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| Introduction |
| Eric: Welcome to 3-Minute Chinese Season 1, Lesson 13 - Who Is It? In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask who someone is in Chinese. |
| Body |
| Eric: Here's the informal way to ask 'Who is it?' in Chinese. |
| Cho: [Normal] 是谁呀？(shì shéiyā?) |
| Eric: First is a verb meaning 'to be' |
| Cho: [Normal] 是 [Slow] 是 (shì) |
| Eric: Next is the pronoun meaning 'who' |
| Cho: [Normal] 谁 [Slow] 谁(shéi) |
| Eric: Last is the modal particle. |
| Cho: [Normal] 呀 [Slow] 呀(ya) |
| Eric: Listen again to the informal question meaning 'Who is it?' |
| Cho: [Slow] 是谁呀？ [Normal] 是谁呀？ |
| Eric: Now, imagine you're speaking to a stranger. Here's the formal way to ask, 'Who is that?' |
| Cho: [Normal] 他是哪位？(tā shì nǎ wèi?) |
| Eric: First is a pronoun meaning 'he' |
| Cho: [Normal] 他 [Slow] 他 (tā) |
| Eric: Next is the verb meaning 'to be' |
| Cho: [Normal] 是 [Slow] 是(shì) |
| Eric: Last is the pronoun meaning 'who' |
| Cho: [Normal] 哪位 [Slow] 哪位(nǎ wèi) |
| Eric: Listen again to the formal question meaning 'Who is that?' |
| Cho: [Slow] 他是哪位？ [Normal] 他是哪位？ |
| Eric: Here's a response meaning 'It's me.' |
| Cho: [Normal] 是我。(shì Wǒ .) |
| Eric: First is a verb meaning 'to be' |
| Cho: [Normal] 是 [Slow] 是(shì) |
| Eric: Last is the pronoun meaning 'I, me' |
| Cho: [Normal] 我 [Slow] 我(wǒ) |
| Eric: Listen again to the response meaning 'It's me.' |
| Cho: [Slow] 是我。 [Normal] 是我。 |
| Eric: Here's a response meaning, 'That’s a friend of mine.' |
| Cho: [Normal] 那是我的朋友。(nà shì wǒ de péngyou .) |
| Eric: First is a pronoun meaning 'that' |
| Cho: [Normal] 那 [Slow] 那(nà) |
| Eric: Next is the verb meaning 'to be' |
| Cho: [Normal] 是 [Slow] 是(shì) |
| Eric: Next is the possessive adjective meaning 'my' |
| Cho: [Normal] 我的 [Slow] 我的(wǒ de) |
| Eric: Last is the noun meaning 'friend' |
| Cho: [Normal] 朋友 [Slow] 朋友(péngyǒu) |
| Eric: Listen again to the response meaning 'That’s a friend of mine.' |
| Cho: [Slow] 那是我的朋友。 [Normal] 那是我的朋友。 |
| Cultural Insight |
| Eric: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight. |
| Cho: If someone that you didn't expect is knocking at your door in China, the common question you can ask is Shéi a? before opening the door. This means "Who is it?" in a very natural way. |
| It can be used in all sorts of situations, but be careful with your tone. You could sound cheerful, but you could also sound rude, depending on your tone. |
Outro |
|---|
| Eric: And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check out the lesson notes, and we’ll see you in the next lesson! |
| Cho: 再见 |
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