Mr Wang (王) and Ms Zhang (张) are arranging a dinner date.

PinyinChineseEnglish
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?
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Vocabulary

Pinyin Chinese Engish
gàn shénme 干什么 what are you doing? Interogative Pronoun
xīngqī 星期 week Noun, for example, “one week” is yì gè xīngqī.
xīngqīwǔ 星期五 Friday Noun, 5th day of the week. Note: each day of the week follows this format. Except Sunday which is xīngqī tian
xīngqī jǐ 星期几 which day Interogatvie pronoun, meaning “which day of the week”. Previously we learned that jǐ means how many. This usage is similar, but different
shì 事 matter, affair Noun, something that requires someones attention
diǎn 点 hour o’clock Noun, like tiān this word acts as its own measure word for hours.
diǎnzhōng 点钟 hour o’clock Noun, note: diǎn and diǎnzhōng can be used interchangably in this context.
bàn 半 half Number
kǎoyā 烤鸭 roast duck Noun
fàndiàn 饭店 restaurant Noun
hǎochī 好吃 delicious Adjective
yíkè 一刻 one quarter hour  
Hǎo ba 好吧 Okay Expression of agreement

Pinyin and Pronunciation

initials:
finals:		 u ua uo uai uei uan un uang ung Audio
  wu wa wo wai wei wan wen wang weng
zh zhu zhua zhuo zhuai zhui zhuan zhun zhuang zhong
ch chu   chuo   chui chuan chun chuang chong
sh shu shua shuo shuai shui shuan shun shuang  
r ru   ruo   rui ruan run   rong
z zu   zuo   zui zuan zun   zong
c cu   cuo   cui cuan cun   cong
s su   suo   sui suan sun   song

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