Mr Zhang (张) and his friend peng (朋) would like to order some food.

PinyinChineseEnglish
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.
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Vocabulary

PinyinChineseEnglish
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

  zcszhchshrjqx 
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

subjectmodal verbverb phrase
I would like to eat.
John wants to drink a beer.

Modal sentences in Chinese have a similar structure.

subjectmodal verbverb 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:

QuestionAnswer
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