Learn how to indicate the distant past when speaking Chinese
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Hi, everyone, I’m David. |
| Echo: 嗨(Hāi)，大家好(Dàjiā hǎo)，我是(Wǒ shì)Echo。 |
| David: And welcome back to Chineseclass101.com. We’re here with intermediate series season one lesson five, divorce in China. |
| Echo: 所以今天我们学...(Suǒyǐ jīntiān wǒmen xué...) divorce |
| David: Yes, it’s a depressing lesson. We’re going to learn all about marital discord. We’ve got a conversation for that takes place in a bar. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: Between two old friends, one of whom is grumbling. And of course, because we’re speaking casual, you can go then use this language right away, okay? We’re going to take you to dialogue in a sec, before we do that as always we want to remind you, our dialogues are going tricky, so-- |
| Echo: 对，越来越长。(Duì, yuè lái yuè zhǎng.) |
| David: Right. So, what’s useful to have when you’re studying is these PDF transcripts, you can download them from the premium user section of our website, okay? So come to the site check those out, and now let’s move on to the dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 甲: 我要和我老公离婚！(Jiǎ: Wǒ yào hé wǒ lǎogōng líhūn!) |
| 乙: 为什么？(Yǐ: Wèishéme?) |
| 甲: 结婚之前他总是带我去吃烛光晚餐，去看电影，还给我做饭洗碗。(Jiǎ: Jiéhūn zhīqián tā zǒng shì dài wǒ qù chī zhúguāng wǎncān, qù kàn diànyǐng, hái gěi wǒ zuò fàn xǐ wǎn.) |
| 乙: 现在呢？(Yǐ: Xiànzài ne?) |
| 甲: 现在他什么都不给我买，也不做家务！还搞外遇！(Jiǎ: Xiànzài tā shénme dōu bù gěi wǒ mǎi, yě bù zuò jiāwù! Hái gǎo wàiyù!) |
| 乙: 这么糟？(Yǐ: Zhème zāo?) |
| 甲: 这些都无所谓。还有更糟的。(Jiǎ: Zhèxiē dōu wúsuǒwèi. Hái yǒu gèng zāo de.) |
| 乙: 他和外遇有孩子了？(Yǐ: Tā hé wàiyù yǒu háizile?) |
| 甲: 不！他不让我搞外遇。(Jiǎ: Bù! Tā bù ràng wǒ gǎo wàiyù.) |
| David: One more time, a bit slower. |
| 甲: 我要和我老公离婚！(Jiǎ: Wǒ yào hé wǒ lǎogōng líhūn!) |
| 乙: 为什么？(Yǐ: Wèishéme?) |
| 甲: 结婚之前他总是带我去吃烛光晚餐，去看电影，还给我做饭洗碗。(Jiǎ: Jiéhūn zhīqián tā zǒng shì dài wǒ qù chī zhúguāng wǎncān, qù kàn diànyǐng, hái gěi wǒ zuò fàn xǐ wǎn.) |
| 乙: 现在呢？(Yǐ: Xiànzài ne?) |
| 甲: 现在他什么都不给我买，也不做家务！还搞外遇！(Jiǎ: Xiànzài tā shénme dōu bù gěi wǒ mǎi, yě bù zuò jiāwù! Hái gǎo wàiyù!) |
| 乙: 这么糟？(Yǐ: Zhème zāo?) |
| 甲: 这些都无所谓。还有更糟的。(Jiǎ: Zhèxiē dōu wúsuǒwèi. Hái yǒu gèng zāo de.) |
| 乙: 他和外遇有孩子了？(Yǐ: Tā hé wàiyù yǒu háizile?) |
| 甲: 不！他不让我搞外遇。(Jiǎ: Bù! Tā bù ràng wǒ gǎo wàiyù.) |
| David: And now with the line-by-line translation. |
| 甲: 我要和我老公离婚！(Jiǎ: Wǒ yào hé wǒ lǎogōng líhūn!) |
| David: I want to divorce my husband. |
| 乙: 为什么？(Yǐ: Wèishéme?) |
| David: Why? |
| 甲: 结婚之前他总是带我去吃烛光晚餐，去看电影，还给我做饭洗碗。(Jiǎ: Jiéhūn zhīqián tā zǒng shì dài wǒ qù chī zhúguāng wǎncān, qù kàn diànyǐng, hái gěi wǒ zuò fàn xǐ wǎn.) |
| David: Before we married, he would always take me out for candlelight dinners, or to watch a movie, cook me food, and clean the dishes. |
| 乙: 现在呢？(Yǐ: Xiànzài ne?) |
| David: And now? |
| 甲: 现在他什么都不给我买，也不做家务！还搞外遇！(Jiǎ: Xiànzài tā shénme dōu bù gěi wǒ mǎi, yě bù zuò jiāwù! Hái gǎo wàiyù!) |
| David: Now he doesn’t buy me anything. Won’t do anything around the house, and he’s having an affair. |
| 乙: 这么糟？(Yǐ: Zhème zāo?) |
| David: It’s that bad? |
| 甲: 这些都无所谓。还有更糟的。(Jiǎ: Zhèxiē dōu wúsuǒwèi. Hái yǒu gèng zāo de.) |
| David: All these things don’t really matter, there’s something worse. |
| 乙: 他和外遇有孩子了？(Yǐ: Tā hé wàiyù yǒu háizile?) |
| David: He had a child with his mistress? |
| 甲: 不！他不让我搞外遇。(Jiǎ: Bù! Tā bù ràng wǒ gǎo wàiyù.) |
| David: No, he won’t let me have an affair. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: So divorce isn’t actually that common in China. |
| Echo: Yeah, in China everyone stays in an unhappy marriage. |
| David: Right. We are actually getting of course divorce is more and more common here. |
| Echo: Right now Beijing has a divorce rate of about 39% |
| David: Right. Which is quite high. |
| Echo: Yeah, that’s really high. |
| David: Almost as high as it is back at the West. |
| Echo: People used to stay in bad marriages because they didn’t feel they had any choice. |
| David: Right. But now divorce is a lot more common although still as we said not as common as you get back home. So, now we’ve depressed everyone I think it’s time to move on to our vocab section. And our vocab section has what, Echo? |
| Echo: Other words you need to complain about your marriage. |
| David: Right. And now the vocab section. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| David: First word is... |
| Echo: 老公(Lǎogōng) [natural native speed] |
| David: husband |
| Echo: 老公(Lǎogōng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 老公(Lǎogōng) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 老婆(Lǎopó) [natural native speed] |
| David: wife |
| Echo: 老婆(Lǎopó) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 老婆(Lǎopó) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 离婚(Líhūn) [natural native speed] |
| David: to divorce |
| Echo: 离婚(Líhūn) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 离婚(Líhūn) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 烛光晚餐(Zhúguāng wǎncān) [natural native speed] |
| David: candlelight dinner |
| Echo: 烛光晚餐(Zhúguāng wǎncān) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 烛光晚餐(Zhúguāng wǎncān) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 家务(Jiāwù) [natural native speed] |
| David: housework |
| Echo: 家务(Jiāwù) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 家务(Jiāwù) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 搞(Gǎo) [natural native speed] |
| David: to engage in |
| Echo: 搞(Gǎo) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 搞(Gǎo) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 外遇(Wàiyù) [natural native speed] |
| David: extramarital affair |
| Echo: 外遇(Wàiyù) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 外遇(Wàiyù) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 糟(Zāo) [natural native speed] |
| David: rotten |
| Echo: 糟(Zāo) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 糟(Zāo) [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| David: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of these words and phrases. |
| Echo: Okay. So the first word we are going to look at is 老公(Lǎogōng). |
| David: Which means husband. |
| Echo: 老公(Lǎogōng) |
| David: But it’s a lot more than "husband." |
| Echo: Yeah, it also means "hubby", or "darling", 老公(Lǎogōng). |
| David: Right. It’s a term of endearment, and you don’t actually need to be married to be using it. |
| Echo: Yeah, but if a girl starts using it with you, it means she probably wants to get married. |
| David: Right. So let’s hear it one more time. |
| Echo: 老公(Lǎogōng). As in the sentence, 老公(Lǎogōng)，你都好久没跟我一起逛街啦。(Nǐ dōu hǎojiǔ méi gēn wǒ yīqǐ guàngjiē la.) |
| David: Hubby, it’s been a long time since we’ve gone out shopping together. |
| Echo: 老公(Lǎogōng)，你都好久没跟我一起逛街啦。(Nǐ dōu hǎojiǔ méi gēn wǒ yīqǐ guàngjiē la.) |
| David: Right. And so you don’t actually need to be married to be using this. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: And there’s a word that is the opposite of that. |
| Echo: 老婆(Lǎopó) |
| David: Wife. |
| Echo: 老婆(Lǎopó) |
| David: This is also a term of endearment, so you don’t technically need to be married. |
| Echo: 对，老婆。(Duì, lǎopó.) |
| David: And this used to be something that only older couples would say. |
| Echo: Yeah. It’s more and more common for young people to say it like 老婆(Lǎopó)，我们不是上个周末刚刚看了电影吗？(Wǒmen bùshì shàng gè zhōumò gānggāng kànle diànyǐng ma?) |
| David: I guess that would be like baby, didn’t we just see a movie last week? |
| Echo: Yeah, last weekend. |
| David: Yeah, so maybe it’s a couple dating, it doesn’t need to be a husband and wife. One more time. |
| Echo: 老婆(Lǎopó)，我们不是上个周末刚刚看了电影吗？(Wǒmen bùshì shàng gè zhōumò gānggāng kànle diànyǐng ma?) |
| David: Right. However, even if you don’t have to be married. You probably don’t want to be using this on the first date. |
| Echo: No, don’t use 老公(Lǎogōng) or 老婆(Lǎopó) on the first date. |
| David: Yeah, it’s going to scare him or her off. So, the next word we want to focus on is-- |
| Echo: 外遇(Wàiyù) |
| David: This literally means outside encounter. |
| Echo: 外遇(Wàiyù) and the verb is 搞.(Gǎo.) People 搞外遇.(Gǎo wàiyù.) |
| David: Right. They engage in or they have an affair. For instance-- |
| Echo: 他结婚七年(Tā jiéhūn qī nián)，不久之前(Bùjiǔ zhīqián)，被老婆发现他一直在搞外遇。(Bèi lǎopó fāxiàn tā yīzhí zài gǎo wàiyù.) |
| David: He’s been married for about seven years when his wife discovered he’d always been having affairs. |
| Echo: 他结婚七年(Tā jiéhūn qī nián)，不久之前(Bùjiǔ zhīqián)，被老婆发现他一直在搞外遇。(Bèi lǎopó fāxiàn tā yīzhí zài gǎo wàiyù.) |
| David: Right. And be careful not to have an affair, because if you do you might need to get divorced. |
| Echo: 离婚(Líhūn) |
| David: Which literally means away from marriage. |
| Echo: Yeah, 离婚(Líhūn) |
| David: To divorce. |
| Echo: 这是离婚协议书(Zhè shì líhūn xiéyì shū)，你签字吧。(Nǐ qiānzì ba.) |
| David: This is a divorce agreement, sign it. |
| Echo: 这是离婚协议书(Zhè shì líhūn xiéyì shū)，你签字吧。(Nǐ qiānzì ba.) |
| David: Yeah. This is a divorce agreement, sign it. Okay, and that brings us to our grammar section. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: So, let’s head to it. |
| Echo: Okay. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: The focus of this lesson is on distant past. In our dialogue, we heard this sentence. |
| Echo: 结婚之前他总是带我去吃烛光晚餐(Jiéhūn zhīqián tā zǒng shì dài wǒ qù chī zhúguāng wǎncān) |
| David: Before we got married he’d always take me out for candlelight dinners. |
| Echo: 结婚之前....(Jiéhūn zhīqián....) |
| David: Before we got married... |
| Echo: 结婚之前....(Jiéhūn zhīqián....) |
| David: Now in previous lessons we’ve taught you that Chinese doesn’t really have tenses. |
| Echo: No, we have aspect. |
| David: Right. This is why the particles-- |
| Echo: 了 (le), 过 (guo) and 着 (zhe) |
| David: Are referred to aspectual particles. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: So, they change our sense of when the events described took place, in the sequence of them. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: So, a lot of people get confused using these, because we don’t use them all the time. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: For example, in the sentence-- |
| Echo: 结婚之前他总是带我去吃烛光晚餐(Jiéhūn zhīqián tā zǒng shì dài wǒ qù chī zhúguāng wǎncān) |
| David: We don’t have any aspectual particles. |
| Echo: Right, no 了(Le), no 过.(Guò.) |
| David: Right. All we have is we have this little snippet at the beginning that tells us when the events took place. |
| Echo: 结婚之前(Jiéhūn zhīqián) |
| David: Now this is typical Chinese word order. We’re always putting our time at the beginning of the sentence, either right before or right after our subject. |
| Echo: 没错(Méi cuò), so I can change it and say, 1982年他总是带我去吃烛光晚餐(1982 Nián tā zǒng shì dài wǒ qù chī zhúguāng wǎncān) |
| David: Right. Memories of distant romance, he often took me to candlelight dinners in 1982. |
| Echo: Yeah, that was really a long time ago. |
| David: Yeah. So, the keyword here is the strange new phrase. |
| Echo: 之前(Zhīqián) |
| David: Right. Echo, what’s going on? |
| Echo: 之前(Zhīqián) there’s a classical character which means 他(Tā) |
| David: Right. |
| Echo: And 前(Qián) we have learned it, means before. |
| David: Right |
| Echo: So 之前(Zhīqián) is a new phrase which means the time before it. |
| David: Right. So, what it does is it takes the action that precedes it and it kind of turns into this time phrase. |
| Echo: As in the sentence, 来中国之前(Lái zhōngguó zhīqián)，我说汉语有困难。(Wǒ shuō hànyǔ yǒu kùnnán.) |
| David: Before coming to China I had trouble speaking Chinese. And note that there’s no aspectual particles in that sentence either. Everything is taken care of us by the time phrase. |
| Echo: Or 大学毕业之前(Dàxué bìyè zhīqián)，他没找到一份好工作。(Tā méi zhǎodào yī fèn hǎo gōngzuò.) |
| David: He didn’t find a good job before he graduated from the University. |
| Echo: Yeah, so just remember, 之(Zhī) is not a scary character. |
| David: Right. You can use it to create time phrases and put them at the beginning of your sentence. |
| Echo: And you can often avoid using aspectual particles completely. |
| David: Right. So there’s not need to be scared of them. And that’s our grammar point for today. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
Outro |
| David: And that just about does it for today. Before we leave you though we want to remind you if you’re a premium member, you can use our review track to perfect your pronunciation. |
| Echo: Available in the premium section of the website. |
| David: Which is our learning center, and can also get it through iTunes through your premium feed. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: The review track is going to give you vocabulary and phrases, followed by a short pause, so you can repeat the words out-loud. |
| Echo: That’s the best way to get good fast. |
| David: Right. It’s going to help you really internalize this language. |
| Echo: 对。(Duì.) |
| David: With that from Beijing I’m David. |
| Echo: 我是(Wǒ shì)Echo。 |
| David: Thanks a lot for listening to Chineseclass101, and we’ll see you next week. |
| Echo: 我们下次见。(Wǒmen xià cì jiàn.)Bye bye. |
| David: Bye. |
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