Learn how to use the past tense
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Victor: 大家好，我是 Victor。 (Dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì Victor.) |
| Amber: And I’m Amber. Welcome back to Gengo Chinese. Today’s lesson is Lesson 27. |
| Victor: Reliving the Past - The Trip Recap |
| Amber: Mm, so we’ve been through a lot on this trip together with Mike. |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: Today, we’re going to have a little review of all the things we’ve seen and done and learned. |
| Victor: Okay. |
| Amber: So, today, Lili and Mike get together again. |
| Victor: Yes. I’m not sure if we can define it as a date or not. Maybe that remains to be seen. |
| Amber: Yeah. But anyways, we’ll get a recap as Mike tells Lili about his trip. |
| Victor: But first, before the trip recap, we need the Lesson 26 recap. |
| Amber: Yeah. So last lesson, we learned how to say “The food is ready!’ |
| Victor: Yep, 饭好了 (fàn hǎo le). |
| Amber: And remember, you can use this 好了 (hǎo le) to say anything is “finished.” |
| Victor: Plus we learned how to tell someone “to eat more” 多吃一点 (duō chī yīdiǎn) or 多吃一点儿 (duō chī yīdiǎn er). |
| Amber: Yeah. And on that note, also, how to say, “I’m full!” |
| Victor: 吃饱了 (chī bǎo le) |
| Amber: So, now, we return to Lili and Mike and the ongoing saga. In this lesson, you will learn how to speak in past tense in Chinese. |
| Victor: And this conversation takes place between Lili and Mike. |
| Amber: Okay, let’s listen to the dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Lili: 你觉得中国怎么样啊？你在这儿干什么？ (Nǐ juéde Zhōngguó zěnmeyàng a? Nǐ zài zhèr gàn shénme?) |
| Mike: 我在这儿工作。 (Wǒ zài zhèr gōngzuò.) |
| Lili: 你出去玩儿了吗？ (Nǐ chūqù wánr le ma?) |
| Mike: 嗯，我去了外滩、博物馆和玉器市场。 (En, wǒ qù le wàitān, bówùguǎn hé yùqì shìchǎng.) |
| Lili: 太好了。 (Tài hǎole.) |
| Mike: 我还见到了我朋友的亲戚。 (Wǒ hái jiàndào le wǒ péngyǒu de qīnqì.) |
| Lili: 哇，你还吃了什么？ (Wā, nǐ hái chī le shénme?) |
| Mike: 煎包，羊肉串，凤爪。 (Jiānbāo, yángròuchuàn, fèngzhǎo.) |
| Lili: 嗯，你什么都做了，我们今天干什么呢？ (En, nǐ shénme dōu zuò le, wǒmen jīntiān gàn shénme ne?) |
| Mike: 这是秘密。 (Zhè shì mìmì.) |
| Victor: 重复一次, 慢速。 (Chóngfù yīcì, màn sù.) |
| Amber: One more time, a little slower. |
| Lili: 你觉得中国怎么样啊？你在这儿干什么？ (Nǐ juéde Zhōngguó zěnmeyàng a? Nǐ zài zhèr gàn shénme?) |
| Mike: 我在这儿工作。 (Wǒ zài zhèr gōngzuò.) |
| Lili: 你出去玩儿了吗？ (Nǐ chūqù wánr le ma?) |
| Mike: 嗯，我去了外滩、博物馆和玉器市场。 (En, wǒ qù le wàitān, bówùguǎn hé yùqì shìchǎng.) |
| Lili: 太好了。 (Tài hǎole.) |
| Mike: 我还见到了我朋友的亲戚。 (Wǒ hái jiàndào le wǒ péngyǒu de qīnqì.) |
| Lili: 哇，你还吃了什么？ (Wā, nǐ hái chī le shénme?) |
| Mike: 煎包，羊肉串，凤爪。 (Jiānbāo, yángròuchuàn, fèngzhǎo.) |
| Lili: 嗯，你什么都做了，我们今天干什么呢？ (En, nǐ shénme dōu zuò le, wǒmen jīntiān gàn shénme ne?) |
| Mike: 这是秘密。 (Zhè shì mìmì.) |
| Victor: 重复一次, 加英文翻译。 (Chóngfù yīcì, jiā yīngwén fānyì.) |
| Amber: One more time, with the English. |
| Lili: 你觉得中国怎么样啊？你在这儿干什么？ (Nǐ juéde Zhōngguó zěnmeyàng a? Nǐ zài zhèr gàn shénme?) |
| Amber: What do you think of China? What things have you done here? |
| Mike: 我在这儿工作。 (Wǒ zài zhèr gōngzuò.) |
| Amber: I came here for work. |
| Lili: 你出去玩儿了吗？ (Nǐ chūqù wánr le ma?) |
| Amber: Did you go out and have some fun? |
| Mike: 嗯，我去了外滩、博物馆和玉器市场。 (En, wǒ qù le wàitān, bówùguǎn hé yùqì shìchǎng.) |
| Amber: Yeah, I went to The Bund, the museum, and The Jade Market. |
| Lili: 太好了。 (Tài hǎole.) |
| Amber: Great! |
| Mike: 我还见到了我朋友的亲戚。 (Wǒ hái jiàndào le wǒ péngyǒu de qīnqì.) |
| Amber: I also saw my friend's relatives. |
| Lili: 哇，你还吃了什么？ (Wā, nǐ hái chī le shénme?) |
| Amber: Wow, what foods have you eaten? |
| Mike: 煎包，羊肉串，凤爪。 (Jiānbāo, yángròuchuàn, fèngzhǎo.) |
| Amber: Fried buns, lamb kebabs, chicken feet. |
| Lili: 嗯，你什么都做了，我们今天干什么呢？ (En, nǐ shénme dōu zuò le, wǒmen jīntiān gàn shénme ne?) |
| Amber: Yeah, you've done it all. What are we going to do today then? |
| Mike: 这是秘密。 (Zhè shì mìmì.) |
| Amber: It's a secret. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Amber: Okay. I think Mike is trying to play the “mysterious foreigner” card, I think. Victor. |
| Victor: Yeah. He’s turning on the romantic side. |
| Amber: Mm-hmm. |
| Victor: It works every time, huh? |
| Amber: Or we’ll see. |
| Victor: We’ll see. |
| Amber: Okay. Well Mike had an action-packed trip, for sure. And I think that, I will say, most trips to China are action packed. |
| Victor: Some, unexpectedly. |
| Amber: Yes. It’s hard not to have action when you’re in China. Well, let’s look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Victor: 出去 (chūqù) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to go out |
| Victor: 出去 (chūqù) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 出去 (chūqù) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 玩儿 (wánr) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to play |
| Victor: 玩儿 (wánr) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 玩儿 (wánr) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 还 (hái) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: also |
| Victor: 还 (hái) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 还 (hái) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 见到 (jiàndào) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to see |
| Victor: 见到 (jiàndào) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 见到 (jiàndào) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 朋友 (péngyǒu) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: friend |
| Victor: 朋友 (péngyǒu) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 朋友 (péngyǒu) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 亲戚 (qīnqì) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: relative |
| Victor: 亲戚 (qīnqì) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 亲戚 (qīnqì) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 秘密 (mìmì) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: secret |
| Victor: 秘密 (mìmì) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 秘密 (mìmì) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 干 (gàn) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to do |
| Victor: 干 (gàn) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 干 (gàn) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Amber: Okay. Let's take a closer look at the usage for some of these words and phrases in this lesson. |
| Victor: First off, Lili asks Mike about his trip, and she uses a phrase you will hear often in China, and that is 干什么 (gàn shénme) - 干 (gàn) is a 4th tone, 什 (shén) is 2nd tone, 么 (me) is the neutral tone. |
| Victor: Now, we know 什么 (shénme) means “what,” but this first word 干 (gàn) is just another way of saying “to do.” |
| Amber: There is another way to say “to do” which is 做 (zuò). What’s the difference, Victor? |
| Victor: Well, 干 (gàn) is just a little more casual. |
| Amber: Mm, and speaking of this 干 (gàn), I think there is a much loved and used phrase that we can tell you about as well. |
| Victor: Ah, also using the 干 (gàn). |
| Amber: And that is 干嘛 (gàn ma)! |
| Victor: Yeah. Of course, 干嘛 (gàn ma) is a really famous expression. |
| Amber: Yeah. It’s kind of…it can be used in lots of different ways, but it can kind of means kind of like “What the heck!” |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: Or “What do you think you’re doing?” |
| Victor: Yeah, “What are you doing?!” Yeah. depending on the context, it can have all kinds of meanings. |
| Amber: Like maybe sometimes, you bump into someone and they’re annoyed. They may be like, 干嘛 (gàn ma)! Or like maybe, mother to their child, “What are you doing?!” 干嘛! (Gàn ma!) |
| Victor: Right, exactly. |
| Amber: So the next vocab word is talking about getting out and having some fun. Now, all study and no play isn’t good for anyone, so here are some valuable phrases for you. |
| Victor: The first one is 出去 (chūqù) - 出 (chū) 1st tone, 去 (qù) 4th tone. |
| Amber: Which means “to go out.” Basically, 出 (chū) is “to exit” or “go out” and 去 (qù) means “to go.” |
| Victor: Now, what do you 出去 (chūqù) to do besides 玩儿 (wánr)? |
| Amber: Yeah, what do you go out to do besides… play? Now, the Chinese like to use the word玩儿 (wánr) to describe all sorts of fun delights. They use it sort of to cover just even having a good time. |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: Going out to relax. It’s all 玩儿 (wánr). |
| Victor: Which is anything just for personal fun. |
| Amber: Yeah and I did notice, when I first learned this word, I really kind of find it odd at first when grown adults started saying, “I’m going out to play.” |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: So this is used a lot more broadly in Chinese. |
| Victor: Yeah. Now, his friend’s relatives took Mike out to play, if we remember. They took him to the 公园 (gōngyuán), “the park.” |
| Amber: Yeah, and these relatives have been so good to Mike, so we are going to teach you the word “relatives” in their honor. |
| Victor: Yeah, blood runs strong in Chinese families. The word for “relatives” is 亲戚 (qīnqì) - 亲 (qīn) 1st tone, 戚 (qì) is 4th tone. |
| Amber: Yes, and I would strongly suggest, if you do not have any Chinese 亲戚 (qīnqì) of your own, you better find someone you can adopt! |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: Coz they’re great. |
| Victor: Likely, there will be lots of willing Chinese substitute families while you’re in China, right? |
| Amber: Yes, I think so. |
| Victor: If you play your cards, right. |
| Amber: Yeah. Families and friends, which brings us to the word for “friend” in Chinese. |
| Victor: A very important word, 朋友 (péngyǒu) - 朋 (péng) is 2nd tone, 友 (yǒu) here is the neutral tone. |
| Victor: Yeah. So, truth is, whether it’s your surrogate Chinese family or your new-found friends, you’ll probably gonna find yourself getting toured around a bit when you go to China. So, you might want a little refresher on a couple of the tourist sites in Shanghai that we learned in an earlier lesson. |
| Victor: Yes. Chinese love to take their guests on a tour, so remember, Mike visited 外滩 (wàitān). |
| Amber: Which is “The Bund.” |
| Victor: And also the 博物馆 (bówùguǎn). |
| Amber: Which, remember, was the “museum.” |
| Victor: And the famous 玉器市场 (yùqì shìchǎng) in the old city. |
| Amber: Yeah, “The Jade Market.” This is a good place to try out all your newly-acquired bargaining skills. |
| Victor: And of course, we’ll be remiss if we didn’t revisit the foods eaten. |
| Amber: Of course. We had the 煎包 (jiān bāo). |
| Victor: The little “fried buns.” Then there was my favorite, the 羊肉串 (yángròu chuàn). |
| Amber: Right, “lamb kebabs.” And I believe another of your favorites, Victor? |
| Victor: Ah, yes, 凤爪 (fèng zhuǎ), which is “chicken feet.” |
| Amber: Mm, your favorite. Okay, and our last vocab word today is a secret, literally. |
| Victor: 秘密 (Mìmì), they’re both 4th tones. |
| Amber: And it means “secret.” Remember, Mike is a mysterious type, we can see. |
| Amber: Okay. Now, to talk a little bit about grammar, we have one sentence that is action packed with grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Victor: Yeah, we’re going to tell you a few things about the sentence, 我还见到了我朋友的亲戚 (wǒ hái jiàn dào le wǒ péngyǒu de qīnqì). |
| Amber: Right, so it’s quite long, so we’re going to ease into it. And let’s first talk about something we’ve talked about before, which is expressing “possession.” |
| Amber: So in this case, it is, “my friend’s relatives.” That’s who Mike went to see. |
| Victor: 我朋友的亲戚 (Wǒ péngyǒu de qīnqì). To indicate one’s possession, we use the 的 (de) particle. |
| Amber: Yeah, and here, the possessor being the 朋友 (péngyǒu) or friend, then comes the 的 (de), then comes the possessed thing, which is in this case, “the relatives.” |
| Victor: Yes, 我朋友的亲戚 (wǒ péngyǒu de qīnqì). |
| Amber: “My friend’s relatives.” But wait a second here Victor, it seems like there should be a 的 (de) between the 我 (wǒ) and the 朋友 (péngyǒu) too because “it’s my friend.” Isn’t that also possessive structure? |
| Victor: Right, but this sentence is great, because it shows us the rule, and also the exception to the rule. Actually, we learned it before... back in the lesson where we learned about family members. |
| Amber: Yeah. It’s the same principle. Remember that if a person is talking about their family member or someone they are quite intimate with, you can omit the 的 (de), the possessive 的 (de), like 我妈妈 (wǒ māmā) “is my mom” or 他哥哥 (tā gēgē) “is her older brother.” |
| Victor: Yep. And in our sentence, it is “his friend’s relatives,” 我朋友的亲戚 (wǒ péngyǒu de qīnqì). And actually, here is another rule about 的 (de) that could also apply here, even without the family part of things. |
| Amber: Mm, tell us more, Victor! Exceptions to rules! |
| Victor: Well, when we have a lot of these possessive 的 (de)s in a sentence in a row, we can actually omit the extras, just to keep the last one. |
| Amber: So just keep the last 的 (de). |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: Coz the Chinese love brevity. |
| Victor: Yeah, of course! |
| Amber: Okay. So as we further dissect this sentence, let’s look at another word that appears in it, 还 (hái). Let’s hear the sentence again. |
| Victor: 我还见到了我朋友的亲戚。 (Wǒ hái jiàn dào le wǒ péngyǒu de qīnqì.) |
| Amber: Okay. So the word 还 (hái) occurs a couple of times in this dialogue. It’s 2nd tone. And basically, I looked up the character for this 还 (hái) in the dictionary before this lesson, and there are actually about 15 different meanings and usages for this little word. But today, the one we’re talking about, the meaning of is “also” or “what else.” |
| Victor: So we just learned the word for “relatives” which we hear again here, 亲戚 (qīnqì). |
| Amber: And then the verb here is 见到 (jiàndào), which we have also seen before, which means “to see” or “to meet up with.” |
| Victor: Right. So basically here, the 还 (hái) is just functioning as “also,” so 我还见到了我朋友的亲戚 (wǒ hái jiàn dào le wǒ péngyǒu de qīnqì)... |
| Amber: Means, “I also saw my friend’s relatives.” And you will notice that the 还 (hái) comes right after the subject, 我 (wǒ). |
| Victor: Yeah. The next 还 (hái) is in the sentence, 你还吃了什么 (nǐ hái chī le shénme)? |
| Amber: Right. So in this sentence, she’s asking about what things Mike has eaten. Again, we see that the 还 (hái) comes after the subject, 你 (nǐ). |
| Victor: And the 还 (hái) here is kind of like “what else” or even “also” in a sense, 你还吃了什么 (nǐ hái chī le shénme)? |
| Amber: So literally, that’s “You also ate what?” |
| Victor: Right, sure. |
| Amber: Okay, now, moving on. Today is a very special day because we are going to tackle the infamous 了 (le). You know, it popped up quite a few times in today’s dialogue, the particle 了 (le). |
| Victor: Right. The 了 (le) is perhaps slightly mysterious because it is used in a lot of different circumstances as a grammar particle, and it can indicate different things. |
| Victor: Right. But in today’s dialogue, we noticed, Mike is talking about a lot of things in the past tense, things that he did. And so, the 了 (le) in this case is a marker of a completed action. |
| Victor: Right. One of the uses of the verb suffix 了 (le) is to mark an action as complete. |
| Amber: Right. So ordinarily, when the 了 (le) is marking a completed action, it will occur right after the verb... though not always, but generally. |
| Victor: So, for example, in our dialogue, 你出去玩儿了吗 (nǐ chūqù wánr le ma)? |
| Amber: Right and the verb here is 玩儿 (wánr) “to play.” |
| Victor: So the 了 (le) here comes immediately after the verb, to tell us that she is asking about the past. |
| Amber: She’s basically saying, “Did you go out and play?” or do fun things. |
| Victor: Right. So, the 了 (le) here comes immediately after the verb to tell us that she is asking about the past. |
| Amber: That’s right. Now, just to give you a contrast, say she was asking if he likes to go out and 玩儿 (wánr) “play,” you know, if it’s just something he generally does, nothing specific about something already done, she would just say… |
| Victor: 你出去玩儿吗? (Nǐ chūqù wán er ma?) |
| Amber: Right, no 了 (le). The 了 (le) confirms for us that she is asking about something that is already complete. |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: Okay, where is another example of the 了 (le) in the dialogue? |
| Victor: 我还见到了我朋友的亲戚。 (Wǒ hái jiàn dào le wǒ péngyǒu de qīnqì.) |
| Amber: Right. So again, we hear the 了 (le) right after the verb 见到 (jiàndào), which this verb we’ve seen before. It means “to see someone” or “to meet someone.” |
| Victor: Yes, so he says, completed action, 我还见到了我朋友的亲戚 (wǒ hái jiàn dào le wǒ péngyǒu de qīnqì). |
| Amber: So he’s saying, “I also saw my friend’s relatives.” Now, just as a side point, this use of 了 (le) is only for action verbs. And also, please keep in mind, the 了 (le) will not always necessarily come right after the verb. Some speakers prefer to put the 了 (le) after the object. Can you give us an example of how the 了 (le) in that position would sound, Victor? |
| Victor: Well, in the sentence we just heard that the object is 我朋友的亲戚 (wǒ péngyǒu de qīnqì), so if the 了 (le) were put after that, the sentence would still have the same meaning. It could be — 我见到我朋友的亲戚了。 (Wǒ jiàn dào wǒ péngyǒu de qīnqīle.) |
| Amber: So, it’s just two ways of saying the same thing. |
| Victor: And another example from the dialogue, she said 你还吃了什么 (nǐ hái chī le shénme)? |
| Amber: Which is, “What did you eat?” |
| Victor: Right, but there is something I want to point out and it’s about the many hats 了 (le) can wear. |
| Amber: Right, because we actually see 了 (le) in this dialogue in another place, where it is not wearing the “completed action” hat at all. Sometimes, the 了 (le) will just be part of a pattern. And in fact, it’s part of a pattern that we’ve already learned here. |
| Victor: Yes, beware, there are certain sentence patterns that also use 了 (le), as we see in the expression 太好了 (tài hǎole). |
| Amber: Right! And we have learned this sentence pattern before, as we mentioned. When you put an adjective between the 太 (tài) and the 了 (le), it adds emphasis, like 太棒了 (tài bàngle), 太好了 (tài hǎole). |
| Victor: Yes. We did not get fooled by the many faces of 了 (le). There are a few, but generally in context, it won’t throw you off too much. |
| Amber: That’s right. |
| Victor: Okay. Last but not least, a nice succinct little sentence pattern. |
| Amber: Ah yes. It’s the way to say “everything.” |
| Victor: Yes, and it is 什么都 (shénme dōu). |
| Amber: Mm, now, in our dialogue, we heard this pattern in the sentence… |
| Victor: She said 你什么都做了 (nǐ shénme dōu zuò le). |
| Amber: Right. So 什么 (shénme) is the word for “what,” 都 (dōu) is 1st tone and it means “all.” Put it together, 你什么都做了 (nǐ shénme dōu zuò le), it means “You did everything.” |
| Victor: So after the 什么都 (shénme dōu), you put the verb or the adjective. |
| Amber: Okay, so for illustrating purposes, what if I wanted to say “I want it all” or “I want everything.” |
| Victor: Well, first comes the subject “I,” then the 什么都 (shénme dōu), then the two “wants.” So, 我什么都要 (wǒ shénme dōu yào). |
| Amber: Good. How about if I wanted to say, “Everything is good.” |
| Victor: 什么都好。 (Shénme dōu hǎo.) |
| Amber: Good. 什么都好。 (Shénme dōu hǎo.) “Everything good.” |
| Victor: And there is one more thing, that is, if there’s an object in the sentence, it is placed between the 什么 (shénme) and the 都 (dōu). |
| Amber: Okay. So, to illustrate that, for example, say I am a cheesy car salesman, and I want to say “All the cars are great.” |
| Victor: Then you would say 什么车都好 (shénme chē dōu hǎo). |
| Amber: Mm, so the 车 (chē) is the object, “the car.” So it comes between the 什么 (shénme) and the 都 (dōu). So it’s literally, 什么车都好 (shénme chē dōu hǎo) means “what car all good,” every car is good. |
| Victor: 什么车都好。(Shénme chē dōu hǎo.) |
| Amber: Now, what if I wanted to do another one with an object. How about, “‘I did all my work.” |
| Victor: 我什么工作都做了。 (Wǒ shénme gōngzuò dōu zuò le.) |
| Amber: Hmm, 工作 (gōngzuò) being the word for “work.” |
| Victor: Mm-hmm. |
| Amber: So, “I what work all did,” and then the 了 (le) makes past tense. |
| Victor: And one more thing important to add is that this pattern for everything is usually 什么都 |
| (shénme dōu), but occasionally, you will hear 什么。。。也 (shénme... yě). |
| Amber: Yeah. It’s a 3rd tone. It means “also.” |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: But as part of this pattern, it also means “everything.” |
| Victor: Yeah, so the sentence from our dialogue could also have been 你什么也做了 (nǐ shénme yě zuòle). |
| Amber: Right. So, you can say 你什么都做了 (nǐ shénme dōu zuò le) or 你什么也做了 (nǐ shénme yě zuòle). Both are the same. Both are okay. |
Outro |
| Amber: Okay, so we’ve basically done everything for our lesson today. So everyone, go back and listen to the dialogue one more time now and we will see you next time on Gengo Chinese. |
| Victor: Yeah. 再见! (Zàijiàn!) |
| Amber: 再见! (Zàijiàn!) |
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