Learn how to ask a question in Chinese using the word "why"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Echo: Hi! 大家好.(Dàjiā hǎo.) |
| David: I am David. |
| Echo: 我是(Wǒ shì)Echo. |
| David: And welcome to chineseclass101.com. The fastest, easiest and most fun way to learn Chinese. This is absolute beginner season 2, lesson 4. |
| Echo: Why are you crying? |
| David: Right and I think the answer is |
| Echo: We are going to tell you a bit later. |
| David: But we hope you studied the last lesson because it builds on that. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| David: We have got a dialogue that takes place in the living room here between two cousins. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| David: One of whom is feeling rather sad. We are going to take you through the dialogue in a sec. Before we do that, we want to remind you, if you have any questions, if you have any comments Echo. |
| Echo: Come to chineseclass101.com |
| David: And leave a comment on the site and we are going to force Echo to answer it. For now though, let’s go on to the dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 你怎么了？(Nǐ zěnme le?) |
| B: 我不好。(Wǒ bù hǎo.) |
| A: 你为什么哭了？(Nǐ wèishénme kū le?) |
| B: 我的狗病了。(Wǒ de gǒu bìng le.) |
| David: One more time, a bit slower. |
| A: 你怎么了？(Nǐ zěnme le?) |
| B: 我不好。(Wǒ bù hǎo.) |
| A: 你为什么哭了？(Nǐ wèishénme kū le?) |
| B: 我的狗病了。(Wǒ de gǒu bìng le.) |
| David: And now with the English. |
| A: 你怎么了？(Nǐ zěnme le?) |
| A: What's wrong? |
| B: 我不好。(Wǒ bù hǎo.) |
| B: I'm not doing too good. |
| A: 你为什么哭了？(Nǐ wèishénme kū le?) |
| A: Why are you crying? |
| B: 我的狗病了。(Wǒ de gǒu bìng le.) |
| B: My dog is sick. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: So things have taken a turn for the worse since our last lesson. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: We’ve gone from denial to acceptance. |
| Echo: 他们应该去医院.(Tāmen yīnggāi qù yīyuàn.) |
| David: They should go to the animal hospital actually. |
| Echo: Yeah 宠物医院.(Chǒngwù yīyuàn.) |
| David: Yeah. So we’ve got lot of vocab for you. This is actually less depressing than last lesson. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: Okay so let’s get to it. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| David: And now the vocab section. |
| Echo: 哭(Kū) [natural native speed] |
| David: to cry |
| Echo: 哭(Kū) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 哭(Kū) [natural native speed] |
| Echo: 笑(Xiào) [natural native speed] |
| David: to laugh |
| Echo: 笑(Xiào) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 笑(Xiào) [natural native speed] |
| Echo: 生气(Shēngqì) [natural native speed] |
| David: to be angry |
| Echo: 生气(Shēngqì) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 生气(Shēngqì) [natural native speed] |
| Echo: 高兴(Gāoxìng) [natural native speed] |
| David: happy |
| Echo: 高兴(Gāoxìng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 高兴(Gāoxìng) [natural native speed] |
| Echo: 伤心(Shāngxīn) [natural native speed] |
| David: to be hurt |
| Echo: 伤心(Shāngxīn) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 伤心(Shāngxīn) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: We promised you a less depressing vocab section. |
| Echo: Yeah but the first word is |
| David: But the first word was |
| Echo: 哭(Kū) |
| David: Right which means to cry. |
| Echo: 哭(Kū) |
| David: Yeah. Now all of these are verbs. So in sentences, we want to follow them with 了(Le) |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: Right as in he cried. |
| Echo: 他哭了(Tā kūle) |
| David: Right or don’t cry. |
| Echo: 别哭了(Bié kūle) |
| David: This is actually really cool character. |
| Echo: Like crying face. |
| David: Yeah the character itself looks like someone’s eyes with tears dropping down from mouth. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: Check it in the transcript if you get the chance. Our next word though is not as depressing. |
| Echo: 生气(Shēngqì) |
| David: Right. That means to be angry. |
| Echo: And it’s not depressing. |
| David: Yeah it’s angry. |
| Echo: 生气(Shēngqì) |
| David: As in |
| Echo: 我很生气(Wǒ hěn shēngqì) |
| David: Right. Or I got angry. |
| Echo: 我生气了(Wǒ shēngqìle) |
| David: Right. So this word, you can use it either as an adjective with 很 or you can use it as a verb with 了.(Le) |
| Echo: 我生气了(Wǒ shēngqìle) |
| David: Right. It has a slightly different meaning. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: The second |
| Echo: 我生气了(Wǒ shēngqìle) |
| David: Means I have gotten angry or I am getting angry. We have got a change of state taking place. Now our next word is |
| Echo: 笑(Xiào) |
| David: To laugh. |
| Echo: 笑(Xiào) |
| David: As in the sentence. |
| Echo: 他很高兴，笑了(Tā hěn gāoxìng, xiàole) |
| David: He is very happy, he laughed. |
| Echo: 他很高兴，笑了(Tā hěn gāoxìng, xiàole) |
| David: Right. He was very happy and he laughed and that word actually is also in our vocab today. |
| Echo: 高兴(Gāoxìng) |
| David: Right. We told you it means happy. |
| Echo: 高兴(Gāoxìng) |
| David: It also means excited. |
| Echo: Yeah. 你高兴吗？(Nǐ gāoxìng ma?) |
| David: Are you happy? That’s a weird question. Who would you ask that to? |
| Echo: Well if you like have a date and then at the end of the date, you can ask your date, 你高兴吗？(Nǐ gāoxìng ma?) |
| David: Any way, you can ask someone, are you happy? |
| Echo: 你高兴吗？(Nǐ gāoxìng ma?) |
| David: I am happy, are you happy? |
| Echo: 我恨高兴，你呢？(Wǒ hèn gāoxìng, nǐ ne?) |
| David: So we’ve got one last word for you which is it’s another depressing one. |
| Echo: 伤心(Shāngxīn) |
| David: To feel hurt. |
| Echo: 伤心(Shāngxīn) |
| David: And it’s emotional pain here right? |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: And it’s an interesting character. It’s actually literally wounded heart. |
| Echo: Yes. 伤心(Shāngxīn) |
| David: So if you see someone who is upset, you can say hey, don’t be upset, don’t be hurt. |
| Echo: 别伤心了(Bié shāngxīnle) |
| David: Right. So a quick review of our vocab. We are going to play a game this time. I am going to say it in English and then Echo, you can say it in Chinese. To cry. |
| Echo: 哭(Kū) |
| David: To laugh |
| Echo: 笑(Xiào) |
| David: To be angry. |
| Echo: 生气(Shēngqì) |
| David: To be excited or happy. |
| Echo: 高兴(Gāoxìng) |
| David: To be emotionally hurt. |
| Echo: 伤心(Shāngxīn) |
| David: Right and in simple sentences, you want to follow these with [*] most of the time. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| David: Okay I have just gotten angry. I have just started crying. Much more natural. That’s the natural way to do it in Chinese. With that though, let’s get on to our grammar point for this lesson. It’s grammar time. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: Okay, our grammar point today is why. |
| Echo: 为什么(Wèishénme) |
| David: Why? |
| Echo: 为什么(Wèishénme) |
| David: Why, why, why? |
| Echo: 为什么？为什么？为什么？(Wèishénme? Wèishénme? Wèishénme?) |
| David: All right. So we all know the word by now. |
| Echo: Yeah. 为什么(Wèishénme) |
| David: Right. Now in the dialogue, we heard it in this sentence. |
| Echo: 你为什么哭了？(Nǐ wèishénme kūle?) |
| David: Right and what we want to talk about is where you put this word in sentences. Here, we see it after the subject. |
| Echo: 你为什么哭了？(Nǐ wèishénme kūle?) |
| David: Right. After the subject but before the verb. |
| Echo: 你为什么哭了？(Nǐ wèishénme kūle?) |
| David: This is different than English. In English, we put it first. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: We say why are you crying? In Chinese, the subject always comes first. |
| Echo: 你(Nǐ) |
| David: You, why to cry. |
| Echo: 你为什么哭了？(Nǐ wèishénme kūle?) |
| David: Right. Let’s have a couple more examples Echo. |
| Echo: 你为什么生气了？(Nǐ wèishénme shēngqìle?) |
| David: Why are you angry? |
| Echo: 你为什么生气了？(Nǐ wèishénme shēngqìle?) |
| David: Why are you angry? |
| Echo: 他为什么伤心了？(Tā wèishénme shāngxīnle?) |
| David: Why is he hurt? |
| Echo: 他为什么伤心了？(Tā wèishénme shāngxīnle?) |
| David: Why is he or she feeling bad? Did you just break up with them? Is their dog being... |
| Echo: Yeah maybe. |
| David: Maybe. Anyway, one more example. |
| Echo: 你们为什么笑了？(Nǐmen wèishénme xiàole?) |
| David: Why are you laughing? |
| Echo: 你们为什么笑了？(Nǐmen wèishénme xiàole?) |
| David: Why are you laughing or maybe why are you smiling. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: Okay. So remember the word order here. Echo, what is it again? |
| Echo: The subject like 我，你，他， or 他们.(Wǒ, nǐ, tā, or tāmen.) |
| David: Yeah. |
| Echo: And then the verb. |
| David: And then lastly our verb. And don’t forget to put that 了(Le) on at the end of the verb. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: Okay because someone has gotten angry or they have gotten hurt. Why are you angry? |
| Echo: 你为什么生气了？(Nǐ wèishénme shēngqìle?) |
| David: Why have you started crying? |
| Echo: 你为什么哭了？(Nǐ wèishénme kūle?) |
Outro |
| David: Right. So that’s our lesson for today. Before we go, we want to remind you of our Elite 1 on 1 package. |
| Echo: Yeah it’s a great deal. |
| David: Yeah it’s a bit more than 80 bucks and you are going to get a 1 on 1 teacher straight from Beijing for 1 on 1 lessons. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| David: Right over Skype. It’s going to help you improve your Chinese. It’s very cost effective. It’s a lot cheaper than actually going to a class. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| David: And you get 1 on 1 attention. So if you are interested, send us an email at |
| Echo: Contact us at chineseclass101.com. |
| David: And we will set you up with a free lesson to try it out and see it for yourself. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: For now though, that’s all the time we have. From Beijing, I am David. |
| Echo: 我是(Wǒ shì)Echo. |
| David: Thanks a lot for listening and we will see you on the site. |
| Echo: 网上见，拜拜。(Wǎngshàng jiàn, bàibài.) |
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Comments
HideWhat's the best way to cheer up a gloomy friend?
Hi Alice,
Thank you for posting.
Please email us at contactus@ChineseClass101.com
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Cheers,
Lena
Team ChineseClass101.com
this class is really helpful but i dont know why i am trying to get the premium class but the payment is not going and my bank is chargingd me anytime i tried it....
Hello Deontay Forrest,
Thank you for your comment, keep it going and good luck! 👍
If you have any questions, please let us know.
Ngai
Team ChineseClass101.com
I want to try to be better
你好 robert groulx！
不用谢。(Bú yòng xiè.) = No need for thanks. You're welcome. 😇
谢谢 (Xièxie) for studying with us, it's great to have you here!
Let us know if you have any questions.
Kind regards,
雷文特 (Levente)
Team ChineseClass101.com
thank you for the lesson tranascript
favorite phrase is 你为什么生气了？
robert
Hi Marko,
Thank you for your question.
了 means the action is finished(happened in the past.)
If you have any further question, please let us know.
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com
你好，
In the expansion section you translated 他很高兴，笑了。as "He was very happy and laughed."
Where can I see that it took place in the past?
谢谢
Marko
Hi Douglas,
Thank you very much for your support!
Indeed the phrase 你怎么了 (nǐ zěnmeliǎo) doesn't look negative, some might even think that it means "how are you?" due to direct translation. But actually it implies "what happened to you?" "what's the matter?", mainly because 了 indicates past tense.
If it's just 你怎么 (nǐ zěnme) + verb, the negative connotation drops drastically.
eg. 你怎么去？ (nǐ zěnme qù?) How do you go there?
这外套怎么穿？ (zhè wàitào zěnme chuān?) How to wear this coat?
Hope that answered your question. :wink:
Cheers,
Olivia
Team ChineseClass101.com
Hi David and Echo,
I really enjoyed your lessons. You have been so clear and thorough that I never needed to ask any question. That is until now: In 你怎么了 I don't see "wrong" in there. If you see a person being happy can you use 怎么了 or does it always have a negative connotation.
Thanks
Douglas
@Somang,
You also can learning Chinese by watching dramas, recently 青瓷(qing1 ci2) and 五号特工组之偷天换日（wu3 hao4 te4 gong1 zu3 zhi1 tou1 tian1 huan4 ri4）are pretty popular.
Good luck for your Chinese learning! Fighting!
I learnt korean by watching dramas but I am moving to China which is very different from Korean but I love the audio lesson
hopefully I will be fluent I have six weeks to learn my second asian language
@John,
Thanks :grin:
--Echo
David and Echo are excellent. It's cheerful, amusing, interesting and useful. Definitely the best way to learn Chinese!
They already have restrictions on what size dogs people can have (within the fourth ring road -- I think). Which is why so many families keep much smaller dogs.
I remember there was a small store in Shanghai I used to walk past that kept a massive German shepard cooped up inside, with probably only a single walk outside each day. Poor thing.
The excessive pampering of dogs in Beijing is completely out of control. Shoes on dogs, dyed hair on dogs, carrying dogs so they never walk. I'd say it is emotional blow back from the one child policy.
I think a “one dog policy” may come into action soon enough. 计划狗育政策
:roll: Take her out for a walk,and talk with her if she wants....