Learn how to form question-sentences in Chinese that begin with "why"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Frank: Hey, everyone. |
| Echo: Da jia hao! |
| Frank: Welcome back ChineseClass101.com, Season 1, Lesson 20 in our Beginner series. |
| Echo: 二十。(Èrshí) |
| Frank: Today, we’ve got a great dialogue between our friend, Ma Li, and her dad. |
| Echo: They’re at Ma Li’s apartment. |
| Frank: They’re both speaking casually. |
| Echo: Sure. |
| Frank: Hey, you know that Jimmy have, about being back in high school on a test, and you’ve shown up in your pajamas? |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Frank: Well, okay. Maybe that’s just me. But you can actually do this. Head up to ChineseClass101.com and put yourself to the test using test and quizzes that are part of the premium subscription. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Frank: It really helps make those lesson stick. |
| Echo: Exactly. |
| Frank: Let’s get on to the dialogue. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| 爸爸:给你的妈妈打电话吧。(BÀBA: Gěi nǐ de māma dǎ diànhuà ba.) |
| 马丽:为什么？(MǍ LÌ: Wèishénme?) |
| 爸爸:她很想你。(BÀBA: Tā hěn xiǎng nǐ.) |
| 马丽:好，我会的。(MǍ LÌ: Hǎo, wǒ huì de.) |
| Frank: Now one more time, just a little slower. |
| 爸爸:给你的妈妈打电话吧。(BÀBA: Gěi nǐ de māma dǎ diànhuà ba.) |
| 马丽:为什么？(MǍ LÌ: Wèishénme?) |
| 爸爸:她很想你。(BÀBA: Tā hěn xiǎng nǐ.) |
| 马丽:好，我会的。(MǍ LÌ: Hǎo, wǒ huì de.) |
| Frank: Now Echo, you can be mad at our boy, Zhang Fei, all you want, but I bet you he calls his mother. |
| Echo: Probably. |
| Frank: Ma Li doesn’t. That’s all I’m saying. Nobody’s perfect. |
| Echo: Well, maybe they are the best match. |
| Frank: There you go. It’s not a perfect world but maybe they’re perfect for each other. |
| Echo: Whatever. |
| Frank: Let’s do it line-by-line. |
| 爸爸:给你的妈妈打电话吧。(BÀBA: Gěi nǐ de māma dǎ diànhuà ba.) |
| Frank: Give your mom a call. |
| 马丽:为什么？(MǍ LÌ: Wèishénme?) |
| Frank: Why? |
| 爸爸:她很想你。(BÀBA: Tā hěn xiǎng nǐ.) |
| Frank: She really misses you. |
| 马丽:好，我会的。(MǍ LÌ: Hǎo, wǒ huì de.) |
| Frank: Okay. I will. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Frank: Okay, there’s really great vocab that we had today and we’re not just phoning it in either. Let’s do this. |
| Male: Now the vocab section. |
| Echo: 给 (gěi)[natural native speed]. |
| Frank: To give. |
| Echo: 给(gěi)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 给(gěi)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 妈妈(māma) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: Mother. |
| Echo: 妈妈(māma)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 妈妈(māma)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 打电话(dǎ diànhuà) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: To make a phone call. |
| Echo: 打电话(dǎ diànhuà)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 打电话(dǎ diànhuà)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 为什么(wèishénme) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: Why? |
| Echo: 为什么(wèishénme)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 为什么(wèishénme)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 想。(Xiǎng.) |
| Frank: To miss. |
| Echo: 想。(Xiǎng.) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 想(Xiǎng)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 我会的(wǒ huì de) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: I will do it. |
| Echo: 我会的(wǒ huì de)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 我会的(wǒ huì de)[natural native speed]. |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Frank: Okay. Now we’re back. In the first two words in our vocabulary today were also probably among the first words you ever spoke, mom and dad. |
| Echo: 妈妈(māma)，爸爸。(bàba.) |
| Frank: Important stuff. Let’s hear them in some sample sentences. “My father works in China”. |
| Echo: 我的爸爸在中国工作。(Wǒ de bàba zài zhōngguó gōngzuò.) |
| Frank: Is your mother in America? |
| Echo: 你的妈妈在美国吗？(Nǐ de māmā zài měiguó ma?) |
| Frank: Luke, I am your father. |
| Echo: Luke, 我是你爸爸。(Wǒ shì nǐ bàba.) |
| Frank: Now other words for family include, “son”. |
| Echo: 兒子(Érzi) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: Daughter. |
| Echo: 女兒(Nǚ'ér) [natural native speed]. Actually, we learned the word for “child” and “children” before. It’s 孩子，孩子们.(Háizi, háizimen.) |
| Frank: Exactly. Now family relations are very interesting in China. You can’t just say “brother” or “sister”. |
| Echo: Yes. Very specific. |
| Frank: Exactly. You would have to say “older brother”. |
| Echo: 哥哥(gēgē) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: Or younger brother. |
| Echo: 弟弟(dìdi) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: Older sister. |
| Echo: 姐姐(jiějie) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: Or younger sister. |
| Echo: 妹妹(mèimei) [natural native speed]. That’s very easy for you to distinguish it, right? |
| Frank: Yeah. I mean, the second you say it, you know exactly who you’re talking about. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Frank: Our next phrase means “to make a phone call”. |
| Echo: 打電話(dǎ diànhuà) |
| Frank: Let’s that part a little bit. The first word… |
| Echo: 打(dǎ) |
| Frank: …actually means “to hit”. |
| Echo: Right. |
| Frank: We use it here to dial. The second part of it means “phone”. |
| Echo: 电话。(diànhuà) |
| Frank: This is a set phrase. |
| Echo: 打电话。(dǎ diànhuà) |
| Frank: But for the phrase “to give someone a call”, you need the word for “give”. |
| Echo: 给(gěi) |
| Frank: Here’s some examples. “Give me a call”. |
| Echo: 给我打电话。(Gěi wǒ dǎ diànhuà.) |
| Frank: We’ll give you a call tomorrow. |
| Echo: 我们明天给你打电话。(Wǒmen míngtiān gěi nǐ dǎ diànhuà.) |
| Frank: Who called Ma Li? |
| Echo: 谁给马丽打电话了？(Shéi gěi mǎ lì dǎ diànhuàle?) |
| Frank: That wraps up the vocab. Let’s head on to grammar. |
| Echo: Let’s go |
Lesson focus |
| Male: It’s grammar time. |
| Frank: You already know the words for “you”, “me”, “they”, and “us”. Today, we’re going to teach you how to make a pronoun possessive. |
| Echo: Just add 的.(de.) |
| Frank: Just tack that particle on right after the pronoun, and “me”… |
| Echo: 我(Wǒ) |
| Frank: …becomes “mine”. |
| Echo: 我的(Wǒ de) |
| Frank: “You”… |
| Echo: 你(Nǐ) |
| Frank: …becomes “yours”. |
| Echo: 你的(Nǐ de) |
| Frank: “He” or “her”… |
| Echo: 他／她(Tā/tā) |
| Frank: …becomes “his” or “hers”. |
| Echo: 他／她的(Tā/tā de) |
| Frank: “We”… |
| Echo: 我们(Wǒmen) |
| Frank: …becomes “ours”. |
| Echo: 我们的(Wǒmen de) |
| Frank: “You”… |
| Echo: 你们(Nǐmen) |
| Frank: …becomes “yours”. |
| Echo: 你们的。(Nǐmen de.) |
| Frank: “They”… |
| Echo: 他们(Tāmen) |
| Frank: …becomes “theirs”. |
| Echo: 他们的(Tāmen de) |
| Frank: Next stop, “why”. |
| Echo: 为什么(Wèishéme) |
| Frank: In this lesson, we learn the question word for “why”. |
| Echo: 为什么(Wèishéme) |
| Frank: We’ve already learned the words for “what”… |
| Echo: 什么(Shénme) |
| Frank: …and “who”. |
| Echo: 谁(Shéi) |
| Frank: As in these sentences: “what is this?” |
| Echo: 这是什么？(Zhè shì shénme?) |
| Frank: Who is she? |
| Echo: 她是谁？(Tā shì shéi?) |
| Frank: As with those words, the word for “why”… |
| Echo: 为什么(Wèishéme) |
| Frank: …doesn’t need the question particle… |
| Echo: 吗(Ma) |
| Frank: …at the end of the sentence. For example, “why are you going?” |
| Echo: 你为什么去？(Nǐ wèishéme qù?) |
| Frank: Why did you call me? |
| Echo: 你为什么给我打电话？(Nǐ wèishéme gěi wǒ dǎ diànhuà?) |
| Frank: Why are you eating hot pot? |
| Echo: 你为什么吃火锅？(Nǐ wèishéme chī huǒguō?) |
| Frank: It’s just because it’s good. One other thing worth noting are other question words where at the end of the sentence. But why… |
| Echo: 为什么(Wèishéme) |
| Frank: Goes after the subject. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Frank: Listen to the difference between this: “what are you eating”… |
| Echo: 你吃什么？(Nǐ chī shénme?) |
| Frank: …and “why are you eating?” |
| Echo: 你为什么吃？(Nǐ wèishéme chī?) |
| Frank: Once again, the word for “why”… |
| Echo: 为什么(Wèishéme) |
| Frank: …goes after the subject. |
| Echo: 你为什么吃？(Nǐ wèishéme chī?) |
| Frank: But you never need to ask why we want you guys to head up to ChineseClass101.com and leave us a comment, do you? |
| Echo: No. |
| Frank: No. We love you guys and we want to hear from you. If you got any questions, any comments, anything at all, our fully trained teachers and staff are waiting to answer you. |
| Echo: Yeah. If you want to ask 为什么.(Wèishéme.) |
| Frank: We’re there to answer your why and we’ll see you there. But for now, from Beijing, I’m Frank Fradella… |
| Echo: 我是(Wǒ shì) Echo |
| Frank: …and we’ll see you next time. 再见。(Zàijiàn.) |
| Echo: 下次见。(Xià cì jiàn.) |
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