Lesson 12

Video and text
Listening and speaking
Vocabulary
Grammar exercises

Question: Your classmate Xiao Wang is still in bed. Ask him why, if the class is about to start, he is still in bed!

Hint 1   Use 快 要 ...了 for imminent actions
Hint 2   Use ... 在 V ... 呢 for progressive aspect
Answer  快 要 上 课 了 ， 你 怎 么 还 在 睡 觉 呢 。 Listen
Comments  Alternatively: 就 要 上 课 了 ， 你 怎 么 还 睡 呢 jiù yào shàng kè le, nĭ zěnme hái shuì ne. The sentence patterns for imminent actions are as follows 1. 要 ... 了yào...le; 2. 快 要 ... 了 kuài yào…le; 3. 就 要 ... 了 jiù yào...le. The elements which can be placed between 要 and 了 are V-O patterns, such as: 要 上 课 了 yào shàng kè le it's about time to start the lesson; 要 吃 饭 了 yào chī fàn le it's about time to eat the meal; and 快 要 下 班 了 kuài yào xià bān le it's about time to finish the shift. The elements which can be placed between 1 快...了 kuài…le; 2 快 要...了 kuài yào…le; and 3 就 要 ...了 jiù yào...le are time words, such as: 快 十 点了 kuài shí diăn le  it's about 10 o'clock; 快 三 月了kuài sān yuè le  it's nearly March; and 快 春 天 了 kuài chūn tiān le  it's nearly spring.
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