Learn what to say and expect once you get into that Chinese taxi
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Victor: 大家好，我是Victor。 (Dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì Victor.) |
| Amber: And I’m Amber, and welcome back to Gengo Chinese. This is Lesson 12. |
| Victor: Get Where You Need To Go With a Mobile Language Partner. |
| Amber: Yes! What can be better? So, little does he know, but Mike is soon to find out that taxi drivers can be your very best friends. |
| Victor: If you play your cards right, yep. |
| Amber: That’s right. Best friends with cars, no less! Okay, what I mean though is that they’re like captive language partners. |
| Victor: Yeah, definitely! |
| Amber: Yes! I mean that taxis sit there, you know, all day, totally bored out of their minds, behind the wheel, and they are ready to chat. |
| Victor: And they have a lot of stories, you know. |
| Amber: They do! |
| Victor: All the people that pass through their cars. |
| Amber: And they have a lot of patience, I find too as a foreigner, when they listen to your Chinese. |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: So maybe Mike will be able to chat about some of what we learned in the last lesson. |
| Victor: Yeah, so let's review it a little bit. |
| Amber: Yeah. Well, we learned to talk about something very common in Shanghai, which is the “heat” and the “rain.” |
| Victor: Yes, the rain, 下雨 (xiàyǔ). |
| Amber: And also how to say “It’s hot.” |
| Victor: 很热 (Hěn rè). |
| Amber: And we learned the all important word, the word for “taxi.” |
| Victor: Yeah, very important, 出租车 (chūzūchē). |
| Amber: And also very important to be able to find one. Remember, they were in front of the hotel. |
| Victor: Yes, 在饭店的前面 (Zài fàndiàn de qiánmiàn). |
| Amber: Okay. So, obviously, the Chinese worked, because in today's dialogue, Mike is in the taxi itself. |
| Victor: Yeah. So, let’s see where he ends up. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to give instructions to a taxi driver. |
| Amber: And the conversation takes place, of course, in a taxi. |
| Victor: Yeah and the conversation is between the driver and Mike. |
| Amber: Right! So let’s listen in. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Taxi driver: 你去哪儿？ (Nǐ qù nǎr?) |
| Mike: 我去北京大厦。 (Wǒ qù Běijīng Dàshà.) |
| Taxi driver: 你有地址吗？ (Nǐ yǒu dìzhǐ ma?) |
| Mike: 在这儿。 (Zài zhèr.) |
| Taxi driver: 你会说汉语吗？ (Nǐ huì shuō Hànyǔ ma?) |
| Mike: 我会说一点儿。 (Wǒ huì shuō yìdiǎnr.) |
| Taxi driver: 你的汉语不错。 (Nǐ de Hànyǔ búcuò.) |
| Mike: 没有没有。你会说英语吗？ (Méiyǒu méiyǒu. Nǐ huì shuō Yīngyǔ ma?) |
| Taxi driver: 我？不会。 (Wǒ? Búhuì.) |
| Mike: 哦。 (O.) |
| Taxi driver: 到了。北京大厦。14块钱. (Dào le. Běijīng dàshà. Shísì kuài .) |
| Mike: 给你钱。我要发票。 (Gěi nǐ qián. Wǒ yào fāpiào.) |
| Taxi driver: 这是找你的钱，这是发票。 (Zhè shì zhǎo nǐ de qián, zhè shì fāpiào.) |
| Mike: 谢谢。 (Xièxiè.) |
| Taxi driver: 再见！ (Zàijiàn!) |
| Victor: 重复一次, 慢速. (Chóngfù yīcì, màn sù.) |
| Amber: One more time, a little slower. |
| Taxi driver: 你去哪儿？ (Nǐ qù nǎr?) |
| Mike: 我去北京大厦。 (Wǒ qù Běijīng Dàshà.) |
| Taxi driver: 你有地址吗？ (Nǐ yǒu dìzhǐ ma?) |
| Mike: 在这儿。 (Zài zhèr.) |
| Taxi driver: 你会说汉语吗？ (Nǐ huì shuō Hànyǔ ma?) |
| Mike: 我会说一点儿。 (Wǒ huì shuō yìdiǎnr.) |
| Taxi driver: 你的汉语不错。 (Nǐ de Hànyǔ búcuò.) |
| Mike: 没有没有。你会说英语吗？ (Méiyǒu méiyǒu. Nǐ huì shuō Yīngyǔ ma?) |
| Taxi driver: 我？不会。 (Wǒ? Búhuì.) |
| Mike: 哦。 (O.) |
| Taxi driver: 到了。北京大厦。14块钱. (Dào le. Běijīng dàshà. Shísì kuài .) |
| Mike: 给你钱。我要发票。 (Gěi nǐ qián. Wǒ yào fāpiào.) |
| Taxi driver: 这是找你的钱，这是发票。 (Zhè shì zhǎo nǐ de qián, zhè shì fāpiào.) |
| Mike: 谢谢。 (Xièxiè.) |
| Taxi driver: 再见！ (Zàijiàn!) |
| Victor: 重复一次, 加英文翻译. (Chóngfù yīcì, jiā yīngwén fānyì.) |
| Amber: One more time, with the English. |
| Taxi driver: 你去哪儿？ (Nǐ qù nǎr?) |
| Amber: Where are you going? |
| Mike: 我去北京大厦。 (Wǒ qù Běijīng Dàshà.) |
| Amber: I'm going to the Beijing Building. |
| Taxi driver: 你有地址吗？ (Nǐ yǒu dìzhǐ ma?) |
| Amber: Do you have the address? |
| Mike: 在这儿。 (Zài zhèr.) |
| Amber: It's here. |
| Taxi driver: 你会说汉语吗？ (Nǐ huì shuō Hànyǔ ma?) |
| Amber: Can you speak Chinese? |
| Mike: 我会说一点儿。 (Wǒ huì shuō yìdiǎnr.) |
| Amber: I can speak a little. |
| Taxi driver: 你的汉语不错。 (Nǐ de Hànyǔ búcuò.) |
| Amber: Your Chinese is pretty good. |
| Mike: 没有没有。你会说英语吗？ (Méiyǒu méiyǒu. Nǐ huì shuō Yīngyǔ ma?) |
| Amber: No, no. Can you speak English? |
| Taxi driver: 我？不会。 (Wǒ? Búhuì.) |
| Amber: Me? No, I can't. |
| Mike: 哦。 (O.) |
| Amber: Oh. |
| Taxi driver: 到了。北京大厦。14块钱. (Dào le. Běijīng dàshà. Shísì kuài.) |
| Amber: We're here. Beijing Building. 14 RMB. |
| Mike: 给你钱。我要发票。 (Gěi nǐ qián. Wǒ yào fāpiào.) |
| Amber: Here's the money. I need a receipt. |
| Taxi driver: 这是找你的钱，这是发票。 (Zhè shì zhǎo nǐ de qián, zhè shì fāpiào.) |
| Amber: This is your change, and this is your receipt. |
| Mike: 谢谢。 (Xièxiè.) |
| Amber: Thanks. |
| Taxi driver: 再见！ (Zàijiàn!) |
| Amber: Goodbye! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Amber: Okay, so trick of the trade, Victor, I have to give a little tip here. |
| Victor: What is that? |
| Amber: Always, ALWAYS get someone or even write it yourself if you’re that skilled, to write down the address in Chinese, on a piece of paper. |
| Victor: Exactly. It’s better to be safe than sorry. |
| Amber: And it’s not even necessarily a language thing that you wanna give the taxi driver this piece of paper with the address, because cities in China are huge and so, honestly, the taxi drivers sometimes need to see it in writing. |
| Victor: Right, right. |
| Amber: And it also takes some anxiety away. |
| Victor: Yeah, definitely. I actually have a story here. I remember when I was 7 years old, I went to Beijing to visit my cousins, and she told me a story of this foreign guy who came to China and didn’t know how to speak Chinese and wanted to have Beijing duck. He didn’t know how to say it, so he just kind of flapped his hands around him. |
| Amber: Yeah. |
| Victor: And then the taxi driver drove him to the airport. |
| Amber: Ah, perfect! So, if he only had a piece of paper, everything would have been solved. |
| Victor: Or listen to our lessons. |
| Amber: Right. So, let’s look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Victor: 去 (qù) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to go |
| Victor: 去 (qù) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 去 (qù) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 哪儿 (nǎr) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: where |
| Victor: 哪儿 (nǎr) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 哪儿 (nǎr) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 北京 (Běijīng) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: Beijing |
| Victor: 北京 (Běijīng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 北京 (Běijīng) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 大厦 (dàshà) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: building |
| Victor: 大厦 (dàshà) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 大厦 (dàshà) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 地址 (dìzhǐ) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: address |
| Victor: 地址 (dìzhǐ) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 地址 (dìzhǐ) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 这儿 (zhèr) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: here |
| Victor: 这儿 (zhèr) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 这儿 (zhèr) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 会 (huì) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to be able to |
| Victor: 会 (huì) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 会 (huì) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 说 (shuō) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to speak |
| Victor: 说 (shuō) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 说 (shuō) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 汉语 (hànyǔ) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: Chinese (language) |
| Victor: 汉语 (hànyǔ) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 汉语 (hànyǔ) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 一点儿 (yìdiǎnr) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: a bit |
| Victor: 一点儿 (yìdiǎnr) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 一点儿 (yìdiǎnr) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 不错 (búcuò) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: not bad, pretty good |
| Victor: 不错 (búcuò) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 不错 (búcuò) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 没有 (méiyǒu) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to not have |
| Victor: 没有 (méiyǒu) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 没有 (méiyǒu) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 英语 (yīngyǔ) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: English |
| Victor: 英语 (yīngyǔ) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 英语 (yīngyǔ) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 到 (dào) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to arrive |
| Victor: 到 (dào) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 到 (dào) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 块 (kuài) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: (measure word for money) |
| Victor: 块 (kuài) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 块 (kuài) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 钱 (qián) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: money |
| Victor: 钱 (qián) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 钱 (qián) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 给 (gěi) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to give |
| Victor: 给 (gěi) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 给 (gěi) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 要 (yào) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to want |
| Victor: 要 (yào) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 要 (yào) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 发票 (fāpiào) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: receipt |
| Victor: 发票 (fāpiào) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 发票 (fāpiào) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 这 (zhè) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: this |
| Victor: 这 (zhè) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 这 (zhè) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 是 (shì) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to be |
| Victor: 是 (shì) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 是 (shì) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 找 (zhǎo) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to give change |
| Victor: 找 (zhǎo) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 找 (zhǎo) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Victor: So you’ll notice that Mike refers to the building he’s going to at first by name, 北京大厦。(Běijīng Dàshà). |
| Amber: Right. So, this is something very common in China and that’s most office buildings have a name. And usually, if it’s, you know, somewhat well known like High Rise, usually that can be enough to identify where you’re going, even, maybe more than the address. |
| Victor: Right. So the word for “building” used here is 大厦 (dàshà). 大 (dà) is 4th tone and 厦 (shà) is 4th tone. |
| Amber: Yeah, but, you know, Victor, it’s weird because in Shanghai, where I live, they don’t, I’ve never heard this. I always heard them say something different, which was 大楼 (dàlóu). |
| Victor: Oh, 大楼 (dàlóu). |
| Amber: Which is 4th tone, 2nd tone. So, is there a difference? |
| Victor: I think it’s a north and south thing, but you can use either and they’ll understand. |
| Amber: Okay, so either 大厦 (dàshà) or 大楼 (dàlóu), for “building.” |
| Victor: 大厦 (dàshà) or 大楼 (dàlóu), yeah. |
| Amber: So, as we go in the dialogue, we find have a very diligent cabbie because he asks for the address. |
| Victor: Yeah, he’s good. |
| Amber: So what was the word again for “address”? |
| Victor: 地址 (dìzhǐ). 地 (dì) is 4th tone, 址 (zhǐ) is 3rd tone. |
| Amber: Right and actually, we heard this word before in a past lesson when Lili gave Mike her email address. |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: We used the same word for email address. |
| Victor: Yeah, like email address, 电子邮件地址 (diànzǐ yóujiàn dìzhǐ). |
| Amber: Right, that long. |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: Or you can just say email 地址 (dìzhǐ). Sometimes, people just say that in Chinese. |
| Victor: For email. |
| Amber: Yeah. |
| Victor: Okay. So, now, we come to another multiple possibility word. |
| Amber: Right, which is the word for how to say “Chinese” in Chinese! |
| Victor: Yeah. This is a very common one, the taxi driver asks 你会说汉语吗？ (Nǐ huì shuō hànyǔ ma?). |
| Amber: RIght. So, 汉语 (hànyǔ) means Chinese. |
| Victor: Correct. |
| Amber: But we’re gonna tell you a few more words that you can use to describe the Chinese language because you might come across these, instead. |
| Victor: Yeah. Well, there is 中文 (zhōngwén). |
| Amber: Which also means “Chinese language.” |
| Victor: Right. 中 (zhōng) is 1st tone, 文 (wén) is 2nd tone. And 普通话 (pǔtōnghuà) - 普 (pǔ) is a 3rd tone, 通(tōng) is 1st tone, and 话 (huà) is 4th tone. |
| Amber: Right, which actually means like the “common language” if you translate it literally. |
| Victor: Yeah. It’s kind of like Mandarin, you know. |
| Amber: Yeah, Mandarin. |
| Victor: Versus Cantonese or other dialects. |
| Amber: That’s right. So, there’s a lot of words for Chinese. Now, there’s another word in the dialogue that is pretty good. The word is for “pretty good.” In Chinese, it’s… |
| Victor: 不错 (búcuò) - 不 (bú) is a 2nd tone and 错 (cuò) is 4th tone. They’re actually both 4th tone, but with the tone-change rule, 不 (bú) is pronounced as second tone in this case, so it’s… |
| Amber: 不错 (búcuò) |
| Victor: 不错 (búcuò), yeah. |
| Amber: And literally, in Chinese, that means “not wrong” or “not bad.” |
| Victor: Correct, correct. |
| Amber: But there is something I have to interject here though, is that it’s important to know that the level of the Chinese “not bad” 不错 (búcuò) is more like our “pretty good” in English. |
| Victor: Yeah, that’s true. |
| Amber: Because, you know, if someone just said to me, like, for example, “Oh, your Chinese is 不错 (búcuò),” if I translate it literally, it’s like, “Oh, your Chinese is not bad.” They might, they might actually be giving you a compliment in Chinese because it means pretty good. |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: But to us, it kind of sounds like, oh, just not bad? |
| Victor: Just not bad? Keep going. |
| Amber: Exactly. It doesn’t sound that flattering in English, but actually in Chinese, the level of 不错 (búcuò) is a little bit higher than it is than, than “not bad” in English is. |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: Okay, so we can see that Mike is experiencing this because he took his Chinese, being 错 (búcuò) as a compliment. We know this because of his response. What did he say? |
| Victor: Yeah. We hear Mike say, 没有 (méiyǒu), 没有 (méiyǒu). |
| Amber: Yeah. It’s kind of bashful like. |
| Victor: Kind of like, no, no, not at all. |
| Amber: Yeah. |
| Victor: So 没有 (méiyǒu) literally means “not have.” |
| Amber: Yeah. It’s 2nd tone, 3rd tone, 没有 (méiyǒu), 没有 (méiyǒu). And here, it’s kind of just like a humble denial, I think. That’s how you can use it. There’s other ways. I mean Chinese people are very humble. They don’t, they like to deflect praise. |
| Victor: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sometimes, you hear people say, 哪里 (nǎlǐ), 哪里 (nǎlǐ) to a compliment. |
| Amber: Yeah to respond. But I think it’s not that common, like I didn’t, I think I saw that more in textbooks than in real life. But you might hear someone say that. It just basically means “Where? Where?” |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: But they’re just saying like, this compliment is not a big thing. |
| Victor: Right, yeah. |
| Amber: There’s actually another way too you can respond to a compliment more formally. |
| Victor: Yeah and that is to say, 过奖 (guòjiǎng). 过奖 (guòjiǎng) - 过(guò) is 4th tone and 奖 (jiǎng) is a 3rd tone. |
| Amber: Yeah, which basically means “you’re too kind.” |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: You’re saying I’m better than I am. |
| Victor: Yeah, like you rewarded too much. |
| Amber: Yeah, like if your boss complimented you or something that is more formal. Okay, but one thing I did notice is that generally with the Chinese culture, no matter what is said, maybe a denial is the best policy. Like they’re not really gonna be like, “Oh, thank you” like we are in English. Right, Victor? They think it’s a bit conceited. |
| Victor: Right. You kind of have to deny it a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. |
| Amber: Yes. At least, protest somewhat. |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: Okay, the next word, we hear the taxi driver, here is the equivalent of what a taxi driver would say when you’ve arrived, in English, and what was that, Victor? |
| Victor: He said, 到了 (dàole). 到 (dào) is 4th tone and it means “to arrive” and 了 (le), which is the neutral tone indicates a change in the situation, in a condition. So now we have arrived. |
| Amber: Yeah. So, just like in English, we’d say, “Now, we’re here!” |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: Okay. So next, of course, Mike hands him the money and I think this is a moment we can talk about something, Victor, interesting, the taxi cages! |
| Victor: Sure, yeah! The taxi cages. |
| Amber: When you get your taxi, do not be alarmed because your taxi man is gonna be inside a cage. Why is that, Victor? |
| Victor: I’m not quite sure. Maybe for safety reasons. |
| Amber: I know. I think maybe one taxi driver got attacked once, so then everyone got the cage. But… because it’s so safe in China, or maybe it’s to protect against road rage. |
| Victor: So you can see the other cars? |
| Amber: Yeah, but anyways, you’re going to be passing the money somehow through a crack in the cage. |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: Just so that you’re forewarned. |
| Victor: Exactly. |
| Amber: Okay and then the very important thing here, as soon as you pay the money, you’re gonna hear this printing noise coming from the meter. This is the ever important “receipt.” |
| Victor: Yep, 发票 (fāpiào) being “receipt.” 发 (fā) is 1st tone and 票 (piào) is 4th tone. |
| Amber: Yes. |
| Victor: And most importantly, you don’t want to forget your change. |
| Amber: That’s right. What does the driver say? He says… |
| Victor: 这是找你的钱. (Zhè shì zhǎo nǐ de qián.) |
| Amber: Right. So here we hear a familiar word, first of all, at the end, which is the word for “money.” |
| Victor: Right, 钱 (qián), which is 2nd tone. And 你的 (nǐ de) means “your.” Therefore, 找你的钱 (Zhǎo nǐ de qián) means “your change.” |
| Amber: Right. So, “This is your change.” Altogether is... |
| Victor: 这是找你的钱. (Zhè shì zhǎo nǐ de qián.) |
| Amber: Okay. So now, we’re onto some of the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Amber: So here’s a sidepoint. You know, when you get into the taxi, they don’t waste any time. Basically, we’re going to hear the driver get ready to the point when we get in the car. |
| Victor: Yeah, the taxi driver says, 你去哪儿？ (Nǐ qù nǎr?) |
| Amber: Right, which means “Where are you going?” |
| Victor: And this is pretty straightforward grammar, but there’s just a couple of notes that we’ll point out. |
| Victor: Yeah, first is a classic sentence word order (subject + verb + the question word). |
| Amber: Right. So the subject 你 (nǐ), which is “you,” then the verb 去 (qù), which is “to go,” then the question word 哪儿 (nǎr), which is “where.” |
| Victor: Yep. Now, one more thing of note is that in this kind of a sentence or question, you can omit the subject. |
| Amber: That’s right. So we heard him say, 你去哪儿 (nǐ qù nǎr), right? |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: But you can actually often just hear them say… |
| Victor: 去哪儿 (qù nǎr)? |
| Amber: Right or 去哪里 (qù nǎlǐ), the other word for “where.” |
| Victor: Right. Or sometimes, even just 哪儿 (nǎr) or 哪里 (nǎlǐ). |
| Amber: It’s true. Extra, extra short. |
| Victor: But he didn’t feel like talking today. |
| Amber: Yeah. So anyway, when you hear them say this, this is your clue, to hurry up and say where you’re going, because they don’t want to hold up the traffic. |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: So, I would say, be prepared for some confusion or discussion. |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: But if you have the piece of paper like we mentioned, it helps a lot. |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: But anyways, keep in mind, if you’re in Shanghai, it’s a city of something like 18 million people, so it’s not, you know, a simple operation to find an address. Let alone, you have a language barrier. |
| Victor: Yeah. If it’s not a famous place, it really helps to know the destination. |
| Amber: Yeah. Okay. So now that you’ve got where you’re going sorted, the chatting begins. This is when you have your captive language partner. Now, in the conversation, there’s something quick that they mentioned that we can review, because we actually learned it in Lesson 4, and that was when they talked about ability to speak languages. |
| Victor: Yep, 你会说汉语吗？ (Nǐ huì shuō hànyǔ ma?) |
| Amber: Yeah, which is, “Can you speak Chinese?” |
| Victor: And of course, the countering, 你会说英语吗? (Nǐ huì shuō yīngyǔ ma?) |
| Amber: Right. So, remember, we used this for 会 (huì), 4th tone, to express ability. So, in this case, they were asking about which languages can you speak. |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: But we could talk about ability to do other things, like, Victor, for example, what can you 会 (huì)? |
| Victor: Oh. |
| Amber: What are you able to do? |
| Victor: 我会用电脑 (Wǒ huì yòng diànnǎo). |
| Amber: Oh, he can use the computer. |
| Victor: Yeah. And Amber, how about you? What can you 会 (huì)? |
| Amber: I could say, oh, um, I can ride a bike. |
| Victor: Yeah? That’s good. |
| Amber: How would I say that? |
| Victor: 我会骑自行车 (Wǒ huì qí zìxíngchē). |
| Amber: Right. |
| Victor: Very Chinese. |
| Amber: Yes! |
| Victor: You’ve been trained. |
| Amber: I’ve been trained. I can ride a bike like the Chinese do. Good. And there’s one more grammar point besides this that we can review, which is to talk about “wanting” something. |
| Victor: Yes. |
| Amber: So, in this dialogue, we heard Mike ask, “I want a receipt.” |
| Victor: Yes, very common phrase in the taxi. You will say 我要发票。 (Wǒ yào fāpiào.) |
| Amber: Right. So this verb 要 (yào) is a lot like 有 (yǒu) in the way that it has, it’s very versatile, but it can be used in a few different ways, but in this context, it’s used to express that someone wants or need something, an object. |
| Victor: Correct. |
| Amber: So, it’s (subject + the verb 要 (yào) + the object). |
| Victor: Yeah. Simple as that! |
| Amber: 要 (yào) is 4th tone. |
| Victor: Very simple. |
Outro |
| Amber: Okay. Well, it sounds like Mike got there safe and sound, so that’s it for our dialogue and our lesson today. |
| Victor: Yeah, so I look forward to what happens next time. |
| Amber: Yes, we’ll see you next time on Gengo Chinese. |
| Victor: Yeah, 再见。(Zàijiàn.) |
| Amber: 再见。(Zàijiàn.) |
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