Lesson Twenty A

Could I change some foreign currency

When you go to China you will have to get some RMB (Renmin bi), the currency which is used in the People’s Republic of China. However, not all the banks in China can change money for you. You have to find the ones which deal with foreign currencies. Lets learn the following dialogue, which may help you to find the right bank.

Basic expressions

Let’s learn some new words for today’s conversation.

    a. wŏ kě yǐ   shuō Hànyŭ.

        我  可以  说      汉语。

        I     can   speak   Chinese.

    b. tā yĕ    kě yǐshuō Hànyŭ   ma?

   他 也   可以  说   汉语   吗 ？

  he also can speak Chinese MA?

       Can he speak Chinese too?  

    a.  duì,      tā yĕ   kě yǐ  shuō Hànyŭ.

         对,      他 也  可以  说     汉语 。

   correct he also can  speak Chinese

    Yes, he can also speak Chinese.

Kĕyĭ 可以 can or may is used as a modal verb, placed before the main verb of a sentence. The negative form of kĕyĭ 可以is bù kĕyĭ不可以 which means may not. The negative answer for the above question should be:   

bù,  tā  bú huì shuō    Hànyŭ 

不,  他 不  会  说     汉语 。

no, he not able speak Chinese

No, he can’t speak Chinese.

nĭ   bù kĕyĭ  shuō    Yīngyǔ

你  不 可以  说     英语。

you not may speak English

You may not speak English.

tāmen xiăng huàn  qián.

他们  想     换     钱 。

they intend change money

They  want to change money.

zhè   bĕn shū  bù   hăo,    wŏ xiăng huàn.

这     本  书   不   好， 我    想     换 。

this BEN book not good, I intend change

This book is no good, I  would like to change it.

cóng zhèli     qù nàli,      nĭ   dĕi    huàn   sān cì     chē.

从     这里  去 那里，你   得     换     三  次    车。

from here go there     you must change 3 times bus

To get from here to there, you have to change buses three times.

This word  first came up in Lesson 7: it is used to modify nouns. A modifier in the 的 construction can be an adjective, pronoun, verb, phrase or sentence, as in

         a. Bĕijīng de tiānqi  北京的天气Beijing’s weather

         b. wŏmen de xuéxiào 我们的 学校our school

         c. chī de dōngxi 吃的东西 things to eat

         d. xuéxí Hànyŭ de rén 学习汉语的人people who are studying Chinese

         e. wŏ xiĕ de shū 我写的书 the book that I wrote

         f. wŏ măi shū de qián 我买书的钱the money which I spent on buying books        

As you can see from the last three sentences above, the de 的 construction is like a reversed relative clause in English: “...who are studying Chinese”, “… that I wrote” and “…which I spend on buying books” are all used to describe the preceding nouns.

kĕyĭ huàn    wàihuì              de yínháng.

可以 换       外 汇             的 银行。

can change foreign money DE bank

The bank where one can change foreign money.

.

dōngnán东南east south south-east

       dōngbĕi东北east north north-east

       xīnán西南west south south-west

       xībĕi西北west north north-west

 Notice the different order of the combinations for points of the compass. chéng城city. dōngchéng东城the east part of a city.

a. cún qián 存钱to deposit money

b. cún dōngxi 存东西 to store things

c. cún shuĭ 存水 to store water

      a. qŭ dōngxi 取东西to fetch or collect  things

      b. cong yínháng qŭ qián 从银行取钱 to withdraw money from a bank

  a. cún wàihuì 存外汇 to deposit foreign money.

  b. qǔ wàihuì 取外汇to withdraw foreign money from a bank

  c. huàn wàihuì 换外汇to change foreign money

  d. ji wàihuì  寄外汇 to send foreign money

Both离 and 从 can both be used to describe distance and duration, but with different word order.

 It is very far from my home to school.

 It takes an hour from here to school.

离 can't be used if you don't state the duration of time or distance between A and B, but 从 can be used, as in

wŏ cóng  xuéxiào lái   zhèr

我  从     学 校     来   这儿.

I    from school    come here

I came here from school.

Other examples:

Yīngguó lí    Zhōngguó hĕn yuăn.

英   国  离    中国         很  远。

UK       from China       very far

It is very far from the U.K. to China.

xiànzài lí    xīngqirì  hái  yŏu  sān  tiān.

现在    离    星期日  还   有   三    天。

now    from Sunday still have 3   days

There are three  days to go from now to Sunday.

xiànzài lí    shàng kè     hái  yŏu   shí fēn zhōng.

现在    离  上      课      还   有     十   分  钟。

now    from have lesson still have 10 minutes

There are ten minutes before the class begins.

Kě…le可 …了is used to emphasize stative verbs and modal verbs.可 is placed before negatives, stative verbs, modal verbs, adverbs, other construction particles, and co-verbs such as 比. For instance,

zhè  bĕn   shū    kĕ     hăo le. (before stative verb)

这    本    书      可     好 了。

this BEN book really good LE

This book is really good.

wŏmen  kĕ   máng le. (before stative verb)

我们     可   忙  了。

we really busy LE.

We  are  really  busy.

wŏ kĕ     xiăng  qù Zhōngguó le (before MV)

我  可     想     去 中    国    了 。

I    really intend go China       LE

I really want to go to China.

tā   de Zhōngwén kĕ   bĭ wŏ de hăo duō le (before 比)

她  的 中文        可  比 我 的 好   多  了 。

her Chinese       really BI my    better much LE

Her Chinese is certainly much better than mine.

a. zài Zhōngguó  bú  huì  shuō  Hànyu   yídìng yŏu hĕn duō máfan.

在 中国         不  会   说    汉语    一定   有  很   多  麻烦。

in China          not can speak Chinese certainly have very many trouble

In China, if you can’t speak Chinese you will have a lot of trouble.

b. duìbuqĭ,   máfàn  nĭ    le .

对不起，麻烦   你   了。

sorry,       trouble you LE

Sorry to trouble you.