To do something and habits in Chinese - Lesson 17

1. Vocabulary

Verbs

  Word Pinyin Translation  
1 zài to be doing (sth)
2 gěi to give; to do something for someone
3 kàn to watch; to read
4 gàn to do
5 聊天(儿) liáotiānr
to chat, to discuss
6 打电话 dǎdiànhuà to call (phone) ; to give a phone call
7 见面 jiànmiàn to meet
8 爬山 páshān to climb a mountain; to hike

Others

  Word Pinyin Translation  
1 一般 yībān in general, commonly, usually
2 cháng often
3 空(儿) kòng(r) spare time
4 gēn with (someone)
5 为什么 wèishénme why ?
6 电视 diànshì television
7 电影 diànyǐng movie
8 晚上 wǎnshang evening
9 朋友 péngyou friend
10 作业 zuòyè homework; task
11 食堂 shítáng canteen
12 门口 ménkǒu entrance (door)
13 事(儿) shì(r) matter; issue that needs to be solved

2. Grammar

A. "To be doing (something)" with ‹ zài ›

If in previous lessons we had learned to use the word ‹ zài › to mean "to be located ", in this lesson we will see that the same word is used in Chinese to express an ongoing action.

S + + V (+ O)
CAUTION: If there is an adverb of place before the verb, the word ‹ zài › is NOT repeated two times.

B. "With someone"

S + + 人 + V

C. To give and to do something to someone

Before an object, ‹ gěi › is used to mean that we give something to someone; before a verb, it indicates that we do something to someone.

S + + 人 (+ O / V)

D. Questions in "why" with 为什么 ‹ wèishéme ›

为什么 ‹ wèishéme › is used in the same way that 怎么 ‹ zěnme › in a Chinese interrogative sentence:

S + 为什么 + V (+ O) + ?

E. Use of 一般 ‹ yībān › "usually"

一般 + V (+ O)

3. Dialogues

Dialogue N° 1

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- 你明天想干什么? ‹ Nǐ míngtiān xiǎng gàn shénme? ›
- 我们一起去看电影吧。 Wǒ xiǎng wǒmen yīqǐ qù kàn diànyǐng. ba. ›
- 行。我现在去买电影票。 Xíng. Wǒ xiànzài qù mǎi diànyǐng piào. ›
- 好。明天见! Hǎo. Míngtiān jiàn! ›

Translation :

- What do you want to do tomorrow?
- I would like we go to watch a movie together.
- Alright. I will immediately buy the movie tickets.
- Good. See you tomorrow!

Dialogue N° 2

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- ‹ Wéi! ›
- 喂!是王丽吧? ‹ Wéi! Shì Wáng Lì ba? ›
- 是我。 你在干什么? ‹Shì wǒ. Nǐ zài gàn shénme? ›
- 在看电视。 ‹ Zài kàn diànshì. ›
- 你晚上喜欢看电视吗? ‹ Nǐ wǎnshang xǐhuan kàn diànshì ma? ›
- 喜欢。你呢? ‹ xǐhuan. Nǐ ne? ›
- 我不喜欢。晚上我一般做作业或者跟朋友聊天儿。 Wǒ bù xǐhuan. wǎnshang wǒ yībān zuò zuoyè huòzhě gēn péngyǒu liáotiānr. ›
- 王丽,你为什么给我打电话? Wáng Lì nǐ wèishéme zěi wǒ dǎ diànhuà? ›
- 我明天中午跟一个朋友一起在食堂吃饭。你想不想来? ‹ Wǒ míngtiān zhōngwǔ gēn yī gè péngyǒu yīqǐ zài shítáng chīfàn. Nǐ xiǎng bù xiǎng lái? ›
- 想!咱们几点在哪儿见面? ‹ Xiǎng! Zánmen jǐ diǎn zài nǎr jiànmiàn? ›
- 咱们十一点半在食堂门口见面吧。 ‹ Zánmen shíyī diǎn bàn zài shítáng ménkǒu jiànmiàn ba. ›
- 好。明天见! Hǎo. Míngtiān jiàn! ›
- 明天见! ‹ Míngtiān jiàn! ›

Translation :

- Hello!
- Hello! Is this Wang Li?
- Yes. What are you doing?
- I'm watching television.
- Do you like to watch TV every evening?
- Yes. And you?
- No. On evening I usually do my homework or I chat with friends.
- Wang Li, why are you calling me?
- Tomorrow noon I'll have lunch with a friend at the canteen; would you like to come?
- Yes! At what time and where will we meet?
- We'll meet at eleven-thirty in front of the canteen entrance door.
- OK. See you tomorrow!
-  See you !

Dialogue N° 3

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- 喂,我是大卫。 你在干什么? Wèi, wǒ shì Dàwèi. Nǐ zài gàn shénme? ›
- 我在看书。有什么事儿? ‹ Wǒ zài kàn shū. Yǒu shénme shìr? ›
- 你下个周末有空儿吗? ‹ Nǐ xià gè zhōumò yǒu kòngr ma? ›
- 有。为什么? Yǒu. Wèishéme? ›
- 我想跟你一起去爬山。 ‹ Wǒ xiǎng gēn nǐ yīqǐ qù páshān. ›
- 真的吗?我喜欢爬山!我周末常给爸爸妈妈打电话,常去爬山! ‹ Zhēnde ma? Wǒ xǐhuan páshān! Wǒ zhōumò cháng gěi bàba māmā dǎ diànhuà, cháng qù páshān! ›
- 太好了! ‹ Tài hǎo le! ›

Translation :

- Hello,this is David. What are you doing?
- I am reading a book, what's up ?
- Do you have some spare time next weekend?
- Yes. Why?
- I would like to go with you hiking.
- Really? I like to hike in the mountains! On weekends, I often call my parents, I often go hiking!
- Great!

4. Exercises

A Answer the questions

Answer in Chinese the following questions according to the previous dialogues:

1. 王丽喜欢看电视吗?大卫呢? ‹ Wáng Lì xǐhuan kàn diànshì ma? Dàwèi ne? ›
2. 王丽跟大卫明天在哪儿吃饭? ‹ Wáng Lì gēn Dàwèi míngtiān zài nǎr chīfàn? ›
3. 大卫下个周末想做什么? ‹ Dàwèi xià gè zhōumò xiǎng zuò shénme? ›
4. 王丽周末常给谁打电话? ‹ Wáng Lì zhōumò cháng gěi shéi dǎ diànhuà? ›

B. Substitution exercise

Complete the following sentence according to the options given.

我们在____________ ____________

Place

银行
餐馆
图书馆
门口

Verb

看书
吃饭
见面
取钱


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