Learn how to ask, "When are you leaving?"
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| Introduction |
| Eric: Welcome to 3-Minute Chinese Season 1, Lesson 14 - When Are You Leaving? In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask when someone is leaving in Chinese. |
| Body |
| Eric: Here's the informal way to ask 'When are you leaving?' in Chinese. |
| Cho: [Normal] 你什么时候走？(nǐ shénme shíhòu zǒu ?) |
| Eric: First is a pronoun meaning 'you' |
| Cho: [Normal] 你 [Slow] 你 (nǐ) |
| Eric: Next is the pronoun meaning 'what' |
| Cho: [Normal] 什么 [Slow] 什么(shénme) |
| Eric: Next is the noun meaning 'time' |
| Cho: [Normal] 时候 [Slow] 时候(shíhòu) |
| Eric: Last is the verb meaning 'to go' |
| Cho: [Normal] 走 [Slow] 走(zǒu) |
| Eric: Listen again to the informal question meaning 'When are you leaving?' |
| Cho: [Slow] 你什么时候走？ [Normal] 你什么时候走？ |
| Eric: Now, imagine you're speaking to a stranger. Here's the formal way to ask, 'When are you leaving?' |
| Cho: [Normal] 您什么时候离开？(nín shénme shíhòu líkāi ?) |
| Eric: First is a pronoun meaning 'you' |
| Cho: [Normal] 您 [Slow] 您 (nín) |
| Eric: Next is the pronoun meaning 'what' |
| Cho: [Normal] 什么 [Slow] 什么(shénme) |
| Eric: Next is the noun meaning 'time' |
| Cho: [Normal] 时候 [Slow] 时候(shíhòu) |
| Eric: Last is the verb meaning 'to leave' |
| Cho: [Normal] 离开 [Slow] 离开(líkāi) |
| Eric: Listen again to the formal question meaning 'When are you leaving?' |
| Cho: [Slow] 您什么时候离开？ [Normal] 您什么时候离开？ |
| Eric: Next is a response meaning 'I leave in two hours.' |
| Cho: [Normal] 我两小时之后离开。(Wǒ liǎngxiǎoshí zhīhòu líkāi .) |
| Eric: First is a pronoun meaning 'I' |
| Cho: [Normal] 我 [Slow] 我(wǒ) |
| Eric: Next is the word for 'two hours' |
| Cho: [Normal] 两小时 [Slow] 两小时(liǎngxiǎoshí) |
| Eric: Next is the noun meaning 'after' |
| Cho: [Normal] 之后 [Slow] 之后(zhīhòu) |
| Eric: Last is the verb meaning 'to leave' |
| Cho: [Normal] 离开 [Slow] 离开(líkāi) |
| Eric: Listen again to the response meaning ‘I leave in two hours.' |
| Cho: [Slow] 我两小时之后离开。 [Normal] 我两小时之后离开。 |
| Eric: Now, let’s learn how to say, 'I leave next week.' |
| Cho: [Normal] 我下星期走。(Wǒ xiàxīngqī zǒu .) |
| Eric: First is a pronoun meaning 'I' |
| Cho: [Normal] 我 [Slow] 我(wǒ) |
| Eric: Next is the preposition meaning 'next' |
| Cho: [Normal] 下 [Slow] 下(xià) |
| Eric: Next is the word for 'week' |
| Cho: [Normal] 星期 [Slow] 星期(xīngqī) |
| Eric: Last is the verb meaning 'to go' |
| Cho: [Normal] 走 [Slow] 走(zǒu) |
| Eric: Listen again to the response meaning 'I leave next week.' |
| Cho: [Slow] 我下星期走。 [Normal] 我下星期走。 |
| Cultural Insight |
| Eric: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight. |
| Cho: We know the word “when” can be translated in many ways. But the basic translation shénme shíhòu is very important. It’s a useful phrase that can be used in all the situations we’ve talked about. Although sometimes it may cause misunderstandings, if you’re careful with it, you should be able to get the answer you want. |
Outro |
|---|
| Eric: And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check out the lesson notes, and we’ll see you in the next lesson! |
| Cho: 再见 |
Comments
HideHi Listeners! Try answering this question: When are you leaving?
Hello Seán,
Thank you for your comment. Yes, in general the word order is SVO, however there are often more elements in a sentence than just verbs and objects. The time words (in the example sentences above: 什么时候, 两小时之后, 下星期) are placed after the subject, before the verb.
Hope it helps, let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai
Team ChineseClass101.com
I'm curious why the verbs are put at the end of the sentence when Chinese is generally SVO. Having studied Japanese, putting the verb at the end is fine, just wondering why.
Hello robert groulx,
Thank you for your comment. We hope you enjoyed it!
If you have any questions, please let us know.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
thank you forvth lesson transcript
: Next is the noun meaning 'time'
(shíhòu)
robert
Hi Mays,
Thank you for posting.
You can download the Lesson Transcript pdf by clicking on the disk icon below the lesson’s title and choosing [Lesson Transcript].👍
Feel free to let us know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Cristiane
Team ChineseClass101.com
Is there a transcript available for this lesson?
Hi, Efrem,
"我一小时之后离开。" is a right answer of the question.
做 means "do", actions which can be answered by 做 are limited.
For example, 做家务= do housework, 做饭= make meal……
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com
我一小时之后离开。
我下月做。
On July 10th