Learn how to use essential social expressions
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| Welcome to Can-Do Chinese by ChineseClass101.com. |
| In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use essential social expressions in Chinese. |
| For example, "Please wait a minute" is |
| 请等一下。(Qǐng děng yíxià.) |
| Lisa Xu is on the train. A fellow passenger drops his wallet as he exits the train. Lisa picks up the wallet and chases after the man. |
| Before you listen to the dialogue, let's preview some of its key components. |
| 请等一下 (qǐng děng yíxià) |
| “Please wait a minute.” |
| 请等一下 |
| 请等一下 |
| 不客气 (bú kèqi) |
| "Don’t mention it" |
| 不客气 |
| 不客气 |
| 谢谢你 (xièxie nǐ) |
| "Thank you" |
| 谢谢你 |
| 谢谢你 |
| 没事儿 (méi shì’r) |
| "It's okay" |
| 没事儿 |
| 没事儿 |
| Listen to the following three short dialogues between Lisa and the man. |
| Ready? |
| Lisa is chasing the man on the platform with the wallet in her hand. |
| 先生，请等一下。 (Xiānsheng, qǐng děng yíxià.) |
| 怎么了？ (Zěnme le?) |
| Lisa hands the man the wallet. |
| 谢谢你。(Xièxie nǐ.) |
| 不客气。 (Bú kèqi.) |
| Lisa turns to board the train, but the doors shut. |
| 不好意思。(Bù hǎo yìsi.) |
| 没事儿。(Méi shì’r.) |
| One more time with the English translation. |
| 先生，请等一下。 (Xiānsheng, qǐng děng yíxià.) |
| "Sir, please wait a minute." |
| 怎么了？ (Zěnme le?) |
| "What's the matter?" |
| 谢谢你。(Xièxie nǐ.) |
| "Thank you." |
| 不客气。 (Bú kèqi.) |
| "Don't mention it." |
| 不好意思。(Bùhǎoyìsi.) |
| "Sorry." |
| 没事儿。(Méi shì’r.) |
| "It's okay." |
| Let’s break down these three conversations. |
| First, do you remember how Lisa Xu says, |
| "Sir, please, wait a minute." |
| 先生，请等一下。 (Xiānsheng, qǐng děng yíxià.) |
| First is 先生 (Xiānsheng), "sir" or "mister." 先生 . 先生。 |
| Note: It can be used alone, such as in this case, or as a polite suffix following a name. |
| Next is 请等一下 (qǐng děng yíxià). "Please wait a moment." 请等一下。 |
| This has three parts. |
| First is, 请 (qǐng), "please." 请 . 请。 |
| Next is 等 (děng), "to wait." 等 . 等. |
| Finally, 一下 (yíxià) meaning something like, "a bit," as in “Please wait a bit.” 一下 . 一下. |
| 一下 is an everyday phrase used with a verb to describe a brief action and often to soften a command or request. |
| In this sentence, 一下 (yíxià) follows 等 (děng), “to wait.” |
| Together, 等一下 (děng yíxià) means "to wait for a bit" or "to wait a moment." 等一下。 |
| All together, 先生，请等一下。(Xiānsheng, qǐng děng yíxià.) "Sir, please wait a moment." |
| 先生，请等一下。(Xiānsheng, qǐng děng yíxià.) |
| Do you remember how the passenger responds by saying, |
| "What's the matter?" |
| 怎么了？ (Zěnme le?) |
| "What's the matter?" |
| 怎么了? (Zěnme le?) . |
| 怎么了？ (Zěnme le?) |
| Note, this is a set phrase that can translate as "What's the matter?" "What's wrong?” “What happened?” It’s used when you don't know what has happened. In this case, the speaker wants to know why he was called. |
| The second part of the conversation takes place after Lisa returns the passenger’s wallet. |
| Do you remember how the passenger says, |
| "Thank you." |
| 谢谢你。(Xièxie nǐ.) |
| This expression has two parts: |
| First is 谢谢 (xièxie), "thanks," or “thank you.” . 谢谢。 |
| Next is 你 (nǐ), "you." 你 . 你。 |
| In most cases, 谢谢 (xièxie) is enough to express gratitude. By following 谢谢 with 你 (nǐ), it expresses a more personal and heartfelt appreciation in a subtle way; however, the meaning doesn't change. |
| All together, 谢谢你 (Xièxie nǐ). "Thank you." |
| 谢谢你。(Xièxie nǐ.) |
| Do you remember how Lisa says, |
| "Don’t mention it." |
| 不客气。 (Bú kèqi.) |
| This expression can be divided into two parts: |
| First is 不 (bù), meaning, "not." 不 . 不。 |
| It is used to negate verbs and adjectives. |
| Pronunciation note: when 不 (bù) is followed by a fourth tone, its tone changes from the fourth tone to the second tone. Listen to the pronunciation again. 不客气 (bú kèqi) |
| Next is 客气 (kèqi), "courteous," more specifically "to treat someone with hospitality and formality." 客气 . 客气。 |
| Together 不客气 (bú kèqi) literally means "no need to be courteous," "no need for the formalities," but often translates as, "Don't mention it," or “You’re welcome.” |
| 不客气。(Bú kèqi.) |
| 不客气 (bú kèqi) is a common response to the phrase 谢谢. |
| After the train doors shut and Lisa misses her train, do you remember how the passenger apologies to Lisa by saying, |
| "Sorry." |
| 不好意思。(Bùhǎoyìsi.) |
| In this case, the expression is used to apologize for causing Lisa inconvenience. |
| Let’s start with 好意思 (hǎo yìsi) literally “good meaning" or "good intention," but together it's a phrase meaning "to feel no shame." 好意思 (hǎo yìsi) |
| First is 好 (hǎo), meaning, “good.” 好 (hǎo) |
| Next is 意思 (yìsi), which means “meaning.” 意思 (yìsi) |
| Together, 好意思 (hǎo yìsi) meaning "to feel no shame." 好意思 (hǎo yìsi) |
| Before the phrase is 不 (bù), meaning, "not." 不 . 不。 |
| All together, 不 好意思 (bùhǎo yìsi), literally, “not feel no shame,” in other words “ashamed” or “embarrassed.” |
| 不 好意思 (bùhǎo yì si) |
| The speaker feels “ashamed” for causing Lisa inconvenience, so the phrase means “sorry,” in this case. |
| Do you remember how Lisa replies, |
| "It's okay." |
| 没事儿。(Méi shì'r.) |
| First is 没 (méi), "not" or "have not." 没 . 没。 |
| Next is 事儿 (shì'r) "matter" or "issue." 事儿 . 事儿。 |
| Together, 没事儿 (méi shì'r) literally means, "no issues," but it translates as, "It's okay." 没事儿 . |
| 没事儿。 |
| 没事儿 (méi shì'r) is a common response to apologies, but it is sometimes used to respond to "thank you," as well. |
| In addition to 不好意思 (bùhǎo yì si), another commonly used expression to say "sorry" is 对不起 (Duìbuqǐ). |
| It consists of 3 characters: |
| 对 (duì) “to face” |
| 不 (bu) "not " |
| 起 (qǐ) literally, "to rise", but "to be able to (do something)," in this case. |
| Together, 对不起 (duìbuqǐ), means something like “unable to face [you],” but it translates as “I’m sorry.” 对不起 (duìbuqǐ). |
| This is a stronger apology than 不好意思 (bùhǎo yì si). Use it when you've done something wrong that you feel strongly about. 对不起 (duìbuqǐ)。 |
| You can use it as a stand alone phrase, or together with longer phrases. |
| In addition to 不客气 (bú kèqi), another common way to respond to "Thank you" is 不用谢 (búyòng xiè)。"You're welcome." 不用谢。 |
| 不用 (búyòng) means, "no need." 不用 |
| And 谢 (xiè) "to thank." 谢 |
| Together, it's 不用谢 (búyòng xiè). Literally, "No need to thank," but translates as "You're welcome." |
| 不用谢 (búyòng xiè) and 不客气 (bú kèqi) are interchangeable. It's up to you which one to use. |
| Let’s look at the expressions once more. |
| Listen and repeat, or speak along with the native speaker. |
| 请等一下。(Qǐng děng yíxià.) |
| “Please wait a minute.” |
| 请等一下。(Qǐng děng yíxià.) |
| 怎么了？ (Zěnme le?) |
| “What’s the matter?” |
| 怎么了？ (Zěnme le?) |
| 谢谢你。(Xièxie nǐ.) |
| “Thank you.” |
| 谢谢你。(Xièxie nǐ.) |
| 不客气。 (Bú kèqi.) |
| “Don’t mention it.” |
| 不客气。 (Bú kèqi.) |
| 不好意思。(Bùhǎoyìsi.) |
| “Sorry.” |
| 不好意思。(Bùhǎoyìsi.) |
| 没事儿。 (Méi shì’r.) |
| “It’s okay.” |
| 没事儿。 (Méi shì’r.) |
| 对不起。(Duìbuqǐ.) |
| “Sorry.” |
| 对不起。(Duìbuqǐ.) |
| Did you notice the last expression the last speaker used? |
| 对不起。(Duìbuqǐ.) |
| "Sorry." |
| You learned about this expression in the cultural insight section. |
| A common response to this expression is |
| -没关系。(Méiguānxi.) “Don’t worry about it.” 没关系。(Méiguānxi.) |
| First is 没(Méi) “to not” or “to not have.” 没。 没。 |
| Next is 关系。(guānxi.) “relationship.”关系。(guānxi.) |
| Together, 没关系 (méiguānxi) literally means, "to not have a relationship," but it translates as, "Don’t worry about it," in this context. 没关系。 |
| Note, you can also use 没关系 (méiguānxi) to respond to someone's apology. |
| You should be aware of this commonly used phrase, but you won’t need it for this lesson. |
| Let's review. |
| Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation. |
| Ready? |
| Do you remember how to say "please"? |
| 请 (qǐng) |
| 请 (qǐng) |
| And how to say “wait”? |
| 等 (děng) |
| 等 (děng) |
| Do you remember how Lisa says, |
| "Please wait a minute." |
| 请等一下。(Qǐng děng yíxià.) |
| 请等一下。(Qǐng děng yíxià.) |
| And how the passenger says, |
| "What's the matter?" |
| 怎么了？ (Zěnme le?) |
| 怎么了？ (Zěnme le?) |
| Do you remember how the passenger says, |
| "Thank you." |
| 谢谢你。(Xièxie nǐ.) |
| 谢谢你。(Xièxie nǐ.) |
| Do you remember how to say |
| "Don't mention it." |
| 不客气。(Bú kèqi.) |
| 不客气。(Bú kèqi.) |
| Do you remember how the passenger says, |
| "Sorry." |
| 不好意思。(Bù hǎo yìsi.) |
| 不好意思。(Bù hǎo yìsi.) |
| Do you remember how Lisa says, |
| "It's okay." |
| 没事儿。(Méi shì’r.) |
| 没事儿。(Méi shì’r.) |
| Let's practice. |
| Imagine you’re Anna Xu , and you receive a popular Chinese candy from your Chinese teacher, Lin Li . |
| Say, "Thank you." |
| Ready? |
| 谢谢你。 (Xièxie nǐ.) |
| 不客气。 (Bú kèqi.) |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| 谢谢你。 (Xièxie nǐ.) |
| 谢谢你。 (Xièxie nǐ.) |
| Let’s try another. |
| Imagine you’re Xianwen Xu , a passenger bumps into you. |
| Respond by saying, "It’s okay." |
| Ready? |
| 不好意思。(Bù hǎo yìsi.) |
| 没事儿。(Méi shì’r.) |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| 没事儿。(Méi shì’r.) |
| 没事儿。(Méi shì’r.) |
| Let’s try one more. |
| Imagine you’re Xianwen Xu , and you see a man drop his wallet. |
| Politely ask him to wait a moment. |
| Ready? |
| 请等一下。(Qǐng děng yíxià.) |
| 怎么了？ (Zěnme le?) |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| 请等一下。(Qǐng děng yíxià.) |
| 请等一下。(Qǐng děng yíxià.) |
| Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can Use Essential Social Expressions unit of this course. |
| Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills. |
| What's next? |
| Show us what you can do. |
| When you're ready, take your assessment. |
| You can take it again and again, so try anytime you like. |
| Our teachers will assess it, and give you your results. |
| Keep practicing — and move on to the next lesson! |
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