UNIT 7
PART I: LISTEN AND LEARN 1
Click on the speaker icon of each
sentence and listen to the recording. The Chinese characters are in big5
format.
W sh
Zhnggu
rn, sh
cng Shnghi
li de.
I am a Chinese and I came from Shanghai.
我是中國人﹐是從上海來的。
W hu
shu Zhngwn,
y hu
shu Yngy
h Ey.
I can speak Chinese. I also speak
English and Russian.
我會說中文﹐也會說英語和俄語。
Yngy
b ti
nn, Ey
bjio
nn.
English is not too difficult. Russian
is very difficult.
英語不太難﹐俄語比較難。
Notes:
'h'
means 'and'. Pay attention: 'h'
in Chinese joins two noun phrases only. It is not like English 'and' which
can join two sentences.
'ti'
means 'too'. 'b ti
nn' means 'not too difficult'.
UNIT 7
PART I: LISTEN AND LEARN 2
Click on the speaker icon of the
following sentences and listen to the recording. The Chinese characters
are in big5 format.
Zh sh Wng
xinsheng h Wng
titai.
This is Mr. and Mrs. Wang.
這是王先生和王太太。
Tmen du sh
cng Bijng
li de.
They all came from Beijing.
他們都是從北京來的。
Xinzi zi
Migu ninsh.
They study in the U.S. now.
現在在美國唸書。
Tmen zh zi
Washington.
They live in Wanshington.
他們住在 Washington。
Tmen b ti
hu shu Yngy,
xinzi zi
xu Yngwn.
They cannot speak English well and
they are learning English now.
他們不太會說英語﹐現在在學英文。
Tmen jude Yngwn
hn nn.
They feel that English is very difficult.
他們覺得英文很難。
Notes:
'nin sh'
literally means 'to read books'. Here it means 'to study'.
UNIT 7
PART I: LISTEN AND LEARN 3
Click on the speaker icon of the
following sentences and listen to the recording. The Chinese characters
are in big5 format.
John, n Zhnggu
hu shu de hn
ho.
John, you speak Chinese very well.
John, 你中國話說得很好。
Nl, b
xng, b xng.
Oh, no, not well yet.
哪裡﹐不行不行。
W xinzi
zi xu Zhngwn.
I am learning Chinese now.
我現在在學中文。
N jude Zhngwn
nn bu nn?
Do you think that Chinese is difficult
or not?
你覺得中文難不難﹖
W jude kuy
b ti nn,
xi z bjio
nn.
I feel that spoken Chinese is not
that difficult. Writing charcaters is relatively difficult.
我覺得中文口語不太難﹐寫字比較難。
N hi hu
shu shnme wiy?
What other foreign language can
you speak?
你還會說什麼外語﹖
W hi hu
shu Fy.
I can also speak French.
我還會說法語。
Fy nn
bu nn?
Is French difficult?
法語難不難﹖
B ti nn,
miyou Zhngwn
nn.
Not really, not as difficult as
Chinese.
不太難﹐沒有中文難。
Notes:
'b xng'
is a response to the compliment. It means 'no, it doesn't work' literally.
Actually it is a humble response to 'shu de
hn ho'.
'miyou
Zhngwn nn'
means 'not that difficult compared to Chinese'.
UNIT 7
PART I: LISTEN AND LEARN 4
Click on the speaker icon of the
following sentences and listen to the recording. The Chinese characters
are in big5 format.
Xi losh,
n Yngy
shu de hn ho.
Prof. Xie, you speak English very
well.
謝老師﹐你英語說得很好。
Nl, mmahh.
No, just so-so.
哪裡﹐馬馬虎虎。
N Yngy
sh zi nl
xu de?
Where did you learn English?
你英語是在哪裡學的﹖
W sh zi
Shnghi xu
de.
I learned it in Shanghai.
我是在上海學的。
N de losh
sh Migu
rn ba?
(I guess) your instructors are Americans.
你的老師是美國人吧﹖
Bsh. Yude
sh Migu
rn, yude sh
Zhnggu rn.
No, some are Americans, some are
Chinese.
不是﹐有的是美國人﹐有的是中國人。
Migu losh
sh cng nl
li de?
Where are American isntructors from?
美國老師是從哪裡來的﹖
Yude sh cng
Pittsburgh li de, yude
sh cng Seattle
li de.
Some are from Pittsburgh, some are
from Seattle.
有的是 Pittsburgh 從來的﹐有的是從
Seattle 來的。
Wmen hi yu
cng Ynggu
li de losh.
We also have professors who came
from England.
我們還有從英國來的老師。
Notes:
'N Yngy
sh zi nl
xu de' means 'Where did you learn...? 'sh...de'
construction is often used to indicated what happened when and where. In
the similar way, you can say:
'W
sh zi Shnghi
chshng de.' (I
was born in Shanghai.)
'W
sh cng Shnghi
li de.' (I came from Shanghai.)
'Ynggu
lide losh'
- the teachers who came from England. This construction is similar to English
relative clause. In English, the clause is attached to the right of the
noun. In Chinese it is always attached to the left of the noun. This is
an important feature in Chinese.
UNIT 7
PART I: LISTEN AND LEARN 5
Click on the speaker icon of the
following sentences and listen to the recording. The Chinese characters
are in big5 format.
John, n xinzi
Zhngwn shu
de hn ho.
John, you speak Chinese very well
now.
John, 你現在中文說得很好。
Nl, hi
b xng, w
zh hu shu
ydir Zhngwn.
No, not good yet. I can speak a
little Chinese.
哪裡﹐還不行﹐我只會說一點兒中文。
Rnshi bu rnshi
Zhnggu z?
Do you recognize Chinese characters?
認識不認識中國字﹖
B rnshi, w
zh hu shu.
W hu xi
Pnyn.
No, I don't. I can speak only. I
can write Pinyin.
不認識﹐我只會說。我會寫拼音。
N de losh
sh bu sh Zhnggu
rn?
Is your teacher Chinese?
你的老師是不是中國人﹖
Shde, t sh
Zhnggu rn,
sh cng Shnghi
li de.
Yes, he is a Chinese and he came
from Shanghai.
是的他是中國人﹐是從上海來的。
T jio de ho
bu ho?
Does he teach well?
他教得好不好﹖
T jio de hn
ho.
He teaches very well.
他教得很好。
Notes:
'de' in 'T
jio de hn ho.'
is a grammatical particle. This pattern is used to express the degree or
extent.
The difference between 'y'
and 'hi': Study the following sentences and
try to find out the difference.
W hu
shu Yngy,
y hu shu
Ey.
(I can speak English and I also
speak Russian.)
W hu
shu Yngy,
hi hu shu
Ey.
(I can speak English. In addition,
I can also speak Russian.)
W hu
shu Ey. T
y hu shu
Ey.
(I can speak Russian. He can also
speak Russian.)
UNIT SEVEN
PART II: NEW SENTENCE MODULES
This article was used with permission from:
Dr. Tim Xie
Dept. of Asian and Asian American Studies
California State University, Long Beach
Last modified: Saturday, 18 March 2006, 10:56 AM