Mr Wang (王) and Ms Zhang (张) are arranging a dinner date.
Pinyin | Chinese | English | |
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王 | Nǐ jīntiān wǎnshang gàn shénme ? | 你今天晚上干什么? | What are you doing this evening? |
尚 | Jīntiān shì xīngqī jǐ? | 今天是星期几? | Today is what day of the week? |
王 | Xīngqīwǔ. | 星期五。 | Friday. |
尚 | Wǒ méishì. | 我没事。 | I’m not doing anything. |
王 | Wǒmen yìqǐ qù chī wǎnfàn, hǎo bu hǎo? | 我们一起去吃晚饭,好不好? | Let’s have dinner together, okay? |
尚 | Hǎo, jí diǎn zhōng? | 好,几点钟? | Sure, what time? |
王 | Wǎnshang qī diǎn bàn. | 晚上七点半。 | 7:30PM |
尚 | Wǒmen qù nálǐ ? | 我们去哪里? | Where will we go? |
王 | Qù Běijīng fàndiàn ba. | 去北京饭店吧。 | To the Beijing Restaurant. |
尚 | Běijīng Fàndiàn yóu kǎoyā ma? | 北京饭店有烤鸭吗? | Does Beijing Restaurant have roast duck? |
王 | Yǒu, tāmen de kǎoyā hén hǎochī. | 有, 他们的烤鸭很好吃。 | Yes, their roast duck is very delicious. |
尚 | Wǒmen zǎo yìdiǎn qù ba. | 我们早一点去吧。 | Let’s go a little earlier, okay? |
王 | Hǎo ba, liù diǎn yíkè ba. | 好吧, 6点一刻吧。 | Okay 6:15? |
Vocabulary
Chinese | English | Notes | |
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要 | yào | to want | Verb |
星期 | xīngqī | week | Noun |
干什么 | gàn shénme | what are you doing? | Question |
星期五 | xīngqīwǔ | Friday | Noun |
星期几 | xīngqī jǐ | Which day | Question |
事 | shì | shì | matter, affair |
点 | diǎn | hour, o’clock | Noun |
点钟 | diǎnzhōng | hour, o’clock | Noun, note: diǎn and diǎnzhōng are the same |
半 | bàn | half | Half |
烤鸭 | kǎoyā | roast duck | Noun |
饭店 | fàndiàn | restaurant | Noun |
好吃 | hǎochī | delicious | Adjective |
一刻 | yíkè | one quarter hour | Noun |
好吧 | Hǎo ba | Okay | Expression of reluctant agreement |
Pinyin and Pronunciation
initials: finals: |
u | ua | uo | uai | uei | uan | un | uang | ung | Audio |
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wu | wa | wo | wai | wei | wan | wen | wang | weng |
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zh | zhu | zhua | zhuo | zhuai | zhui | zhuan | zhun | zhuang | zhong |
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ch | chu | chuo | chui | chuan | chun | chuang | chong |
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sh | shu | shua | shuo | shuai | shui | shuan | shun | shuang |
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r | ru | ruo | rui | ruan | run | rong |
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z | zu | zuo | zui | zuan | zun | zong |
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c | cu | cuo | cui | cuan | cun | cong |
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s | su | suo | sui | suan | sun | song |
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Note
- The “ui” combination is pronounced like the english word “way”. This combination should be spelled “uei”, but the designers of pinyin decided to leave out the “e” for your convenience.
Listen and circle the one you hear
- cu – su, ru – rui, zhua – shua, zun – cun,
- zhou – zhuo, cuo – zuo, shu – shuo, shuai – zhuai
- shou – xiu, xue – shui, zuo – zou, rong – rang
- chun – shun, wai – wei, ruan – run, su – sui
Listen and add the correct tone marks
- gan shenme, xingqi, shi
- dian zhong, liang dian ban, kao ya
- fandian, haochi, yi ke
- deng yi xia, mi fan, qing shao deng
Grammar Patterns
Zǎo yìdiǎn
This means “a little earlier”. The pattern is “yìdiǎn”. When yìdiǎn follows an adjective it indicated more. For example hǎo yìdiǎn, would mean “a little better”. [note: yìdiǎnr is the Beijing way to pronounce yìdiǎn]
Xīngqī jǐ
This means “which day of the week”. Previously we learned that jǐ means how many, but in this case it is asking for which number week day. jǐ is also used to ask about the time: jǐ diǎn (what time is it?)
Méishì
This expression is a short for méi yǒu shì, or “don’t have anything in particular to do”. To say the opposite you may use “wǒ yǒu shì”.
Homework
Check this link for Sentence Practice
Audio
(to download right click
here
, select “save as”)
Voice recording courtesy of Cecilia Shang, Effective Chinese Lead Teacher