Learn how to use the Chinese verb xi?ng to say, "I want/wish to (do something)"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Frank: Hi everyone! |
| Echo: Da jia hao! |
| Frank: Welcome back to ChineseClass101.com, Season 1, Lesson 4 in our Beginner series. I’m your host, Frank Fradella, and I’m joined in the studio by the lovely and intelligent Echo. |
| Echo: 慢一点儿，慢一点儿。(Màn yīdiǎn er, màn yīdiǎn er.) |
| Frank: Slow down a bit. Okay. All right. That’s good. It’s actually the subject of today’s dialogue: how to ask someone to slow down when they’re talking. Today’s dialogue takes place between two strangers. |
| Echo: Yes, in a taxi. |
| Frank: In a taxi cab. One of them is a native speaker and the other one is not a native speaker. |
| Echo: Yeah. They both speak very formally, very friendly. |
| Frank: Exactly. We’re going to show you all about that. Let’s listen to the dialogue. |
| Echo: But before we do, as always… |
| Frank: As always, right. We do want to tell you to become a lifetime member of ChineseClass101.com. It just takes a couple of seconds to register. It couldn’t be any easier. Let’s get on with the dialogue. |
Lesson conversation |
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| 司机:您好。您去哪儿？(Sījī: Nín hǎo. Nín qù nǎ'er?) |
| 张飞:请说慢一点儿。(Zhāng fēi: Qǐng shuō màn yīdiǎn er.) |
| 司机:您想去哪儿？(Sījī: Nín xiǎng qù nǎ'er?) |
| 张飞:我想去宾馆。(Zhāng fēi: Wǒ xiǎng qù bīnguǎn.) |
| Frank: Now let’s hear that dialogue a little more slowly. |
| 司机:您好。您去哪儿？(Sījī: Nín hǎo. Nín qù nǎ'er?) |
| 张飞:请说慢一点儿。(Zhāng fēi: Qǐng shuō màn yīdiǎn er.) |
| 司机:您想去哪儿？(Sījī: Nín xiǎng qù nǎ'er?) |
| 张飞:我想去宾馆。(Zhāng fēi: Wǒ xiǎng qù bīnguǎn.) |
| Frank: Hey, we’re back. |
| Echo: Yeah. Frank, you’ve been in China for a while, right? |
| Frank: I have. I have. I actually use cabs a lot because they’re relatively inexpensive here. |
| Echo: Yeah. Getting a cab in Beijing is so easy after all. |
| Frank: Yeah. That’s not the hard part. The hard part is once you get in the cab, is knowing the stuff that you need to know. That’s why this dialogue is so useful. |
| Echo: Yes. It’s going to be very, very helpful. |
| Frank: Yeah. So let’s go through it and we’ll translate. |
| 司机:您好。您去哪儿？(Sījī: Nín hǎo. Nín qù nǎ'er?) |
| Frank: Hello. Where are you going? |
| 张飞:请说慢一点儿。(Zhāng fēi: Qǐng shuō màn yīdiǎn er.) |
| Frank: Please speak a little more slowly. |
| 司机:您想去哪儿？(Sījī: Nín xiǎng qù nǎ'er?) |
| Frank: Where would you like to go? |
| 张飞:我想去宾馆。(Zhāng fēi: Wǒ xiǎng qù bīnguǎn.) |
| Frank: I want to go to a hotel. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Frank: Okay, great. Now in our last lesson, we actually told you a different word for hotel. What was that one, Echo? |
| Echo: It’s 饭店。(Fàndiàn.) |
| Frank: This time we use… |
| Male: 宾馆。(Bīnguǎn.) |
| Echo: 宾馆。(Bīnguǎn.) |
| Frank: What would you say the difference is? |
| Echo: Not that much. We just use both of them very often. |
| Frank: So you can use them interchangeably? |
| Echo: Yes. |
| Frank: Okay. Great. Let’s go on to the vocab now where we’re going to take the word step-by-step, one-by-one, and really break them down for you. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Frank: Let’s do it. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Male: Now, the vocab section. |
| Echo: 您(Nín) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: Polite form of “you”. |
| Echo: 您(Nín)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 您(Nín)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 去(Qù) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: To go. |
| Echo: 去(Qù)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 去(Qù)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 说 (Shuō)[natural native speed]. |
| Frank: To speak. |
| Echo: 说(Shuō)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 说(Shuō)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 慢(Màn) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: Slow. |
| Echo: 慢(Màn)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 慢(Màn)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 一点儿(Yīdiǎn er) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: A little. |
| Echo: 一点儿(Yīdiǎn er)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 一点儿(Yīdiǎn er)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 想(Xiǎng) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: To wish. |
| Echo: 想(Xiǎng)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 想(Xiǎng)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 宾馆(Bīnguǎn) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: Hotel. |
| Echo: 宾馆(Bīnguǎn)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 宾馆(Bīnguǎn)[natural native speed]. |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Frank: Okay. Let’s take a look at some of those words in a little more depth. The first word in our dialogue is… |
| Echo: 您。(Nín.) |
| Frank: Which is the polite form of… |
| Echo: 你。(Nǐ.) |
| Frank: Which is the word for “you”. This is how you’ll address somebody who’s a superior or respected elder, that kind of thing. |
| Echo: Yeah, older. |
| Frank: Or a customer. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Frank: Exactly. So let’s hear those tones again because they’re a little different. For the polite form.. |
| Echo: 您。(Nín.) |
| Frank: That second tone. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| Frank: But when you’re saying “you”… |
| Echo: 你。(Nǐ.) |
| Frank: It’s third tone. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Frank: Second word in our vocabulary is… |
| Echo: 去。(Qù.) |
| Frank: Which means “to go” or “to go to”. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Frank: We heard it in the dialogue like this. |
| Echo: 您去哪儿？(Nín qù nǎ'er?) |
| Frank: “Where do you want to go?” Let’s hear some other examples. “I’m going to the hotel”. |
| Echo: 我去宾馆。(Wǒ qù bīnguǎn.) |
| Frank: I’m going to the airport. |
| Echo: 我去机场。(Wǒ qù jīchǎng.) |
| Frank: You are going to America. |
| Echo: 你去美国。(Nǐ qù měiguó.) |
| Frank: We’re going to slow things down a little bit for our next vocab point. Actually, we’re not going to slow it down, but that’s the vocab point. |
| Echo: Yeah, exactly. |
| Frank: It’s “slow down a little bit”. |
| Echo: 慢一点儿。(Màn yīdiǎn er.) |
| Frank: Exactly. One more time. Let’s take it one part at a time, slow… |
| Echo: 慢。(Màn.) |
| Frank: …and a little. |
| Echo: 一点儿。(Yīdiǎn er.) |
| Frank: On other parts of China, you might hear them use that second part like this… |
| Echo: 一点。(Yīdiǎn.) |
| Frank: Which is not standard Mandarin but you will it in other parts of China. |
| Echo: Yeah. But it sounds great. |
| Frank: Let’s have a sample sentence using this. |
| Echo: 请说慢一点儿。(Qǐng shuō màn yīdiǎn er.) |
| Frank: Please speak more slowly. |
| Echo: 请说慢一点儿。(Qǐng shuō màn yīdiǎn er.) |
| Frank: Now, the reverse of this if, let’s say, you’re in a restaurant and you want people to hurry up… |
| Echo: Yes. 快一点儿.(Kuài yīdiǎn er.) |
| Frank: Okay. Now we’ve just learned two adjectives: one for fast, one for slow. Let’s hear the slow one. |
| Echo: 慢。(Màn.) |
| Frank: And fast? |
| Echo: 快。(Kuài.) |
| Frank: So if you want someone to slow down, it’s… |
| Echo: 慢一点儿。(Màn yīdiǎn er.) |
| Frank: And to speed up? |
| Echo: 快一点儿。(Kuài yīdiǎn er.) |
| Frank: There you go. Let’s hurry up and get over to the grammar section. |
| Echo: Yeah. Let’s go. |
Lesson focus |
| Male: It’s grammar time. |
| Frank: In previous lessons, we learned how to say “I’m hungry”. |
| Echo: 我很饿。(Wǒ hěn è.) |
| Frank: Or “he is there”. |
| Echo: 他在那儿。(Tā zài nà'er.) |
| Frank: Today, we’re going to learn to talk about what you want. We’re going to use this verb to do it. |
| Echo: 想。(Xiǎng.) |
| Frank: Means “to wish or to want”. It’s one of the most versatile verbs in Chinese. |
| Echo: Third tone. Pay attention. |
| Frank: Exactly. Let’s hear it one more time. |
| Echo: 想。(Xiǎng.) |
| Frank: All right. Now we’re going to give you some sample sentences so you can hear how it’s used. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Frank: Where do you want to go? |
| Echo: 你想去哪儿。(Nǐ xiǎng qù nǎ'er.) |
| Frank: I want to go there. |
| Echo: 我想去那儿。(Wǒ xiǎng qù nà'er.) |
| Frank: I want to go to China. |
| Echo: 我想去中国。(Wǒ xiǎng qù zhōngguó.) |
| Frank: I think you are busy. |
| Echo: 我想你很忙。(Wǒ xiǎng nǐ hěn máng.) |
| Frank: Okay, great. Now you heard on that last part how it wasn’t just to wish or to want; it was to think as well. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| Frank: Very versatile verb. What we’re going to do now is we’re actually going to play a little game with you. We’re going to say a couple of sentences using vocabulary you’ve already got and let’s see if you can figure out what we’re saying. |
| Echo: I’ll be fun. |
| Frank: Let’s do it! |
| Echo: 他想去宾馆。(Tā xiǎng qù bīnguǎn.) |
| Frank: He wants to go to the hotel. |
| Echo: 她想去哪儿？(Tā xiǎng qù nǎ'er?) |
| Frank: Where does she want to go? |
| Echo: 她想去那儿。(Tā xiǎng qù nà'er.) |
| Frank: She wants to go there. |
| Echo: 我想你。(Wǒ xiǎng nǐ.) |
| Frank: That just means “I miss you” or “I’m thinking about you”. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| Frank: We’re going to miss you until our next lesson. But between now and then, we want you to go to ChineseClass101.com. |
| Echo: And leave comments. |
| Frank: We want you to leave a comment. We want you to comment some more. We want you to comment so much. It’s actually illegal in Guam. |
| Echo: Please stop. |
| Frank: Or maybe not that much. But we do want to see you up on the site. Until then, from our studios here in Beijing, I’m Frank Fradella. |
| Echo: I’m Echo. |
| Frank: And we’ll see you next time. |
| Echo: See you. |
| Frank: 再见。(Zàijiàn.) |
| Echo: Bye-bye. |
Comments
HideWe love taking cab rides in China, and especially in Beijing where the drivers are talkative, friendly and well-informed. What's the most interesting conversation you've had with a cab driver?
Hello Huang Fei,
Thank you for your comment, we're glad to hear that!
If you have any questions, please let us know.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
嗨, 我想去中国。
The phrase "I want/wish..." is my favorite for this lesson.
Phi
Hello robert groulx,
Thank you for your comment, we hope you enjoy the lessons.
If you have any questions, please let us know.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
thank you for the lesson transcript
favorite phrase is 她想去哪儿？
robert
你好 Danny！
谢谢 for commenting. We are very happy to hear that you love our platform! Let us know if you have any questions. 😉
Kind regards,
雷文特 (Levente)
Team ChineseClass101.com
I love this platfrom, I am very happy with it, Thanks for making it so easy.
你好 David，
Thank you for your comment. 去中国旅游吧！😄
If you have any questions, please let us know.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
你好！我想去中国。我想中国很好。
Hello Aster,
你好！大家都能听懂就好了。😄
Let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
我想说快一点儿。
Hello Hassan Kargili,
Thank you for your comment. Yes the "n" is silent here, because it's not quite possible to pronounce "nr" together. Adding the "r" sound to the end of words is called r-colouring, the rules are complex. I suggest that you learn the pronunciation of the words when they come by. When you see an "r" at the end of a word with "n", such as "wánr", you can drop the "n" sound.
Hope it helps. Let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
yīdiǎnr.
I didn't hear the the sound of n while listening to the pronunciation. I am wondering, Is it because the n is silent here; If so then then what are the some rules for silent letters in different contexts.?
Looking forward for a fast reply!
Hello Chris,
Thank you for your comment, we're glad to have you here! 😄
想 has different meanings, it can be used to express "to think", or "to miss". 想 + a verb is used to express "would like to", "to want",e.g. 我想看电影。I'd like to watch a movie.
要 also has different meanings, it can be used to express a future action, "to be going to", or "to need". 要 can also be used to express "to want", e.g. 我要看电影。I want to watch a movie.
When we want to express "to want", 想 and 要 are interchangeable in most cases, with 要 being stronger and more direct.
Hope it helps. Let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
Hi, very new to leaning Chinese. Enjoying the lessons so much.
When using ‘Xiang’ to want to go somewhere or want something. What’s the difference and why not use ‘yao’. As in I want you? Maybe a silly question but didn’t know if you can use both in all situations.
Chris
Hello jon,
Thank you for your comment. 想 + 去 means "want to go", or "would like to go". You can also say 我要去 in this case, it means the same thing, the tone of 要 is stronger than that of 想 thou. 要 is also used to express "to be going to".
Hope it helps, let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
why do you use xiang and not yao when you say i want to go there?
Hello Mai Mai,
Thank you for your comment. We're glad to hear that you like our lessons. Stay tuned, we're constantly adding new lessons. 😄
Let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
Thanks I like these 101 lesson.
Hello ko-r09,
Thank you for your comment. No it's never too early to start learning the characters. You can find the information on the Chinese Alphabet here:
https://www.chineseclass101.com/chinese-alphabet/
You can also find some reading and writing resources, such as stroke order, radicals, on this page:
https://www.chineseclass101.com/chinese-resources/
Also, check out this video lesson about How to Decipher Chinese Characters:
https://www.chineseclass101.com/lesson/absolute-beginner-questions-answered-by-yinru-25-how-do-you-decipher-chinese-characters/?lp=69
Hope it helps, as always, let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
Hi
Do you have any videos for Chinese characters?
I would like to start to read but I need to get familiar with the Chinese Characters or is it too early to begin with?
Thank you