Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Introduction
Eric: Welcome to 3-Minute Chinese Season 1, Lesson 5 - Making Apologies. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to apologize and how to say that you didn't do it on purpose or that you are sorry in Chinese.
Body
Eric: Here's the informal way to say "Excuse me." in Chinese.
Cho: [Normal] 不好意思。(bù hǎoyìsi)
Eric: First is a word meaning "not"
Cho: [Normal] 不 [Slow] 不 (bù)
Eric: Next is the adjective meaning "good"
Cho: [Normal] 好 [Slow] 好(hǎo)
Eric: Last is the noun for "meaning"
Cho: [Normal] 意思 [Slow] 意思(yìsi)
Eric: Listen again to the informal phrase meaning "Excuse me."
Cho: [Slow] 不好意思。 [Normal] 不好意思。
Eric: Ok, now let's take a look at the formal way to say "Excuse me."
Cho: [Normal] 对不起。(duìbùqǐ)
Eric: This expression has only one word meaning "sorry"
Cho: [Normal] 对不起 [Slow] 对不起 (duìbùqǐ)
Eric: Listen again to the formal word meaning "Excuse me."
Cho: [Slow] 对不起。 [Normal] 对不起。
Eric: Next up is the formal way to say "I didn't mean it."
Cho: [Normal] 我不是这个意思。(wǒ bú shì zhège yìsi.)
Eric: First is a pronoun meaning "I"
Cho: [Normal] 我 [Slow] 我(wǒ)
Eric: Next is the adjective meaning "not"
Cho: [Normal] 不是 [Slow] 不是(bù shì)
Eric: Then comes the pronoun meaning "this"
Cho: [Normal] 这个 [Slow] 这个(zhège)
Eric: Last is the noun for "meaning"
Cho: [Normal] 意思 [Slow] 意思(yìsi)
Eric: Listen again to the formal phrase meaning "I didn't mean it."
Cho: [Slow] 我不是这个意思。 [Normal] 我不是这个意思。
Eric: Finally, here is a formal way to say "I'm very sorry."
Cho: [Normal] 我很抱歉。(Wǒ hěn bàoqiàn.)
Eric: First is a pronoun meaning "I"
Cho: [Normal] 我 [Slow] 我(wǒ)
Eric: Next is the adjective meaning "very, very much"
Cho: [Normal] 很 [Slow] 很(hěn)
Eric: Last is the verb meaning "sorry"
Cho: [Normal] 抱歉 [Slow] 抱歉(bàoqiàn)
Eric: Listen again to the formal phrase meaning "I'm very sorry."
Cho: [Slow] 我很抱歉。 [Normal] 我很抱歉。
Cultural Insight
Eric: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight.
Cho: If you accidentally bump into someone in China, say 对不起 (Duì bu qǐ) or 不好意思 (bù hǎoyìsi), which means “I am sorry.” This shows people that you are genuinely sorry.

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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