Mr Zhang (张) and his friend peng (朋) would like to order some food.
| Pinyin | Chinese | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 张 | Wǒ hé wǒ de péngyou xiǎng chī wǔ fàn. | 我和我的朋友想吃午饭。 | Me and my friend would like to eat lunch. |
| 王 | Nǐmen xiǎng chī shénme? | 你们想吃什么？ | What would like to eat? |
| 朋 | Nǐmen zhèlǐ yǒu shénme? | 你们这里有什么？ | What do you have? |
| 王 | Wǒmen yǒu miàntiáo，jiǎozi，hé báifàn。 | 我们有面条，饺子，和白饭。 | We have noodles, dumplings and white rice. |
| 张 | Ní yǒu qīngcài ma? | 你有青菜吗？ | Do you have vegetable dishes? |
| 王 | Yǒu. | 有。 | Have. |
| 张 | Wó xiǎng chī yì wǎn báifàn hé qīngcài. | 我想吃一碗白饭和青菜 | I would like to eat a bowl of rice and some green vegetables. |
| 朋 | Wó xiǎng yào yí fèn jiǎozi. | 我想要一份饺子。 | I would like a helping of dumplings. |
| 王 | Hǎo de, qíng děng yí xià. | 好的，请等一下。 | Okay, wait a bit. |
| 张 | Xiè xie。 | 谢谢。 | Thanks. |
Vocabulary
| Pinyin | Chinese | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| chī | 吃 | to eat | Verb |
| zhèlǐ | 这里 | here | Pronoun, meaning at this location |
| miàntiáo | 面条 | noodles | Noun |
| báifàn | 白饭 | white rice | Noun |
| wǎn | 碗 | bowl | Measure word for bowls of food |
| jiǎozi | 饺子 | dumplings | |
| fèn | 份 | serving | Measure word for a portion of food |
| qīngcài | 青菜 | green vegetables | |
| xiǎng | 想 | would like | Modal Verb, indicating a desire for the verb which follows to occur. |
| péngyou | 朋友 | friend | Noun |
| wǔfàn | 午饭 | lunch | Noun. compare with zǎofàn (breakfast) and wǎnfàn (dinner) |
Pinyin and Pronunciation
| z | c | s | zh | ch | sh | r | j | q | x | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| an | an | zan | can | san | zhan | chan | shan | ran | jian | qian | xian | |
| en | en | zen | cen | sen | zhen | chen | shen | ren | ||||
| ang | ang | zang | cang | sang | zhang | chang | shang | rang | jiang | qiang | xiang | |
| eng | eng | zeng | ceng | seng | zheng | cheng | sheng | reng | ||||
| in | yin | jin | qin | xin |
Listen and circle the one you hear
- 1) zan – zen, zang – zeng, zen – cen, can – cen,
- 2) sang – san, zen – san, zhen – jian, jin – qin,
- 3) ren – rang, jian – xian, zhen – chen, ceng – cang,
- 4) chang – cheng, shan – sheng, zhe – she, sha – cha,
Listen and add the correct tone marks
- 1) xiang chi, shen me, zhe li, qing cai
- 2) mian tiao, jiao zi, bai fan, deng yi xia
- 3) zao fan, wan fan, wu fan, mei you, peng you
Grammar Patterns
Modal verbs
Instead of representing an action or a state, modal verbs represent modalities, such as wanting or preferring. A modal sentence describes the relationship between the subject and the main verb. This table contains some examples from English
| subject | modal verb | verb phrase |
|---|---|---|
| I | would like | to eat. |
| John | wants | to drink a beer. |
Modal sentences in Chinese have a similar structure.
| subject | modal verb | verb phrase |
|---|---|---|
| Wǒ | xiǎng | chī yí fèn jiǎozi |
| Nǐ péngyou | yào | hē píjiǔ |
| Wǒmen | xiǎng | yào yí wǎn miàntiáo |
The object of a modal verb is the subsequent verb. “yào” can be used as both a modal verb and a main verb, but “xiǎng” can only be used as a modal verb. For example: “wǒ yào hē píjiǔ” and “wǒ yào píjiǔ” are okay. However, although you can “xiǎng” drinking, you can not “xiǎng” beer.
Note, it may seem a little strange to say “xiǎng yào”, which literally this means “I would like to want”. But actually “yào” is just a place holder for an implied verb (like hē or chī). If you think about it, the English sentence: “I would like a beer” is also assuming an implied verb. The real meaning is “I would like to order a beer”.
Please note that when confirming question with a modal verb, use modal verb as the answer, not the main verb. For example:
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Ní xiǎng chī jiǎozi ma? | Xiǎng. |
| Nǐ péngyou yào hē píjiǔ ma? | Tā bú yào. |
Homework
Check this link for Sentence Practice
Audio
Click on the player to hear the dialog.
(to download right click here , select “save as”)
Voice recording courtesy of Jo Ding, https://joding1212.blog.sohu.com
