Learn about work units and how to give evasive answers
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| DAVID: Welcome to ChineseClass101.com. I'm David. |
| Amber: 大家好，我是安伯。(Dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì ān bó.) |
| DAVID: And the lesson we’ve got for you today is Upper Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 15 – Burning the Candle at both ends in China. |
| Amber: 对，又要加班了！(Duì, yòu yào jiābānle!) |
| DAVID: Right, or you’ve got to work overtime again. |
| Amber: 唔 ………(Wú………) |
| DAVID: So, our dialogue here takes place where, Amber? |
| Amber: 在办公室。(Zài bàngōngshì.) |
| DAVID: Right, it’s in an office and it’s between colleagues. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| DAVID: So they’re speaking casual Mandarin, as always. Let’s listen. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 又加班？(Yòu jiābān?) |
| B: 老板的要求。(Lǎobǎn de yāoqiú.) |
| A: 抗议, 抗议, 你得抗议。(Kàngyì, kàngyì, nǐ děi kàngyì.) |
| B: 你开玩笑吗？(Nǐ kāi wánxiào ma?) |
| A: 中国是社会主义国家，工人第一！(Zhōngguó shì shèhuìzhǔyì guójiā, gōngrén dì yī!) |
| B: 那也看情况，我们是外国公司。(Nà yě kàn qíngkuàng, wǒmen shì wàiguógōngsī.) |
| A: Working overtime again? |
| B: It's at the boss's request. |
| A: Protest, protest, you have to protest. |
| B: Are you kidding? |
| A: China is a socialist country, workers come first! |
| B: That also depends on the situation. We are a foreign company. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| DAVID: So, Amber, in your opinion, in China, do workers come first? |
| Amber: 我觉得不是, 当然不是!(Wǒ juédé bùshì, dāngrán bùshì!) |
| DAVID: Okay, so Amber disagrees with the entire premise of this dialogue. But we do have some interesting vocabulary here. |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| DAVID: So, let’s get to that now. |
| Amber: 加班。(jiābān.) |
| VOCAB LIST |
| DAVID: To work overtime. |
| Amber: 加 班, 加班, 老板。(jiābān, jiābān, lǎobǎn.) |
| DAVID: Boss. |
| Amber: 老 板, 老板, 要求。(lǎobǎn, lǎobǎn, yāoqiú.) |
| DAVID: Requirement. |
| Amber:要 求, 要求, 抗议。(yāoqiú, yāoqiú, kàngyì.) |
| DAVID: To protest. |
| Amber: 抗 议, 抗议, 开玩笑。(kàngyì, kàngyì, kāiwánxiào.) |
| DAVID: To joke around. |
| Amber: 开 玩 笑, 开玩笑, 社会主义。(kāiwánxiào, kāiwánxiào, shèhuìzhǔyì.) |
| DAVID: Socialism. |
| Amber: 社 会 主 义, 社会主义, 工人。(shèhuìzhǔyì, shèhuìzhǔyì, gōngrén.) |
| DAVID: Worker. |
| Amber: 工 人, 工人, 公司。(gōngrén, gōngrén, gōngsī.) |
| DAVID: Company. |
| Amber: 公 司, 公司。(gōngsī, gōngsī.) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| DAVID: Let’s take a closer look at some of these words. Our first word is… |
| Amber: 加班。(Jiābān.) |
| DAVID: To work overtime. |
| Amber: 加班。(Jiābān.) |
| DAVID: Literally means “to add a band”, “add a band”, which is like a shift, I guess. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| DAVID: Right? In the dialogue, we heard someone complaining. |
| Amber: 又加班！(Yòu jiābān!) |
| DAVID: Right. “We have to work overtime again? |
| Amber: 又加班！(Yòu jiābān!) |
| DAVID: Right. |
| Amber: 好无奈。(Hǎo wúnài.) |
| DAVID: Yes, this is also close to a word we’ve taught before that you can use when you’re cheering people on or cheering for sports teams. |
| Amber: 加油！(Jiāyóu!) |
| DAVID: Which is “go”. |
| Amber: 加油！不是加哪个油。(Jiāyóu! Bùshì jiā nǎge yóu.) |
| DAVID: Right. So you’re either “adding the shift” or, in that case, “you’re adding oil”. |
| Amber: 对，差不多。(Duì, chàbùduō.) |
| DAVID: Right. Now, in the dialogue, when the person is told they’ve have to work overtime, their friend says, “You’ve have to protest.” |
| Amber: 对，你要抗议。(Duì, nǐ yào kàngyì.) |
| DAVID: Let’s hear that word for “protest”. |
| Amber: 抗议。(Kàngyì.) |
| DAVID: Right. And he says it not once, but three times. |
| Amber: 对，他特别生气，抗议, 抗议, 你得抗议耶！。(Duì, tā tèbié shēngqì, kàngyì, kàngyì, nǐ dé kàngyì yé!.) |
| DAVID: Right. And, in this case, they’re protesting to their boss. |
| Amber: 没错，他们对老板抗议。(Méi cuò, tāmen duì lǎobǎn kàngyì.) |
| DAVID: They’re protesting to the boss. |
| Amber: 他们对老板抗议。(Tāmen duì lǎobǎn kàngyì.) |
| DAVID: Our next word is one of the more difficult we’ve taught you. It is “socialism”. |
| Amber: 社会主义。(Shèhuì zhǔyì.) |
| DAVID: Which is the word for “society”. |
| Amber: 社会。(Shèhuì.) |
| DAVID: Plus another word that means “idea”. |
| Amber: 主义, 关于社会的主义。(Zhǔyì, guānyú shèhuì de zhǔyì.) |
| DAVID: “The ism of society”. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| DAVID: Right. You’re going to hear a lot of words with this 主义. (Zhǔyì.) |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| DAVID: For instance, “capitalism”. |
| Amber: 资本主义。(Zīběn zhǔyì.) |
| DAVID: Or “Marxism”. |
| Amber: 马克思主义。(Mǎkèsī zhǔyì.) |
| DAVID: Right. In our dialogue though, it’s “socialism”. |
| Amber: 社会主义。(Shèhuì zhǔyì.) |
| DAVID: The next word we want to highlight is the word for “worker”. |
| Amber: 工人。(Gōngrén.) |
| DAVID: Yeah. This is a somewhat formal word. |
| Amber: 沒錯。(Méicuò.) |
| DAVID: I mean, it’s almost, it’s a Marxist word, it’s an economic word. |
| Amber: 唔，对，有点比较专业，比较正式的一种说法。(Wú, duì, yǒudiǎn bǐjiào zhuānyè, bǐjiào zhèngshì de yī zhǒng shuōfǎ.) |
| DAVID: Yeah. If you go to a restaurant, you’re not going to call the staff 工人.(Gōngrén.) |
| Amber: 对，没错。(Duì, méi cuò.) |
| DAVID: Right? |
| Amber: 一般不这么说。(Yībān bù zhème shuō.) |
| DAVID: You would call them what, Amber? |
| Amber: 服务员。(Fúwùyuán.) |
| DAVID: Right. |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| DAVID: Where we see this word is usually in more formal situations. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| DAVID: Right? More political ones where they’re saying, like, in Beijing you have worker’s stadium. |
| Amber: 工人体育场。(Gōngrén tǐyùchǎng.) |
| DAVID: Right. So, it’s more of this Marxist idea of labor as power. It’s a very political word. |
| Amber: 没错，平常在书上或者是电视上听到。(Méi cuò, píngcháng zài shū shàng huòzhě shì diànshì shàng tīng dào.) |
| DAVID: Yes. You’ll hear it on TV, you’ll see it on [*]. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| DAVID: So, that’s our vocab for today. In our grammar point, today, we want to talk about answering evasively. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| M2: It’s grammar time! |
| DAVID: In our grammar point today, we want to talk about giving evasive answers. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| DAVID: Right? We already know how to answer yes and no, right? In Chinese, we learned that you do this either repeating the verb in the affirmative or the negative. |
| Amber: 没错, 如果有人问 你抗议吗？(Méi cuò, rúguǒ yǒurén wèn nǐ kàngyì ma?) |
| DAVID: Right. Do you protest this, do you disagree with this? |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| DAVID: You can answer affirmatively – |
| Amber: 唔， 抗议。(Wú, kàngyì.) |
| DAVID: Or you can tell them, “I don’t have a problem with it.” |
| Amber: 我不抗议。(Wǒ bù kàngyì.) |
| DAVID: Right. But there are some situations, like working overtime, where it’s not clear… |
| Amber: 唔，大多数时候是这样。(Wú, dà duōshù shíhòu shì zhèyàng.) |
| DAVID: Yeah, most of the time you disagree, but sometimes, maybe, it’s okay. And what we want to talk about today is how Chinese people give evasive answers. |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| DAVID: Right? So there are a couple of words we already know. For instance, you could answer “maybe”. |
| Amber: 可能。(Kěnéng.) |
| DAVID: Maybe. |
| Amber: 可能。(Kěnéng.) |
| DAVID: Right. And if you wanted to specify the verb, you’d stick the verb after. |
| Amber: 对, 比如说 我可能抗议。(Duì, bǐrú shuō wǒ kěnéng kàngyì.) |
| DAVID: I might protest. |
| Amber: 我可能抗议。(Wǒ kěnéng kàngyì.) |
| DAVID: Right. “I might disagree.” |
| Amber: 就是 …… 还不确定。(Jiùshì…… hái bù quèdìng.) |
| DAVID: Yeah, you’re not sure yet. “Maybe, I need to think about this.” |
| Amber: 没错，唔。(Méi cuò, wú.) |
| DAVID: Right? You can also say yes in a less committed way by saying “can”. |
| Amber: 我可以抗议。(Wǒ kěyǐ kàngyì.) |
| DAVID: I can protest. |
| Amber: 我可以抗议, 就是如果你让我抗议。(Wǒ kěyǐ kàngyì, jiùshì rúguǒ nǐ ràng wǒ kàngyì.) |
| DAVID: Right. Like, “if you’re going to ……….. you’re going to do it.” Then, you know, I'm not going to do this alone. |
| Amber: Ah ….. 对，就是我可以抗议 (Duì, jiùshì wǒ kěyǐ kàngyì) |
| DAVID: Yeah. I'm not going to be the ring leading 工人 (Gōngrén) on this one. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| DAVID: Okay. So, those are two really easy ways to give an evasive answer. |
| Amber: 唔，可能，可以。(Wú, kěnéng, kěyǐ.) |
| DAVID: In our dialogue, we see a third. |
| Amber: 看情况。(Kàn qíngkuàng.) |
| DAVID: To look at the situation. |
| Amber: 对，看情况。(Duì, kàn qíngkuàng.) |
| DAVID: It literally means “I'm going to wait and see.” |
| Amber: 对，我要等等看。 (Duì, wǒ yào děng děng kàn.) |
| DAVID: Yes, “I want to wait and see.” However, this is a set phrase. |
| Amber: 看情况。(Kàn qíngkuàng.) |
| DAVID: In the dialogue, we heard it in this line – |
| Amber: 那也看情况， 我们是外国公司。(Nà yě kàn qíngkuàng, wǒmen shì wàiguó gōngsī.) |
| DAVID: That depends on the situation or a foreign company. |
| Amber: 唔，对，那也看情况， 我们是外国公司。(Wú, duì, nà yě kàn qíngkuàng, wǒmen shì wàiguó gōngsī.) |
| DAVID: Right, which is interesting because he’s not explaining, right? He’s saying, “Well, it depends on the situation. Maybe they don’t usually get us to work overtime.” |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| DAVID: Or maybe he’s saying, “It’s a bit better here than in the Chinese companies, still.” |
| Amber: 没错, 不太确定。(Méi cuò, bù tài quèdìng.) |
| DAVID: Yeah, he’s going to wait. I mean, if this happens all the time, you bet he’s going to protest. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| DAVID: Okay, so, let’s practice using this in a couple of situations. Amber, can you give us some questions to which we can practice “maybe protesting”, “maybe not”. |
| Amber: 好吧！唔 ....... 例如说 你今天加班吗？(Hǎo ba! Wú....... Lìrú shuō nǐ jīntiān jiābān ma?) |
| DAVID: Are you working overtime today? |
| Amber: 你可以说 看情况。(Nǐ kěyǐ shuō kàn qíngkuàng.) |
| DAVID: That depends on the situation. |
| Amber: 对, 可能老板心情好。(Duì, kěnéng lǎobǎn xīnqíng hǎo.) |
| DAVID: Right, depends on the boss. Maybe it depends if you can get your work done. |
| Amber: 沒錯, 唔。(Méicuò, wú.) |
| DAVID: Right? Another question to which you can use this answer is “Will you take a break this weekend?” |
| Amber: 你这周末休息吗？(Nǐ zhè zhōumò xiūxí ma?) |
| DAVID: Will you take a break this weekend? |
| Amber: 你这周末休息吗？你可以说 看情况。(Nǐ zhè zhōumò xiūxí ma? Nǐ kěyǐ shuō kàn qíngkuàng.) |
| DAVID: It depends on the situation. |
| Amber: 唔，看情况, 如果没有事情做的话。(Wú, kàn qíngkuàng, rúguǒ méiyǒu shìqíng zuò dehuà.) |
| DAVID: Right. “If there’s nothing to do, I'm going to take a break.” |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| DAVID: Okay, Amber, a question for you before we continue. We’ve got these two phrases now. We’ve got 看情况.(Kàn qíngkuàng.) |
| Amber: 看情况。(Kàn qíngkuàng.) |
| DAVID: And we have 那也看情况。(Nà yě kàn qíngkuàng.) |
| Amber: 对，在对话里就是这样。(Duì, zài duìhuà li jiùshì zhèyàng.) |
| DAVID: Right. Why do you, Chinese people, add these extra two characters? |
| Amber: Uhmm, 有 “也” 可能就会客气一点。(Yǒu “yě” kěnéng jiù huì kèqì yīdiǎn.) |
| DAVID: Okay, that’s right. The five character phrase, it’s a bit softer. |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| DAVID: And you’re sort of implying, “I agree with you.” |
| Amber: 对，就是我不是说我反对你。(Duì, jiùshì wǒ bùshì shuō wǒ fǎnduì nǐ.) |
| DAVID: I don’t… 看情况 (Kàn qíngkuàng) is very… we’re going to take a look and see. |
| Amber: Yeah, right. |
| DAVID: 那也看情况 (Nà yě kàn qíngkuàng) means “I kind of agree with you but I don’t want to commit yet.” |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| DAVID: Okay? One more example sentence. Your friends might ask you, “Is your boss good to you?” |
| Amber: 你的老板对你好不好？(Nǐ de lǎobǎn duì nǐ hǎobù hǎo?) |
| DAVID: Is your boss good to you? |
| Amber: 你的老板对你好不好？(Nǐ de lǎobǎn duì nǐ hǎobù hǎo?) |
| DAVID: Or maybe “Do you like your job?” |
| Amber: 你喜欢你的工作吗？(Nǐ xǐ huān nǐ de gōngzuò ma?) |
| DAVID: Do you like your job? |
| Amber: 你喜欢你的工作吗？(Nǐ xǐ huān nǐ de gōngzuò ma?)] |
| DAVID: In both of those situations, you can answer… |
| Amber: 看情况。(Kàn qíngkuàng.) |
| DAVID: Or… |
| Amber: 那也看情况。(Nà yě kàn qíngkuàng.) |
| DAVID: Right. It depends what I'm doing that day. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| DAVID: Okay? So, in this lesson we’ve covered a couple of ways to be vague and non-committal. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| DAVID: Ranging from… |
| Amber: 可能。(Kěnéng.) |
| DAVID: To… |
| Amber: 可以。(Kěyǐ.) |
| DAVID: And then to… |
| Amber: 看情况。(Kàn qíngkuàng.) |
| DAVID: And… |
| Amber: 那也看情况。(Nà yě kàn qíngkuàng.) |
| DAVID: Use these to provide vague and non-committal answers to your friends. |
| Amber: 没错, 非常有用。(Méi cuò, fēicháng yǒuyòng..) |
| DAVID: Yes, really useful. |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| DAVID: Something else that is really useful too, if you have not checked, are our premium transcripts. These are available for download right on ChineseClass101.com. They’ve got copies of the dialogue, they’ve got copies of the vocab, the grammar points written out. Makes it really easy to review this stuff. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
Outro |
| DAVID: And you will learn twice as fast if you’re looking at it while you’re listening to our shows. For now though that is all the time we have. From Beijing, I'm David. |
| Amber: 我是安伯。(Wǒ shì ān bó) |
| DAVID: Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you on the site. |
| Amber: 下次见吧！(Xià cì jiàn ba!) |
Comments
Hide