Learn how to talk about something being a close call using the structure 差点没儿
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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 today of course, we have upper intermediate, season 1, Lesson 16. Making Sacrifices for Technology in China. |
| Echo: 对，就是在中国为高科技献身。 (Duì, jiùshì zài zhōngguó wèi gāo kējì xiànshēn.) |
| David: Right. And when Echo says high technology, she means Apple. |
| Echo: 苹果。 (Píngguǒ.) |
| David: Yes. And she specifically means the iPhone. You are an iPhone fan. |
| Echo: Ah, 不光是 (Bùguāng shì) iphone, 我是苹果迷 (Wǒ shì píngguǒ mí)。 |
| David: Okay. Anyway, our dialogue today takes place outside an Apple store. |
| Echo: 对，也是在两个苹果迷之间。 (Duì, yěshì zài liǎng gè píngguǒ mí zhī jiān.) |
| David: Right and they are lining up to buy something – buy something new in The Hot n Sexy. |
| Echo: 我也想要这个。 (Wǒ yě xiǎng yào zhège.) |
| David: So let’s go to the dialogue and of course, they are speaking standard Chinese as always. |
| Echo: 唔，好，我们去听听对话吧！ (Wú, hǎo, wǒmen qù tīng tīng duìhuà ba!) |
| DIALOGUE |
| A 请问你们这是在排队买什么呢？ (A Qǐngwèn nǐmen zhè shì zài páiduì mǎi shénme ne?) |
| B IPhone 5，明天就是全球发行的日子了。 (B IPhone wǔ, míngtiān jiùshì quánqiú fāxíng de rìzi le.) |
| A 什么？ IPhone5 都要上市了。 (A Shénme? IPhonewǔ dōu yào shàngshì le.) |
| B 是呀，据说IPhone5是全透明的，而且还有防水功能。 (B Shì ya, jùshuō IPhonewǔ shì quán tòumíng de, érqiě hái yǒu fángshuǐgōngnéng.) |
| A 那也用不着今天就来排队吧？ (A Nā yě yòngbuzháo jīntiān jiù lái páiduì ba?) |
| B 当然要，这我都不知道能不能买上呢。 (B Dāngrán yào, zhè wǒ dōu bù zhīdào néngbùnéng mǎi shàng ne.) |
| A 那要排一晚上吧？ (A Nā yào pái yī wǎnshang ba?) |
| B 小意思，上次我排队买Iphone4的时候是冬天，我排了一宿差点儿没冻死。 (B Xiǎoyìsi, shàng cì wǒ páiduì mǎi Iphone sì de shíhou shì dōngtiān, wǒ pái le yī xiǔ |
| chàdiǎnr méi dòngsǐ.) |
| A Excuse me, but what are you lined up for? |
| B The iPhone 5. Tomorrow is the global release date. |
| A What? The iPhone 5 is already out? |
| B Yeah. It's said that the iPhone 5 is fully transparent and the phone is waterproof too. |
| A But what's the use of lining up today? |
| B Of course there's a use. Although, I'm not sure I'll be able to buy it. |
| A So are you gonna line up all evening? |
| B This will be a piece of cake. When I lined up for the iPhone 4 last time, it was winter and I nearly froze to death. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: So this dialogue is a piece of fiction because there is no global release date. It’s always, Apple’s stuff gets released everywhere but China. |
| Echo: 对。 (Duì.) |
| David: And then several months later, |
| Echo: 哎！我觉得这个应该是会改变的, 你知道今天有一个大新闻吗？ (Āi! Wǒ juédé zhège yīnggāi shì huì gǎibiàn de, nǐ zhīdào jīntiān yǒu yīgè dà xīnwén ma?) |
| David: Ah no. |
| Echo: 苹果的CEO 今天出现在了西单的 Apple Store 里面。 (Píngguǒ de CEO jīntiān chūxiàn zàile xī dān de Apple Store lǐmiàn.) |
| David: Really? |
| Echo: Yes. |
| David: Okay well, I mean apparently, China is one of their biggest markets now. |
| Echo: 没错。 (Méi cuò.) |
| David: So. |
| Echo: 他们应该在中国就是做第一批的这个有一个特殊的中国发行日。 (Tāmen yīnggāi zài zhōngguó jiùshì zuò dì yī pī de zhège yǒu yīgè tèshū de zhōngguó fāxíng rì.) |
| David: Yes. And we’ve heard that they are hiring people with Chinese language skills too. So learning Chinese will get you in good with Apple. |
| Echo: Good. |
| David: That said, why don’t we move on to our vocab for the day. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Echo: 好！全球发行。 (Hǎo! Quánqiú fāxíng.) |
| David: To release worldwide. |
| Echo: 全 球 发 行, 全球发行, 全透明。 (quán qiú fāx íng, quánqiú fāxíng, quán tòumíng.) |
| David: Fully transparent. |
| Echo: 全 透 明, 全透明, 防水。 (quán tòu míng, quán tòumíng, fángshuǐ.) |
| David: Waterproof. |
| Echo: 防 水, 防水, 功能。 (fáng shuǐ, fángshuǐ, gōngnéng.) |
| David: Function. |
| Echo: 功 能, 功能, 排队。 (gōng néng, gōngnéng, páiduì.) |
| David: To line up. |
| Echo: 排 队, 排队, 小意思。 (pái duì, páiduì, xiǎoyìsi.) |
| David: A piece of cake. |
| Echo: 小 意 思, 小意思, 一宿。 (xiǎo yì si, xiǎoyìsi, yī xiǔ.) |
| David: A whole night. |
| Echo: 一 宿, 一宿, 上市。 (yī xiǔ, yī xiǔ, shàngshì.) |
| David: To come out on the market. |
| Echo: 上 市, 上市。 (shàng shì, shàngshì.) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Let’s take a closer look at some of these words and phrases. |
| Echo: 唔，第一个词是什么？ (Wú, dì yī gè cí shì shénme?) |
| David: It’s a piece of cake. |
| Echo: 小意思, 别说成小蛋糕。 (Xiǎoyìsi, bié shuō chéng xiǎo dàngāo.) |
| David: Yes. It’s actually not cake, it’s – what is it Echo? |
| Echo: 对，小意思。 (Duì, xiǎoyìsi.) |
| David: It just means this is nothing. |
| Echo: 唔，小意思，我一会就做完。 (Wú, xiǎoyìsi, wǒ yī huǐ jiù zuò wán.) |
| David: Yeah. This is nothing. I will be done in just a sec. |
| Echo: 小意思。 (Xiǎoyìsi.) |
| David: Right. The next word I want to highlight is this word for waterproof. |
| Echo: 防水。 (Fángshuǐ.) |
| David: Which literally means to resist water. |
| Echo: 防水, 我想要一个防水的 iphone. 我要哪个全透明的在那？ (Fángshuǐ, wǒ xiǎng yào yīgè fángshuǐ de iphone. Wǒ yào nǎge quán tòumíng de zài nà?) |
| David: Yes. A question for you though Echo. How waterproof is 防水 (Fángshuǐ). Could you drop it in water or does this just mean if it rains on it, it’s okay. |
| Echo: Ah…. 我觉得不一样，一般来说是你把它放在水里也可以。 (Wǒ juédé bù yīyàng, yībān lái shuō shì nǐ bǎ tā fàng zài shuǐ lǐ yě kěyǐ.) |
| David: So you can actually stick it in water? |
| Echo: 对。 (Duì.) |
| David: Okay. |
| Echo: 比如说我们经常看到一些防水手表, 就是你可以带着它去潜水。 (Bǐrú shuō wǒmen jīngcháng kàn dào yīxiē fángshuǐ shǒubiǎo, jiùshì nǐ kěyǐ dàizhe tā qù qiánshuǐ.) |
| David: Okay. So this is normally waterproof. It’s not just water resistant. |
| Echo: 对。 (Duì.) |
| David: Right. We have a related word used for fire resistant. |
| Echo: 防火。 (Fánghuǒ.) |
| David: So waterproof. |
| Echo: 防水。 (Fángshuǐ.) |
| David: Fireproof. |
| Echo: 防火。 (Fánghuǒ.) |
| David: And Echo, just a minute ago, you used the word transparent. |
| Echo: 透明。 (Tòumíng.) |
| David: As in, the iPhone is totally transparent. |
| Echo: 对，这个 iPhone 是全透明的, 除了说全透明，我们也可以说半透明。 (Duì, zhège iPhone shì quán tòumíng de, chúle shuō quán tòumíng, wǒmen yě kěyǐ shuō bàn tòumíng.) |
| David: Which would be more opaque. So it’s half transparent. |
| Echo: 没错, 半透明。比如说 为了隐私着想，使馆的玻璃是半透明的。 (Méi cuò, bàn tòumíng. Bǐrú shuō wèile yǐnsī zhuóxiǎng, shǐguǎn de bōlí shì bàn tòumíng de.) |
| David: For privacy reasons really, the embassy windows are semi-opaque. |
| Echo: 为了隐私着想，使馆的玻璃都是半透明的。 (Wèile yǐnsī zhuóxiǎng, shǐguǎn de bōlí dōu shì bàn tòumíng de.) |
| David: Right. One other really interesting word here. It involves a 多音字 (Duō yīnzì)。 and it means a whole night. |
| Echo: 一宿。 (Yī xiǔ.) |
| David: A whole night. |
| Echo: 一宿。 (Yī xiǔ.) |
| David: In the dialogue, we heard it like this. |
| Echo: 我排了一宿差点儿没冻死。 (Wǒ páile yī xiǔ chàdiǎn er méi dòng sǐ.) |
| David: Right. I lined up for an entire evening and almost froze to death. |
| Echo: 没错, 我排了一宿差点儿没冻死。 (Méi cuò, wǒ páile yī xiǔ chàdiǎn er méi dòng sǐ.) |
| David: Right. Just pay a bit of attention to this because as we said, it has multiple pronunciations. |
| Echo: 没错, 一般跟晚上有关系的我们叫 “宿”。 (Méi cuò, yībān gēn wǎnshàng yǒu guānxì de wǒmen jiào “xiǔ”.) |
| David: Right but it also means |
| Echo: 住, 比如说 Ah….. 住宿。 (Zhù, bǐrú shuō Ah….. Zhùsù.) |
| David: Right. This is the 宿 in also dormitory. |
| Echo: 宿舍。 (Sùshè.) |
| David: Right. So the meaning is related but the pronunciation is different. Okay and that’s our vocab for today. It’s grammar time. Our grammar point today is about how you can almost not do something. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Echo: 对，这个其实有一点儿 tricky. Ah, 在对话当中我们看到是这个句子, “我排了一宿差点儿没冻死。” (Duì, zhège qíshí yǒu yīdiǎn er tricky. Ah, zài duìhuà dāngzhōng wǒmen kàn dào shì zhège jùzi, “wǒ páile yī xiǔ chàdiǎn er méi dòng sǐ.”) |
| David: I lined up for an entire evening and 差点儿 (Chàdiǎn er). |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: Didn’t freeze to death. |
| Echo: 我排了一宿差点儿没冻死。 (Wǒ páile yī xiǔ chàdiǎn er méi dòng sǐ.) |
| David: Right. So we are putting something in front of our negative verb. |
| Echo: 对，差点儿。 (Duì, chàdiǎn er.) |
| David: And then a negative verb, not to freeze to death. |
| Echo: 没冻死。 (Méi dòng sǐ.) |
| David: Right. This could be any verb. |
| Echo: 唔，比如说差点儿没走成。 (Wú, bǐrú shuō chàdiǎn er méi zǒu chéng.) |
| David: Yeah. I almost wasn’t able to leave. |
| Echo: 对，比如说可能这个飞机票很紧张, 我 差点儿没走成。 (Duì, bǐrú shuō kěnéng zhège fēijī piào hěn jǐnzhāng, wǒ chàdiǎn er méi zǒu chéng.) |
| David: Yeah. I almost couldn’t buy them, it was tricky. Another example. |
| Echo: 或者比如说 iPhone 太抢手了，我差点儿没买着。 (Huòzhě bǐrú shuō iPhone tài qiǎngshǒule, wǒ chàdiǎn er méi mǎizhe.) |
| David: Right. I almost couldn’t buy one because demand was so high. So this is a really native way of expressing the idea. |
| Echo: 对，其实这个地方它说的是 差点儿就冻死了。 (Duì, qíshí zhège dìfāng tā shuō de shì chàdiǎn er jiù dòng sǐle.) |
| David: Yes. He is really saying, he almost did freeze to death but yeah it’s a really colloquial way of talking. |
| Echo: 对，把这个 差点儿 放在一个 negative 的前面。 (Duì, bǎ zhège chàdiǎn er fàng zài yīgè negative de qiánmiàn.) |
| David: Yes. And it means, you almost didn’t do it. |
| Echo: Uhmm, 除了差点儿以外, 类似的词也可以, 比如说 “几乎”。 (Chúle chàdiǎn er yǐwài, lèisì de cí yě kěyǐ, bǐrú shuō “jīhū”.) |
| David: Almost. |
| Echo: 几乎, 这个词比差点儿更 formal 一点。 (Jīhū, zhège cí bǐ chàdiǎn er gèng formal yīdiǎn.) |
| David: Yeah. Could you say, I almost didn’t freeze to death? |
| Echo: 可以, 我几乎没冻死。 (Kěyǐ, wǒ jīhū méi dòng sǐ.) |
| David: Yeah. I almost – which is really I almost froze to death. |
| Echo: 对，或者刚才我们用的其他句子也可以用几乎, 比如说 iPhone 太抢手了，我几乎没买着。 (Duì, huòzhě gāngcái wǒmen yòng de qítā jùzi yě kěyǐ yòng jīhū, bǐrú shuō iPhone tài qiǎngshǒule, wǒ jīhū méi mǎizhe.) |
| David: Yes. |
| Echo: 唔，但是他买到了。 (Wú, dànshì tā mǎi dàole.) |
| David: Or |
| Echo: 飞机票太 紧张了, 他 几乎没走成。 (Fēijī piào tài jǐnzhāngle, tā jīhū méi zǒu chéng.) |
| David: Yes. He almost didn’t go. And I like the way that it’s the plane tickets that are so nervous there. 紧张了 (Jǐnzhāngle). |
| Echo: 对，太紧张了 。 (Duì,tàijǐnzhāngle.) |
| David: So yeah, so we’ve got a really colloquial way of expressing this idea that something is almost…. |
| Echo: 对 。 (Duì.) |
| David: Right and we are matching it up usually with negative verbs. |
| Echo: 特别是 “没”。 (Tèbié shì “méi”.) |
| David: Yes. You can see it with positive verbs as well but it’s most frequently used in the negative. |
| Echo: 对 。 (Duì.) |
| David: I almost didn’t freeze to death. |
| Echo: 我差点儿没冻死。 (Wǒ chàdiǎn er méi dòng sǐ.) |
Outro |
| David: Which really means I almost did freeze to death. Okay 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: 我们网上见吧！ (Wǒmen wǎngshàng jiàn ba!) Bye bye. |
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