Learn about telephone fraud and how to make negative suggestions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: So this is about when you have someone who is trying to reach you and you don’t want to talk to them. |
| Sylvia: Right. |
| David: Not only that, you don’t want them to talk to you indirectly through your friends. |
| Sylvia: Right. |
| David: So we’ve got a dialogue between friends, one of whom got lucky. |
| Sylvia: Right. |
| David: So… |
| Sylvia: He didn’t answer the phone call. |
| David: He didn’t answer the call. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 你电话刚才响了。(Nǐ diànhuà gāngcái xiǎng le。) |
| B: 啊，你接了？(A, nǐ jiē le？) |
| A: 没来得及。(Méi láidejí。) |
| B: 那就好。(Nà jiù hǎo。) |
| A: 为什么？(Wèishénme？) |
| B: 千万不能接。(Qiānwàn bù néng jiē。) |
| David: One more time a bit slower. |
| A: 你电话刚才响了。(Nǐ diànhuà gāngcái xiǎng le。) |
| B: 啊，你接了？(A, nǐ jiē le？) |
| A: 没来得及。(Méi láidejí。) |
| B: 那就好。(Nà jiù hǎo。) |
| A: 为什么？(Wèishénme？) |
| B: 千万不能接。(Qiānwàn bù néng jiē。) |
| David: And now with the English translation. |
| Sylvia: 你电话刚才响了。(Nǐ diànhuà gāngcái xiǎng le。) |
| David: Your telephone just rang. |
| Sylvia: 啊，你接了？(A, nǐ jiē le？) |
| David: Huh? You answered it? |
| Sylvia: 没来得及。(Méi láidejí。) |
| David: I didn't get it in time. |
| Sylvia: 那就好。(Nà jiù hǎo。) |
| David: That's good. |
| Sylvia: 为什么？(Wèishénme？) |
| David: Why? |
| Sylvia: 千万不能接。(Qiānwàn bù néng jiē。) |
| David: Whatever you do, don't answer the phone. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sylvia: 电话(diànhuà) [natural native speed] |
| David: telephone |
| Sylvia: 电话(diànhuà) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia: 电话(diànhuà) [natural native speed] |
| Sylvia: 响(xiǎng) [natural native speed] |
| David: to ring |
| Sylvia: 响(xiǎng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia: 响(xiǎng) [natural native speed] |
| Sylvia: 刚才(gāng cái) [natural native speed] |
| David: just now |
| Sylvia: 刚才(gāng cái) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia: 刚才(gāng cái) [natural native speed] |
| Sylvia: 接(jiē) [natural native speed] |
| David: to answer (the phone) |
| Sylvia: 接(jiē) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia: 接(jiē) [natural native speed] |
| Sylvia: 来得及(lái dé jí) [natural native speed] |
| David: (to do something) in time |
| Sylvia: 来得及(lái dé jí) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia: 来得及(lái dé jí) [natural native speed] |
| Sylvia: 那(nà) [natural native speed] |
| David: then |
| Sylvia: 那(nà) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia: 那(nà) [natural native speed] |
| Sylvia: 千万(qiān wàn) [natural native speed] |
| David: whatever the case |
| Sylvia: 千万(qiān wàn) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia: 千万(qiān wàn) [natural native speed] |
| Sylvia: 不能(bù néng) [natural native speed] |
| David: to be unable to |
| Sylvia: 不能(bù néng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia: 不能(bù néng) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Let’s take a closer look at some of these words and phrases. The first word we want to talk about is Just now 刚才(gāng cái), just now 刚才(gāng cái). This confuses a lot of people. |
| Sylvia: Oh yes. |
| David: Because in English, it’s – it’s like an adverb. I recently did something. 我刚才接电话了(Wǒ gāngcái jiē diànhuàle), which would be I recently answered the phone or I just answered the phone. |
| Sylvia: Yes, 我刚才接电话了(Wǒ gāngcái jiē diànhuàle). |
| David: Now the thing in Chinese though is this isn’t an adverb. So it’s being used like a did. For instance, I ate today 我今天吃饭了(Wǒ jīntiān chīfànle), I ate today 我今天吃饭了(Wǒ jīntiān chīfànle); or you might tell someone you ate yesterday 我昨天吃饭了(Wǒ zuótiān chīfànle). Now the reason this matters so much is that often someone will ask you when you did something and you are going to want to answer I just did it. Now in Chinese, you can’t use adverbs to answer questions. |
| Sylvia: No. |
| David: But you can use nouns. So if someone asks you when did you eat. |
| Sylvia: You can say 今天(Jīntiān) |
| David: Or 昨天(Zuótiān) or 刚才(Gāngcái). Right, the second word we want to highlight comes from this line in the dialogue. 没来得及(Méi láidéjí), which we translated as not in time. 没来得及(Méi láidejí). we all know the first character 没(Méi) which means not and that’s a clue that the rest of that sentence is a verb compound. |
| Sylvia: Yes, 来得及.(Láidéjí.) |
| David: This means to be able to do something in time. 来得及.(Láidéjí.) So the whole sentence is I couldn’t do something in time. 没来得及(Méi láidéjí). Right. There are tons of situations where you might 来得及(Láidéjí) and the opposite of this is 来不及(Láibují) if you miss a flight, you 来不及.(Láibují.) Right, so two powerful words. To be able to do something in time, 来得及(Láidéjí); to be unable to do something in time, 来不及.(Láibují.) |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: So Sylvia, what’s our grammar point today? |
| Sylvia: Well today we are going to talk about 千万.(Qiān wàn.) |
| David: Right we hear this in the dialogue in this sentence. 千万不能接(Qiān wàn bùnéng jiē) whatever you do, don’t answer. |
| Sylvia: 千万不能接.(Qiān wàn bùnéng jiē.) |
| David: Whatever you do, don’t answer and this word 千万(Qiān wàn) it’s really a warning. It’s a very strong suggestion. |
| Sylvia: Yes. |
| David: You know, one case in 10000 even don’t answer. |
| Sylvia: Right. 千万.(Qiān wàn.) |
| David: Right. And you put this at the start of the sentence. Sylvia, you’ve got some examples for us. |
| Sylvia: For instance, 千万别说.(Qiān wàn bié shuō.) |
| David: Whatever happens, don’t speak. 千万别说.(Qiān wàn bié shuō.) Right, whatever you do, don’t speak. You are only going to make things worse. Another example might be… |
| Sylvia: 千万别买.(Qiān wàn bié mǎi.) |
| David: Whatever you do, don’t buy it. Right, you can rent it but don’t buy this. |
| Sylvia: Yes, 千万别买(Qiān wàn bié mǎi). (Another example) 千万别打电话.(Qiān wàn bié dǎ diànhuà.) |
| David: Whatever you do, don’t use the phone. |
| Sylvia: Right. |
| David: Or whatever you do, don’t call him or her. 千万别打电话(Qiān wàn bié dǎ diànhuà) whatever you do, don’t use the phone. So a simple grammar structure, start your sentence with 千万(Qiān wàn) and follow it by what you don’t want people to do. |
| Sylvia: It could be 别说(Bié shuō) |
| David: Don’t speak or…. |
| Sylvia: 别买.(Bié mǎi.) |
| David: Don’t buy it. |
Outro |
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