Learn about usage of the word kou, or "mouth," particularly as a measurement of time passing quickly
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome to chineseclass101.com. I am David. |
| Echo: Hi, 大家好，我是Echo. (Dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì Echo.) |
| David: Intermediate season 2, lesson 2. Is Your Landlord Driving a Hard Bargain in China? |
| Echo: 第二课 (Dì èr kè) |
| David: Right. Another look by Echo at the… |
| Echo: 这是我的现实生活。(Zhè shì wǒ de xiànshí shēnghuó.) |
| David: A depressing state of the rental market. |
| Echo: 对，今天我们的对话里呢是有一个房客再给他的房东打电话。(Duì, jīntiān wǒmen de duìhuà li ne shì yǒu yīgè fángkè zài gěi tā de fángdōng dǎ diànhuà) |
| David: Yes and it’s a disappointed conversation. |
| Echo: 嗯，对，他发现了一些他不想接受的情况。(Duì, jīntiān wǒmen de duìhuà li ne shì yǒu yīgè fángkè zài gěi tā de fángdōng dǎ diànhuà.) |
| David: Somebody wants more money. So this is casual Mandarin. As always, let’s get to the dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A:喂，房东吗？我是您的房客。我想续租您的房子。 |
| (A: Wéi, fángdōng ma? Wǒ shì nín de fángkè. Wǒ xiǎng xùzū nín de fángzi.) |
| B:续租没问题，但是明年的房租要翻一番。 |
| (B: Xùzū méi wèntí, dànshì míngnián de fángzū yào fānyīfān.) |
| A:又涨房租？您已经多收了我一个月的押金了。 |
| (A: Yòu zhǎng fángzū? Nín yǐjīng duō shōu le wǒ yī ge yuè de yājīn le.) |
| B:我这个地理位置，又是家电齐全的正规两居室，根本找不到现在这个价格了。 |
| (B: Wǒ zhège dìlǐ wèizhì, yòu shì jiādiàn qíquán de zhèngguī liǎngjūshì, gēnběn zhǎobùdào xiànzài zhège jiàgé le.) |
| A:那您看能不能少涨一点儿？ |
| (A: Nà nín kàn néng bù néng shǎo zhǎng yīdiǎnr?) |
| B:一口价，6000一个月，不租拉倒。 |
| (B: Yīkǒujià, liùqiān yī gè yuè, bù zū lādǎo.) |
| David: Once more, a little bit slower. |
| A:喂，房东吗？我是您的房客。我想续租您的房子。 |
| (A: Wéi, fángdōng ma? Wǒ shì nín de fángkè. Wǒ xiǎng xùzū nín de fángzi.) |
| B:续租没问题，但是明年的房租要翻一番。 |
| (B: Xùzū méi wèntí, dànshì míngnián de fángzū yào fānyīfān.) |
| A:又涨房租？您已经多收了我一个月的押金了。 |
| (A: Yòu zhǎng fángzū? Nín yǐjīng duō shōu le wǒ yī ge yuè de yājīn le.) |
| B:我这个地理位置，又是家电齐全的正规两居室，根本找不到现在这个价格了。 |
| (B: Wǒ zhège dìlǐ wèizhì, yòu shì jiādiàn qíquán de zhèngguī liǎngjūshì, gēnběn zhǎobùdào xiànzài zhège jiàgé le.) |
| A:那您看能不能少涨一点儿？ |
| (A: Nà nín kàn néng bù néng shǎo zhǎng yīdiǎnr?) |
| B:一口价，6000一个月，不租拉倒。 |
| (B: Yīkǒujià, liùqiān yī gè yuè, bù zū lādǎo.) |
| David: And now, with English translation. |
| A:喂，房东吗？我是您的房客。我想续租您的房子。 |
| (A: Wéi, fángdōng ma? Wǒ shì nín de fángkè. Wǒ xiǎng xùzū nín de fángzi.) |
| A: Hello, landlord? I'm your tenant, and I would like to continue to rent your apartment. |
| B:续租没问题，但是明年的房租要翻一番。 |
| B: Continuing to rent isn't a problem, but the rent for next year will be double. |
| A:又涨房租？您已经多收了我一个月的押金了。 |
| (A: Yòu zhǎng fángzū? Nín yǐjīng duō shōu le wǒ yī ge yuè de yājīn le.) |
| A: You want to increase the rent again? You already took one more month's deposit from me. |
| B:我这个地理位置，又是家电齐全的正规两居室，根本找不到现在这个价格了。 |
| (B: Wǒ zhège dìlǐ wèizhì, yòu shì jiādiàn qíquán de zhèngguī liǎngjūshì, gēnběn zhǎobùdào xiànzài zhège jiàgé le.) |
| B: In this location, you won't find any standard furnished two bedroom apartments like mine at this price. |
| A:那您看能不能少涨一点儿？ |
| (A: Nà nín kàn néng bù néng shǎo zhǎng yīdiǎnr?) |
| A: Then can you increase a bit less? |
| B:一口价，6000一个月，不租拉倒。 |
| (B: Yīkǒujià, liùqiān yī gè yuè, bù zū lādǎo.) |
| B: Fixed price, six-thousand a month. Walk away if you don't want to rent it. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: For Beijing, that’s not actually a bad practice. |
| Echo:嗯，那你要看它在哪，也可能在通州。(Ń, nà nǐ yào kàn tā zài nǎ, yě kěnéng zài tōngzhōu.) |
| David: Oh Beijing 通州 (Tōngzhōu) yes. Umm anyway yeah so, I think his mistake was telling landlord he wanted to continue to rent him. Right? |
| Echo: 对，我们给大家一个建议:如果你想续租，你先不要告诉房东你要续租。(Duì, wǒmen gěi dàjiā yì gè jiànyì: Rúguǒ nǐ xiǎng xù zū, nǐ xiān bùyào gàosù fángdōng nǐ yào xù zū.) |
| David: Yeah and he is telling him, you are thinking about moving to Tongzhou or wherever. Anyway… |
| Echo: 除非你现在正在通州。(Chúfēi nǐ xiànzài zhèngzài tōngzhōu.) |
| David: Yes, Beijing Tongzhou right? Anyway, yeah let’s get to our vocab which is all about apartment rentals. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Echo: 房东 (fángdōng) |
| David: Landlord. |
| Echo: 房客 (fángkè) |
| David: Tennant. |
| Echo: 续租 (xùzū) |
| David: To continue to rent. |
| Echo: 翻一番 (fān yī fān) |
| David: To double. |
| Echo: 押金 (yājīn) |
| David: Deposit. |
| Echo: 家电 (jiādiàn) |
| David: Home appliances. |
| Echo: 齐全 (qíquán) |
| David: Complete. |
| Echo: 正规 (zhèngguī) |
| David: Standard. |
| Echo: 一口价 (yī kǒu jià) |
| David: Fixed price. |
| Echo: 拉倒 (lādǎo) |
| David: Leave it at that. |
| Echo: 拉倒 (lādǎo) |
| David: Let’s take a look at some of this vocab starting at the back. We have this great expression. |
| Echo: 嗯，你就喜欢的“拉倒”。(Ń, nǐ jiù xǐhuān de “lādǎo”.) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Right which means forget it. |
| Echo: 算了，但是比“算了”更、更不客气一点。(Suànle, dànshì bǐ “suànle” gèng, gèng bù kèqì yīdiǎn.) |
| David: Yeah. It’s a bit ruder. It’s not totally rude though. |
| Echo: No, no… |
| David: Right. It’s maybe just a bit dismissive. |
| Echo: 对对对，就是很不在乎这种的，就是觉得那你就走吧。(Duì duì duì, jiùshì hěn bùzàihū zhè zhǒng de, jiùshì juédé nà nǐ jiù zǒu ba.) |
| David: So how would you use it Echo? |
| Echo: 嗯，很多时候你都可以用这个词“拉倒”，比如说像在我们的这个对话里面，这个房东说“你不租拉倒。” (Ń, hěnduō shíhòu nǐ dōu kěyǐ yòng zhège cí “lādǎo”, bǐrú shuō xiàng zài wǒmen de zhège duìhuà li miàn, zhège fángdōng shuō “nǐ bù zū lādǎo.”) |
| David: Yeah. If you are not going to rent, then 拉倒 |
| Echo: 或者你和一个朋友就是比如说明天去吃饭，然后一直都约不好这个时间，他可能有各种理由，然后你最后生气了说“不去拉倒。” (Huòzhě nǐ hé yīgè péngyǒu jiùshì bǐrú shuōmíng tiān qù chīfàn, ránhòu yīzhí dōu yuē bù hǎo zhège shíjiān, tā kěnéng yǒu gè zhǒng lǐyóu, ránhòu nǐ zuìhòu shēngqìle shuō “bù qù lādǎo.”) |
| David: Yeah. |
| Echo: 你不想去算了。(Nǐ bùxiǎng qù suànle.) |
| David: If you are not going to go, I am not going to worry about it, forget about it. Off the table. |
| Echo: 嗯。或者有的时候你可以就是买东西和别人讨价还价的时候。(Ń. Huòzhě yǒu de shíhòu nǐ kěyǐ jiùshì mǎi dōngxī hé biérén tǎojiàhuánjià de shíhòu.) |
| David: Yeah. |
| Echo: 然后如果这个买东西的人 (Ránhòu rúguǒ zhège mǎi dōngxī de rén) |
| David: Yeah if they are not going to lower the price, you can say, if you are not going to sell it, then forget about it. |
| Echo: 然后你可以说“不卖拉倒。” (Ránhòu nǐ kěyǐ shuō “bù mài lādǎo.”) |
| David: Yeah. |
| Echo: 我走了。(Wǒ zǒule.) |
| David: Right so… |
| Echo: 一般情况下他们会把你叫回来的。(Yībān qíngkuàng xià tāmen huì bǎ nǐ jiào huílái de.) |
| David: Yeah it’s a nice one because when you know it, you will hear it but unless you’ve run into it, you are not going to make that connection. |
| Echo: 对，记住这个词。(Duì, jì zhù zhège cí.) |
| David: So yes. |
| Echo: 拉倒 (Lādǎo) |
| David: Next we have the word already. |
| Echo: 齐全 (Qíquán) |
| David: Which is…. |
| Echo: 这个词非常好 (Zhège cí fēicháng hǎo) |
| David: Yeah it’s used for apartments and furnishings. |
| Echo: 对，比如说“家电齐全”，或者“家具齐全”。(Duì, bǐrú shuō “jiādiàn qíquán”, huòzhě “jiājù qíquán”.) |
| David: Right which is does it have all of the appliances or the furniture that it should have. |
| Echo: 或者在，更普遍的我们可能会说“设备齐全”。(Huòzhě zài, gèng pǔbiàn de wǒmen kěnéng huì shuō “shèbèi qíquán”.) |
| David: So the factory has |
| Echo: 设备，设备齐全。(Shèbèi, shèbèi qíquán.) |
| David: Yeah it comes with all of the equipment that’s needed. |
| Echo: 对。(Duì.) |
| David: Right. The next word we want to highlight is this phrase meaning to double. |
| Echo: 翻一番 (Fān yī fān) |
| David: Note that the characters, this is our two Fan |
| Echo: 但是在这个地方第一个“翻”是动词，表示“flap”, 第二个”番“是一个”measure word”. 比如说“他做了一番的努力”，“一番努力”。(Dànshì zài zhège dìfāng dì yīgè “fān” shì dòngcí, biǎoshì “flap”, dì èr gè” fān “shì yī gè”measure word”. Bǐrú shuō “tā zuòle yī fān de nǔlì”,“yī fān nǔlì”.) |
| David: It means the series or a lot of. |
| Echo: 对。(Duì.) |
| David: Right. So it’s actually its kind of imprecise literally but it means to double. |
| Echo: 对，翻一番。(Duì, fān yī fān.) |
| David: Right. That landlord doubled the rent. |
| Echo: 房东说今年的房价要翻一番。(Fángdōng shuō jīnnián de fángjià yào fān yī fān.) |
| David: That landlord said, this year’s rent is double. |
| Echo: 房东说今年的房价要翻一番。(Fángdōng shuō jīnnián de fángjià yào fān yī fān.) |
| David: We also here have the words for landlord. |
| Echo: 房东 (Fángdōng) |
| David: And tenant. |
| Echo: 房客 (Fángkè) |
| David: Right. |
| Echo: 对，“东”就是“东家”，我们一般说。(Duì,“dōng” jiùshì “dōngjia”, wǒmen yībān shuō.) |
| David: Yeah. |
| Echo: 就是做主人的这个人。(Jiùshì zuò zhǔrén de zhège rén.) |
| David: Yeah but it’s also implying that you are kind of renting something out as opposed to just being the 主 (Zhǔ) which is kind of the owner or master. |
| Echo: 嗯，对。(Ń, duì.) |
| David: Okay anything else to highlight? |
| Echo: 我觉得基本上就是这些。 (Wǒ juédé jīběn shàng jiùshì zhèxiē.) |
| David: Okay. I would highlight the word for deposit though. |
| Echo: 押金 (Yājīn) |
| David: Yeah which is literally it’s kind of pressed money. |
| Echo: “押“就是把什么东西做抵押放在一个地方。(“Yā “jiùshì bǎ shénme dōngxī zuò dǐyā fàng zài yīgè dìfāng.) |
| David: Yeah to place it in some place and in China normally when you rent a place, it’s going to be |
| Echo: 押一付三 (Yā yī fù sān) |
| David: Right. You deposit one and you pay three. |
| Echo: 对，但有的时候也会是”押二付三“。(Duì, dàn yǒu de shíhòu yě huì shì” yā èr fù sān “.) |
| David: Yeah. If it’s a high quality 公寓, (Gōngyù) you might 押二。(Yā èr) |
| Echo: 对，或者是这个中介公司他代理的房子，就是你在租完这个房子以后你不需要跟房东说什么。就是你需要有什么问题就找这个中介公司。(Duì, huòzhě shì zhège zhōngjiè gōngsī tā dàilǐ de fángzi, jiùshì nǐ zài zū wán zhège fáng zǐ yǐhòu nǐ bù xūyào gēn fángdōng shuō shénme. Jiùshì nǐ xūyào yǒu shé me wèntí jiù zhǎo zhège zhōngjiè gōngsī.) |
| David: Yeah. |
| Echo: 这样的情况是”押二付三“。(Zhèyàng de qíngkuàng shì” yā èr fù sān “.) |
| David: Right. Anytime you need to deposit more than two months of rent, something strange is happening. With that though, let’s get to our grammar section. It’s grammar time. Okay our grammar point today is all about mouths. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Echo: 口 (Kǒu) |
| David: Right. |
| Echo: 大家以为我们是在开玩笑，其实我们不是在开玩笑。(Dàjiā yǐwéi wǒmen shì zài kāiwánxiào, qíshí wǒmen bùshì zài kāiwánxiào.) |
| David: No. At this level, you may already have run into it as a measure word. |
| Echo: 比如说”你家有几口人？“ (Bǐrú shuō” nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?“) |
| David: How many people are in your family? |
| Echo: 我家有两口人。(Wǒjiā yǒu liǎngkǒu rén.) |
| David: Or you could say like one family, three mouths. |
| Echo: 一家三口 (Yījiā sānkǒu) |
| David: Right which is a shorthand for telling people how many people are in your family. |
| Echo: 一家三口 (Yījiā sānkǒu) |
| David: Right and that doesn’t include the cat and we see 口 with other kind of low frequency words like a well. A well has… |
| Echo: 一口井 |
| David: Yeah. |
| Echo: 或者一口猪。(Huòzhě yīkǒu zhū.) |
| David: Right. A pig. That being said, what we wanted to talk about today was something a bit tricky that happens with us in our dialogue. |
| Echo: 我们在对话里看到”一口价，6000一个月，不足拉倒。” (Wǒmen zài duìhuà li kàn dào” yīkǒu jià,6000 yīgè yuè, bùzú lādǎo.”) |
| David: Let’s hear the first bit again. |
| Echo: 一口价 (Yīkǒu jià) |
| David: Literally one mouth price. |
| Echo: 就是这个价格是不能改的，不能再讨价还价了。(Jiùshì zhège jiàgé shì bùnéng gǎi de, bùnéng zài tǎojiàhuánjiàle.) |
| David: Yeah. So the point here is we are not actually putting a noun at the front of the sentence. The meaning of 一口 (Yīkǒu)here is more like it’s happening really quickly, it’s happening in a mouthful and then it’s not changing. |
| Echo: 没错，一口价。(Méi cuò, yīkǒu jià.) |
| David: Right. I say the price once, it’s not going to change. |
| Echo: 一口价，不会改了。(Yīkǒu jià, bù huì gǎile.) |
| David: Yeah and this is a second usage that’s more colloquial that we run into a lot. We will also often hear people say things like I did it in a hurry. |
| Echo: 一口气。(Yī kǒuqì.) |
| David: And that’s literally in the time it takes to breathe. |
| Echo: 对，就是没有停的意思，比如说“这个人一口气上了10层楼。” (Duì, jiùshì méiyǒu tíng de yìsi, bǐrú shuō “zhège rén yī kǒuqì shàngle 10 céng lóu.”) |
| David: Right. Kind of in a breath, he ascended 10 floors. |
| Echo: 对，他没有在中间停下来。或者“他一口气把这个人送到了他自己的家”。(Duì, tā méiyǒu zài zhōngjiān tíng xiàlái. Huòzhě “tā yī kǒuqì bǎ zhège rén sòng dàole tā zìjǐ de jiā”.) |
| David: Yeah. I don’t think it makes literal sense but yeah it just means you are not stopping. You are doing it quickly. |
| Echo: 刚才我们看到一般都是三个字的，“一口价”，“一口气”，现在呢我们看一下四个字的，比如说我们经常会听到“一口答应”，比如说“房东提出涨价，这个房客一口答应了下来“。(Gāngcái wǒmen kàn dào yībān dōu shì sān gè zì de,“yīkǒu jià”,“yīkǒuqì”, xiànzài ne wǒmen kàn yīxià sì gè zì de, bǐrú shuō wǒmen jīngcháng huì tīng dào “yīkǒu dā yīng”, bǐrú shuō “fángdōng tíchū zhǎng jià, zhège fángkè yī kǒu dā yīng le xiàlái “.) |
| David: Yes he answered very quickly. |
| Echo: 他同意了，很快的同意了。(Tā tóngyìle, hěn kuài de tóngyìle.) |
| David: Yeah. |
| Echo: 除了”一口答应“，我们还有”一口咬定“，”咬“是咬东西的咬，一口咬定。(Chúle” yīkǒu dā yīng “, wǒmen hái yǒu” yīkǒu yǎodìng “,” yǎo “shì yǎo dōngxī de yǎo, yīkǒu yǎodìng.) |
| David: Yeah and it’s again – it’s nice because it’s the measure word but it’s being used in this interesting way. |
| Echo: 对，就是没有犹豫的。(Duì, jiùshì méiyǒu yóuyù de.) |
| David: Yeah without hesitation, kind of unstintingly you will just go ahead and do it. |
| Echo: 对，比如说在退还押金的时候，房东一口咬定房客破坏了他的屋子。(Duì, bǐrú shuō zài tuìhuán yājīn de shíhòu, fángdōng yīkǒu yǎodìng fángkè pòhuàile tā de wūzi.) |
| David: Right. So when returning the deposit, the landlord in an instance said that the tenant had ruined the apartment. |
| Echo: 对，在退还押金的时候，房东一口咬定房客破坏了他的屋子。(Duì, zài tuìhuán yājīn de shíhòu, fángdōng yīkǒu yǎodìng fángkè pòhuàile tā de wūzi.) |
| David: Yeah and 咬定 (Yǎodìng) here again, you know you are stating something, it’s for sure. So you know, you are kind of coming out from nowhere with a statement that you are considering its 屋子. (Wūzi.) |
| Echo: 嗯，对，但一般你说一口咬定这个地方，就是有点好像你说的不是对的东西，就好像你是很坚持的，但不一定是对的东西。(Ń, duì, dàn yībān nǐ shuō yīkǒu yǎodìng zhège dìfāng, jiùshì yǒudiǎn hǎoxiàng nǐ shuō de bùshì duì de dōngxī, jiù hǎoxiàng nǐ shì hěn jiānchí de, dàn bù yīdìng shì duì de dōngxī.) |
Outro |
| David: Yeah. It’s presumptive. So anyway be aware of this when you see it. Sometimes it’s a measure word seeming like a noun. Sometimes it’s being used to communicate the things that are happening quickly. Okay so with that, that’s the end of our lesson. As always Echo, we do want to remind people of something. |
| Echo: 如果你们还没有用我们的PDF。(Rúguǒ nǐmen hái méiyǒu yòng wǒmen de PDF.) |
| David: Yes you can get them on the site premium learning center |
| Echo: 你可以一口气学十课。(Nǐ kěyǐ yī kǒuqì xué shí kè.) |
| David: Yes what are you waiting for? And if you have any questions, you can email us at contact us at chineseclass101.com |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: From Beijing, I am David. |
| Echo: 我是Echo. (Wǒ shì Echo.) |
| David: Thanks for listening and we will see you on the site. |
| Echo: 我们网上见吧 (Wǒmen wǎngshàng jiàn ba)， Bye bye. |
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