ma
Notes 注 释
➊ You may have noticed that sometimes the definitions of words in the “New Words” list are slightly different from the words’ meanings as they’re translated in the dialog. For instance, the word 很好 hěn hǎo means “very good” in English, but it means “I am fine” in the context of the dialog. You’ll want to keep this fact—typical of most languages—in mind as you study the vocabulary.
➋ The word 吗 ma is a particle commonly used at the end of a sentence to convert the sentence into a yes/no question; it doesn’t need to be translated into English.
➌ 呢 Ne is another particle that’s added at the end of the sentence. It’s frequently used to ask a question related to a conversation. Look at the dialog again. Jack asks Lily: “好久不见, 你好吗? Hǎo jiǔ bú jiàn, nǐ hǎo ma?” Lily replies: “我很好, 你呢? Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?” Here, 你呢 nǐ ne means “How are you (Jack) doing?”
Here are some short and easy sentences from the dialog that are used routinely in China. Practice them so that you’ll be ready to use them whenever the right situation comes up.
Qǐng jìn!
请 进! (Please come in!)
Nǐ hǎo ma?
你好 吗? (How are you?)
Wǒ hěn hǎo.
我 很 好。(I’m fine.)
Wǒ yě hěn hǎo.
我也 很 好。(I’m fine, too.)
In Dialog 1, Lily and Jack use the word 好 hǎo several times. When the word 好 hǎo is used in conjunction with other words, the intensity of the meaning changes. Here are three samples. Later, in the Substitutions section of Practice and Review, there are exercises to help you learn how to use these words.
| fēi cháng hǎo非常好very good | tài hǎo le太好了wonderful | hǎo jí le好极了great |
You have learned how greetings work when people meet each other. But what are they supposed to say and to do next?
Listen to the audio for New Words 2, and then read them with me. As usual, you need to pay attention to the tone of each word. After finishing the new words, listen to Dialog 2, and then follow along with me to repeat these sentences. When you feel satisfied with your performance, move on to Notes.
Lily:Please sit down! Have you had your meal yet?
Qǐng zuò! Nǐ chī le ma?
请 坐! 你 吃了 吗?
Jack:Yes, I have.
Wǒ chī le.
我 吃了。
Lily:Would you like to have some tea or coffee?
Nǐ hē chá hái shì kā fēi?
你喝 茶 还 是 咖啡？
Jack:I would like to have some tea.
Wǒ hē chá.
我 喝 茶。
Lily:Please enjoy your tea.
Qǐng hē chá.
请 喝 茶。
Jack:Thank you!
Xiè xie!
谢 谢!
Lily:You’re welcome.
Bú kè qì.
不 客气。
| 坐 zuò | sit down |
| 吃 chī | eat |
| 吃了 chī le | ate |
| 喝 hē | drink |
| 茶 chá | tea |
| 还是 hái shì | or |
| 咖啡 kā fēi | coffee |
| 谢谢 xiè xie | thank you |
| 不客气 bú kè qì | you’re welcome |
Notes 注 释
➊ “Please,” a common polite word, is frequently used in English. And its Chinese synonym, 请 qǐng, is also quite often spoken by Chinese. 请 Qǐng is used in all polite requests in Chinese. Usually, a second verb follows the word 请 qǐng. As you see in the dialog, zuò and hē are verbs put after “qǐng”: 请坐 qǐng zuò (please sit down), 请喝 qǐng hē (please have a drink). You will learn more in Extend Your Vocabulary.
➋ Note that Chinese verbs don’t have different tenses. Instead, other ancillary words are added together with the verb to express the different verb tense. For example, the verb “eat” equates to “吃 chī” which is the present tense, but “ate” would be “吃了 chī le” which is the past tense. You can see that 了 le is an ancillary word.
Here are key sentences from the dialog that you’ll want to memorize. They will be especially useful in your daily conversations.
Qǐng zuò!
请 坐! (Please sit down!)
Qǐng hē