Series of actions in Chinese - Lesson 27

Contents of this lesson

1. Vocabulary

2. Grammar

3. Dialogues

4. Exercises

1. Vocabulary

2. Grammar

A. Expressing a sequences of actions with "...了...就... ‹ ...le... jiù... ›"

The structure shown below is used to indicate that two actions are taking place sequentially and that the second takes place immediately after the first had ended. These actions may take place in the past as well as in the future.

• 我 每天 下 了 课 就 回家。 ‹ Wǒ měitiān xià le kè jiù huí jiā. ›
  Every day after school, I (immediately) go home.
• 她们 做 了 作业 就 出去玩儿玩儿。 ‹ Tāmen zuò le zuòyè jiù chūqù wánrwanr. ›
  Once their homework completed , they go out to play.
• 大卫 明天晚上 吃 了东西 就 睡觉。 ‹ Dàwèi míngtiān wǎnshang chī le dōngxī jiù shuìjiào. ›
  Tomorrow evening, after eating something, David will go to bed right away.
  

B. Result complement -完 ‹ -wán ›

Placed just after a verb, 完 ‹ wán › used as a suffix implies that the action has been carried to its completion. It can be translated into English as "to finish..." or "to end...".

• 你 吃 完 了 吗 ？ ‹ Nǐ chī wán le ma? ›
  Have you finished eating?
• 我 昨天晚上 看 完 那本书 了 。 ‹ Wǒ zuótiān wǎnshang kàn wán nà běn shū le. ›
  Last night I finished reading that book.
• 我们 学 完 了 三百 个 汉字 。 ‹ Wǒmen xué wán le sān bǎi gè hànzì. ›
  We finished learning three hundred Chinese characters.

C. "if... then..."

In Chinese the sentence structure "if ... then ..." is similar to that in English. There are several ways to form this kind of sentence in addition to the use of 的话 ‹ dehuà › we have already studied before :

• 如果 你有空， 我 就去接你 。 ‹ Rúguǒ nǐ yǒu kòng, wǒ jiù qù jiē nǐ. ›
  If you have some spare time, I will come to pick you up.
• 如果 你 想学习汉语， 就 叫我 。 ‹ Rúguǒ nǐ xiǎng xuéxí hànyǔ, jiù jiào wǒ. ›
  If you want to learn Chinese, call me.

如果 ‹ rúguǒ › at the beginning of a sentence can form a "sandwich structure" with 的话 ‹ dehuà › -placed at then end of the first part of the sentence, after the condition-. In this case 就 ‹ jiù ›becomes optional in the second part of the sentence:

• 如果你有空 的话， 我 就 去接你。 ‹ Rúguǒ nǐ yǒu kòng dehuà, wǒ jiù qù jiē nǐ. ›

Similarly, you can also use the following structure with 的话 ‹ dehuà › and 就 ‹ jiù › but without using 如果 ‹ rúguǒ › :

• 你 想学习汉语 的话，就 叫我 。 ‹ Nǐ xiǎng xuéxí hànyǔ dehuà, jiù jiào wǒ. ›

D. To explain the cause with 因为 ‹ yīnwèi ›

因为 ‹ yīnwèi › is commonly used to explain a cause in Chinese. This term is very close to "because" in English.

• 她今天没上课，因为 她病了。 ‹ Tā jīntiān méi shàng kè, yīnwèi tā bìng le. ›
  She did not come to the class today because she is sick.
• 我没叫你陪我，因为 我觉得你有点儿忙。 ‹ Wǒ méi jiào nǐ péi wǒ, yīnwèi wǒ juédé nǐ yǒudiǎnr máng. ›
  I didn't call you to accompany me because I thought you were too busy.

E. Reduplication of verbs in the past

We have already learned that some verbs could be redoubled. When the action take place in the past, the particle 了 ‹ le › is then often placed between the monosyllabic verb and its repetition.

• 我 试了试 一些牛仔裤。 ‹ Wǒ shìle shì yīxiē niúzǎikù. ›
  I tried few jeans.

F. Interjection 啊 ‹ a ›

In Chinese, the interjection 啊 ‹ a › is often placed at the end of a sentence to express urgency, exclamation or excitement.  

3. Dialogues

Dialogue N° 1

- 我每天下了课就回家。你呢？ ‹ Wǒ měitiān xià le kè jiù huí jiā. Nǐ ne? ›
- 我下了课就去食堂吃饭，吃完饭就回家。 ‹ Wǒ xià le kè jiù qù shítáng chīfàn, chī wán fàn jiù huí jiā. ›

Dialogue N° 2

- 王丽， 看一下…… 这里有不少好看的衣服！ ‹ Wáng Lì, kàn yīxià... Zhèlǐ yǒu bù shǎo hǎokàn de yīfú! ›
- 我知道！我昨天在这里试了试一些牛仔裤和T恤。 ‹ Wǒ zhīdào! Wǒ zuótiān zài zhèlǐ shì le shì yīxiē niúzǎikù hé Txù. ›
- 你为什么没叫我陪你？ ‹ Nǐ wèishéme méi jiào wǒ péi nǐ? ›
- 因为我觉得你有点儿忙。 ‹ Yīnwèi wǒ juédé nǐ yǒudiǎnr máng. ›
- 不忙啊。下次你想去逛就叫我一下。 ‹ Bù máng a. Xià cì nǐ xiǎng qù guàng jiù jiào wǒ yīxià. ›
- 好的。我一般星期六做完了作业就出去逛逛； ‹ Hǎode. Wǒ yībān xīngqíliù zuò wán le zuòyè jiù chūqù guàngguang; ›
如果你要陪我，就星期六吧。 ‹ rúguǒ nǐ yào péi wǒ, Jiù xīngqíliù ba. ›

Translation :

- Wang Li, have a look ... Here there is a lot of beautiful clothes!
- I know! Yesterday I tried a few jeans and T-shirts here.
- Why didn't you call me to accompany you?
- Because I thought you were busy.
- Of course not. The next time you wish to go out, call me.
- OK. Most of the time, on Saturday after finishing my homework, I go out for a walk; If you want to come with me, it will be on Saturday.

Dialogue N° 3

- 大卫，周末快到了。 你打算做什么？ ‹ Dàwèi, zhōumò kuài dào le. Nǐ dǎsuàn zuò shénme? ›
- 我还没什么打算。 ‹ Wǒ hái méi shénme dǎsuàn. ›
- 我跟马克商量了一下。他建议咱们一起去历史博物馆参观。 ‹ Wǒ gēn Mǎkè shāngliáng le yīxià. Tā jiànyì zánmen yīqǐ qù lìshǐ bówùguǎn cānguān. ›
- 那 咱们下个星期天，吃了早饭以后就去博物馆。 ‹ Nà zánmen xià gè xīngqítiān, chī le zǎofàn yǐhòu jiù qù bówùguǎn. ›
- 你怎么去？ ‹ Nǐ zěnme qù? ›
- 开车。 为什么问这个？ ‹ Kāichē. Wèishéme wèn zhè ge? ›
- 因为我没有车。你可以来接我吗？ ‹ Yīnwèi wǒ méi yǒu chē. Nǐ kěyǐ lái jiē wǒ ma? ›
- 可以。 那我星期天上午九点去你家接你。 ‹ Kěyǐ. Nà wǒ xīngqítiān shàngwǔ jiǔ diǎn qù nǐ jiā jiē nǐ. ›

Translation :

- David, weekend is coming; what do you plan to do?
- I still have no plan.
- I talked with Mark a bit. He suggested that we go together to visit the history museum.
- Why not!
- In this case, next Sunday after breakfast, we will go to the museum.
- How will you go there?
- By car. Why do you ask that?
- Because I do not have a vehicle. Is it possible for you to pick me up?
- Yes. So Sunday morning at nine o'clock I will pick you up at your home.

4. Exercises

A. Answer the question in Chinese:

1. 王丽星期六做完了作业一般做什么？
2. 大卫和马克星期天做什么？
3. 你每天吃了早饭以后做什么？
4. 你下了课/班了以后做什么？

B. Substitution exercise