Learn how to use the character 于
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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 with upper intermediate, season 1, Lesson 15. There’s No Such Thing as a Free Lunch in China. |
| Echo: 天下没有白吃的午餐。 (Tiānxià méiyǒu bái chī de wǔcān.) |
| David: Right which is not entirely true. I’ve had free lunches here. |
| Echo: 唔，是我请的吧！ (Wú, shì wǒ qǐng de ba!) |
| David: Could be. Anyway, we’ve got a dialogue here that takes place |
| Echo: 在一个会场里。 (Zài yīgè huìchǎng lǐ.) |
| David: Right. At a conference and it’s between two people who are speaking casual Mandarin as always. |
| Echo: Uhmm, 他们马上要参加这个会议。 (Tāmen mǎshàng yào cānjiā zhège huìyì.) |
| David: Right. So let’s go listen and see what they are going to say. You know, I think conferences are actually fun outside of China. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 您是来开会的吗？ (A: Nín shì lái kāihuì de ma?) |
| B: 是呀。 (B: Shì ya.) |
| A: 您知道这次会议的主题是？ (A: Nín zhīdào zhè cì huìyì de zhǔtí shì?) |
| B: 好像是关于二十一世纪互联网发展的。 (B: Hǎoxiàng shì guānyú èrshíyī shìjì hùliánwǎng fāzhǎn de.) |
| A: 哦，那这个会中午管饭吗？ (A: ò, nā zhègehuì zhōngwǔ guǎn fàn ma?) |
| B: 这个，不太清楚。 (B: Zhège, bùtài qīngchu.) |
| A: 那您知道这个会几点结束吗？ (A: Nā nín zhīdào zhège huì jǐdiǎnjiéshù ma?) |
| B: 好像下午吧，您也是来开会的吗？ (B: Hǎoxiàng xiàwǔ ba, nín yě shì lái kāihuì de ma?) |
| A: 是呀，我们那没人来，我是抓阄抓来的。多倒霉！ (A: Shì ya, wǒmen nā méi rén lái, wǒ shì zhuā jiū zhuā lái de. Duōdǎoméi!) |
| A: Are you here for the meeting? |
| B: Yes. |
| A: Do you know the theme of this meeting is....? |
| B: I think it's about the Development of the Internet in the 21st century. |
| A: Do they provide lunch? |
| B: Oh, I'm not too sure about that. |
| A: Then do you know when the meeting will finish? |
| B: I think in the afternoon. Are you here for the meeting as well? |
| A: Yes. No-one wanted to come so I'm here because I drew the straw. How unlucky! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Echo: 我刚要说，在中国没意思。 (Wǒ gāng yào shuō, zài zhōngguó méiyìsi.) |
| David: In China, they are the most boring events possible. |
| Echo: 对, 而且在中国有很多很多会, 各种的会。 (Duì, érqiě zài zhōngguó yǒu hěnduō hěnduō hui, gè zhǒng de huì.) |
| David: Yeah. China specializes in useless meetings and conferences. |
| Echo: 对, 所以大家就没事, 赶着睡觉什么的。 (Duì, suǒyǐ dàjiā jiù méishì, gǎnzhe shuìjiào shénme de.) |
| David: Yes. And we are going to talk about this actually as the first word in our dialogue and we are going to talk about this as the first word in our vocab section. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Echo: 唔，那我们首先看一下我们的生词表。主题。 (Wú, nà wǒmen shǒuxiān kàn yīxià wǒmen de shēngcí biǎo. Zhǔtí.) |
| David: Theme. |
| Echo: 主 题, 主题, 特殊。 (zhǔ tí, zhǔtí, tèshū.) |
| David: Special. |
| Echo: 特 殊, 特殊, 管饭。 (tè shū, tèshū, guǎn fàn.) |
| David: To provide meals. |
| Echo: 管 饭, 管饭, 展览。 (guǎn fàn, guǎn fàn, zhǎnlǎn.) |
| David: Exhibition. |
| Echo: 展 览, 展览, 代表。 (zhǎn lǎn, zhǎnlǎn, dàibiǎo.) |
| David: To represent, representative. |
| Echo: 代 表, 代表, 缺席。 (dài biǎo, dàibiǎo, quēxí.) |
| David: To be absent. |
| Echo: 缺 席, 缺席, 抓阄。 (quē xí, quēxí, zhuā jiū.) |
| David: To draw a straw. |
| Echo: 抓 阄, 抓阄。 (zhuā jiū, zhuā jiū.) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Before we get to this specialized conference vocabulary, let’s take a look at that word for meeting. |
| Echo: 会议。 (Huìyì.) |
| David: Meeting. |
| Echo: 会议。 (Huìyì.) |
| David: And this is everything. It’s from a really small meeting like an office meeting to a conference. |
| Echo: 对，所以大会小会都是会议。 (Duì, suǒyǐ dàhuì xiǎo huì dōu shì huìyì.) |
| David: Right and it can even be something huge like the largest meeting in China. |
| Echo: 全国人民代表大会。 (Quánguó rénmín dàibiǎo dàhuì.) |
| David: Right. And we see other words there that we are teaching today like the word for representative. |
| Echo: 代表, 唔, 一般去开会都要有代表。 (Dàibiǎo, wú, yībān qù kāihuì dōu yào yǒu dàibiǎo.) |
| David: Yes or political meanings anyway. |
| Echo: 对。 (Duì.) |
| David: And that’s a verb as well. So it can mean to represent someone. |
| Echo: 唔，比如说这些人代表人民。 (Wú, bǐrú shuō zhèxiē rén dàibiǎo rénmín.) |
| David: Yeah. They represent the people and of course we have Jiang Zemin’s famous Three Represents. |
| Echo: 三个代表。 (Sān gè dàibiǎo.) |
| David: Right which no one knows what it means. |
| Echo: 对，不太知道具体内容是什么。 (Duì, bù tài zhīdào jùtǐ nèiróng shì shénme.) |
| David: Yeah. It basically means it’s okay to be in business. Moving on, most conferences in China have an explicit theme. |
| Echo: 主题。 (Zhǔtí.) |
| David: Theme. |
| Echo: 主题。 (Zhǔtí.) |
| David: And when they start the conference, they will tell you what the theme is. |
| Echo: 对，在他们开会的最开始会告诉大家, 这次会议的主题是什么。 (Duì, zài tāmen kāihuì de zuì kāishǐ huì gàosù dàjiā, zhè cì huìyì de zhǔtí shì shénme.) |
| David: Right. Now normally, everyone goes to meetings. If you can’t go, there is a special word for that. |
| Echo: 缺席。 (Quēxí.) |
| David: To be absent. |
| Echo: 缺席。 (Quēxí.) |
| David: Right and it literally means to kind of lack a seat or not to be in your seat. |
| Echo: 对, 缺少了一个座位这样的。 (Duì, quēshǎole yīgè zuòwèi zhèyàng de.) |
| David: Right. |
| Echo: 但是如果你去参加了这个会议, 就可以说你出席了这个会议。 (Dànshì rúguǒ nǐ qù cānjiāle zhège huìyì, jiù kěyǐ shuō nǐ chūxíle zhège huìyì.) |
| David: Right. To be present at the meeting. |
| Echo: 出席。 (Chūxí.) |
| David: So two words. There is to be present. |
| Echo: 出席。 (Chūxí.) |
| David: And to be absent. |
| Echo: 缺席。 (Quēxí.) |
| David: Finally, we have a word in here that means exhibition. |
| Echo: 展览。 (Zhǎnlǎn.) |
| David: An exhibition is a special kind of conference. |
| Echo: 对， 展览是一种特殊的会议。 (Duì, zhǎnlǎn shì yī zhǒng tèshū de huìyì.) |
| David: Right where you are showing off products. |
| Echo: 唔，对，你要展出一些产品。 (Wú, duì, nǐ yào zhǎn chū yīxiē chǎnpǐn.) |
| David: Yeah. So most cities, they are going to have conference centers. |
| Echo: 会议中心。 (Huìyì zhōngxīn.) |
| David: And they are also going to have exhibition centers. |
| Echo: 展览中心。 (Zhǎnlǎn zhōngxīn.) |
| David: Right. |
| Echo: 一般在中国这个展览中心和会议中心都叫国际展览中心, 或者国际会议中心。 (Yībān zài zhōngguó zhège zhǎnlǎn zhōngxīn hé huìyì zhōngxīn dōu jiào guójì zhǎnlǎn zhōngxīn, huòzhě guójì huìyì zhōngxīn.) |
| David: Yes. The international conference or international exhibition centers. |
| Echo: 对。 (Duì.) |
| David: Anyway, with that, that’s our vocab. It should come in useful if you are hosting a meeting or if you are going to a conference yourself. |
| Echo: 没错。 (Méi cuò.) |
| David: With that, let’s get to our grammar section. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Echo: 好的。 (Hǎo de.) |
| David: It’s grammar time. Okay Echo, what are we talking about today? |
| Echo: 今天我们要讲的是 “于”。 (Jīntiān wǒmen yào jiǎng de shì “yú”.) |
| David: Yes. This word is very difficult to translate. We are going to explain what it’s doing and how to use it but first, let’s step back and see where it happens in our dialogue. |
| Echo: 好的, 好像是关于二十一世纪互联网发展的。 (Hǎo de, hǎoxiàng shì guānyú èrshíyī shìjì hùliánwǎng fāzhǎn de.) |
| David: It seems that |
| Echo: 关于。 (Guānyú.) |
| David: And we see this in a lot of words. So 关于 (Guānyú) means to be related to. |
| Echo: 对，和什么有关系。 (Duì, hé shénme yǒu guānxì.) |
| David: Right but we also see it in |
| Echo: 对于。 (Duìyú.) |
| David: Or |
| Echo: 由于。 (Yóuyú.) |
| David: Or |
| Echo: 至于。 (Zhìyú.) |
| David: Right. So in all of these, it’s the same. It’s introducing a noun phrase. |
| Echo: 对，比如说 关于会议的主题，我们现在还不确定。 (Duì, bǐrú shuō guānyú huìyì de zhǔtí, wǒmen xiànzài hái bù quèdìng.) |
| David: Right. Regarding the theme of the conference, we are still not certain. |
| Echo: 关于会议的主题，我们还不确定。 (Guānyú huìyì de zhǔtí, wǒmen hái bù quèdìng.) |
| David: Right. Or using 对于 (Duìyú). |
| Echo: 或者对于代表缺席会议的事，举办方很生气。 (Huòzhě duìyú dàibiǎo quēxí huìyì de shì, jǔbàn fāng hěn shēngqì.) |
| David: Yeah. If you don’t show up, they will get angry. Actually it’s only if everyone doesn’t show up, they get angry but… |
| Echo: 多数都不会出席，可能就有问题。 (Duōshù dōu bù huì chūxí, kěnéng jiù yǒu wèntí.) |
| David: Yeah and 对于 (Duìyú) and 关于 (Guānyú) are really, really close. |
| Echo: 没错。 (Méi cuò.) |
| David: You can use them interchangeably in almost every situation. |
| Echo: 对，在很多情况下都可以。 (Duì, zài hěnduō qíngkuàng xià dōu kěyǐ.) |
| David: Yeah. We also have 由于 (Yóuyú) which means resulting from. |
| Echo: 对, 就是什么原因, 比如说 由于这个会议的主题太无聊了, 很多代表都缺席了。 (Duì, jiùshì shénme yuányīn, bǐrú shuō yóuyú zhège huìyì de zhǔtí tài wúliáole, hěnduō dàibiǎo dōu quēxíle.) |
| David: Yes. It’s because the theme was too boring, nobody went to the meeting. Right, listen to that sentence again. |
| Echo: 由于这个会议的主题太无聊了, 很多代表都缺席了。 (Yóuyú zhège huìyì de zhǔtí tài wúliáole, hěnduō dàibiǎo dōu quēxíle.) |
| David: And that’s what’s tricky about these constructions is that we are introducing this really lengthy noun phrase and then the sentence continues after it’s done. So when you see something with you, be it. |
| Echo: “关于” 或者 “由于”, 或者 “对于” 。 (Guānyú” huòzhě “yóuyú”, huòzhě “duìyú” .) |
| David: When you parse that sentence, treat what follows as a sub clause. |
| Echo: 没错。 (Méi cuò.) |
| David: That’s being treated as a noun of some kind. |
| Echo: 对, 它是一个..... 一个整体的。 (Duì, tā shì yīgè..... Yīgè zhěngtǐ de.) |
| David: Yeah. So we are going to give you two more examples just to help drive this home. |
| Echo: 关于这次展览的内容，我们会及时通知大家。 (Guānyú zhè cì zhǎnlǎn de nèiróng, wǒmen huì jíshí tōngzhī dàjiā.) |
| David: So about the content of this exposition, we will notify everyone in time. |
| Echo: 关于这次展览的内容，我们会及时通知大家。 (Guānyú zhè cì zhǎnlǎn de nèiróng, wǒmen huì jíshí tōngzhī dàjiā.) |
| David: Right. So the sentence is pretty simple. It’s we are going to tell everyone but we have this fronted subject. |
| Echo: 对。 (Duì.) |
| David: One more example. |
| Echo: 对于记者提出的问题，代表们没有明确回答。 (Duìyú jìzhě tíchū de wèntí, dàibiǎomen méiyǒu míngquè huídá.) |
| David: Yes they didn’t answer ______ (0:08:52) his questions. |
| Echo: 一般都不会明确回答。 (Yībān dōu bù huì míngquè huídá.) |
| David: Right. So once again。 |
| Echo: 对于记者提出的问题，代表们没有明确回答。 (Duìyú jìzhě tíchū de wèntí, dàibiǎomen méiyǒu míngquè huídá.) |
| David: The representatives didn’t clearly answer – didn’t answer what came in the front of the sentence. |
| Echo: 对于记者提出的问题。 (Duìyú jìzhě tíchū de wèntí.) |
| David: Right. This can be tricky for a lot of people because unless you are used to the Chinese way of speaking, it can be hard to mentally parse these sentences. |
| Echo: 没错, 没错。 (Méi cuò, méi cuò.) |
| David: Right. Just remember, when you hear |
| Echo: 于。 (Yú.) |
| David: You are likely to be dealing with one of these cases. |
| Echo: 对，你就把它们当成一个整体，然后就好分级多了。 (Duì, nǐ jiù bǎ tāmen dàngchéng yīgè zhěngtǐ, ránhòu jiù hǎo fēnjí duōle.) |
Outro |
| David: Yeah. And with that, that’s all the time we have today. From Beijing, I am David. |
| Echo: 我是 (Wǒ shì) Echo. |
| David: And thanks for listening to chineseclass101. |
| Echo: Uhmm, 谢谢大家，我们下次见吧！ (Xièxiè dàjiā, wǒmen xià cì jiàn ba!) |
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