Learn about the adverb "just" and street food in China
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome to ChineseClass101.com. I'm David. |
| Amber: 大家好，我是安伯。(Dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì ān bó.) |
| David: And we’re here today with Upper Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 24 – Throwing up on delicious Chinese snacks. |
| Amber: 对，中国的小吃太多了。(Duì, zhōngguó de xiǎochī tài duōle.) |
| David: Right, this is Amber’s favorite lesson because she’s always bringing this stuff into the office. |
| Amber: 对，因为好吃的太多了。(Duì, yīnwèi hào chī de tài duōle.) |
| David: So, we have a dialogue that takes place on 天津 (Tiānjīn) food street. Right. It’s a famous street in 天津 (Tiānjīn) where you’ve got a lot of local snacks. And we’ve got a dialogue between two travelers who are speaking casual Chinese, as always. Let’s get to it. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 天津的小吃太好吃了！(Tiānjīn de xiǎochī tài hǎochī le!) |
| B: 你怎么还想吃? (Nǐ zěnme hái xiǎng chī?) |
| A: 这个麻花儿真不错。(Zhège máhuā zhēn bùcuò.) |
| B: 我们刚吃了狗不理包子。(Wǒmen gāng chī le gǒubùlǐ bāozi.) |
| A: 嗯，我听说天津的炸糕也不错。(ēn, wǒ tīngshuō Tiānjīn de zhágāo yě bùcuò.) |
| B: 我已经饱了。(Wǒ yǐjīng bǎo le.) |
| A: 那......我们去吃煎饼果子吧！(Nà ......wǒmen qù chī jiānbǐng guǒzi ba!) |
| A: Tianjin snacks are so delicious! |
| B: How can you still want to eat? |
| A: This fried dough twist is really good. |
| B: We just ate Goubuli dumplings. |
| A: Hmm, I've heard that Tianjin fried rice cakes are also not bad. |
| B: I'm already full. |
| A: Then... let's go eat pancakes with fried sticks. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: So, Amber, you have family in 天津 (Tiānjīn), so you are often there. When you are there, I notice you always come back with this food. |
| Amber: 煎饼果子。(Jiānbing guǒzi.) |
| David: Yeah, especially that last one. |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| David: And if you are in 天津] (Tiānjīn), it’s one of the things to do, is going to this food street and eating the food. So, we’re going to talk about this in a sec. But, before we do, why don’t we go through our key vocab for this lesson. |
| Amber: Okay. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Amber: 小吃。(xiǎochī.) |
| David: Snack. |
| Amber: 小 吃, 小吃, 麻花儿。(xiǎo chī, xiǎochī, máhuār.) |
| David: Fried dough twist. |
| Amber: 麻 花 儿, 麻花儿, 包子。(má hu ār, máhuār, bāozi.) |
| David: Stuffed bun. |
| Amber: 包 子, 包子, 听说。(bāo zi, bāozi, tīngshuō.) |
| David: To hearsay. |
| Amber: 听 说, 听说, 炸糕。(tīng shuō, tīngshuō, zhágāo.) |
| David: Fried rice cake. |
| Amber: 炸 糕, 炸糕, 饱。(zhá gāo, zhágāo, bǎo.) |
| David: Full. |
| Amber: 饱, 饱, 煎饼果子。(bǎo, bǎo, jiānbǐng guǒzi.) |
| David: Egg pancake with fried sticks. |
| Amber: 煎 饼 果 子, 煎饼果子, 油条。(jiān bǐng guǒ zi, jiānbǐng guǒzi, yóutiáo.) |
| David: Fried dough stick. |
| Amber: 油 条, 油条。(yóu tiáo, yóutiáo.) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Okay, Amber, we’re going to talk about food today. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: Amber is smiling. There’s a ton of food items here. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: Right? Really, this lesson is for anyone who goes to 天津 (Tiānjīn). Right? |
| Amber: 唔 ...唔, 如果去天津, 要吃好吃的。(Wú... Wú, rúguǒ qù tiānjīn, yào chī hào chī de.) |
| David: Well, yes. First, the 天津 (Tiānjīn) is famous for this restaurant. |
| Amber: 狗不理。(Gǒu bù lǐ.) |
| David: We hear this in our dialogue… |
| Amber: 我们刚吃了狗不理包子。(Wǒmen gāng chīle gǒu bù lǐ bāozi.) |
| David: We’ve just eaten 包子 (Bāozi) at 狗不理 (Gǒu bù lǐ). Right? If 天津 (Tiānjīn) is famous for anything, this is the restaurant. |
| Amber: 狗不理。(Gǒu bù lǐ.) |
| David: And they are really good. |
| Amber: 没错, 狗不理包子非常好吃。(Méi cuò, gǒu bù lǐ bāozi fēicháng hào chī.) |
| David: Yeah, they’re also really expensive now. It used to be cheap, but now they’ve developed a brand and really drag [unintelligible 00:03:32] a lot of money. |
| Amber: 对，因为现在很有名。(Duì, yīnwèi xiànzài hěn yǒumíng.) |
| David: Right. But if you go to 天津 (Tiānjīn), you can eat 包子 (Bāozi), which is bread with meat stuffed inside it. Really, really great. |
| Amber: 没错, 其实有其他的品牌的包子，会便宜一些。(Méi cuò, qíshí yǒu qítā de pǐnpái de bāozi, huì piányí yīxiē.) |
| David: It’s cheaper than 狗不理.(Gǒu bù lǐ.) |
| Amber: 但是同样好吃。(Dànshì tóngyàng hào chī.) |
| David: Really good. So, if you go to 天津 (Tiānjīn), make sure you have 包子 (Bāozi). |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: The rest of these foods are snacks. First, we’ve got… |
| Amber: 麻花儿。(Máhuā er.) |
| David: Fried dough twist. |
| Amber: 麻花儿。(Máhuā er.) |
| David: And they take dough, and they twist them together, fry it and cover it with sugar. |
| Amber: 没错, 有的时候还有别的。(Méi cuò, yǒu de shíhòu hái yǒu bié de.) |
| David: Right. There are other things but it’s a sweet food. |
| Amber: 没错, 甜的，麻花儿, 麻花儿是天津的特色。(Méi cuò, tián de, máhuā er, máhuā er shì tiānjīn de tèsè.) |
| David: Right. So this is a 天津 (Tiānjīn) specialty. Right? There’s another kind of fried dough stick in our vocab as well. |
| Amber: 油条。(Yóutiáo.) |
| David: Fried dough stick. |
| Amber: 油条。(Yóutiáo.) |
| David: So what’s the difference between 麻花儿 (Máhuā er) and 油条.(Yóutiáo.) |
| Amber: 唔，麻花儿是甜的，油条是咸的。(Wú, máhuā er shì tián de, yóutiáo shì xián de.) |
| David: Right. So 麻花儿 (Máhuā er) is sweet, it’s a dessert. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: Whereas 油条, it’s a breakfast food. |
| Amber: 对，是早点。(Duì, shì zǎodiǎn.) |
| David: Yeah, and it’s not just in 天津 (Tiānjīn). You’re going to find 油条 (Yóutiáo) in Beijing, throughout Northern China. |
| Amber: 没错, 没错。(Méi cuò, méi cuò.) |
| David: Right. Even Southern China you can find it. |
| Amber: 对，第二个天津特色是炸糕。(Duì, dì èr gè tiānjīn tèsè shì zhà gāo.) |
| David: Fried rice cakes. |
| Amber: 炸糕。(Zhà gāo.) |
| David: Actually, and there’re a ton of 天津(Tiānjīn) food, so we are not really covering all of them. This one is interesting. Tell us about it. |
| Amber: 它是用米做的一种蛋糕吧！算是 …. 然后要.....(Tā shì yòng mǐ zuò de yī zhǒng dàngāo ba! Suànshì…. Ránhòu yào.....) |
| David: It’s very, very dry too. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: And it’s fried, but it is good. It’s an acquired taste. |
| Amber: 对，然后里面还有甜的馅。(Duì, ránhòu lǐmiàn hái yǒu tián de xiàn.) |
| David: Yeah, so it’s sweet, and it’s fried, and it’s made of rice, there’s nothing like it I’ve tasted anywhere else. |
| Amber: 没错，所以才是天津特色。(Méi cuò, suǒyǐ cái shì tiānjīn tèsè.) |
| David: Right, it’s a 天津 (Tiānjīn) specialty. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: Okay. Last but not least, we have this egg pancake with fried sticks. |
| Amber: 煎饼果子。(Jiānbing guǒzi.) |
| David: Egg pancake with fried sticks. |
| Amber: 唔 ...唔, 煎饼果子。(Wú... Wú, jiānbing guǒzi.) |
| David: If you’ve been in Northern China, you already know about the egg pancake. |
| Amber: 煎饼。(Jiānbing.) |
| David: This actually came from 天津 (Tiānjīn) originally too. |
| Amber: 没错。 (Méi cuò.) |
| David: Right? And whenever you go, I know you bring back 煎饼 (Jiānbing) for people here, in Beijing. |
| Amber: 因为天津的煎饼和别的地方不一样。(Yīn wéi tiānjīn de jiānbing hé bié dì dìfāng bù yīyàng.) |
| David: Right. So, what’s the difference? |
| Amber: 天津的煎饼是绿豆的面，但是北京是白面。(Tiānjīn de jiānbing shì lǜdòu de miàn, dànshì běijīng shì báimiàn.) |
| David: Right. So, they make the wrapping out of a different material. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: Most people in China will have ran into the 煎饼.(Jiānbing.) |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| David: Right? You can buy them on the streets. What’s this? |
| Amber: 煎饼果子, 煎饼果子是煎饼和油条放在一起。(Jiānbing guǒzi, jiānbing guǒzi shì jiānbing hé yóutiáo fàng zài yīqǐ.) |
| David: Okay, so it’s combo meal. |
| Amber: 对，煎饼果子是煎饼和油条放在一起。(Duì, jiānbing guǒzi shì jiānbing hé yóutiáo fàng zài yīqǐ.) |
| David: Right, and this is somewhat special to 天津.(Tiānjīn.) |
| Amber: 对, 对，没错。(Duì, duì, méi cuò.) |
| David: Okay, so we’ve got a couple of foods you have to try in 天津.(Tiānjīn.) |
| Amber: 包子, 麻花儿, 炸糕, 煎饼果子。(Bāozi, máhuā er, zhà gāo, jiānbing guǒzi.) |
| David: And all of these are called “snacks”. |
| Amber: 小吃。(Xiǎochī.) |
| David: Snacks. |
| Amber: 小吃。(Xiǎochī.) |
| David: Literally, “little eat”. |
| Amber: 对，小 吃, 因为它不是饭。(Duì, xiǎo chī, yīnwèi tā bùshì fàn.) |
| David: Right, it’s not an entire meal. But if you go to 天津 (Tiānjīn), you can fill up on this because snacks are a 天津 (Tiānjīn) specialty. |
| Amber: 小吃是天津的特色。(Xiǎochī shì tiānjīn de tèsè.) |
| David: Snacks are a 天津 (Tiānjīn) specialty. |
| Amber: 小吃是天津的特色。(Xiǎochī shì tiānjīn de tèsè.) |
| David: Okay. So now you are ready to go to 天津 (Tiānjīn) and eat. Let’s get to our grammar point. |
| Amber: Okay. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| M2: It’s grammar time! |
| David: Today, we want to talk b an adverb. |
| Amber: 刚。(Gāng.) |
| David: Just. |
| Amber: 刚。(Gāng.) |
| David: In our dialogue, we see this in this sentence - |
| Amber: 我们刚吃了狗不理包子。(Wǒmen gāng chīle gǒu bù lǐ bāozi.) |
| David: We just ate stuffed buns from 狗不理.(Gǒu bù lǐ.) |
| Amber: 我们刚吃了狗不理包子。(Wǒmen gāng chīle gǒu bù lǐ bāozi.) |
| David: We just ate these stuffed buns from 狗不理 (Gǒu bù lǐ). The famous 天津 (Tiānjīn) food. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: Now, by adding this word… |
| Amber: 刚。(Gāng.) |
| David: in front of our verb, we’re implying that the action happened not long ago. In our dialogue, the speaker says… |
| Amber: 刚吃了狗不理包子。(Gāng chīle gǒu bù lǐ bāozi.) |
| David: Right, so he means “we just ate the包子 (Bāozi)”. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò) |
| David: I am full. |
| Amber: 没错,我现在还不想吃别的。(Méi cuò, wǒ xiànzài hái bùxiǎng chī bié de.) |
| David: Right. |
| Amber: 所以如果有人请你吃饭, 你可以说 我刚吃了饭。(Suǒyǐ rúguǒ yǒurén qǐng nǐ chīfàn, nǐ kěyǐ shuō wǒ gāng chīle fàn..) |
| David: I just ate lunch. I just ate food. |
| Amber: 唔 ...唔, 我刚吃了饭。(Wú... Wú, wǒ gāng chīle fàn.) |
| David: I just ate. |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| David: Now, we can use this in other contexts as well. For instance… |
| Amber: 如果你朋友让你做饭，你可以说我刚下班。(Rúguǒ nǐ péngyǒu ràng nǐ zuò fàn, nǐ kěyǐ shuō wǒ gāng xiàbān.) |
| David: Right. If someone asks you to cook, your girlfriend, your boyfriend, you could say… |
| Amber: 我刚下班。(Wǒ gāng xiàbān.) |
| David: I just got off work. |
| Amber: 我刚下班, 让我休息一下。(Wǒ gāng xiàbān, ràng wǒ xiūxí yīxià.) |
| David: I just got off work, let me rest a bit. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: Now, there’s something that confuses a lot of people because sometimes Chinese speakers will double up on this adverb. |
| Amber: 刚刚。(Gānggāng.) |
| David: You’ll hear people say… |
| Amber: 刚刚。(Gānggāng.) |
| David: As in… |
| Amber: 我刚刚下班。(Wǒ gānggāng xiàbān.) |
| David: Or… |
| Amber: 我刚刚吃过饭。(Wǒ gānggāng chīguò fàn.) |
| David: Now, Amber, what does this mean? What’s the difference? |
| Amber: 唔，”刚刚” 和 “刚” 有一个意思是一样的，就是 (Wú,” gānggāng” hé “gāng” yǒu yīgè yìsi shì yīyàng de, jiùshì) just. |
| David: Yes, it means “just now”.. However… |
| Amber: 刚刚。(Gānggāng.) |
| David: Means “it just happened”. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: Right, so 刚 (Gāng), a single character, it could be a while ago. |
| Amber: 对，没错。(Duì, méi cuò.) |
| David: We just ate an hour ago. |
| Amber: 我们刚吃过饭。(Wǒmen gāng chīguò fàn.) |
| David: We just ate five minutes ago. |
| Amber: 我们刚刚吃过饭。(Wǒmen gānggāng chīguò fàn.) |
| David: Right. So, if something has really just happened, you can double up. |
| Amber: 没错，你可以说刚刚，比如说 我刚刚进门。(Méi cuò, nǐ kěyǐ shuō gānggāng, bǐrú shuō wǒ gānggāng jìnmén.) |
| David: I just got home. |
| Amber: 我刚刚进门。(Wǒ gānggāng jìnmén.) |
| David: How about “I just got home, let me rest.” |
| Amber: 我刚刚进门, 让我休息一下。(Wǒ gānggāng jìnmén, ràng wǒ xiūxí yīxià.) |
| David: Right, “I just got in. Let me take a break.” |
| Amber: 我刚刚进门, 让我休息一下, 可能才刚坐下。(Wǒ gānggāng jìnmén, ràng wǒ xiūxí yīxià, kěnéng cáigāng zuò xià.) |
| David: Yeah. And remember, because this is an adverb, we put it in front of the main verb in our sentence …... |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: ….and usually after the subject as well, as in our dialogue. |
| Amber: 我们刚吃了狗不理包子。(Wǒmen gāng chīle gǒu bù lǐ bāozi.) |
| David: We just ate 狗不理包子.(Gǒu bù lǐ bāozi.) |
| Amber: 我们刚吃了狗不理包子。(Wǒmen gāng chīle gǒu bù lǐ bāozi.) |
| David: Right. And remember, if something just, just happened, you can double up on this adjective and say, “Hey, we really just ate 狗不理包子.(Gǒu bù lǐ bāozi.)” |
| Amber: 我们刚刚吃了狗不理包子。(Wǒmen gānggāng chīle gǒu bù lǐ bāozi.) |
| David: There’s no way I can fit in all of these 天津 (Tiānjīn) snacks. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: Okay? So, this lesson’s got a ton of stuff for you if you are going to go to 天津 (Tiānjīn). Right? We’ve got the names of 天津 (Tiānjīn) snacks for you and we’ve got a way for you to tell people that you’ve just eating. You can't possibly eat anymore. |
| Amber: 没错 ….. 这个很有用, 因为天津人特别喜欢让你吃东西。(Méi cuò….. Zhège hěn yǒuyòng, yīn wéi tiānjīn rén tèbié xǐhuān ràng nǐ chī dōngxī.) |
| David: Yeah, and as soon as you come they are going to start giving you weird, let’s be honest, like, the fried rice cake is a strange food for outsiders . |
| Amber: 唔 ….. 好吧！(Wú….. Hǎo ba!) |
| David: but it does grow on you. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
Outro |
| David: For now, though, that’s all the time we have. From Beijing, I'm David. |
| Amber: 我是安伯。(Wǒ shì ān bó.) |
| David: Thanks for listening and we’ll see you on the site. |
| Amber: 咱们下次见，拜拜。(Zánmen xià cì jiàn, bàibài) |
Comments
Hide