Chinese Multimedia

Lesson 16

Video and text
Listening and speaking
Vocabulary
Grammar exercises

 


Question: Your friend is hungry and wants to eat right now. Tell him that the meal is cooking and will be ready in a minute.

Hint 1 Hint 1   Use 正 在 V着 O呢 sentence pattern
Hint 2 Hint 2   Use 就, which implies that an action will take place sooner than expected
Comments Answer  饭 正 在 作 呢, 一 会 儿 就 作 好 。 Listen
Comments Comments  Alternatively: 饭 正 在 作 呢, 一 会 儿 就 好
fàn zhèngzài zuò ne yí huìr  jiù hǎo. The topic 'meal' is placed before the verb clause 正 在 作 呢 zhèngzài zuò ne. Since a meal cannot cook itself, the above sentence implies that the meal is in the process of being cooked. No additional passive elements are needed in this case. For instance, 衣 服 洗 完 了 yīfu xǐ wán le the clothes have been washed or 衣 服 正 在 洗 呢 yīfu zhèngzài xǐ ne the clothes are in the process of being  washed.
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