Learn how to use the expression 怎么也 to say you've tried everything but to no avail, from a conversation between two people in China
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Intermediate, season 2, Lesson 17. Crossing a Chinese City Street is a Challenge. |
| Chloe: 大家好。(Dàjiā hǎo.)I’m Chloe. |
| Becky: Hi everyone, I’m Becky, and welcome back to ChineseClass101.com. This is Intermediate Season 2, Lesson 17 - Crossing a Chinese City Street is a Challenge! |
| Chloe: 这节课我们将会学到一个短语“怎么也”。(Zhè jié kè wǒmen jiāng huì xué dào yīgè duǎnyǔ “zěnme yě”.) |
| Becky: The conversation takes place at a crosswalk. |
| Chloe: 我们将会听到一段对话，对话的主角之一正发愁怎么才能过马路。(Wǒmen jiāng huì tīng dào yīduàn duìhuà, duìhuà de zhǔjiǎo zhī yī zhèng fāchóu zěnme cáinéngguò mǎlù.) |
| Becky: They are friends. So they will be using informal Chinese. Okay let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A:喂，你快来帮帮我，我过不去马路了。 |
| (A: Wèi, nǐ kuài lái bāng bāng wǒ, wǒ guòbuqù mǎlùle.) |
| B:怎么回事？你在哪儿呢？ |
| (B: Zěnme huí shì? Nǐ zài nǎ'er ne?) |
| A:我在人行横道这边，一直在等红绿灯，怎么也过不了街。 |
| (A: Wǒ zài rénxínghéngdào zhè biān, yīzhí zài děng hónglǜdēng, zěnme yěguò bu le jiē.) |
| B:你跟着人流走啊，有人过你就过。 |
| (B: Nǐ gēn zhù rén liú zǒu a, yǒurénguò nǐ jiùguò.) |
| A:可是他们都不看红绿灯啊。 |
| (A: Kěshì tāmen dōu bù kàn hónglǜdēng a.) |
| B:看什么红绿灯，没车了就过。 |
| (B: Kàn shénme hónglǜdēng, méi chēle jiùguò.) |
| A:好多车都堵在十字路口了，它们也不让行人，能动的时候就横冲直撞的，我太害怕了。 |
| (A: Hǎoduō chē dōu dǔ zài shízìlù kǒule, tāmen yě bù ràng xíngrén, néngdòng de shíhou jiù héngchōngzhízhuàng de, wǒ tài hàipàle.) |
| B:那... 你往右边走十分钟，有一个过街天桥。 |
| (B: Nà... Nǐ wǎng yòubiān zǒu shí fēnzhōng, yǒu yīgè guòjiētiānqiáo.) |
| Becky: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| A:喂，你快来帮帮我，我过不去马路了。 |
| (A: Wèi, nǐ kuài lái bāng bāng wǒ, wǒ guòbuqù mǎlùle.) |
| B:怎么回事？你在哪儿呢？ |
| (B: Zěnme huí shì? Nǐ zài nǎ'er ne?) |
| A:我在人行横道这边，一直在等红绿灯，怎么也过不了街。 |
| (A: Wǒ zài rénxínghéngdào zhè biān, yīzhí zài děng hónglǜdēng, zěnme yěguò bu le jiē.) |
| B:你跟着人流走啊，有人过你就过。 |
| (B: Nǐ gēn zhù rén liú zǒu a, yǒurénguò nǐ jiùguò.) |
| A:可是他们都不看红绿灯啊。 |
| (A: Kěshì tāmen dōu bù kàn hónglǜdēng a.) |
| B:看什么红绿灯，没车了就过。 |
| (B: Kàn shénme hónglǜdēng, méi chēle jiùguò.) |
| A:好多车都堵在十字路口了，它们也不让行人，能动的时候就横冲直撞的，我太害怕了。 |
| (A: Hǎoduō chē dōu dǔ zài shízìlù kǒule, tāmen yě bù ràng xíngrén, néngdòng de shíhou jiù héngchōngzhízhuàng de, wǒ tài hàipàle.) |
| B:那... 你往右边走十分钟，有一个过街天桥。 |
| (B: Nà... Nǐ wǎng yòubiān zǒu shí fēnzhōng, yǒu yīgè guòjiētiānqiáo.) |
| Becky: Now. Let’s hear with English translation. |
| A:喂，你快来帮帮我，我过不去马路了。 |
| (A: Wèi, nǐ kuài lái bāng bāng wǒ, wǒ guòbuqù mǎlùle.) |
| A: Hey, come help me, I can't cross the road. |
| B:怎么回事？你在哪儿呢？ |
| (B: Zěnme huí shì? Nǐ zài nǎ'er ne?) |
| B: What happened? Where are you? |
| A:我在人行横道这边，一直在等红绿灯，怎么也过不了街。 |
| (A: Wǒ zài rénxínghéngdào zhè biān, yīzhí zài děng hónglǜdēng, zěnme yěguò bu le jiē.) |
| A: I am at the crosswalk, I've been waiting for the traffic light to turn green, but I just can't cross. |
| B:你跟着人流走啊，有人过你就过。 |
| (B: Nǐ gēn zhù rén liú zǒu a, yǒurénguò nǐ jiùguò.) |
| B: Just follow the crowd, cross when others are crossing. |
| A:可是他们都不看红绿灯啊。 |
| (A: Kěshì tāmen dōu bù kàn hónglǜdēng a.) |
| A: But they don't care about the green light. |
| B:看什么红绿灯，没车了就过。 |
| (B: Kàn shénme hónglǜdēng, méi chēle jiùguò.) |
| B: Forget about the traffic lights, just cross when there is no car. |
| A:好多车都堵在十字路口了，它们也不让行人，能动的时候就横冲直撞的，我太害怕了。 |
| (A: Hǎoduō chē dōu dǔ zài shízìlù kǒule, tāmen yě bù ràng xíngrén, néngdòng de shíhou jiù héngchōngzhízhuàng de, wǒ tài hàipàle.) |
| A: There're a lot of cars at the intersection, and they don't let the pedestrians cross, just start driving whenever, I am too scared. |
| B:那... 你往右边走十分钟，有一个过街天桥。 |
| (B: Nà... Nǐ wǎng yòubiān zǒu shí fēnzhōng, yǒu yīgè guòjiētiānqiáo.) |
| B: Then...walk ten minutes to the right, there is an overhead crossing bridge. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Hey Chloe, sounds like crossing the road in China is not so easy. |
| Chloe: 我觉得有点夸张，不过在中国过马路确实要小心，不然很容易出事故。(Wǒ juédé yǒudiǎn kuāzhāng, bùguò zài zhōngguóguò mǎlù quèshí yào xiǎoxīn, bùrán hěn róngyì chū shìgù.) |
| Becky: I heard that traffic isn't only a headache for car drivers but also for cyclists and pedestrians. What's the traffic like in China? |
| Chloe: 我个人感觉城市里的交通还是有点乱。有的人会直接翻过护栏或者路中间的绿化带抄近路过街，也有不走人行道的人。(Wǒ gèrén gǎnjué chéngshì lǐ de jiāotōng háishì yǒudiǎn luàn. Yǒu de rén huì zhíjiē fānguò hùlán huòzhě lù zhōngjiān de lǜhuà dài chāojìn lùguò jiē, yěyǒu bù zǒu rénxíngdào de rén.) |
| Becky: Oh, that’s dangerous! What about the cars? Do they follow the traffic rules? |
| Chloe: 大多数司机还是比较遵守交通规则的，但是他们不太会给行人让路，一般都是行人给他们让路。所以过街的时候要特别小心，别跟车抢，宁愿多等几分钟都行。(Dà duōshù sījī háishì bǐjiào zūnshǒu jiāotōng guīzé de, dànshì tāmen bù tài huì gěi xíngrén rànglù, yībān dōu shì xíngrén gěi tāmen rànglù. Suǒyǐ guòjiē de shíhòu yào tèbié xiǎoxīn, bié gēn chē qiǎng, nìngyuàn duō děng jǐ fēnzhōng dōu xíng.) |
| Becky: Any other tips for foreign visitors? |
| Chloe: 外国朋友一般都不太熟悉中国的交通，所以在过街的时候可以看看你周围的人是怎么做的，要多注意各个方向的车辆。另外，最好能跟着咱们过街的大部队走，这样比较安全。(Wàiguó péngyǒu yībān dōu bù tài shúxī zhōngguó de jiāotōng, suǒyǐ zài guòjiē de shíhòu kěyǐ kàn kàn nǐ zhōuwéi de rén shì zěnme zuò de, yào duō zhùyì gège fāngxiàng de chēliàng. Lìngwài, zuì hǎo néng gēnzhe zánmen guòjiē de dà bùduì zǒu, zhèyàng bǐjiào ānquán.) |
| Becky: Listeners, here are some tips for crossing safely. Look both directions, don’t try to beat the cars if they don’t slow down and try to follow large groups of people. Good luck! Okay now let’s move on to the vocab. Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: The first word we shall see is... |
| Chloe: 十字路口 (shízì lùkǒu) |
| Becky: Intersection. |
| Chloe: 十字路口 (shízì lùkǒu) |
| Becky: Next |
| Chloe: 过马路 (guò mǎlù) |
| Becky: To go across the road. |
| Chloe: 过马路 (guò mǎlù) |
| Becky: Next |
| Chloe: 过街 (guòjiē) |
| Becky: To go across the street. |
| Chloe: 过街 (guòjiē) |
| Becky: Next |
| Chloe: 人行横道 (rénxínghéngdào) |
| Becky: Crosswalk. |
| Chloe: 人行横道 (rénxínghéngdào) |
| Becky: Next |
| Chloe: 红绿灯 (hónglǜdēng) |
| Becky: Traffic light. |
| Chloe: 红绿灯 (hónglǜdēng) |
| Becky: Next |
| Chloe: 跟着 (gēn zhe) |
| Becky: To follow. |
| Chloe: 跟着 (gēn zhe) |
| Becky: Next |
| Chloe: 十字路口 (shízì lùkǒu) |
| Becky: Crossroads. |
| Chloe: 十字路口 (shízì lùkǒu) |
| Becky: Next |
| Chloe: 行人 (xíngrén) |
| Becky: Pedestrian. |
| Chloe: 行人 (xíngrén) |
| Becky: Next |
| Chloe: 横冲直撞 (héngchōngzhízhuàng) |
| Becky: To barge about. |
| Chloe: 横冲直撞 (héngchōngzhízhuàng) |
| Becky: And last |
| Chloe: 害怕 (hàipà) |
| Becky: To be scared, fear. |
| Chloe: 害怕 (hàipà) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Becky: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Chloe: 我们的第一个重点词汇是“过”。“过”是一个动词。(Wǒmen de dì yīgè zhòngdiǎn cíhuì shì “guò”.“Guò” shì yī gè dòngcí.) |
| Becky: This word means “to cross.” |
| Chloe: 我们通常把“过”这个词和街道，河流之类的词放在一起使用。比如说，过河 (Wǒmen tōngcháng bǎ “guò” zhège cí hé jiēdào, héliú zhī lèi de cí fàng zài yīqǐ shǐyòng. Bǐrú shuō,guò hé) |
| Becky: "To cross a river" |
| Chloe: 我们要从这个村庄过 (Wǒmen yào cóng zhège cūnzhuāngguò) |
| Becky: "We'll be passing through this village." So when we want to say that we pass through a place, we can use this word. |
| Chloe: 你说的没错。当“过”作动词的时候，它还有另外一个常用的意思，表示度过时间。(Nǐ shuō de méi cuò. Dāng “guò” zuò dòngcí de shíhòu, tā hái yǒu lìngwài yīgè chángyòng de yìsi, biǎoshì dùguò shíjiān.) |
| Becky: When it's a verb, it can also mean “to spend time” or “to pass.” |
| Chloe: 我们来看两个例句。 第一个， 假期过得怎么样？(Wǒmen lái kàn liǎng gè lìjù. Dì yī gè, jiàqīguò dé zěnme yàng?) |
| Becky: "How did you spend your holiday?" |
| Chloe: 这个句型非常实用，我们平时聊天的时候经常会用到它。大家可以把它记下来。再来看下一个例句，已经过了两个月还是没有他的消息。(Zhège jù xíng fēicháng shíyòng, wǒmen píngshí liáotiān de shíhòu jīngcháng huì yòng dào tā. Dàjiā kěyǐ bǎ tā jì xiàlái. Zàilái kàn xià yīgè lìjù, yǐjīngguòle liǎng gè yuè háishì méiyǒu tā de xiāoxī.) |
| Becky: "Two months have passed and I've still heard nothing from him." Okay, our next word is… |
| Chloe: 下一个要学习的词是害怕。害怕也是很常见的动词。(Xià yīgè yào xuéxí de cí shì hàipà. Hàipà yěshì hěn chángjiàn de dòngcí.) |
| Becky: Yeah, it means “to fear” or “to be afraid,” right? |
| Chloe: 没错。害怕是一个及物动词，也就是说你害怕什么，就把相应的名词直接放到它后面就行了。我们来看几个例子。我很害怕打雷。(Méi cuò. Hàipà shì yīgè jí wù dòngcí, yě jiùshì shuō nǐ hàipà shénme, jiù bǎ xiāngyìng de míngcí zhíjiē fàng dào tā hòumiàn jiùxíngle. Wǒmen lái kàn jǐ gè lìzi. Wǒ hěn hàipà dǎléi.) |
| Becky: "I’m intensely afraid of thunder." |
| Chloe: 她虽然很害怕，但表面上依然镇定。(Tā suīrán hěn hàipà, dàn biǎomiàn shàng yīrán zhèndìng.) |
| Becky: "Though badly frightened, she remained outwardly calm." |
| Chloe: 好，最后一个例子。他是个害怕被别人取笑的人。(Hǎo, zuìhòu yīgè lìzi. Tā shìgè hàipà bèi biérén qǔxiào de rén.) |
| Becky: He is a man who fears being made fun of. Listeners, if you want to say you are afraid of something, just put the noun directly after this verb and that’s it. Okay now on to the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you will learn about |
| Chloe: 这节课我们要学习的是一个常用的表达，“怎么也”。它通常用来表示你想尽了办法去做某件事，结果还是得不到想要的结果。(Zhè jié kè wǒmen yào xuéxí de shì yīgè chángyòng de biǎodá,“zěnme yě”. Tā tōngcháng yòng lái biǎoshì nǐ xiǎng jǐnle bànfǎ qù zuò mǒu jiàn shì, jiéguǒ háishì dé bù dào xiǎng yào de jiéguǒ.) |
| Becky: This expression means you've tried everything you can, but you still fail or can't do something. Is it the same as “not,” “never,” or “anyhow” in English? |
| Chloe: 对，其实它们的作用很类似，意思也很相近。在中文语法里边儿，怎么也一般在句子里作状语，也就是说它是用来修饰我们的谓语动词的。它的用法也比较固定。(Duì, qíshí tāmen de zuòyòng hěn lèisì, yìsi yě hěn xiāngjìn. Zài zhōngwén yǔfǎ lǐbian er, zěnme yě yībān zài jùzi lǐ zuò zhuàngyǔ, yě jiùshì shuō tā shì yòng lái xiūshì wǒmen de wèiyǔ dòngcí de. Tā de yòngfǎ yě bǐjiào gùdìng.) |
| Becky: So it's actually an adverbial modifier, which is used to describe the predicate. You mentioned it has a pattern, what is it? |
| Chloe: 这个固定的用法就是，“怎么也”一般只能放在否定形式的动词前使用。Becky，你能告诉我什么叫否定形式的动词吗？(Zhège gùdìng de yòngfǎ jiùshì,“zěnme yě” yībān zhǐ néng fàng zài fǒudìng xíngshì de dòngcí qián shǐyòng.Becky, nǐ néng gàosù wǒ shénme jiào fǒudìng xíngshì de dòngcí ma?) |
| Becky: It's a negated verb, a verb in negative form. |
| Chloe: 是的，比如我们听到的对话里面，有一个人说“我怎么也过不了街”，这个“过不了街”就是“过街”这个动词的否定形式。又比如说“说话”这个动词的否定形式是“不说话”。动词的否定形式大家在以前的课里应该已经接触过。(Shì de, bǐrú wǒmen tīng dào de duìhuà li miàn, yǒuyī gèrén shuō “wǒ zěnme yěguò bu le jiē”, zhège “guò bu le jiē” jiùshì “guòjiē” zhège dòngcí de fǒudìng xíngshì. Yòu bǐrú shuō “shuōhuà” zhège dòngcí de fǒudìng xíngshì shì “bù shuōhuà”. Dòngcí de fǒudìng xíngshì dàjiā zài yǐqián de kè lǐ yìng gāi yǐjīng jiēchùguò.) |
| Becky: Yeah, we’ve learned about the form before. |
| Chloe: 在这句话里面，我是主语, the subject, 过不了街是谓语，the predicate, 而修饰过不了街的“怎么也”就是状语，the adverbial.(Zài zhè jù huà li miàn, wǒ shì zhǔyǔ, the subject,guò bu le jiē shì wèiyǔ,the predicate, ér xiūshìguò bu le jiē de “zěnme yě” jiùshì zhuàngyǔ,the adverbial.) |
| Becky: I see. But can you give us more examples to illustrate our grammar point for this lesson? |
| Chloe: 当然没问题。比如说，我怎么也记不起遇到过这样一个人。(Dāngrán méi wèntí. Bǐrú shuō, wǒ zěnme yě jì bù qǐ yù dàoguò zhèyàng yīgè rén.) |
| Becky: "I can't ever remember having come across a man like that." |
| Chloe: 她怎么也缓不过气来 (Tā zěnme yě huǎn bùguò qì lái) |
| Becky: "She couldn’t catch her breath anyhow." |
| Chloe: 再来看几个例子。他好像怎么也提不起兴致来。(Zàilái kàn jǐ gè lìzi. Tā hǎoxiàng zěnme yě tí bù qǐ xìngzhì lái.) |
| Becky: "He didn’t appear to be able to cheer up." |
| Chloe: 我怎么也无法忘记这段可怕的经历。(Wǒ zěnme yě wúfǎ wàngjì zhè duàn kěpà de jīnglì.) |
| Becky: "Having tried as I might, I can’t get such a terrible experience out of my mind." |
| Chloe: 我们劝他们休息，但他们怎么也不听。(Wǒmen quàn tāmen xiūxí, dàn tāmen zěnme yě bù tīng.) |
| Becky: "We advised them to take a rest, but they just wouldn’t listen." |
| Chloe: 好，最后一个例子。别白费力气去追那辆公车了，你怎么也赶不上的。(Hǎo, zuìhòu yīgè lìzi. Bié báifèi lìqì qù zhuī nà liàng gōngchēle, nǐ zěnme yě gǎnbushàng de.) |
| Becky: Don’t bother running after the bus, you will never catch it. Listeners, remember if you want to say that you’ve tried everything in vain, just simply put today’s expression before a verb in negative form and that’s it. |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay that’s all for this lesson. |
| Becky: Listeners, can you understand Chinese TV shows, movies or songs? |
| Chloe: How about friends and loved ones conversations in Chinese? |
| Becky: If you want to know what’s going on, we have a tool to help. |
| Chloe: Line by line audio. Listen to the lesson conversations line by line and learn to understand natural Chinese fast. |
| Becky: It’s simple really. |
| Chloe: With a click of a button, listen to each line of the conversation. |
| Becky: Listen again and again and tune your ear to natural Chinese. |
| Chloe: Rapidly understand natural Chinese with this powerful tool. |
| Becky: Find this feature on the lesson page in the lesson material section at chineseclass101.com. Thanks for listening and we will see you next time. Bye everyone. |
| Chloe: 今天的课就到这里，我们下次见。拜拜！(Jīntiān de kè jiù dào zhèlǐ, wǒmen xià cì jiàn. Bàibài!) |
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