Learn about washrooms, or the lack thereof, and a specific verb compliment
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: And this is the last lesson in our series and so we’ve got a riddle for you. |
| Sylvia: Yes. |
| David: A riddle in the form of a dialogue. |
| Sylvia: Our restaurant is missing something. |
| David: Yes but what is it. We are going to find out in this dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Customer: 不好意思，我去方便一下。服务员，洗手间在哪儿？(Bùhǎoyìsi, wǒ qù fāngbiàn yīxià. Fúwùyuán, xǐshǒujiān zài nǎr?) |
| Waiter: 对不起，这儿没有厕所。(Duìbuqǐ, zhèr méiyǒu cèsuǒ.) |
| Customer: 那... 我去哪儿？(Nà... Wǒ qù nǎr?) |
| Waiter: 洗手？(Xǐshǒu?) |
| Customer: 对。(Duì.) |
| Waiter: 跟我来。(Gēn wǒ lái.) |
| David: One more time a bit slower. |
| Customer: 不好意思，我去方便一下。服务员，洗手间在哪儿？(Bùhǎoyìsi, wǒ qù fāngbiàn yīxià. Fúwùyuán, xǐshǒujiān zài nǎr?) |
| Waiter: 对不起，这儿没有厕所。(Duìbuqǐ, zhèr méiyǒu cèsuǒ.) |
| Customer: 那... 我去哪儿？(Nà... Wǒ qù nǎr?) |
| Waiter: 洗手？(Xǐshǒu?) |
| Customer: 对。(Duì.) |
| Waiter: 跟我来。(Gēn wǒ lái.) |
| David: And now with the English translation. |
| Customer: 不好意思，我去方便一下。服务员，洗手间在哪儿？(Bùhǎoyìsi, wǒ qù fāngbiàn yīxià. Fúwùyuán, xǐshǒujiān zài nǎr?) |
| Customer: I'm sorry, I've gotta go to the washroom. Waiter, where is the washroom? |
| Waiter: 对不起，这儿没有厕所。(Duìbuqǐ, zhèr méiyǒu cèsuǒ.) |
| Waiter: I'm sorry, there is no washroom here. |
| Customer: 那... 我去哪儿？(Nà... Wǒ qù nǎr?) |
| Customer: Then, where do I go? |
| Waiter: 洗手？(Xǐshǒu?) |
| Waiter: To wash your hands? |
| Customer: 对。(Duì.) |
| Customer: Right. |
| Waiter: 跟我来。(Gēn wǒ lái.) |
| Waiter: Come with me. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: It plays out with you following the waiter into a back alley. |
| Sylvia: Ten miles away from the restaurant. |
| David: Yes and sometimes there is a bucket there with water. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sylvia 不好意思(bùhǎo yìsi) [natural native speed] |
| David: excuse me |
| Sylvia 不好意思(bùhǎo yìsi) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia 不好意思(bùhǎo yìsi) [natural native speed] |
| Sylvia 方便(fāngbiàn) [natural native speed] |
| David: convenient |
| Sylvia 方便(fāngbiàn) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia 方便(fāngbiàn) [natural native speed] |
| Sylvia 一下(yíxià) [natural native speed] |
| David: for a while |
| Sylvia 一下(yíxià) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia 一下(yíxià) [natural native speed] |
| Sylvia 服务员(fúwùyuán) [natural native speed] |
| David: waiter |
| Sylvia 服务员(fúwùyuán) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia 服务员(fúwùyuán) [natural native speed] |
| Sylvia 洗手间(xǐshǒujiān) [natural native speed] |
| David: washroom |
| Sylvia 洗手间(xǐshǒujiān) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia 洗手间(xǐshǒujiān) [natural native speed] |
| Sylvia 对不起(duìbuqǐ) [natural native speed] |
| David: I'm sorry |
| Sylvia 对不起(duìbuqǐ) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia 对不起(duìbuqǐ) [natural native speed] |
| Sylvia 厕所(cèsuǒ) [natural native speed] |
| David: restroom |
| Sylvia 厕所(cèsuǒ) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia 厕所(cèsuǒ) [natural native speed] |
| Sylvia 洗手(xǐshǒu) [natural native speed] |
| David: to wash one's hands |
| Sylvia 洗手(xǐshǒu) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia 洗手(xǐshǒu) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Let’s take a closer look at some of these words and phrases. First we had the verb for washing one’s hands 洗手(Xǐshǒu), to wash one’s hands 洗手(Xǐshǒu). |
| Sylvia: So if you go to a restaurant, you want to wash your hands, you may ask 我去哪儿洗手？(Wǒ qù nǎ'er xǐshǒu?) |
| David: Where can I go to wash my hands? 我去哪儿洗手？(Wǒ qù nǎ'er xǐshǒu?) And the answer is of course, the washing hand room 洗手间(Xǐshǒujiān), the washroom 洗手间(Xǐshǒujiān). There is a second word for washroom in our dialogue though. |
| Sylvia: It’s 厕所.(Cèsuǒ.) |
| David: Washroom 厕所.(Cèsuǒ.) And if you ask for the washroom, 厕所在哪儿？(Cèsuǒ zài nǎ'er?) you are really asking to relieve yourself. 厕所在哪儿？(Cèsuǒ zài nǎ'er?) So two different words for washroom 洗手间(Xǐshǒujiān), 厕所.(Cèsuǒ.) The last word we need to mention is that verb for relieving oneself 方便.(Fāngbiàn.) As with English, this is a Euphemism. It really means convenient 方便.(Fāngbiàn.) |
| Sylvia: So if you are in the restaurant, you may ask 我可以方便一下吗？(Wǒ kěyǐ fāngbiàn yīxià ma?) |
| David: Right or perhaps more likely where can I go to relieve myself 我去哪儿方便一下？(Wǒ qù nǎ'er fāngbiàn yīxià?) |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Sylvia: Today we are going to talk about doing something 一下.(Yīxià.) |
| David: And that means to do something for a little period of time. This is a verb complement, 一下.(Yīxià.) It’s something we put at the end of verbs. |
| Sylvia: Right, David. For example, 看一下.(Kàn yīxià.) |
| David: To look for a bit. 找一下(Zhǎo yīxià) To search for a bit. 听一下(Tīng yīxià) To listen for a while. So in all of these cases, we are suggesting we are doing something for a limited period of time. |
| Sylvia: Yes, I will give you some more examples. Remember the concert I just went to… |
| David: Right. The Westlife concert. |
| Sylvia: So I may say 我去演唱会听一下.(Wǒ qù yǎnchàng huì tīng yīxià.) |
| David: I went to the concert to listen a bit 我去演唱会听一下.(Wǒ qù yǎnchàng huì tīng yīxià.) You could also say, I went to the concert to see 我去演唱会看一下.(Wǒ qù yǎnchàng huì kàn yīxià.) Or you could chain them together. I went to the concert to see and to listen. |
| Sylvia: 我去演唱会看一下听一下.(Wǒ qù yǎnchàng huì kàn yīxià tīng yīxià.) Let me give you another example. I use the internet every day at work. So I have to search online. That is 查一下.(Chá yīxià.) |
| David: To search a little 查一下.(Chá yīxià.) So if someone asks you what you are doing when you are in the office, you can say I am online to search for something. |
| Sylvia: 上网查一下.(Shàngwǎng chá yīxià.) |
| David: A final tip. This is most commonly used with single character verbs. |
| Sylvia: Such as 找, 看, 听, 查.(Zhǎo, kàn, tīng, chá.) |
| David: However every now and then, you will run into it with a two character verb like 方便.(Fāngbiàn.) |
Outro |
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