Читать книгу Chinese Phrase A Day Practice Volume 1 - Sam Brier - Страница 11
ОглавлениеSMALL TALK
Days 1–31
新年快乐!
Xīnnián kuàilè!
Happy New Year!
（新年快樂！）
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
In order to read a newspaper, a person needs to know about 5,000 Chinese characters; 3,000 will do for functional literacy—that is, to be able to read signs, buy food and the like.
你好!
Nǐ hǎo!
Hello / Hi!
（你好！）
再见!
Zàijiàn!
Goodbye!
（再見！）
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
An estimated 1.3–1.6 billion people live in China; note that the questionable difference of 300 million people is equivalent to a “lost United States.”
你好吗?
Nǐ hǎo ma?
How are you?
（你好嗎？）
很好。你呢?
Hěn hǎo. Nǐ ne?
Very good. And you?
（很好。你呢？）
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
A dish of carrot made hastily may contain dirt.
—Chinese proverb
谢谢。
Xìexie.
Thank you.
（謝謝。）
不用谢。
Bú yòng xie.
You’re welcome.
（不用謝。）
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
China has over 100 cities with more than one million people. Beijing and Shanghai each have a population of around 12 to 15 million.
你叫什么名字?
Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?
What’s your name?
（你叫什麼名字？）
我叫__________。
Wǒ jiào __________.
My name is __________.
（我叫__________。）
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
Arabic script (or Uiger) is one of the 4 scripts used on Chinese currency. The others are Chinese, English and Tibetan.
你是哪国人?
Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén?
What nationality are you?
（你是哪國人？）
我是美国人。你呢?
Wǒ shì Měiguó rén. Nǐ ne?
I’m American. And you?
（我是美國人。你呢？）
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
There are five time zones in China, but only Beijing time is used across the entire country.
你是美国人吗?
Nǐ shì Měiguó rén ma?
Are you American?
（你是美國人嗎？）
是的, 我是美国人。
Shì de, wǒ shì Měiguó rén.
Yes, I’m American.
（是的，我是美國人。）
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
Drinking with a dear friend, a thousand shots are too few; talking with a disagreeable person, half a sentence is too many.
—Chinese proverb
你老家哪儿的?
Nǐ lǎojiā nǎr de?
What’s your hometown?
（你老家哪兒的？）
我老家在纽约。
Wǒ lǎojiā zài Niǔyuē.
My hometown is New York.
（我老家在紐約。）
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
There are about 50 Starbucks in Beijing and Shanghai—each. There are more than 1,000 KFCs in China and McDonald’s is not far behind. Nor is 7-11, the convenience store.
你结婚了吗?
Nǐ jiéhūn le ma?
Are you married?
（你結婚了嗎？）
是的, 我结婚了。/还没有。
Shì de, wǒ jiéhūn le. / Hái méiyǒu.
Yes, I’m already married. / Not yet.
（是的，我結婚了。/ 還沒有。）
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
A Russo-Chinese border treaty signed at Nerchinsk in 1689 was the first treaty concluded between China and a European power. It fixed the Sino-Russian border to the north of the Amur river, and also permitted Russian trading caravans to go to Beijing.
你有孩子吗?
Nǐ yǒu háizi ma?
Do you have any children?
（你有孩子嗎？）
有。/没有。
Yǒu. / Méiyǒu.
Yes. [lit. “I have.”] / No. [lit. “I don’t have.”]
（有/沒有。）
————————— LANGUAGE NOTE —————————
Ma is a question article that is added to sentences to form a question. If the sentence above was “Nǐ yǒu háizi,” that would mean “You have a child.” Note, however, that ma is not used in question sentences that have a question word, for example what, where, why.
你有(男)(女)朋友了吗?
Nǐ yǒu (nán)(nǚ) péngyou le ma?
Do you have a (boy)(girl) friend?
（你有(男)(女)朋友了嗎？）
有。/没有。
Yǒu. / Méiyǒu.
Yes. [lit. “I have.”] / No. [lit. “I don’t have.”]
（有。/沒有。）
————————— LANGUAGE NOTE —————————
Yǒu means “have” and méiyǒu means “no have.” Since the subject is understood to be “I,” it is left out. Sometimes you will hear people answer Hái méiyǒu: I don’t have one, yet.
他/她 叫什么名字?
Tā jiào shénme míngzi?
What is his / her name?
（他/她 叫什麼名字？）
他/她 叫______________。 Tā jiào ______________.
His / Her name is ______________.
（他/她 叫______________。）
————————— LANGUAGE NOTE —————————
Notice that tā means both “he” and “she.” It is just the written character that differs; the spoken word is the same.
Jiào means “call,” so literally the question is: “He/She (is) called what name?” In this case, míngzi means your first name or your first and last name. In China, people usually go by their last name first, but many people also have English names which they might tell you.
他/她 在哪儿？
Tā zài nǎr?
Where is he / she?
（他/她 在哪兒？）
他/她 在北京。
Tā zài Běijīng.
He / She is in Beijing.
（他/她 在北京。）
————————— LANGUAGE NOTE —————————
Zài means “in” or “at,” so the question is “He/She (is) at where?”
Remember, in Chinese, if a question word is used in the sentence (in this case, “where”) then the question article “ma” is not used.
你喜欢北京吗?
Nǐ xǐhuan Běijīng ma?
Do you like Beijing?
（你喜歡北京嗎？）
我非常喜欢北京。
Wǒ fēicháng xǐhuan Běijīng.
I like Beijing very much.
（我非常喜歡北京。）
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
Běi means “North”, and Jīng means “capital.” Together, Běijīng means the Northern Capital. Likewise, Nán means South, so the city of Nánjīng means Southern Capital, which it was for a long time.
你去过上海吗?
Nǐ qù guo Shànghǎi ma?
Have you been to Shanghai?
（你去過上海嗎？）
是的, 去过。/没去过。
Shì de, qù guo. / Méi qù guo.
Yes, I have been. / I haven’t been.
（是的，去過。/沒去過。）
————————— LANGUAGE NOTE —————————
Nǐ means “you.” Nín (您) is a polite form. If you add men to these words, such as Nǐmen or Nínmen, the “you” becomes plural, as in “You all.”
你是 美国/加拿大 人吗?
Nǐ shì Měiguó / Jiānádà rén ma?
Are you American / Canadian?
（你是 美國/加拿大 人嗎？）
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
The spoken languages of the People’s Republic of China belong to at least seven main groups (and the dialects run in the hundreds if not thousands). Since the early 20th century the Standard Mandarin dialect has been promoted as the official language of China.
我朋友也是上海人。
Wǒ péngyou yě shì Shànghǎi rén.
My friend is also from Shanghai.
（我朋友也是上海人。）
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
If the lips are gone, the teeth will grow cold.
—Chinese proverb
你有兄弟姐妹吗?
Nǐ yǒu xiōngdìjiěmèi ma?
Do you have any siblings?
（你有兄弟姐妹嗎？）
没有。
Méiyǒu.
No.
（沒有。）
我有一个 哥哥/弟弟/姐姐/妹妹。
Wǒ yǒu yíge...gēge / dìdi / jiějie / mèimei.
I have an ... older brother / younger brother / older sister / younger sister.
（我有一個 哥哥/弟弟/姐姐/妹妹。）
你会说英语吗?
Nǐ huì shuō Yīngyǔ ma?
Do you speak English?
（你會說英語嗎？）
会一点儿。
Hùi yìdiǎnr.
A little.
（會一點兒。）
————————— LANGUAGE NOTE —————————
Notice the “nr” at the end of yìdiǎnr; Standard Mandarin pronounces only the “n” while the Beijing dialect pronounces only the “r”.
你会说汉语吗?
Nǐ huì shuō Hànyǔ ma?
Do you speak Chinese?
（你會說漢語嗎？）
一般。/马马乎乎。
Yìbān. / Mǎmǎhūhū.
So-so.
（一般。/馬馬乎乎。）
————————— LANGUAGE NOTE —————————
Mǎmǎhūhū literally means “Horse horse, tiger tiger.”
你懂吗?
Nǐ dǒng ma?
Do you understand?
（你懂嗎？）
我不懂。
Wǒ bù dǒng.
I don’t understand.
（我不懂。）
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
It is also common to answer Tīng bù dǒng, which literally means “(I) hear (but) don’t understand.”
你汉语说的很好。
Nǐ Hànyǔ shuō de hěn hǎo.
You speak Chinese very well.
（你漢語說的很好。）
哪里, 哪里。
Nǎli, nǎli.
Who, me? [lit. “Where, where?” In Chinese this expression is a way of modestly deprecating one’s own efforts]
（哪裡，哪裡。）
————————— LANGUAGE NOTE —————————
Hànyǔ is the spoken language; literally it means the “Han language.” Often, people will say the word Zhōngwén instead, which means Chinese, or literally “Middle Language,” the Zhōng coming from Zhōngguó which means “Middle Kingdom,” or China.
那是谁?
Nà shì shéi?
Who is that?
（那是誰？）
那是__________。
Nà shì__________.
That is __________.
（那是__________。）
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
Nà means “that”; zhè means “this.” They are used the same way we use the English equivalents: zhè/this for a thing/person nearby and nà/that for a thing/person “over there.”
这/那 是什么?
Zhè / Nà shì shénme?
What is this / that?
（這/那 是什麼？）
这/那 是____________。
Zhè / Nà shì____________.
This / That is ____________.
（這/那 是________。）
————————— LANGUAGE NOTE —————————
Zhè is “this”; and zher means “here.” To the beginner these two can sound quite similar. Just remember that zhè sounds like the ju in the word just, and zher sounds like jer as in jersey.
你们怎么说 “mother”?
Nǐmen zěnme shuō “mother”?
How do you say “mother” in Chinese?
（你們怎麼說 “mother”？）
我们说 “妈妈”。
Wǒmen shuō “māma”.
We say “māma.”
（我們說 “媽媽”。）
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
The “uo” sound is sometimes difficult for beginners. Remember that “u” usually sounds like “w” when followed by another vowel, so in this case, shuō sounds like shwoh.
你爸爸在哪儿?
Nǐ bàba zài nǎr?
Where is your father?
（你爸爸在哪兒？）
我不知道。
Wǒ bù zhīdào.
I don’t know.
（我不知道。）
————————— LANGUAGE NOTE —————————
Although we have left in the pronouns for most of the sentences in this guide, it is common for Chinese speakers to leave out the pronoun when the subject is understood. In this case, you’d most likely hear/say a reply of only “Bù zhīdào.”
对不起。
Dùi bu qǐ.
Excuse me. / Sorry.
（對不起。）
没关系。
Méi guānxi.
Don’t worry about it.
（沒關係。）
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
About three-quarters of China’s people speak Mandarin, also known as pǔtōnghuà (普通话, “common speech”), which often serves as a lingua franca among the different groups within mainland China.
这样 行/好 吗?
Zhè yàng xíng / hǎo ma?
Is this OK?
（這樣 行/好 嗎？）
行。/好。
Xíng. / Hǎo.
It’s OK.
（行。/好。）
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
If you wanted to instead say “It’s not good,” you would add bù in front of xíng or hǎo: Bù xíng. / Bù hǎo.
你能帮我个忙吗?
Nǐ néng bāng wǒ ge máng ma?
Can you help me?
（你能幫我個忙嗎？）
什么事? /怎么了?
Shénme shì? / Zěn me le?
What’s the matter?
（什麼事？/怎麼了？）
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
Tea has been grown for thousands of years in China. Teahouses become especially popular destinations in the summer, as it’s commonly thought that drinking tea can help you beat the heat.
你很忙吗?
Nǐ hěn máng ma?
Are you busy?
（你很忙嗎？）
我很忙。/不忙。
Wǒ hěn máng. / Bù máng.
I’m busy. / I’m not busy.
（我很忙。/不忙。）
来吧。
Lái ba.
Come here.
（來吧。）
坐吧。
Zuò ba.
Have a seat.
（坐吧。）
————————— LANGUAGE NOTE —————————
Ba is a handy word. It is used as a command, but is not rude. You can add it after any verb; Chī ba (eat!); Hē ba (drink!); Zǒu ba (go!).
