Learn the Chinese expression "a little," and how to use it whether it be in a negative sense or not
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Echo: 嗨，大家好，我是Echo. (Hāi, dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì Echo.) |
| Dave: Hi and I am Dave and welcome to chineseclass101.com where you will learn to speak Chinese with fun and effective lessons. |
| Echo: Right. We also provide you with cultural insights and tips you won’t find in the textbooks. |
| Dave: Today’s lesson is Lesson 9. The Picky Eater! So in this lesson, you will learn how to use |
| Echo: 一点儿 (Yīdiǎn er)A little. |
| Dave: And also a lot of interesting words to describe food that you probably haven’t heard before. |
| Echo: Right. This conversation takes place in the kitchen. |
| Dave: The conversation is between a husband and his wife. |
| Echo: A food critic and his wife. |
| Dave: Yes. A husband who is being very critical of the food put before him. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| Dave: And because they know each other so well |
| Echo: They are speaking casually. |
| Dave: Before we get to the dialogue, we want to ask. Do you read the lesson notes while you listen? We received an email about the study tip and we were wondering if you tried it. If so, tell us what you think about it. You can leave feedback in the comments section of this lesson. |
| Echo: Right. |
| Dave: Okay. Now let’s go to the dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A:亲爱的，我做的菜好吃吗？ (qīn'ài de, wǒ zuò de cài hǎochī ma?) |
| B:汤最好淡点儿。 (qīn'ài de, wǒ zuò de cài hǎochī ma?) |
| A:淡点儿？ (dàn diǎnr?) |
| B:猪肉最好咸点儿。(zhūròu zuìhǎo xián diǎnr.) |
| A:咸点儿？ (xián diǎnr?) |
| B:还有... (háiyǒu ...) |
| A:还有什么？！ (háiyǒu shénme? !) |
| B:青菜最好嫩点儿。 (qīngcài zuìhǎo nèn diǎnr.) |
| A:以后你自己做饭。(yǐhòu nǐ zìjǐ zuòfàn.) |
| Dave: Once more a bit slower. |
| A:亲爱的，我做的菜好吃吗？ (qīn'ài de, wǒ zuò de cài hǎochī ma?) |
| B:汤最好淡点儿。 (qīn'ài de, wǒ zuò de cài hǎochī ma?) |
| A:淡点儿？ (dàn diǎnr?) |
| B:猪肉最好咸点儿。 (zhūròu zuìhǎo xián diǎnr.) |
| A:咸点儿？ (xián diǎnr?) |
| B:还有... (háiyǒu ...) |
| A:还有什么？！ (háiyǒu shénme? !) |
| B:青菜最好嫩点儿。 (qīngcài zuìhǎo nèn diǎnr.) |
| A:以后你自己做饭。 (yǐhòu nǐ zìjǐ zuòfàn.) |
| Dave: One more time, with English. |
| Echo: 亲爱的，我做的菜好吃吗？ (qīn'ài de, wǒ zuò de cài hǎochī ma?) |
| Dave: Dear, does the food I cooked for you taste good? |
| Echo: 汤最好淡点儿。 (qīn'ài de, wǒ zuò de cài hǎochī ma?) |
| Dave: The soup could be a little less salty. |
| Echo:淡点儿？ (dàn diǎnr?) |
| Dave: Less salty? |
| Echo: 猪肉最好咸点儿。 (zhūròu zuìhǎo xián diǎnr.) |
| Dave: And the pork could be a little more salty. |
| Echo: 咸点儿？ (xián diǎnr?) |
| Dave: More salty? |
| Echo: 还有... (háiyǒu ...) |
| Dave: And |
| Echo: 还有什么？！ (háiyǒu shénme? !) |
| Dave: And what else? |
| Echo: 青菜最好嫩点儿。 (qīngcài zuìhǎo nèn diǎnr.) |
| Dave: And the vegetables could be a little more tender. |
| Echo: 以后你自己做饭。 (yǐhòu nǐ zìjǐ zuòfàn.) |
| Dave: From now on, you are cooking for yourself. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Echo: So Dave, do you cook? |
| Dave: Every now and then but living here in Beijing, it’s actually cheaper to eat out than to cook. |
| Echo: Yes I am addicted to ordering food and cooking 方便面。 (Fāngbiànmiàn.) |
| Dave: Instant noodles. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Dave: Yeah I don’t know. I think instant noodles are a last resort but you don’t really cook instant noodles. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| Dave: You just put hot water into a prepackaged bowl. |
| Echo: 我知道 (Wǒ zhīdào) That’s why I like it because it’s so easy. |
| Dave: So let’s move on to the vocab. And now the vocab section. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Echo: 亲爱的 (qīn'àide) |
| Dave: Dear. |
| Echo: 菜 (Cài) |
| Dave: Dish. |
| Echo: 汤 (tāng) |
| Dave: Soup. |
| Echo: 猪肉 (zhūròu) |
| Dave: Pork. |
| Echo: 青菜 (qīngcài) |
| Dave: Green vegetables. |
| Echo: 淡 (dàn) |
| Dave: Not salty. |
| Echo: 咸 (xián) |
| Dave: Salty. |
| Echo: 嫩 (nèn) |
| Dave: Tender. |
| Echo: 甜 (tián) |
| Dave: Sweet. |
| Echo: 甜 (tián) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Dave: Okay now let’s take a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases in this lesson. |
| Echo: Right and the first word we are going to look at is 亲爱的。 (Qīn'ài de.) |
| Dave: Dear. |
| Echo: 亲爱的。 (Qīn'ài de.) |
| Dave: Dear as in my dear. |
| Echo: Yeah 亲爱的，我爱你。 (Qīn'ài de, wǒ ài nǐ.) |
| Dave: Dear, I love you. |
| Echo: 亲爱的，我爱你。 (Qīn'ài de, wǒ ài nǐ.) |
| Dave: Dear, I love you. |
| Echo: Yeah and the next word is 淡 (Dàn) |
| Dave: Not salty. |
| Echo: 淡 (Dàn) |
| Dave: Not salty. I thought this was a bit strange that there is an adjective not only for salty but for not salty as well. |
| Echo: Yes. Like we’ve learned 甜 (Tián)sweet right and for bitter, we have another word, it’s 苦. (Kǔ.) They are totally opposite. |
| Dave: And those are both opposites. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Dave: And then here we have salty and not salty. |
| Echo: Right xian咸 (Xian xián) and 淡。 (Dàn) |
| Dave: Okay. Example sentence. |
| Echo: 我喜欢吃淡的。 (Wǒ xǐhuān chī dàn de.) |
| Dave: I like eating food without salt. |
| Echo: 我喜欢吃淡的。 (Wǒ xǐhuān chī dàn de.) |
| Dave: I like eating less salty food. |
| Echo: 汤 (Tāng) |
| Dave: Soup. |
| Echo: 汤 (Tāng) |
| Dave: Soup. |
| Echo: Yeah this is a first tone and actually this word is different from hot 烫。 (Tàng) |
| Dave: Right. That’s fourth tone and this one is first and the character for hot is very interesting because it is the character for soup over the character for fire. |
| Echo: Right 烫。 (Tàng) |
| Dave: Do you love eating soup? |
| Echo: 你爱喝汤吗？ (Nǐ ài hē tāng ma?) |
| Dave: Do you love eating soup? |
| Echo: I love eating 粥，我爱喝粥。 (Zhōu, wǒ ài hē zhōu.) |
| Dave: 粥 (Zhōu) was porridge or gruel some people translate it as. It doesn’t make it sound very polite. |
| Echo: Look at your face, it is like gruel… |
| Dave: I like it occasionally. It’s… |
| Echo: Okay. |
| Dave: It’s not my favorite dish in China but… |
| Echo: That’s good. At least you don’t hate it. |
| Dave: On a cold day, it can be very good. It can warm you up. |
| Echo: Yeah, yeah exactly or when you are sick. |
| Dave: Yes, yes sort of comfort food. |
| Echo: Right, right. |
| Dave: Okay on to the next one. |
| Echo: 猪肉 (Zhūròu) |
| Dave: Pork. |
| Echo: 猪肉 (Zhūròu) |
| Dave: Pork. That’s first tone followed by fourth tone. |
| Echo: 我喜欢吃猪肉饺子。 (Wǒ xǐhuān chī zhūròu jiǎozi.) |
| Dave: I like eating pork dumplings. |
| Echo: 我喜欢吃猪肉饺子。 (Wǒ xǐhuān chī zhūròu jiǎozi.) |
| Dave: I like eating pork dumplings. |
| Echo: Right. |
| Dave: Next one. |
| Echo: 青菜。 (Qīngcài) |
| Dave: Green vegetables. |
| Echo: 青菜。 (Qīngcài) |
| Dave: Green vegetables. |
| Echo: 青菜对身体好。 (Qīngcài duì shēntǐ hǎo.) |
| Dave: Green vegetables are good for your health. |
| Echo: 青菜对身体好。甜。 (Qīngcài duì shēntǐ hǎo. Tián.) |
| Dave: Sweet. |
| Echo: 甜。 (Tián) |
| Dave: Sweet. |
| Echo: 他喜欢吃甜的。 (Tā xǐhuān chī tián de.) |
| Dave: She likes eating sweet food. |
| Echo: 他喜欢吃甜的。 (Tā xǐhuān chī tián de.) |
| Dave: She likes eating sweet food. I eat ice cream all the time and it’s terrible. |
| Echo: So do you have a sweet tooth? |
| Dave: Yes I have more than one. I have sweet teeth. |
| Echo: Okay. |
| Dave: Okay. On to the next word. |
| Echo: 嫩。 (Nèn.) |
| Dave: Tender. |
| Echo: 嫩。 (Nèn.) |
| Dave: Tender. That’s fourth tone. |
| Echo: Yeah 这鸡肉真嫩。 (Zhè jīròu zhēn nèn.) |
| Dave: This chicken meat is really tender. |
| Echo: 这鸡肉真嫩。 (Zhè jīròu zhēn nèn.) |
| Dave: This chicken meat is really tender. |
| Echo: And 咸。 (Xián.) |
| Dave: Salty. |
| Echo: 咸。 (Xián.) |
| Dave: Salty. So that’s second tone. |
| Echo: 盐放多了，太咸了。 (Yán fàng duōle, tài xiánle.) |
| Dave: There is a lot of salt on this. It’s too salty. |
| Echo: 盐放多了，太咸了。 (Yán fàng duōle, tài xiánle.) |
| Dave: That’s a lot of salt, it’s too salty. It’s grammar time. Okay and now on to the grammar section. So the focus of today’s grammar section is how to say a little. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Echo: 一点儿。 (Yīdiǎn er.) And notice that R sound there. This is standard Mandarin 一点儿。 (Yīdiǎn er.) |
| Dave: That’s right. Some people might pronounce it without the R sound in which case… |
| Echo: Yeah like 一点。 (Yīdiǎn) |
| Dave: That’s right. |
| Echo: And they are from the south. |
| Dave: Okay now 一点儿 (Yīdiǎn er) is commonly used as a suggestion. |
| Echo: Right and we put 一点儿 (Yīdiǎn er) after the adjective or a verb. |
| Dave: For example, in this sentence from the dialogue |
| Echo: 汤最好淡一点。 (Tāng zuì hǎo dàn yīdiǎn.) |
| Dave: The soup could be a little less salty. |
| Echo: Right 一点儿 (Yīdiǎn er) is placed after the adjective 淡 (Dàn) not salty. |
| Dave: Let’s take a look at a few examples where we place a little after an adjective. |
| Echo: 快一点儿。 (Kuài yīdiǎn er.) |
| Dave: A little faster. |
| Echo: 快一点儿。 (Kuài yīdiǎn er.) or 慢一点儿。 (Kuài yīdiǎn er.) |
| Dave: A little slower. |
| Echo: 慢一点儿。大一点儿。 (Màn yīdiǎn er. Dà yīdiǎn er.) |
| Dave: A little bigger. |
| Echo: 大一点儿。 (Dà yīdiǎn er.) |
| Dave: A little bigger. |
| Echo: You know, often times in Spoken Chinese, native speakers will drop the 一 (Yī)and just say 点儿。 (Diǎn er.) |
| Dave: For example |
| Echo: 来早点儿。 (Lái zǎodiǎn er.) |
| Dave: Come a little earlier. |
| Echo: Right 来早点儿 (Lái zǎodiǎn er) or 说得清楚点儿。 (Shuō dé qīngchǔ diǎn er.) |
| Dave: Please speak a little more clearly. |
| Echo: 说得清楚点儿。 (Shuō dé qīngchǔ diǎn er.) Yeah and next one is really, really useful. So careful. 便宜点儿。 (Piányí diǎn er.) |
| Dave: A little cheaper. |
| Echo: 便宜点儿。 (Piányí diǎn er.) |
| Dave: This is a very good bargaining tool. So remember this one. |
| Echo: Right便宜点儿。 (Piányí diǎn er.) |
| Dave: So we have one last point we want to make in today’s grammar lesson. |
| Echo: We know that 一点儿 (Yīdiǎn er) means a little. |
| Dave: But what if we really want to emphasize only a little, little bit. Echo what do we do? |
| Echo: We say 一点点。 (Yī diǎndiǎn.) |
| Dave: So same as before, we stick it after the verb or an adjective. |
| Echo: Right. |
| Dave: So for example, I hear this next sentence a lot when I ask people if they speak English. |
| Echo: 我会说一点点。 (Wǒ huì shuō yī diǎndiǎn.) |
| Dave: I can only speak a little bit. |
| Echo: Yeah 我会说一点点。 (Wǒ huì shuō yī diǎndiǎn.) |
| Dave: I can only speak a little bit. If you don’t like spicy food, listen up. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Dave: If someone asks you if you want spicy food? |
| Echo: 你要辣的吗？ (Nǐ yào là de ma?) |
| Dave: Do you want spice? |
| Echo: 你要辣的吗？只要一点点。 (Nǐ yào là de ma? Zhǐyào yī diǎndiǎn.) |
| Dave: Only a little. |
| Echo: 只要一点点Yeah or 要一点点. (Zhǐyào yī diǎndiǎn Yeah or yào yī diǎndiǎn.) Okay so now we will cover a few different ways to use 一点儿and 一点点。 (Yīdiǎn er and yī diǎndiǎn.) |
| Dave: If you want more examples and more insights and usage, please go to the website and download the lesson notes for this podcast. There is a lot of good material there that you don’t want to miss out on. |
| Echo: Right. |
Outro |
| Dave: So that just about does it for today. From Beijing, I am Dave. |
| Echo: 我是Echo. (Wǒ shì Echo.) |
| Dave: And we will see you next week. |
| Echo: Thanks for listening. Bye, bye. |
| Dave: See you next time. |
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