Asking about completed past actions, in Chinese - Lesson 26

1. Vocabulary

Words of the dialogues

  Word Pinyin Translation  
1 前天 qiántiān day before yesterday
2 以后 yǐhòu after
3 dad
4 早饭 zǎofàn breakfast
5 shì matter; thing (immaterial)
6 jiē to answer (the phone)
7 占线 zhànxiàn busy (for a phone line)
8 dài to bring; to carry; to take along; to lead
9 发现 fāxiàn to find; to discover
10 ó (use to express the understanding)
11 听说 tīngshuō to hear (something said)
12 商场 shāngchǎng
shopping center ; mall
13 打折 dǎzhé to sell at sale price; discounted
14 péi to accompany
15 guàng to walk; to stroll
16 同意 tóngyì to agree; to consent; to authorize
17 jiàn to meet
18 ràng to ask someone
19 出去 chūqù to go out; to leave
20 过去 guòqu to go

Additional words

  Word Pinyin Translation  
1 回来 huílai to come back; to return
2 后天 hòutiān after tomorrow
3 午饭 wǔfàn lunch
4 中饭 zhōngfàn lunch
5 晚饭 wǎnfàn diner

2. Grammar

A. Questions with 了没有 ‹ le méiyǒu ›

"...了没有 ‹ ...le méiyǒu ›" at the end of a sentence in Chinese allows to ask whether an action has been achieved or not. For the first-person singular, 了没有? ‹ le méiyǒu? › can be translated into English as "Have you or not ...?".

Sentence + 了没有?

B. Questions with 没 ‹ méi ›

‹ méi › alone can be used to formulate questions identical to those created with 了没有 ‹ le méiyǒu ›. These are also used to inquire on past actions. However ‹ méi › adapts better with a monosyllabic verb.

S + V + + V + O + ?

C. "Before" and "after" in the course of time

以前 ‹ yǐqián › and 以后 ‹ yǐhòu › are used in Chinese to express an action taking place respectively "before" or "after" an event. Unlike in English, these words are placed at the end of the first part of the sentence.

Event + 以前 / 以后

3. Dialogues

Dialogue N° 1

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- 你前天买东西了没有 ‹ Nǐ qiántiān mǎi dōngxī le méi yǒu? ›
- 没有。 ‹ Méi yǒu. ›
- 你今天吃早饭了没有? ‹ Nǐ jīntiān chī zǎofàn le méi yǒu? ›
- 吃了。 ‹ Chī le. ›

Translation :

- Have you purchased anything day before yesterday?
- No
- Have you had breakfast today?
- Yes

Dialogue N° 2

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- 喂,大卫? ‹ Wèi, Dàwèi? ›
- 是我。找我有事吗? ‹ Shì wǒ. Zhǎo wǒ yǒu shì ma? ›
- 你上午怎么没接我的电话?我打给你的时候,一直占线······ ‹ Nǐ shàngwǔ zěnme méi jiē wǒ de diànhuà? Wǒ dǎ gěi nǐ de shíhòu, yīzhí zhànxiàn... ›
- 不好意思,今天上午出去跑步了。没带手机 ‹ Bùhǎoyìsi, jīntiān shàngwǔ chūqù pǎobù le. Méi dài shǒujī. ›
回家以后,也没发现手机没电了。 ‹ Huí jiā yǐhòu, yě méi fāxiàn shǒujī méi diànle. ›
- 哦好吧······ 听说AUX商场的很多东西都在打折, 你去过了没有? ‹ Ó hǎo ba... Tīng shuō AUX shāngchǎng de hěn duō dōngxī dōu zài dǎzhé, nǐ qùguò le méi yǒu? ›
- 没有。今天下午我可以陪你去那儿逛逛。 ‹ Méi yǒu. Jīntiān xiàwǔ wǒ kěyǐ péi nǐ qù nàr guàngguang. ›
- 同意!我有好多东西要买。 ‹ Tóngyì! Wǒ yǒu hǎo duō dōngxī yāo mǎi. ›
- 好的。咱们两点半在商场门口见吧。 ‹ Hǎode. Zánmen liǎng diǎn bàn zài shāngchǎng ménkǒu jiàn ba. ›
- 行。我让我爸开车带我过去。 ‹ Xíng. Wǒ ràng wǒ bà kāi chē dài wǒ guòqù. ›

Translation :

- Hello? David?
- That's me. What's  happening?
- Why didn't you answer my phone call this morning? When I called you, your phone was always busy.
- Sorry, this morning I went out for running. I had not taken my phone. And after returning, I haven't seen the battery was down.
- Ah OK...  I've heard that many things are on sale at AUX mall, did you go there?
- No. This afternoon I can go with you for a walk there.
- Alright! There are many things I want to buy.
- OK. We can just meet at half past two in front of the shopping center entrance.
- Okay. I ask my father to take me there.

4. Exercices

A. Create sentences

Create a Chinese dialogue similar to the dialogue No. 1, with the list of the following verbs - objects:

看书,去银行,吃午饭,看电视, 踢足球, 写汉字, 买衣服, 试帽子, 休息, 喝水

B. Translate into Chinese

Translate into Chinese the following sentences :

1. After finishing school, I return home.
2. After eating, I drink water.
3. Before going to the classes, I'll buy something.
4. After lunch, I watch television.

- Chinese Gratis -