Learn some Chinese adverbs to indicate a higher degree
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome to chineseclass101.com. I am David. |
| Echo: 嗨，大家好，我是 (Hāi, dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì) Echo. |
| David: And we are here today with elementary season 1, lesson 19. |
| Echo: The Cat That Fought Back in China. |
| David: Right, if you love cats, if you hate cats, we think this lesson is going to be familiar to you. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| David: We’ve got a cat that is sort of like this here in our office. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: The name is squeak. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| David: So we’ve got a dialogue. The dialogue is filled with casual Mandarin, the way people speak it as always. We are going to take you there in a sec. Before we do though, we want to remind you, we have one on one lessons. So if you would like one on one lessons from Echo or one of our other teachers, send us an email and ask and we will set you up with a free trial lesson. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| David: Okay with that though, |
| Echo: Let’s go to the dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 这只猫真可爱，我最喜欢猫咪了。(Zhè zhǐ māo zhēn kěài, wǒ zuì xǐhuan māomī le.) |
| B: 别，别，别碰它。这只猫不喜欢......(Bié, bié, bié pèng tā. Zhè zhǐ māo bù xǐhuān ......) |
| A: 你说什么？这么可爱的猫咪怎么会......啊！(Nǐ shuō shénme? Zhème kě ài de māomī zěnme huì ......ā!) |
| B: 我跟你说过了。多么可爱，有点儿暴力而已。(Wǒ gēn nǐ shuō guòle. Duōme kěài, yǒudiǎner bàolì éryǐ.) |
| Once more slowly. |
| A: 这只猫真可爱，我最喜欢猫咪了。(Zhè zhǐ māo zhēn kěài, wǒ zuì xǐhuan māomī le.) |
| B: 别，别，别碰它。这只猫不喜欢......(Bié, bié, bié pèng tā. Zhè zhǐ māo bù xǐhuān ......) |
| A: 你说什么？这么可爱的猫咪怎么会......啊！(Nǐ shuō shénme? Zhème kě ài de māomī zěnme huì ......ā!) |
| B: 我跟你说过了。多么可爱，有点儿暴力而已。(Wǒ gēn nǐ shuō guòle. Duōme kěài, yǒudiǎner bàolì éryǐ.) |
| Once more, with English translation. |
| A: 这只猫真可爱，我最喜欢猫咪了。(Zhè zhǐ māo zhēn kěài, wǒ zuì xǐhuan māomī le.) |
| A: This cat is so cute. I really like kittens. |
| B: 别，别，别碰它。这只猫不喜欢......(Bié, bié, bié pèng tā. Zhè zhǐ māo bù xǐhuān ......) |
| B: Don't, don't, don't knock it around. This cat doesn't like.... |
| A: 你说什么？这么可爱的猫咪怎么会......啊！(Nǐ shuō shénme? Zhème kě ài de māomī zěnme huì ......ā!) |
| A: What did you say? How can a cat this cute be able to...ah! |
| B: 我跟你说过了。多么可爱，有点儿暴力而已。(Wǒ gēn nǐ shuō guòle. Duōme kěài, yǒudiǎner bàolì éryǐ.) |
| B: I told you so. So cute, just a little violent. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: So there is a generational divide when it comes to cats actually. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| David: Like younger people will actually – they will have cats as pets. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: Older Chinese people. |
| Echo: Yeah some older Chinese people, they don’t really like cats. |
| David: They have strong prejudices against them. They are pro-dog. So anyway, our vocab today is about violence and about kittens. It’s got everything. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: So let’s go to it. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Echo: 猫咪 (māomī) |
| David: Kitten. |
| Echo: 别碰 (bié pèng) |
| David: Don’t touch. |
| Echo: 暴力 (bàolì) |
| David: Violent. |
| Echo: 而已 (éryǐ) |
| David: That’s all. |
| Echo: 咬 (yǎo) |
| David: To bite. |
| Echo: 抓 (zhuā) |
| David: To scratch. |
| Echo: 爪子 (zhuǎzi) |
| David: Paw. |
| Echo: 凶 (xiōng) |
| David: Fierce. |
| Echo: 凶 (xiōng) |
| David: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of these words and phrases. The first word is the subject of our dialogue. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Echo: 猫咪 (māomī) |
| David: Kitty. |
| Echo: 猫咪 (māomī) |
| David: It’s not the word for cat, it’s what you call a cat. |
| Echo: Especially for kid cats. |
| David: Yes. Not smiley ones. |
| Echo: No. 我最喜欢小猫咪了。(Wǒ zuì xǐhuān xiǎo māomīle.) |
| David: I really like small kittens or really I like kittens the most. |
| Echo: Yeah 我最喜欢小猫咪了。(Wǒ zuì xǐhuān xiǎo māomīle.) |
| David: Right. However in Beijing, kittens have developed defense mechanisms. So don’t be surprised if one turns a little |
| Echo: 暴力。(Bàolì.) |
| David: Violent. |
| Echo: 暴力。(Bàolì.) |
| David: Violent. |
| Echo: 那只猫咪有点儿暴力。(Nà zhǐ māomī yǒudiǎn er bàolì.) |
| David: That kitten is a little violent. |
| Echo: 那只猫咪有点儿暴力。(Nà zhǐ māomī yǒudiǎn er bàolì.) |
| David: And notice the measure word we are using for cats too. |
| Echo: 只。(Zhǐ.) |
| David: One cat. |
| Echo: 一只猫。(Yī zhǐ māo.) |
| David: One dog. |
| Echo: 一只狗。(Yī zhǐ gǒu.) |
| David: So four legged mammals pretty much. |
| Echo: Yeah for a lot of yeah… |
| David: Yeah it’s going to be 只 and that’s the word you already know. It means only. It’s just a measure word in this case. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: Okay so moving on in our dialogue, the kitten is a bit grumpy because someone bumped it. |
| Echo: 碰。(Pèng.) |
| David: And that means to bump. |
| Echo: Yeah 碰。(Pèng.) |
| David: Or to touch. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| David: As in the sentence, don’t touch that cat. |
| Echo: 别碰那只猫。(Bié pèng nà zhǐ māo.) |
| David: Yeah although it’s not really stroking there, it’s sort of like to bump or to push. It’s a bit bothersome. |
| Echo: Yeah or it’s like just don’t touch. |
| David: Yeah normally for stroking or petting an animal, we would actually say |
| Echo: 摸。(Mō.) |
| David: Anyway, we are almost at the end. We wanted to highlight this last word. |
| Echo: 而已。(Éryǐ) |
| David: Which we hear in the dialogue in this sentence. |
| Echo: 有点暴力而已。(Yǒudiǎn bàolì éryǐ.) |
| David: And this means just. |
| Echo: Yes but be careful where we put it. |
| David: Right because it goes at the end of sentences. |
| Echo: 有点暴力而已。(Yǒudiǎn bàolì éryǐ.) |
| David: It’s a bit violent and that’s it… |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: And that’s all. |
| Echo: 有点暴力而已。(Yǒudiǎn bàolì éryǐ.) |
| David: Right. This is a bit of an advanced usage but you are going to hear this and run into this all the time. |
| Echo: Yeah it’s not that difficult. |
| David: Yeah. |
| Echo: Yeah. Just be careful where you put it. |
| David: Yeah and we’ve got one more example for you of this two. |
| Echo: 我只是出去了十分钟而已。(Wǒ zhǐshì chūqùle shí fēnzhōng éryǐ.) |
| David: I only went out for 10 minutes. That’s all. |
| Echo: Yeah 我只是出去了十分钟而已。(Wǒ zhǐshì chūqùle shí fēnzhōng éryǐ.) |
| David: So we’ve got two words that mean only there. I was only out for 10 minutes. |
| Echo: 只是。(Zhǐshì.) |
| David: And then at the end, this |
| Echo: 而已。(éryǐ.) |
| David: Which means that’s all. So some useful vocab there. Now let’s get on to our grammar point. It’s a good one. It’s grammar time. Echo, we are talking about three adverbs today. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Echo: Yes they are 这么、那么 and 多么。(Zhème, nàme and duōme.) |
| David: Right. So with adverbs, we are talking about something that we are putting in front of adjectives or verbs sometimes. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: For instance, this slow. |
| Echo: 这么慢。(Zhème màn.) |
| David: That good looking. |
| Echo: 那么漂亮。(Nàme piàoliang.) |
| David: Or how very cute! |
| Echo: 多么可爱。(Duōme kě'ài.) |
| David: So in these examples like our dialogue, we are putting this in front of adjectives. And these are the simple adjectives you already know how to use. |
| Echo: Yes. 这么慢，那么漂亮，多么可爱。(Zhème màn, nàme piàoliang, duōme kě'ài.) |
| David: You are exaggerating. You are saying, oh look, it’s really this or… |
| Echo: Yeah so… |
| David: So very…slow, so very cute. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: So very violent. |
| Echo: Umm…. |
| David: So this is simple stuff but let’s practice it in a couple of sentences so we get the hang of it. |
| Echo: Yeah 你的猫咪这么可爱。(Nǐ de māomī zhème kě'ài.) |
| David: Your cat is this cute. |
| Echo: 你的猫咪这么可爱。(Nǐ de māomī zhème kě'ài.) |
| David: Right. So the cat is there and they are playing with it obviously. It’s so very cute. |
| Echo: Yeah. 他那么暴力，你为什么喜欢他。(Tā nàme bàolì, nǐ wèishéme xǐhuān tā.) |
| David: He is that violent. Why do you like him? |
| Echo: 他那么暴力，你为什么喜欢他。(Tā nàme bàolì, nǐ wèishéme xǐhuān tā.) |
| David: Right or maybe that’s a she. She is that violent. Why do you like her? |
| Echo: Yeah or it. |
| David: Or it. Yes. |
| Echo: 你知道他多么不高兴吗？(Nǐ zhīdào tā duōme bù gāoxìng ma?) |
| David: Do you know how very unhappy he is. |
| Echo: 你知道他多么不高兴吗？(Nǐ zhīdào tā duōme bù gāoxìng ma?) |
| David: Or maybe that’s the cat too. Do you know how unhappy it is? |
| Echo: Yeah and that’s why he behaves so 暴力。(Bàolì.) |
| David: Right. Either that or because you haven’t fed him. That is known to make cats pretty aggressive. |
| Echo: 不高兴。(Bù gāoxìng.) |
| David: So a pretty simple grammar point. The key is these three adverbs. |
| Echo: 这么，那么，多么。(Zhème, nàme, duōme.) |
| David: Remember to put these in front of verbs or adjectives when you want to add extra emphasis. |
| Echo: Yes. |
Outro |
| David: And that’s the end of our grammar section today. As always, we encourage you to download our premium PDF transcripts which has this in written form, vocab list and tons more. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: For now though, if you have any questions, you can also do what Echo? |
| Echo: You can leave your comments on the site and we will get back to you. |
| David: Yes Echo will get back to you herself. So we look forward to seeing you at chineseclass101.com |
| Echo: 我们网上见吧。(Wǒmen wǎngshàng jiàn ba.) |
| David: From Beijing, I am David. |
| Echo: 我是 (Wǒ shì) Echo. |
| David: And we will see you on the site. |
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