Learn the top three uses of the modal particle 呢
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome to chineseclass101.com. I am David. |
| Echo: Hi, 大家好, 我是 (Dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì) Echo. |
| David: And we are here today with upper intermediate season 1, Lesson 12. Mom Knows Best in China. |
| Echo: 没错，而且不是一般的妈妈，是虎妈。 (Méi cuò, érqiě bùshì yībān de māmā, shì hǔ mā.) |
| David: Yes it’s the tiger mother, famous Chinese Tiger mother. This is from the controversy obviously over the Amy Chua book where she forced her daughter to cry at the piano. |
| Echo: 对，她就一直让她练钢琴, 然后不许看电视什么的。 (Duì, tā jiù yīzhí ràng tā liàn gāngqín, ránhòu bùxǔ kàn diànshì shénme de.) |
| David: Yes and no friends, no sleepovers, that sort of thing. So we’ve got a dialogue that is about habits you can use raising your children. |
| Echo: 唔, 或者是你可以怎么谈论别人教育孩子的方式。 (Wú, huòzhě shì nǐ kěyǐ zěnme tánlùn biérén jiàoyù háizi de fāngshì.) |
| David: Yes passing judgment on your neighbors as well. With that though, let’s go to our dialogue. It takes place in an office between two friends. |
| Echo: 没错。 (Méi cuò.) |
| David: And they are speaking casual Mandarin as always. |
| Echo: 对。 (Duì.) |
| DIALOGUE |
| A 你最近看过一篇叫“虎妈战歌”的文章吗？ (A Nǐ zuìjìn kàn guo yī piān jiào "hǔ mā zhàn gē" de wénzhāng ma?) |
| B 是不是那个亚裔妈妈讲她怎么教育她女儿的事？ (B Shìbùshì nà ge yàyì māma jiǎng tā zěnme jiàoyù tā nǚér de shì? |
| A 没错。她是不是疯了？居然从不让她女儿看电视。 (A Méicuò. Tā shìbùshì fēng le? Jūrán cóngbù ràng tā nǚér kàn diànshì.) |
| B 好像还逼着她女儿练琴，一练就是三个小时。 (B Hǎoxiàng hái bīzhe tā nǚér liàn qín, yī liàn jiùshì sān ge xiǎoshí.) |
| A 不过她还挺骄傲的，认为中国妈妈比西方妈妈更会教育孩子。 (A Búguò tā hái tǐng jiāoào de, rènwéi zhōngguó māma bǐ xīfāng māma gèng huì jiàoyùháizi.) |
| B 据说她可是耶鲁大学的法学教授。 (B Jùshuō tā kěshì yēlǔdàxué de fǎxué jiàoshòu.) |
| A 可网上反对她观点的人一大堆呢。 (A Kě wǎngshàng fǎnduì tā guāndiǎn de rén yīdàduī ne.) |
| B 是呀。真不知道她是怎么想的。 (B Shì ya. Zhēn bù zhīdào tā shì zěnme xiǎng de.) |
| A 你不懂，这叫炒作。我看她比西方妈妈更懂怎么赚钱。 (A Nǐ bù dǒng, zhè jiào chǎozuò. Wǒ kàn tā bǐ xīfāng māma gèng dǒng zěnmezhuànqián.) |
| A: Have you recently read an article named "the Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother"? |
| B: Is it the story of that Asian American mom who talks about how she brought up her daughters? |
| A: Exactly. Isn't she crazy? How could she never allow her daughters to watch TV? |
| B: It seems she'd also force her daughters to practice playing instruments for three hours at a stretch. |
| A: But she is pretty proud of it. She thinks Chinese mothers are better than Western mothers at educating children. |
| B: It is said that she is the law professor at Yale University. |
| A: But there are a lot of people online who disagree with her. |
| B: Yes. I really don't know what she is thinking. |
| A: You don't know? This is called publicity. In my opinion, she knows better than Western mothers how to make money. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: I think that’s more or less right actually. It’s not as extreme a book as you’d expect given what people have been saying about it online. |
| Echo: 唔，我没看过哪本书。 (Wú, wǒ méi kànguò nǎ běn shū.) |
| David: Anyway if you have opinions on the book, feel free to share them in our comments section. For now, we are going to go straight to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Echo: 好的。亚裔。 (Hǎo de. yàyì.) |
| David: Asian ancestry. |
| Echo: 亚 裔, 亚裔, 教育。 (yà yì, yàyì, jiàoyù.) |
| David: Education. |
| Echo: 教 育, 教育, 居然。 (jiào yù, jiàoyù, jūrán.) |
| David: Unexpectedly, surprisingly. |
| Echo: 居 然, 居然, 练琴。 (jū rán, jūrán, liàn qín.) |
| David: To practice an instrument. |
| Echo: 练 琴, 练琴, 骄傲。 (liàn qín, liàn qín, jiāoào.) |
| David: Proud. |
| Echo: 骄 傲, 骄傲, 炒作。 (jiāo ào, jiāoào, chǎozuò.) |
| David: To publicize negatively. |
| Echo: 炒 作, 炒作, 观点。 (chǎo zuò, chǎozuò, guāndiǎn.) |
| David: Point of view. |
| Echo: 观 点, 观点, 严厉。 (guān diǎn, guāndiǎn, yánlì.) |
| David: Stern. |
| Echo: 严 厉, 严厉, 据说。 (yán lì, yánlì, jùshuō.) |
| David: It is said. |
| Echo: 据 说, 据说。 (jù shuō, jùshuō.) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Let’s have a closer look at some of these words and phrases. In our lesson, there is a word used to describe the professor Amy Chua. |
| Echo: 亚裔。 (Yà yì.) |
| David: Of Asian heritage. |
| Echo: 亚裔。 (Yà yì.) |
| David: Or with Asian blood. If someone has a Chinese background, you can say |
| Echo: 华裔。 (Huáyì.) |
| David: Of Chinese blood. |
| Echo: 华裔, 这个华就是中华的华。 (Huáyì, zhège huá jiùshì zhōnghuá de huá.) |
| David: Yeah. So it’s the Chinese people. |
| Echo: 对。 (Duì.) |
| David: All of the ethnicities, catch basket. Right, for instance |
| Echo: 比如说 很大一部份亚裔美国人都有中国血统。 (Bǐrú shuō hěn dà yī bù fèn yà yì měiguó rén dōu yǒu zhòng guó xuètǒng.) |
| David: There is a large proportion of Asian Americans with Chinese blood. |
| Echo: 很大一部份亚裔美国人都有中国血统。 (Hěn dà yī bù fèn yà yì měiguó rén dōu yǒu zhòng guó xuètǒng.) |
| David: Right. And when making claims of this sort, another word in our dialogue is very useful. |
| Echo: 据说。 (Jùshuō.) |
| David: It’s said. |
| Echo: 据说。 (Jùshuō.) |
| David: Or really allegedly. Right, you can push… |
| Echo: 唔，听说的。 (Wú, tīng shuō de.) |
| David: Yes, it’s a fancy way of saying 听说 (Tīng shuō). |
| Echo: 对，这个你可以说什么都不用负责任。 (Duì, zhège nǐ kěyǐ shuō shénme dōu bùyòng fù zérèn.) |
| David: Yes. For instance, |
| Echo: 据说他是来自菲律滨的亚裔作家。 (Jùshuō tā shì láizì fěi lǜ bīn de yà yì zuòjiā.) |
| David: It’s said that he is an Asian writer with a Filipino background. |
| Echo: 据说他是来自菲律滨的亚裔作家。 (Jùshuō tā shì láizì fěi lǜ bīn de yà yì zuòjiā.) |
| David: Right. The next word we want to mention is |
| Echo: 炒作。 (Chǎozuò.) |
| David: Which we translated as to publicize. |
| Echo: 唔, 炒作。 (Wú, chǎozuò.) |
| David: But that’s not quite it. |
| Echo: 对，这个更像是 为了达到一种目的, 然后进行的这种不是很正面的新闻的宣传。 (Duì, zhège gèng xiàng shì wèile dádào yī zhǒng mùdì, ránhòu jìnxíng de zhè zhǒng bùshì hěn zhèngmiàn de xīnwén de xuānchuán.) |
| David: Yeah. So it’s really a new thing. |
| Echo: 对，这是近几年在中国突然活起来的一种东西。 (Duì, zhè shì jìn jǐ nián zài zhōngguó túrán huó qǐlái de yī zhǒng dōngxī.) |
| David: The closest thing is probably flamebait. It’s flamebait trolling publicity. |
| Echo: 对。 (Duì.) |
| David: When you kind of create news for the sake of attention to monetize something. |
| Echo: 没错，举个例子比如说现在有很多的电影电视剧在开播以前, 这个男主演和女主演都会传出绯闻, 这就是一种炒作。 (Méi cuò, jǔ gè lìzi bǐrú shuō xiànzài yǒu hěnduō de diànyǐng diànshìjù zài kāibō yǐqián, zhège nán zhǔyǎn hé nǚ zhǔyǎn dūhuì chuán chū fēiwén, zhè jiùshì yī zhǒng chǎozuò.) |
| David: Right. So it will often be said 据说 (Jùshuō) if you are having an affair when they are just drumming up publicity. |
| Echo: 没错, 在电影电视剧开播以前, 男主演和女主演传出绯闻, 这就是一种炒作。 (Méi cuò, zài diànyǐng diànshìjù kāibō yǐqián, nán zhǔyǎn hé nǚ zhǔyǎn chuán chū fēiwén, zhè jiùshì yī zhǒng chǎozuò.) |
| David: Yes, another example of 炒作 (Chǎozuò) is lowbrow online publishing. |
| Echo: 对，但是像这种无聊的炒作没有人会相信。 (Duì, dànshì xiàng zhè zhǒng wúliáo de chǎozuò méiyǒu rén huì xiāngxìn.) |
| David: Yeah or very few people do. |
| Echo: 唔，很少有人会相信这种无聊的炒作。 (Wú, hěn shǎo yǒurén huì xiāngxìn zhè zhǒng wúliáo de chǎozuò.) |
| David: Yeah. So three key words in our vocab section. |
| Echo: 亚裔, 据说, 炒作。 (Yà yì, jùshuō, chǎozuò.) |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: Right. With that, let’s go on to our grammar point which is going to be a bit longer today. It’s grammar time. In our last lesson, we focused on |
| Echo: 着呢。 (Zhene.) |
| David: By putting it after adjectives like |
| Echo: 疼着呢。 (Téng zháo ne.) |
| David: Or |
| Echo: 忙着呢。 (Máng zhene.) |
| David: In this lesson, we see another and different usage of 呢 (Ne). |
| Echo: 对。(Duì.) |
| David: Just as a normal model particle and 呢 (Ne) confuses a lot of people. |
| Echo: 对，因为它有很多种不同的用法。 (Duì, yīnwèi tā yǒu hěnduō zhǒng bùtóng de yòngfǎ.) |
| David: Yeah and it changes what you are saying in subtle ways. So we wanted to take advantage of this lesson, the follow up on the last one. |
| Echo: 对。 (Duì.) |
| David: With our top three usages of 呢 (Ne). |
| Echo: 对。 (Duì.) |
| David: Right. Echo, what’s #1? |
| Echo: 我们先看今天的对话里的这种, “可网上反对她观点的人一大堆呢。” (Wǒmen xiān kàn jīntiān de duìhuà li de zhè zhǒng, “kě wǎngshàng fǎnduì tā guāndiǎn de rén yī dà duī ne.”) |
| David: Yeah but the people online who oppose our opinion are |
| Echo: 一大堆呢。 (Yī dà duī ne.) |
| David: A big number 呢 (Ne). |
| Echo: 唔, 对, 这个对方就是一种比较客气点的说法。 (Wú, duì, zhège duìfāng jiùshì yī zhǒng bǐjiào kèqì diǎn de shuōfǎ.) |
| David: So this is the most common usage. It is just softening the tone. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: It’s a large number. |
| Echo: 对, 一大堆呢。 (Duì, yī dà duī ne.) |
| David: Yeah. |
| Echo: 所以如果直接说 “一大堆” 可能有点儿太直接了, 不太客气。 (Suǒyǐ rúguǒ zhíjiē shuō “yī dà duī” kěnéng yǒudiǎn er tài zhíjiēle, bù tài kèqì.) |
| David: There is a huge pile opposing this. |
| Echo: 对。 (Duì.) |
| David: Yeah so you could add it, you can leave it off. It’s just a matter of taste and emotion. |
| Echo: 对, 没有真正改变这个句子的意思。 (Duì, méiyǒu zhēnzhèng gǎibiàn zhège jùzi de yìsi.) |
| David: Yeah and this is what we run into as we said the most frequently. |
| Echo: 对。 (Duì.) |
| David: For instance |
| Echo: 大家都说 亚裔妈妈对孩子有点严厉呢。 (Dàjiā dōu shuō yà yì māmā duì háizi yǒudiǎn yánlì ne.) |
| David: Right. Everyone says, Asian mothers are strict to their children and it’s just softening it a bit. |
| Echo: 对。 (Duì.) |
| David: So we get the sense that maybe the speaker doesn’t totally agree. |
| Echo: 对, 大家都说 亚裔妈妈对孩子有点严厉呢。 (Duì, dàjiā dōu shuō yà yì māmā duì háizi yǒudiǎn yánlì ne.) |
| David: Right. There are so many examples of this. We are going to skip past to #2. This is my favorite and we see 呢 (Ne) used a lot in cases where we have a choice between two things. |
| Echo: 唔, 对, 这是口语里经常用的, 比如说, 你是要中国老师呢？还是要美国老师呢？ (Wú, duì, zhè shì kǒuyǔ lǐ jīngcháng yòng de, bǐrú shuō, nǐ shì yào zhōngguó lǎoshī ne? Háishì yào měiguó lǎoshī ne?) |
| David: Do you want a Chinese teacher 呢 (Ne) or an American teacher 呢 (Ne). |
| Echo: 对, 或者你也可以省略第一个 “呢”, 你是要中国老师, 还是要美国老师呢？ (Duì, huòzhě nǐ yě kěyǐ shěnglüè dì yī gè “ne”, nǐ shì yào zhōngguó lǎoshī, háishì yào měiguó lǎoshī ne?) |
| David: Right. You could actually drop either of them. |
| Echo: 对。 (Duì.) |
| David: You could drop the final one too. You could say like do you want one or two. |
| Echo: 你要一个呢还是两个？ (Nǐ yào yīgè ne háishì liǎng gè?) |
| David: Right and this is nice because it’s nice and symmetrical. |
| Echo: 很灵活。 (Hěn línghuó.) |
| David: Yeah. It’s a really emotional way of expressing things I think most native speakers don’t pick up on. |
| Echo: 对。 (Duì.) |
| David: But it’s a really nice usage. The third usage is something you should be familiar with by now too. |
| Echo: 比如说 人呢？ (Bǐrú shuō rén ne?) |
| David: Yes it’s putting it after a noun or pronoun that turns something into a question. |
| Echo: 唔, 对, 成了 (Wú, duì, chéngle) How about? |
| David: Yes or what about. |
| Echo: 对，比如说 你妈妈呢？ (Duì, bǐrú shuō nǐ māmā ne?) |
| David: Your mother, what about your mother? |
| Echo: 唔，意思就是说你妈妈是不是也这么严厉呀？ (Wú, yìsi jiùshì shuō nǐ māmā shì bùshì yě zhème yánlì ya?) |
| David: Yeah or how about my wallet, my money. |
| Echo: 我的钱包呢？我的钱呢？ (Wǒ de qiánbāo ne? Wǒ de qián ne?) |
| David: Right. What happened to it. |
| Echo: 唔，他们呢？ (Wú, tāmen ne?) |
| David: What about them, right. So these are the three top chineseclass101 picks for usages of “呢” (“Ne”). |
| Echo: 唔，对。 (Wú, duì.) |
| David: #1, softening intonation. |
| Echo: 比如 “网上反对她观点的人一大堆呢。” (Bǐrú “wǎngshàng fǎnduì tā guāndiǎn de rén yī dà duī ne.”) |
| David: There are a bunch of people online with different opinions. Two, Balanced questions. |
| Echo: 你要这个呢还是哪个呢？ (Nǐ yào zhège ne háishì nǎge ne?) |
| David: Do you want this one or that one. And finally, turning nouns into questions. |
| Echo: 亚裔妈妈呢？ (Yà yì māmā ne?) |
| David: What about Asian mothers? How about them? There are more usages we are going to cover in the later show. |
| Echo: 对。 (Duì.) |
Outro |
| David: But these are the three big ones. For now though, if you have any questions, |
| Echo: 你们都可以给我们写信到 (Nǐmen dōu kěyǐ gěi wǒmen xiě xìn dào) contactus@chineseclass101.com |
| David: Or leave a question on the site and if you are having trouble following these dialogues, don’t forget to check out our line by line recordings. They make it much, much easier because you can listen to things again and again. |
| Echo: 对。 (Duì.) |
| David: Until you understand and then, |
| Echo: 或者可以背下来了。 (Huòzhě kěyǐ bèi xiàláile.) |
| David: Yes. And if you are having trouble following along with the dialogues, don’t forget. We have line by line recordings on the site. |
| Echo: 对。 (Duì.) |
| David: Right. You can listen again and again until it just clicks and it’s an easy way to help your Chinese get better. |
| Echo: 对，我们听起来有点像 Tiger 老师, 虎师。 (Duì, wǒmen tīng qǐlái yǒudiǎn xiàng Tiger lǎoshī, hǔ shī.) |
| David: It is useful though. For now though, that’s all the time we have. From Beijing, I am David. |
| Echo: 我是 (Wǒ shì) Echo. |
| David: Thanks for listening and we will see you on the site. |
| Echo: 网上见吧！ (Wǎngshàng jiàn ba!) Bye bye. |
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