Learn the key pattern to ask for a word Chinese
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| Let’s take a closer look at the conversation. |
| Do you remember how Ben asks |
| "How do you say "textbook" in Chinese?" |
| Textbook用中文怎么说？(Textbook yòng Zhōngwén zěnme shuō?) |
| First is the English word 'textbook.' |
| Next is 用 (yòng), "to use." 用. 用. |
| After that is 中文 (Zhōngwén) "Chinese," as in the Chinese language or writing." 中文 ( enunciated). 中文. |
| Together, 用中文 (yòng Zhōngwén), "using Chinese" or in more natural English, "in Chinese." 用中文. |
| Next is 怎么 (zěnme), meaning, "how." 怎么. 怎么. |
| Last is 说 (shuō) "to say." 说. 说. |
| Together, 怎么说 (zěnme shuō) literally, "how to say," but translating as "how do you say…" 怎么说. |
| All together, Textbook用中文怎么说？ (Textbook yòng Zhōngwén zěnme shuō?) literally, "Textbook using Chinese how to say," but it translates as "How do you say 'textbook' in Chinese?" |
| Textbook用中文怎么说？ |
| Let’s take a closer look at the response. |
| Do you remember how Lu tells Ben the Chinese word for "textbook"? |
| 课本。(Kèběn. ) |
| 课本 (kèběn) "textbook." 课本. |
| 课本。(Kèběn. ) |
| The pattern is |
| {English word} 用中文怎么说? (yòng Zhōngwén zěnme shuō?) |
| "How do you say {English Word} in Chinese?" |
| {English word} 用中文怎么说? (yòng Zhōngwén zěnme shuō?) |
| To use this question pattern, simply replace the {English word} placeholder with the word you want to know. |
| Imagine you want to know the Chinese word for "pen." |
| Ask, |
| "How do you say "pen" in Chinese?" |
| Ready? |
| Pen用中文怎么说？(Pen yòng Zhōngwén zěnme shuō?) |
| "How do you say 'pen' in Chinese?" |
| Pen用中文怎么说？ |
| When you don't know how to call something in Chinese and you want to keep the conversation in Chinese, you can point and say, "How do you say this in Chinese?" |
| Simply replace the English word with 这个, meaning "this." 这个. 这个. |
| 这个用中文怎么说？(Zhèige yòng Zhōngwén zěnme shuō?) |
| "How do you say this in Chinese?" |
| 这个用中文怎么说？ |
| If the thing is far away from you, use 那个 (nèige), "that." 那个. 那个. |
| 那个用中文怎么说？(Nèige yòng Zhōngwén zěnme shuō?) |
| "How do you say that in Chinese?" |
| 那个用中文怎么说？ |
| Pronunciation note: there are two ways to pronounce "this" and "that" in Chinese. |
| For "this," zhège or zhèige. |
| For "that," nàge or nèige. |
| Zhèige and nèige are used more often in colloquial speech. |
| Keeping the conversation in Chinese as long as possible is a great tactic to learn Chinese. |
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