Lesson Eighteen

How old is Li Fang

Basic expressions

When we mentioned the topic of family in Lesson 3. It was said that Chinese people are very interested in asking questions about personal life, such as age, marriage even salary. This is a way to show concern and to get close to people.

Today’s dialogue will give an idea what kind of things Chinese people normally talk about. Let’s learn the basic expressions for today’s conversation.

Mrs. Wang and her daughter, Wang Ying have the same surname “Wang” when she is called tàitai Mrs. But, in fact, in mainland China, a married woman (unlike women outside PRC) does not change her surname nor add her husband’s surname before her own surname.

1.

tàitai

太太

 

Mrs

Mrs.

2.

érzi

儿子

 

son

child son

3.

dàxué

大学

 

university

big study

It is a combination of dàbig and xuéstudy. The combination of zhōng middle and xuéstudy means middle school. In the same way, you can work out the combination for primary school in Chinese.

4.

bìyè

毕业

 

graduate

finish business/ studies

nĭ shénme shíhou bìyè?

你什么时候毕业?

you what time finish studies

When did you graduate?

nĭ cóng năge dàxué bì yè?

你从哪个大学毕业?

you from which university finish studies

Which university did you graduate from?

nĭ bìyè duōjiŭ le?

你毕业多久了?

you finish studies how long LE

How long since you graduated?

wŏ cóng dàxué bìyè wŭ nián le.

我从大学毕业五年了。

I from university finish studies 5 years LE

I have graduated from university for 5 years.

5.

nǚér

 

daughter

female son

6.

gāng

 

just (a short while ago)

just

wŏ gāng xuéxí Hànyŭ.

刚学习汉语。

I just study Chinese.

I have just started learning Chinese.

tā gāng qù guo yóujú.

他刚去过邮局。

he just go GUO post office

He has just been to the post office.

tā māma gāng dào Yīngguó.

她妈妈刚到英国。

her mother just arrive UK

Her mother has just arrived in UK.

7.

xiăohuŏzi

        

 

young fellow

young mate man

8.

piàoliang

漂亮

 

handsome, beautiful

beautiful

Lĭ Fāng hé Wáng Yīng dōu hĕn piàoliang.

李方和王英都很漂亮。

Li Fang and Wang Ying both very beautiful.

Both Li Fang and Wang Ying are beautiful.

Bĕijīng Dàxué gēn Niújīn Dàxué yíyàng piàoliang.

北京大学跟津大学一样 漂亮。

Beijing University WITH Oxford University same beautiful

Beijing University is as beautiful as Oxford University.

Guìlín de fēngjĭng piàoliang bùpiàoliang?

桂林的风景漂亮不漂亮?

Guilin DE scenery pretty not pretty

Is the landscape in Guilin beautiful?

9.

duō

 

many

many

It is used as an adjective or stative verb.

zhè ge dàxué yŏu hĕn duō rén.

这个大学人。

this GE university has very many people

zhè ge dàxué rén hĕn duō.

这个大学多。

this GE university people very many

This university has many people.

tā de shū bĭ wŏ de (shū) duō.

他的书比我的()多。

his books BI my books many

He has more books than I do.

nĭ bàba de qián duō bu duō ?

爸爸的钱多不多

Your father’s money much not much

Has your father got much money or not?

We know thatcan be used to form questions to ask how many and how much, such as

duōhow many + shăo few = duōshăo 多少 how many.

duō how + cháng long = duōcháng 多长 how long.

duō how + jiŭlong time = duōjiŭ 多久how long time.

duō how + dàbig (for size and age) = duōdà 多大how old or how big.

10.

suì

 

year of age

year of age

11.

xiăo

 

small or little for size or young in age

little

mèimei            xiăo,       jiĕjie         dà .

妹妹                  姐姐         

younger sister younger, older sister older

Zhōngguódà, Yīngguó xiăo.

中国 大, 英国 小。

China big, UK small

12

liăng

 

two

two

èr also means two. Liăng is used before a measure word. For example,

liăng ge rén 两个 two people

liăng běn shū 两本书two books

It is used before qiān thousan; wàn ten thousand; 亿 hundred million.

liăngqiān 两千 2,000

liăngwàn 两万 20,000

liăngyì 两亿 200,000,000

It is used before following nouns or numbers:

a. liăng xīngqī 两星期 two weeks

b. liăng nián 两年 two years

c. liăng tiān 两天 two days

d. liăng bànr 两半儿 two halves

e. liăng bèi 两倍 two times

13.

jiéhūn

 

marry

joint marriage

This phrase is in a V-O pattern.

14.

lián… dōu

 

even

even all

This construction is used to express emphasis on subjects or objects of sentences. The emphasized part is placed after in lián even. The lián even clause precedes the dōu clause, as showed below.

a. tā lián míngzi dōu bù zhīdao.

名字 知道。

he EVEN name DOU not know

He even does not know the name.

b. tā lián yí ge péngyou dōu méi you.

一个 朋友 有。

she Even 1 GE friend DOU not have

She even does not have a single friend.

15.

nán

 

male.

male

16.

…shì …de

   

…SHI…DE

This construction was introduced in Lesson 11. In this lesson …shi…de is used to clarify a certain type of work in which one is engaged, the phrase which is placed between …shìand de is often in a V-O pattern, as in

wŏ shi xué Zhōngwén de

我是 中文 的。

I SHI study Chinese DE

I study Chinese.