni ban liang zhang chuqu. (indefinite
reference)
b. Zher zhuozi tai duo, qing ni ba zhei liang zhang banchuqu.
(definite reference)
18a. Zhei xie zi w6men dou xiecuo le.
2 Similarities
3 Situational Me'
laoshl shuo.)
LESSON FIFTEEN 235
5. Zhei jian gongshi ta dagaide kan-le kan, jiu shuo mei wentf.
(cf.Zhei jian gongshi ta dagai yijing kan-guo le, ni nazou ba.)
6. Ta hen qlngchude ba zhei ge ren de laili dou gaosu wo le.
7. Women hen jiandande yubei-le Hang yang cai, xiang qing ta lai
chi dun fan.
8. Tingjian waitou you ren shuo Zhongguo hua, ta haoqide zou-
chuqu kan-le kan.
9. Ta feichang keqide wen wo, neng bu neng ba wo de nashou
cai jiaogei ta.
10. Yi kanjian wo shou-shang de tang, haizimen dou gaoxingde
paoguolai le.
xiuxi?
9. Ta xin-shang mingmingbaibaide shuo yao gii w6 yiwan kuai
qian, zenme hai bu jilai ne?
10. W6men yinggai shishizaizaide wei renmin fuwu!
1. Yao xia yu le, kuai dianr pao ba! (a. mashang kaishi pao
b. = paokuai di&nr ba)
2. Ni man dianr gei qian, xian kankan dongxi hao bu hao.
3. Mian yijing leng le, kuai dianr chi ba. (a. mashang kaishi chl
b.=chikuai dianr ba)
4. Kuai dianr chuqu kankan shei lai le.
5. Mingtian qing ni zao yidianr lai. (=laizao yidianr)
6. W6 dei xian qu yiyuan kan ge pengyou, wan yi ke zhong dao,
xing bu xing?
7. Zao dianr kaishi keyi zao dianr zuowan.
8. Zhao ta de shuofa, haishi wan dianr jie-hun hao. (=jie-hun
wan dianr hao)
1. Mei shenme hao cai, kSshi qing nin duo chl dianr.
2. Si kuai qian shi shao yidianr, duo gei ta yi kuai ba.
3: Ni hai y6u name duo shi mei zuowan ne, shao kan dianr dianshi
ba.
4. W6 zhidao ni y6u-daoli, buguo haishi qing ni shao shuo Hang
ju.
5. Daifu shuo w6 ylnggai duo chl dianr sucai, shao chl dianr rou.
6. W6 tai pang le, kafei-li dei shao fang dianr tang, (or: shao fang
yi kuai tang)
238 LESSON FIFTEEN
7. W6 jing ni, duo he dianr a! NI kan, w6 yijing gan-le san bei le,
ni haishi na yi bei.
8. JIntian de niiirou w6 duo chao-le Hang fen zhong, bu gou nen
le.
8 Correlative clauses
1. Zhongwen yue xue yue y6u-yisi, yue y6u-yisi w6 jiu yue xiang
xue.
2. Dian cai zhen bu rongyi, zhei ge caidan w6 yue kan yue hutu.
3. Qian shi yue duo yue hao, gongzuo shi yue shao yue hao.
4. Xfnshdu dou yiyang, yue pa gaocuo, yue rongyi cud.
5. Fangzi yue zhu yue xiao, qiche yue zuo yue da.
6. Dongxi yue lai yue gui, gongzuo yue lai yue nan zhao.
7. Diannao yue lai yue jinbu, ren de naozi yi jiu yue lai yue
mei-yong.
8. Feng yue yue da, jie-shang de ren ye yue lai yue shao, w6
lai
9. He kafei de ren yue lai yue duo, he cha de ren yue lai yue
shao.
10. Biilun ni duo mang, jintian y€ ddi ba zhei jian gongshi banwan.
11. Biilun ni gei ta duoshao qian, ta y€ bu gan zhei zh6ng shi.
12. Biilun ta shuo de duo hao-tlng, w6 haishi bu xiang gen ta qu.
13. Biilun ni xi bu xihuan, dou d6i zhao ta de fazi ban shi.
14. Biilun ni shi shei, wanshang shi dian yihbu w6 shi bu jian keren
de.
15. Biilun huan shenme ren lai jiao ta, ta yS xuebuhao.
LESSON FIFTEEN 239
9 Causative verbs
VII EXERCISES
1 Answer these questions on the basis of the Presentation and
Dialogue:
e.g. Sh6i chi-le w6de dianxin? —> Shei ba w6de dianxin chi-le?
1. Ni bi ta yonggong ma?
2. Ta bi w6 he de duo ma?
3. Lao Huang ma?
bi lao Li hui zuo-cai
4. Ta shuo de bi lao Zhang liuli ma?
5. Xiao Gao bi ta jiejie ai chu fengtou ma?
6. Zuotian gen jlntian yiyang leng ma?
7. Baiqiejl gen hongshaorou yiyang hao-chi ma?
8. Ni gen lao Wang yiyang xihuan chi chaomian ma?
(chdomian, 'chow mien')
9. Ni zi xie de gen ta yiyang piaoliang ma?
10. Ta dui hua-huar gen xie-zi yiyang y6u xingqu ma?
shenme?
9. Ni de haizi chl yu chl de tai kuai, ni gen ta shuo shenme?
10. NI pengyou kan-shu kan de tai duo le, yanjing changchang
bu shufu, ni gen ta shuo shenme?
1.
2.
3.
4.
242 LESSON FIFTEEN
II DIALOGUE
Wan: Wei! Zongjlngll ma? W6 Hello, is that the general
shi Wan Tong a! manager? This is Wan
Tong!
Qian: Wei! Xiao Wan ma? W6 Hello, is that Wan? I was
zhengzai deng nl de just waiting for your call!
Qian: Na jiu hao! Wei, xiao That's ail right then! I say,
Wan, zai Beijing shell Wan, about us setting up
banshichu de shi y6u an office in Peking, is
Qian: Wei, wei, ni shuo shenme? Hello, hello, what did you
W6 yi ju dou say? I can't make out a
tingbuqmgchu, dagai shi word, probably it's the
xian chu m£obing le. Xiao line that's developed a
Wan, xia ci zai tan ba! fault. We'll talk about it
next time, Wan!
HI SKETCHES
tian. . .
to answer for?
IV VOCABULARY
jian (M) for rooms
bangongshi (N) office
-zhe (V suffix) (durative suffix)"
1
V GRAMMAR
1 Duration and progression (Speech Patterns 1, 2)
showing that the action has not been completed; or, more em-
phatically, by zai, 'engaged in, occupied in, in the process of -
similar to the archaic or rustic English prefix 'a-', as in 'I was a-
thinking'. An alternative to zai is zhing, 'just now, just then'.
The two may be combined as zhingzdi, 'just in the process/middle
of. However, since progression implies duration, -zhe is compatible
with these progressive markers.
To Waitou
illustrate the generally subordinative function of -zhe,
xidzhe xui would be felt were linked
to be unfinished, unless it
if given stress: shouylnji shi hin gui, 'radios are, granted, very
dear'. A similar effect is achieved by repeating the formula you
concede: shouyinji gui shi gui: this interprets as 'as to radios
being dear, they are dear'. In the process shi is relieved of stress.
Naturally, a 'but' clause usually follows. The 'repeat' can be elab-
orated, e.g. qu shi qu-guo, 'as to going, I have been', and so on.
LESSON SIXTEEN 255
Hui, the modal verb that stands for learned ability, also expresses
confident predictions. It enables one to state that something will,
would or could happen in the sense that one judges it to be 'on the
cards': Bu hui you shenme wenti, 'There won't be any prob-
lem'.
VI SPEECH PATTERNS
1 The progressive aspect
7. Lao Li ne? Kuai qu, kuai qu, ta zheng zai bangongshi d£ng
ni ne!
8. Nei xie xuesheng zheng zai nar tan tian shuo di ne! ('talk of
heaven, speak of earth' - have a good old chin-wag)
1. Zuijin h£n duo ren dou zai tan nianqing ren chou-yan de wenti.
2. W6 zai gen ni shuo-hua, ni tingjian le meiyou? Shenme? NT
shuo shenme?
256 LESSON SIXTEEN
3. Ta zhe xie nian yizhi zai yanjiu weishenme chi Zhonggu6 cai
bu r6ngyi pang.
4. Feng zai chui, yu zai xia, w6 shenme shihou c£i neng hui jia?
5. W6 gangcai hai zai shuo bu yao h6ng de, ni zSnme y6u gSi-le
w6 yf ge h6ng de?
6. Ni zai mang shenme? W6 tiantian dou zai zu6 baogao, yi ge
wan le, ydu lai yi ge.
7. Ta m6i tian dou zai wei san dun fan zhaoji, z6ngshi zai dasuan
zenme gen ren jie qian.
8. Ta m6i(you) zai xuexi, ta zai kan dianshi ne.
9. Ta bu shi zai xi6-zi, shi zai hua-huar.
7. LItou shuozhe hua ne, ni zai waitou derig ji fen zhong ba.
8. Ni bie l&o zudzhe, m£ig6 ban xiaoshi yinggai zhanqilai zduzou.
9. Ta xin-li yizhi zai xiSngzhe qiari de wenti.
(b) V-zhe indicating a settled state that results from the original
action of the verb
11. Muqin lazhe haizi de shou shud: 'Bie pa, ni yiding keyi zuohao
de!'
12. Wdmen ji ge ren yibianr z6uzhe, yibianr shuozhe, hen kuai jiu
dao le.
kan ta.
15. Ta yibianr gen w6 shuozhe hua, yibianr jiu ba cai chaohao le.
3 Distance
Patterns: a. A li B yuanljin
Ta jia li gongsl yuan bu yuan?
b. A li B (you) NU M (lu/di)
Nei jian shi If xianzai y6u duo jiu le? Yljing ydu ql-ba nidn
le ba. Mei ren jide le.
Kuai xia-ke le ba? Xia-ke? Xianzai cai shi di&n ban, li xia-ke
h&i y6u ershi fen zhong ne.
operation)
c. Zhei ge wenti yanjiu^i/a/ feicharig y6u-yisi. (when you
come to)
d. Zhongwen yue lai yue n^n, w6 shizai xutbuxidqu le.
(carry on)
e. Zhe shi shei chang de ger, nl tlngchulai le ma? (detect)
f. Hu6che kuai dao zhan le, nl kan yijing mknxialai le.
(progressive)
16. Xin jibudao, dianhua dabutong, shei neng xiangchu banfa lai?
17. Ta chuanzhe xifii, daizhe taiyang yanjingr, w6 m6i renchu ta
lai.
Vin EXERCISES
1 Answer these questions on the basis of the Presentation and
Dialogue:
e.g. Tianqi zhen bu hao, ni kan you kaishi xia-yu le.—>NI kan you
xiaqi yu lai le.
1. Hey! What are you doing here? I'm waiting for the bus.
2. I was reading the evening paper when he came into the
room.
3. While she was getting off the train she heard someone calling
her name.
4. He took another apple when you were not looking.
LESSON SIXTEEN 263
II DIALOGUE
Wang: Nimen ji wei shi Yingguo You would be the
lai de tongxue ba? Wo students from England?
xing Wang, daibiao My name is Wang, I
Ill SKETCHES
1
Houlai kandao
jian shi. yi first. I only understood later
IV VOCABULARY
tianliang (S-Predicate) daybreak (lit: sky bright)
Heche (N) train (railway term)
ben (V) rush, speed
(hei)ye (N) (dark) night
Huanghe (PR) Yellow River
chechuang (N) carriage window
wang (V) look into the distance, look across at
nanfang (PW) the south
qlngshan liishui (set verdant hills and green waters
phrase)
yanqian (PW) before the eyes
yi wang wuji (set 'look afar no bound' - as far as the
phrase) eye can see
Huabei Pingyuan (PW) North China Plain
lan(se)(SV) blue (coloured)
tiankong (N) sky
bei(CV) by (in passive constructions)
xi(V) wash
LESSON SEVENTEEN 273
liu (V)
LESSON SEVENTEEN 275
jiegu6 (N)
276 LESSON SEVENTEEN
V GRAMMAR
1 Passive (Speech Patterns 1)
bei, jido, rang, or gei, which all translate as 'by', e.g. Hdizi bei/
out'. Jido and rang are not used without an agent; for this reason
ren, 'someone' is commonly supplied as a 'dummy' agent: Td de
hiizhdo jido ren touzou le, 'His passport was stolen by
someone'.
These signs that the subject/topic is acted upon all require that
the verb carries a suffix or complement, in the same way as bd.
LESSON SEVENTEEN 277
pense of energy is measured. You have already met one such word,
namely ci, 'occasion' (Wd qu kan-guo td lidng ci). A new
measure in this lesson, xia, is met with very frequently. It has a
dual function: it records occasions, like ci and hui (da sdn xia,
'hit three times'); and it denotes brevity or limited scope of action,
is not used when the noun has definite reference ('the -', 'my -',
'Mr -' etc.); these occupy the head position in the sentence, as
usual.
confused with cdi, 'only then', which always carries the connotation
of tardiness, or enforced delay.
Suo, to put it briefly, announces that what follows the verb is going
to be an object. Take the sentence Tdmen ydnjiu de wenti hen
you-yisi, 'The questions they are looking into is very interesting'.
In the topic phrase, tdmen ydnjiu de wenti, suo can be inserted
before the verb, making tdmen suo ydnjiu de wenti: what it
8 Written style
Dou 'all' comes into play when things reach such a pitch that
something remarkable results, in which case it can be understood
as 'as much as', 'all-of , The weather, for instance,
'actually', etc.
might be so hot that one dou gii rehutu le, 'actually befuddled';
is
hdo V (de), e.g. You shenme hdo kdn de?, 'What is there
worthwhile looking at?'
tences, where the second half is left out, possibly to avoid enquiring
too directly. So in the Dialogue, the question Hdi ydu lidng wei
ne? can been seen as a foreshortening of Hdi ydu lidng wei zdi
ndr? 'There are another two (students) who are where?'
,
VI SPEECH PATTERNS
1 Passive constructions
10. Dongxi dou banzdu le ma? cf. Tamen dou banz6u le ma?
5. Women bei guanzai yi jian hei wuzi-li, lian cesuo dou bu zhun
shang.
6. Ni de zhaoxiangji neng bu neng jie wo yong yi tian? Duibuqi,
yijing bei ren jiezou le.
7. Wo zuotian mai de kouxiangtang ne? Dou jiao haizi gei chi
le.
10. Tamen yi jia ren zuozai nar, quan jiao dianshi g£i xiyinzhu le.
11. Wo zheng yao yong de nei zhang zhi, rang feng gei chuldao
shu-shang qu le.
12. Zhei jian shi ruguo rang ta zhidao le, yiding hui ti ni
guangbochuqu.
13. Ta de huzhao, feijipiao dou jiao ren touzou le ma? Meiyou,
zhi y6u qian bei tou le.
14. Kuai jinqu ba, waitou zheme leng, bie rang feng gei chuibing
le.
4 Verbal measures
4
6 Zai' for action deferred
7 'Slid'
la. Ta yigdng dai-le liu da jian xingli: chi de, chuan de, shenme
dou y6u.
b. Ta yigong dai-le liu jian da xingli he liang ge xiao shdutibao.
2a. Zhe me yi xiao ben shu jiu yao shi bang qi£n. W6 bu mai.
b. Zhei bSn xi£o shu dui w6 hen ydu-ydng.
3a. Ta songgei w6men san da bao ml, gdu w6men chi yi ni£n.
b. Che-shang y6u bu sh&o r6u, h£i y6u san bao dami. (dami,
'(husked) rice')
4a. Zuo zhei ge cai dSi yong san da wan y6u.
b. Zu6 ybng san win day6u. (daydu,
zhei ge cai d6i 'lard')
5a. Yi jin men, zudbianr lizhe yi chang pai shujia.
b. Zudbianr shi yi pai hen chang de shujia.
VII EXERCISES
1 Answer these questions on the basis of the Presentation and
Dialogue:
1. NI zhldao zhe lie huoche shi cong nar dao nar qu de ma?
2. Huab£i Pingyuan-shang de jingse z6nmeyang? Nei tian de
tianqi ne?
3. Nei ji ge yao qu Beijing de Ylnggu6 xuesheng z&ochen shi
zenme xing de? Weishenme bu xiang zai shui le?
4. Xihuan zhaoxiang de dou zhaoxia-le shenme jingtou?
5. Zhe ji ge nianqing de Yinggu6 xuesheng xu6-guo Zhongw6n
ma? Zai nar xu6 de?
6. Tamen dao Zhongguo qu liuxue zhi shi weile yao tigao ziji de
Hanyu shuiping ma?
7. Tamen dao-le Beijing Chezhan, shei qu jie tamen le?
LESSON SEVENTEEN 285
8. Tamen bSnlai yig6ng jiu ge r6n, k6shi zhi y6u qi ge r€n dao-
le Beijing,hai y6u liang wei ne?
9. Chule Bai Hailun yiwai, nei jl ge Yinggu6 xuesheng zhi dai-le
h6n shao de xingli, weishenme?
10. Xiao Li dai-le yi xiangzi shenme? NT qu Zhonggub de snihou
hui bu hui gen ta yiyang?
2 Turn these sentences into the passive form (while noting the
change in perspective):
4 Fill in the blanks with the adverbs 'zai', 'zai', 'jiu', or 'cai':
1. Duibuqi, w6 mei
tlngqlngchu, qing nin shuo yi ci.
2. Tamen chu Beijing Chezhan
yi bei ren lanzhu-le.
3. Zhei jian shi deng ta lai le jueding ba.
4. Ta wu-le yi ban che, zui zao mingtian xiawu neng
dao.
5. W6 zhao-le bantian huzhao, yuanlai zai zher a!
6. Zenme zheme mang? Chiwan fan z6u, key! ma?
7. Lu hen yuan, zuo hu6che qu k6ngpa san tian neng
dao.
8. FeijIhen kuai, liang ge xiaoshi dao-le.
9. Xianzai bie mai tai duo dongxi, dao-le Zhongguo mai,
bu xing ma?
10. Ni dei xian gei qian neng jin cesud.
5 Fill in the blanks with final particles 'ma', 'a', 'ne', 'ba', 'le' or
'de':
zhengzai xi Han
2. Xiao Wang , kuai lai kan , xia xue ! Zhen de
? Wo mashang jiu lai He! Zhe mei
jingse tai !
1. This window has not been opened for the last twenty years.
2. These photographs must not be taken away.
3. His new car was driven into the river by his wife.
4. As it turned out, what I was asked to do had already been
done by someone else.
5. Her beautiful bike was stolen the second day after she
bought it.
6. The children were all captivated by the sweets and titbits on
the table.
7. He was taken ill on the train, and was immediately taken to
hospital on arrival in Canton.
8. We were all bathed in sweat, it was so hot.
9. His whole family is very keen on photography.
10. It rained heavily all day yesterday.
11. He has been to Hong Kong only once and didn't like the
place very much.
12. Have we got time to look around before lunch?
13. She shot me a glance, but said nothing.
14. The teacher gave him a dressing down for being late again.
15. What he says is of not the least importance.
16. A man approached from the other side of the bridge while
we were talking.
17. Let's not leave until the rain stops.
18. This business can keep till next year, don't you think?
ABBREVIATIONS FOR
GRAMMATICAL TERMS
A
VOCABULARY
Numbers refer to lessons in which words first appear.
ai (V) love 3
(MV) love to, be keen on 3
airen (N) spouse 2
B
ba (NU) eight
290 VOCABULARY
G
ganbei (IE) drain glass, cheers! 15
gan (MV) dare to 7
ganjin (A) hurriedly 16
gan (V) do, work, get on with 11
ganbu (N) cadre 9
ganma (IE) do what; what for, why on earth 10
gang (A) just 12
gangcai (TW)
just now, a moment ago 12
gao (SV) high, tall 9
gaoxing (SV) pleased, exhilarated 11
gao (V) do, go in for, make, get up to 9
gaosu (V) tell 11
ge(r) (N) song 13
gege (N) elder brother 9
ge (V) isolate, separate 16
gekai (V) separate 17
ge (AT) each, various different 13
ge zhdng ge yang (set PH) all sorts of 13
ge (M) general classifier 4
gei (V) give 6
(CV) for, in the interest of; by (in passive construction) 9, 17
gei ren jieshao (PH) effect an introduction for somebody 9
gen (C/CV) along with, and 5
geng (A) still more, even more 10
298 VOCABULARY
H
hai(shi) (A) in addition; still, yet 5
haizi (N) child 4
Han (N) majority people in China 4
Hanyu (N) Chinese language 13
nan (N) sweat 17
hao (SV) good, fine, all right 1
be on good terms 11
(A) good to, easy to 8
haohaor(de) (A) properly 15
hao ji (A+NU) a good few 16
hao jiu bu jian (IE) long time no see 9
haoxiang (MA) seemingly, as if 9
hao (N) number; day of month 12
haoqi (SV) curious, inquisitive 13
he (V) drink 3
he (C/CV) and, with 14
hei (SV) black, dark 16
h6n (A) very, quite 1
K
kafei (N) coffee 3
kai (V) open, start, operate 10
kai-che (V-O) drive 10
kaikuo (SV) open (of spaces) 17
kaishi (V/N) start 10
VOCABULARY 303
304 VOCABULARY
M
ma (N) mum, mother (familiar) 4
mafan (N) trouble, bother 13
(SV) troublesome, annoying 13
(V) put someone to trouble 13
mashang (A) at once 12
ma (P) question particle 1
306 VOCABULARY
N
na (V) take in the hand, hold 14
naqilai (V) pick up 14
nash6u (SV) expert in, good at 15
nashoucai (N) speciality (dishes) 15
na/nei (QW) which 2
nali (IE) not at all 15
nar (QW) where 8
na (SP) that 2
(C) then, in that case (=name) 1
name/neme (A) so (that-wise) 4
(IE) in that case 5
naiyou (N) cream 15
naiyou caihua (N) creamed cauliflower 15
nar/ner (L/PW) there 8
nan (SV) difficult 6
nan-de (SV) hard to get, rare 15
nan-wang (SV) memorable 17
nan (L) south 8
nanbu (PW) southern part, the south 8
nanfang (PW) the south 17
nan (AT) male 9
naozi (N) brain 11
ne (P) question particle 1
o
6/6 (I) oh (I see)
pa (V) be afraid of
fear, dread, 7
pai (V) form a row 16
(M) row of 16
pai-dui (V-O) line up, queue up 16
p£nzi (N) plate, tray 16
pangbian(r) (L/PW) (by) the side of 8
pang (SV) fat (of person) , 7
pangzi (N) fat person 7
pao (V) run, hurry to 11
pengyou (N) friend 3
VOCABULARY
310 VOCABULARY
R
rang (V) yield, let, allow 17
(CV) by (in passive construction) 17
re (SV) hot 1
ren (N) person, people 2
renmin (N) the people 6
Renminbi (N) 'People's Currency' 6
Renmin Ribao (PR) People's Daily 9
know
renshi (V) recognize, 7
Riben (PW) Japan 10
richang (SV) everyday, routine 17
rizi (N) day, date, special day 16
r6ngyi (SV) easy 6
rugud (MA) if (=ydoshi) 14
VOCABULARY 311
w
wai (L) outside 8
waigu6 (PW) foreign parts, abroad 3
waiyii (N) foreign language 9
wanquan (SV/A) complete(ly) 7
wanr (V) to play, amuse oneself 8
wan (SV) late 9
wanshang (TW) evening 3
VOCABULARY 315
xi (L) west 8
xlcan (N) Western food 15
xifu (N)Western clothes, suit 16
xlhua (V/SV) Westernize(d) 15
316 VOCABULARY
9 7804
Languages