Colloquial Chinese 2

fh. Colloqu'.' 2 Serlel ." " ''' .. ,11"" ,1)1 (' ;lly Ki ng

II,, · 1"II" wlllq languages are available in ,he Colloquial 2 series: I :h" " '~d l ' )ull .l ,

,It''',:'' It ; "~,n

Ihl!>!>"ln

S,,,,,ugh S, "IJII!\h 0 1 Larin America

Chinese language learning Kan Qian

,\ , , ' ."1'" II I'(lI l[) casscnes and CDs are aval lil l l~' I," II., "I KM.! lilies. They can be !I I!! . 'Oh yOUl bookseller, ()( send paY". ~ II WIll' ",d, " 10 Taylor & Francis ltd l ' I, .,!l, ~ h~' I Id ITPS, Cheriton House, Noflh W; IV 1\," ~ 'v, ~. Iiams SPTO SBE, UK, I)( to I I, ",II" , h~ ' II .:, 770 Madison Avenue, Naw yo, k NY H.I II ;. I JSJI. , ~ ", ''' 'd

I~ ~~;!~~~%:p LON DON AN D NEW YORK

Contents

l 'fSI published 2.f1J7 hy noutlcdge :;> Park Square, Millon Park, Abingdon, O)lon. OX14 4AN

Introduction Acknowledgemcms

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada hy Roulledge ;>70 Madison Ave . New York, NY 10016

Routledge

IS

an imp rint of me Taylor & Francis Group. an informs business

Unit 1

x

'l' In:Cot'l' 00

Zhongwen yiji Zhonggu6

1

The Chinese language and China

© 2007 Kan Oian Iypcset in 10/ 12pt Sabon by Graphicrafl limited, Hong Kong Prlntod and bOund in Groat Britain by TJ Intern alionall1d. Padstow, Cornwall

Unit 2 Unit 3

Zili Zhonggu6 lil xing

19

'lOW known or hereaflGr invented . including photocopying and recording. In any information storage or retrieval system. without permission in

Unit 4

37

lII~fII~1!t

Juhui he yinshi

53

Get-togethers and food

Of

wlllmg trom Ihe publishers.

Unit 5

Brrllsh Ubrary cataloguing in Publication Dala A catalogue record for Illis book is available from the British library

IIU! JiankAng Health

or uillised in any form or by any electronic. mechanical, or other means,

LIbrary of Congress cataloging-In-Publica tion Data Kan. Oian, 1960CollOQuial Chinese 2 I Ciao Kan. p cm . - (Colloquial 2 series) Chinese and English. Includes indexes. I Chinese language--Convorsalion and p hrase books-English. I;'lnguage-Grammar. I. Titte. II. Series. PL 1125.E6K37 2006 495. 1'63 421-dc22

tiO'l' 00 MHO'

Travell ing in China

All righ ts reserved . No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced

i1lf- Guo nian

71

Celebrate Chinese New Year Unit 6

"'1!I~Ii!fl Xingqu he aihao Interests and hobbies

Unit 7

litlf Jiaoyu

87 103

Education 2. Chinese

2006007103 ISBN 13: 978·0-41 5-32818-0 l ~al N 13' 978-0-41 5-32816-6 1~ ;IlN I 3: 978-0- 41 5-328 17-3 1:;llN 13' 978·0- 4 15-32815-9

vn

(book) (audio casseUes) (audio CDs) (pack)

I V"fy anempt has been made 10 obtain permission 10 feproduce copy ri ght lIIith'f ial 11 any proper acknowledgement has not been made, we wou ld invite ""PVI!! lhl holders to inform us 01 the oversight

Unit 8 Unit 9

If!; GOngzuo Work

121

ll'iSl-"i11'1i JUlotOng yu huanji ng

136

Transport and environment Unit 10

~JIOfII:!il'k1iil

Diannao he hulianwang

150

Computers and the internet Unit 11

1II14!1-"i'fj( HOnyi n yO zTnu

169

Marriage and children Unit 12

i'l;JfII:l'Ilt Gaige he blanhua Reform and change

192

, vi

I

Contents

Key to exercises 1'1X¥?

L",

1li1!litHiIl-' fti1-lij'fili1!!'l'jtlli

T OM

L,u T~

0

0

0

~'l'~-T~'~~R~~na~&~ o 0

0

2

I

Unit 1 ZhOngwen yl jl ZhOfI99u6

Unll 1: The Chinese language and China

I

3

Dialogue 1 In pinyin • Lilt

NT hui shuO ZhMgwen ma?

TOM LILI

Hul,.b..\J.Q..uO shuO de bu Mo. NTde ~ Mn~.

TOM llu TOM LILI TOM Llu

GyO jiana , guo jiAng. WOde 51 sheDg zOngshl yOu went[ . NT tai !liiDXU. Ie. Xue Ie jl Dian Zh6ngwen Ie? Zh$ngzh6ng san nitm Ie. ~ duO sMo ge hanzl? Cha,buduO yl qian ge, ~ zhi hui ~ wu bai ge zuOybu. Na y~ h~n bY ii;!indan. WO u.an yi i.U ~ y.e. bu hul shuO.

Vocabulary • buguo ko uyin

hOwever

'1'111

bu cuo

ult

guo Jiang

quite good (lit. not bad) I am flattered (/it. over praise)

i!jJli 'lil'lll iIlil

81 sheng you wentf qlanxu

to have problems be modest

'l'u Oit

•• iJ.:"o

four tones

zh~ ngzMng

exactly

ren shl

10 recognize Chinese character

hanzi

IX'"

bu lilindi n

nearly but to write extraordinary (lit. very not simple)

Uan ... ye ...

even

I"

sentence foreign language

chilbudu6 k6shi

IH~

'Ill

"

'l'iOliJI' iJ ... 1!! .

".

lij

1I-ut

accent

wAlyu

Language points • Pel\mg University "I!otographer: Paul Stilloy

1.1

Use o f ~H (de)

{Q

link a verb a nd a n adverb

This i* (de ) is used to link a verb and an adverb. It is known as a complement of manner in grammatical terms. Most Chinese adjectives

I

4

unit I : ZhOngwCnyl~Ltx)IICJ~ ~~1

Unit 1: The Chinese language and China

and adverbs share the same form. The simplest pattern is: verb + ~ (de) + adverb. The adverb is usua lly modifi ed by another degree adverb. To nega te, pm T (bu) after j·1J (de), For example;

.. "''''

WO meimei

'" l~ 'F1i!'

m de fejehling

m l'

~

m

In Chinese, it is very common to omit t he personal pronoun such ,l ~ H~. {1r., ~ (wo, ni, ta,l l, yo u, she ) when it occu rs in the subject positi on, if th e context makes it clear who is being talked ahout. In the dia logue aboye, the pronoun r:r- (ni) is om ined in th e question v..m~Y1-1)l¥-? (Ren shi duo shao ge hanzi? How man y characters do you recognize?). In other words, a Chinese sentence or question can start with a verb. See the second question in the following exchange:

•

Ta ~ de hu kYai. verb negator adverb she run not fast She doesn't run fa st.

lit.

Please note that if t he verb is a 'verb + object ' form such as tdt& !zuofan, to cook), 7f~ (kaichC, to drivel, the first elemene of ehe verb IS repeated before addmg the complement. So the pattern is: verb + repeat t he first element of the verb +

fI!lffJJi'f)(ill1'lll • Tade Yingwen hen bU cue). His English is really good.

1.3 Omission of personal pronouns when acting as subject

If •

verb degree adverb adverb My sister writes very well.

II!! IE!

ro. (de) + adverb

A

•

Wo mama zuilfan ZUQ de tebie hao. My mum cooks very we ll/My mum is a vcry good cook. ft!!ff!FlH~~';t1>f

•

Xia ge xingqi. Next week.

A

1.2

Use of :;ff~ (bu cuo)

Li.rerally, /F!ft (.bu cub) ,means ' not bad'. But really it is used when you Wish to S~! q u ~te good. If .you wish to say ' really good' , put m. (hen, very) or A (zheng, really) In front of 'fin (bu cuo). For example:

~1PJ-.?

Qu duo jill? How long are you going for? (lit. go for how long?)

B --tl'lli';fi.

Yi ge yue zuoyou. About a month.

Ta kaiche kai de bu tai hao. He drives poorl y/He is a poor driver. In. the.dialogue above, the sentence /F:tJ:i.~f~FfH (buguo shuo de bi! h ao, hi. but I speak not very well) is a repl y to the question t:F~i~ ~1·l:>C~? (N! hUI sh uo ZhOngwen rna?, Can you speak Chinese?). So ·.I~~X (s~uo Z~ongwen . speak Ch in ese) is omitted in the reply. If it IS not o mitted, It shou ld be l£i~r.f:t>Cl~.ti/F~ (WO shuo Z hongwen shuo de bi:! hao, lit. f speak Chinese s/Jea k not very well).

~"1-l i.Rtjji'"' l° Ta da suan jin nian jiu _ _ yuc qu Zhonggu6. , ~r __ J'l iit!l!¥ill! 7 ° a

T:I'fi't!~!if

*

Use of

il'

(hao) at the end of a sentence

•

WO cenwei zhe jian yifu bao. I think this piece of clothing is better.

When travelling by train, aeroplane, sea, or any of the above means (cheng, to take) + of transport, always use ~ (ZllO, lit. to sit) or means of transport. ~ (cheng) is more formal than ~ (ZllO).

2.7

Yt

When Iff (hao) is placed at the end of a sentence (in both sta rl'llll"lll and question), it means 'better'. For exam ple:

Here are the words often used:

,Ill !II

Use o f

I

(qing)

II); 1li ~ 1: 1Jjj!if iIJif JtJ1\!if ? Ni juCde Shanghai hao haishi B«:ijing hao?

Which do yOll think is better - Shanghai or Beijing?

Exercises Useful words for doing the fo llowing exercises

WI (qing) can mean ' please' when placed before the verb, or 'to invite, to treat' when it is placed before a personal pronoun. For example:

." ilJle

jJ- jJ

ifI~o

Mt

Qing zuo. Please si t down.

II ~tMfi&

jtubA Itaotlan xlii yl xlii xlAngciin zhan qlaqia xhlingfan

ba< 10 have a chal; 10 chal

to fix (it) countryside slop be just the opposite

!I< 1M II); oz; go I1ii • WO qing nr chi zhongfan. I'll buy you/treat you to lunch.

Exercise 1

However, the following sentence can take on both meanings:

ml1);11I!I

;1;1>17 '

Translate the follow ing sentences into Chinese: a Lao Wang, I'd like to invite you to dinner this Sunday. b The scenery on the journey to Yunnan was superb. I'm so pleased that I went there by train. c What he said just now makes sense. d Enjoy your holiday. e It's nearly time for supper. We must hurry up.

Dialogue 2

~

""'>Ii! '

W ANG M ENG

MAR'

Exercise 3

- ;til" . ~i3I

•

(a few minutes later . .. ) W ANG M ENG

ITPiTilfll!7' iIli!JL"';;;;II'>Oi fl"l' AQ~ · ft1ll1li. ~;\'dlj-ll:"'!Jllil: ' f.tiiJ l~. m:l:fl 7 0

M ARK

~ ~~~?

W ANG M ENG

*~ +:St~

0

(after having visited the wall . .. ) (CD 1; 8) M ARK

J:fI£~

Shang cMng qiang Visiting the city wall

WANG M ENG

J3."

0

MARK

Mark is in Xi'an, travelling on his own. He is planning to visit the city wall, but is not sure where the entrance is. He asks a young Chinese man, Wang Meng, for help . ..

~ ... 7 1m ' ft4'7i!;i'1l!;!; )'f1!l 7 • ft 1!! £ • ,til'> jj( i8: ~ i'.. 1>1 ' ill! 10111'> 3l: it 1!! .. iN ;;;; 1I'> 7~ , Jlil:ftilHi ~ i31~~ • ftllll7i;1£li:"""Ifili • 't."i1""IfiII'~? iEi.l!"i1~ • '~1Il- ;til" ' 1>1P1l ? 1IIl;!;1f7!

W ANG M ENG MARK W ANG M ENG

28

I

Un~

2: Travelling in China

Unit 2: Zsi ZhOngguO tOxin!!

!I.e

Dialogue 2 in p inyin

• ... :::f:ili; MARK

WANG MENG

MARK

DulbuqT, w6 xiang cang uao cheng gitlng. NT zhidao c6ng oar sMoagu rna? Zhen bu Moylsj, w6 y~ bU taj gingchu . W6 y6 shl wajdlr$o, gangMo y~ xiaog dao cheng qifmg shang z6uzou. Zbe yang ba, w6 qu .tWIog yixia, raobQu zanmen k~yT yi qT quo Tai hao Ie, duO xie.

(a few minutes later . .. ) WANG MENG

MARK WANG M ENG

Dating qingchO Ie, Ii zber bU yuan de nan men yOu ge rukOuchU . WOmen shUnzhe zbe 1iaa lie yizhi lOu dao dI, jiU k~yT kanjian damen Ie. Yao zOu duO jiCi? Dayu~ shf f~nzhOng .

(a fter having visited the wall . .. ) MAR' WANG MENG

WA,t.jG MENG

MAR< WANG MENG

DuOkuj Ie ni , wO JTnlian wan de gaoxing jf Ie. W6 y~ shl. Nide HanyCi zheme Mo, ~ dul ZhOnggu6 de wenhua y~ yOu Mn sMn de ~, zhen rang wO 1lOilJj. Duo xie kuaiiaog. WO mingtian zhCinbei qu S-ogrnay6ng . NT qu guO BingmAyOng rna? Hai mel qu guO ne. Zanmen yiqi qu, haa ma? Na tai bang Ie!

"0110

11111

'" iii ;t>fUI ~i5"7

jjijg 711

11M

"'II:

J'llllI

ranho u Ii ... bu yuan rukouchu shunzhe liso

jil1 zliu dAo dT duO kuT Ie erqh! lIaojle peifu kuljlang BTngmayong

then to be notlar from . entrance along (measure WOI"d for winding and slender objects such as street river) avenue to walk to the very end thanks to ... ; because of . furthermore understanding to admire, admiration praise, complimenl Terracolla warriors and horses

2.10

To apologise or to return a compliment

1~ffl!,~ (bu hiioyisi) is a colloquial expression and is often used in situa tions where you wish to apologise, or to return a compli ment. For example (to apologise):

A

'i'x ' ftfiitflf~Tf~B'JElfJtF.p Xiiio Wang, we> m=ng jii: yixia nide zixingche rna ? Xiao Wang, could I borrow your bike please?

.n'Il':l!:.'!l . ftB'JElfJtFlifT' Zhen bu hlioyis!, wOde zlxlngche huai Ie. Rea lly sorry, my bike has broken down.

Vocabulary •

""

10*

'l'lflll!) 'l';i:jJ!( ;rll!!.A. ;!~~

nllT

(to return a compli ment): cl ngul n cheng qlang s hAngqu bu hiioylsl bu tAl qTngchu wAldlren zhe yang ba datIng

10 visit

city wall to go up I am sorry: I'm a bit embarrassed I'm nOI sure stranger. oulsider I'lIle!1 you whal to find oul

:.. I

Language points •

B

1OJ\!

I

A :kJl ' f~B'J'i')(jJl.i(fj1;f~ • Dawci, nide Zhongwen shuo de zhcn bang, David, you speak such good Chinese.

B 'l'1l''Ii!!!!. ' lIllll