Learn the Chinese phrase that means "impossible"
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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 Today we’ve got absolute beginner season 2, lesson 3. |
| Echo: Your dog looks kind of sick. |
| David: Right. This is a depressing lesson. |
| Echo: Poor dog. |
| David: Yeah but it’s got a lot of high frequency vocab that you can use even if your pet is not sick. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: Even if you don’t have a pet at all…So we’ve got a dialogue here which takes place between two neighbors in a park. Lot of Beijingers, they will go walking with their dogs in the evening. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| David: This is the scene and they are speaking casual mandarin as always. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| David: Now before we take you to the dialogue though, we want to remind you, we have got Premium PDF transcripts on chineseclass101.com. If you are having trouble following along by ear, grab the transcripts and read along as we go through this. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| David: Okay. For now though, let’s get to the dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 你的狗病了。(Nǐ de gǒu bìng le.) |
| B: 不可能。(Bù kěnéng.) |
| A: 真的，去医院吧。(Zhēnde, qù yīyuàn ba.) |
| B: 胡说。(Húshuō.) |
| David: One more time, a bit slower. |
| A: 你的狗病了。(Nǐ de gǒu bìng le.) |
| B: 不可能。(Bù kěnéng.) |
| A: 真的，去医院吧。(Zhēnde, qù yīyuàn ba.) |
| B: 胡说。(Húshuō.) |
| David: And now with the English. |
| A: 你的狗病了。(Nǐ de gǒu bìng le.) |
| A: Your dog is sick. |
| B: 不可能。(Bù kěnéng.) |
| B: Impossible. |
| A: 真的，去医院吧。(Zhēnde, qù yīyuàn ba.) |
| A: Really. We should go to the hospital. |
| B: 胡说。(Húshuō.) |
| B: Nonsense. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: One thing I have noticed about dogs in China in Beijing. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: They are really small. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| David: As there is this policy against having big dogs. |
| Echo: Yeah in Beijing. |
| David: Yeah you can’t keep them, it costs a bit more license. So everyone has these really small dogs and they yap a lot. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: Anyway, we’ve got a lot of vocab today that you can use to describe your dog or your friends. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: For better or worse. |
| Echo: Okay. |
| David: So let’s get to the vocab section. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Echo: 脏(zāng) [natural native speed] |
| David: dirty |
| Echo: 脏(zāng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 脏(zāng) [natural native speed] |
| Echo: 老(lǎo) [natural native speed] |
| David: old |
| Echo: 老(lǎo) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 老(lǎo) [natural native speed] |
| Echo: 病(bìng) [natural native speed] |
| David: sick |
| Echo: 病(bìng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 病(bìng) [natural native speed] |
| Echo: 吵(chǎo) [natural native speed] |
| David: noisy |
| Echo: 吵(chǎo) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 吵(chǎo) [natural native speed] |
| Echo: 掉毛(diàomáo) [natural native speed] |
| David: to shed |
| Echo: 掉毛(diàomáo) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 掉毛(diàomáo) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: So in today’s lesson, we have five words that you can use to describe a dog or maybe a cat. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: So the first word is |
| Echo: 脏(zāng) |
| David: Which is dirty. |
| Echo: 脏(zāng) |
| David: Now dogs in the city aren’t really that 脏(zāng) |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: But dogs in the countryside |
| Echo: 非常脏(Fēicháng zàng) |
| David: Right go roll around in mud. So if you are a little messy like me, accidents happen and you could see your clothes are dirty. |
| Echo: 衣服脏了(Yīfú zàngle) |
| David: Or the clothes are dirty. |
| Echo: 衣服脏了(Yīfú zàngle) |
| David: Right. You see that last character there at the end? |
| Echo: 了(Le) |
| David: That’s change of state. So it means the clothes just got dirty. |
| Echo: 衣服脏了(Yīfú zàngle) |
| David: Right. Before they were cleaned but now they are dirty. |
| Echo: 衣服脏了(Yīfú zàngle) |
| David: Our next word is |
| Echo: 老(Lǎo) |
| David: Which means old. |
| Echo: 老(Lǎo) |
| David: As in the sentence, my dog is very old. |
| Echo: 我的狗很老。(Wǒ de gǒu hěn lǎo.) |
| David: Right. Or you could say, my dog just got old. |
| Echo: 我的狗老了。(Wǒ de gǒu lǎole.) |
| David: Again we have the 了(Le) at the end which is change of state. In the dialog though, the dog was sick. |
| Echo: 病(Bìng) |
| David: Sick. |
| Echo: 病(Bìng) |
| David: If you get sick, you could say |
| Echo: 我昨天病了(Wǒ zuótiān bìngle) |
| David: I was sick yesterday. |
| Echo: 我昨天病了(Wǒ zuótiān bìngle) |
| David: Now this is actually bit different from our earlier words because this is a verb. |
| Echo: 病(Bìng) |
| David: Right. The word for dirty. |
| Echo: 脏(Zàng) |
| David: And old |
| Echo: 老(Lǎo) |
| David: Are adjectives. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| David: So you can say it’s very old. |
| Echo: 老(Lǎo) |
| David: Or very dirty. |
| Echo: 脏(Zàng) |
| David: But with this, we just use the verb right away. |
| Echo: Yes. 病(Bìng) |
| David: Our next word is another adjective. |
| Echo: 吵(Chǎo) |
| David: Which means noisy. |
| Echo: 吵(Chǎo) |
| David: As in the phrase very noisy. |
| Echo: 很吵(Hěn chǎo) |
| David: Right. Now if someone is making too much noise in China, one thing you can say to them is |
| Echo: 别吵(Bié chǎo) |
| David: Which is literally, don’t be noisy. |
| Echo: 别吵(Bié chǎo) |
| David: Don’t noisy. |
| Echo: 别吵(Bié chǎo) |
| David: Right. Now last but not least |
| Echo: 掉毛(Diào máo) |
| David: Which means to shed. |
| Echo: 掉毛(Diào máo) |
| David: It literally means to fall out hair. |
| Echo: Yeah. 你的狗掉毛吗？(Nǐ de gǒu diào máo ma?) |
| David: Is your dog shedding? |
| Echo: 你的狗掉毛吗？(Nǐ de gǒu diào máo ma?) |
| David: Is your dog shedding. |
| Echo: 狗掉毛了(Gǒu diào máole) |
| David: Yeah so five words you can use to describe pets. |
| Echo: 脏，老，病，吵，掉毛(Zàng, lǎo, bìng, chǎo, diào máo) |
| David: Words you don’t want to use to describe your dog. |
| Echo: But you can use it to describe other’s dogs. |
| David: Yes okay. So now we have done that. Let’s move on to the grammar section. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: Our grammar section today is all about one phrase. |
| Echo: 不可能(Bù kěnéng) |
| David: Right, which means not possible. |
| Echo: 不可能(Bù kěnéng) |
| David: Let’s break down this word. |
| Echo: 不(Bù) |
| David: Is not. |
| Echo: 可(Kě) |
| David: Means to allow or to be okay. |
| Echo: 能(Néng) |
| David: Means to be able to do something. |
| Echo: Yeah 不可能(Bù kěnéng) |
| David: Impossible. Now if someone asks you to do something, you can use that all alone. You can say |
| Echo: 不可能(Bù kěnéng) |
| David: That’s not possible. I can’t do it or maybe it can’t be done. |
| Echo: 不可能(Bù kěnéng) |
| David: In China, you would hear this a lot but you can also put it into sentences. |
| Echo: 他不可能去(Tā bù kěnéng qù) |
| David: He impossible to go. |
| Echo: 他不可能去(Tā bù kěnéng qù) |
| David: He cannot go or it’s impossible for him to go. |
| Echo: 他不可能去(Tā bù kěnéng qù) |
| David: So we put our subject first and then |
| Echo: 不可能(Bù kěnéng) |
| David: And then the verb. Another example. |
| Echo: 我不可能同意(Wǒ bù kěnéng tóngyì) |
| David: I cannot agree. |
| Echo: 我不可能同意(Wǒ bù kěnéng tóngyì) |
| David: I cannot agree. We have the subject. |
| Echo: 我(Wǒ) |
| David: And then we hear. |
| Echo: 不可能(Bù kěnéng) |
| David: And finally the verb for to agree. |
| Echo: 同意(Tóngyì) |
| David: So this is a really simple pattern you can start using right away. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: And one thing I like about it is it doesn’t explain why it’s impossible. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: It’s just saying you are simple. |
| Echo: 不可能(Bù kěnéng) |
| David: But it’s not going to happen. I don’t need to give you a why. |
| Echo: 不可能(Bù kěnéng) |
| David: Right. So one more example for you. |
| Echo: 他不可能知道(Tā bù kěnéng zhīdào) |
| David: He cannot know. |
| Echo: 他不可能知道(Tā bù kěnéng zhīdào) |
| David: It’s impossible for him to know. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
Outro |
| David: Okay. So that’s our podcast for today. Before we go, we want to remind you. At chineseclass101.com, we’ve got a lot of stuff in the premium learning center. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: That’s going to help you flash cards, voice recording tool. All of the stuff that can help you remember words and say them the way native says them. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| David: So go check them out if you haven’t yet. For now though, that’s all the time we’ve got. 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.) |
| David: Bye-bye. |
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Comments
HideThe health of loved pets shouldn't be taken lightly.
你好 Byron,
Thanks a lot for your feedback. We are continuously working on improving our site, app, and materials, therefore the opinion of our students is highly valuable.
I will forward your message to our team for consideration! 😇
Kind regards,
雷文特
Team ChineseClass101.com
Please consider adding an HSK 3.0 vocabulary, character and grammar curriculum on chineseclass101.com for Premium subscribers. I would prefer to use your platform to prepare for the new exams. Thank you.
你好 robert groulx！
谢谢 for taking the time to leave us a comment. 😇
We are very happy 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 transcript
favorite phrase is 他不可能知道
robert
Hi, Tara,
脏(simplified) has two pronunciations for two different meanings.
When 脏(simplified) = 髒(troditional) means "dirty", is pronounced as "zāng".
When 脏(simplified) = 贓(troditional) means "organ", is pronounced as "zàng".
In the past time in China, we all used troditional characters. The simplified characters existed in old time but they began to be used widely from about 50 years ago.
And 脏 was chosed for both 髒 and 贓.
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com
Edit for my previous post:
ChineseClass101.com,
The vocab section lists 贓 as the traditional character for 脏 to mean “dirty.” According to dictionary.writtenchinese.com, if 脏 means “viscera,” or “organ,” that would be the traditional character, but the traditional character for 脏, as in “dirty,” is 髒 (https://dictionary.writtenchinese.com/#sk=%E8%84%8F&svt=pinyin). Can you clarify?
ChineseClass101.com,
The vocab section lists 臧 as the traditional character for 脏 to mean "dirty." According to dictionary.writtenchinese.com, if 脏 means "viscera," or "organ," that would be the traditional character, but the traditional character for 脏, as in "dirty," is 髒 (https://dictionary.writtenchinese.com/#sk=%E8%84%8F&svt=pinyin). Can you clarify?
Hello Miguel,
Welcome to our class.
"I`m feeling sick today" can be translated into
我 今天 感到 有点 恶心。(Wǒ jīn tiān gǎn dào yǒu diǎn ě xīn .)
I today feel a little sick
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com
Great lesson.
我今天病了 means "Im sick today" right_ How to say "I`m feeling sick today" ?
thanks in advance
Miguel from Mexico
Hi Marko,
他不可能来 and 他不可以来 are slightly different in definition; 他不可能来 means "It's impossible for him to come", while 他不可以来 is "he cannot come" or "he is not allowed to come".
Olivia
Team ChineseClass101.com
你好，
In the expansion I read 他不可能来。can I use 他不可以来。as alternative too??
谢谢。
Hi Ed,
Thanks for the suggestion! We have added 胡说 (húshuō) "nonsense" to the vocab list :wink:
Keep up the good work! :thumbsup:
Olivia
Team ChineseClass101.com
It might be nice... sorry typo!
Can we also get 胡說 / 胡说 / Húshuō / nonsense added to the vocabulary list, so it can be added to a flashcard deck? I might be nice to remember how to say "Nonsense!" :laughing:
谢谢你！
I've just added it! I really appreciate the help!:thumbsup:
Hi Alexis 亚历克西,
We have added 不可能 to the vocab list accordingly, you can add it to your flashcard decks now :wink:
Olivia
Team ChineseClass101.com
Is there a way to get 不可能 on to my flash cards? It seems like a real useful word to know.
Hi Jonathan!
Thank you for your positive feedback!
Do you study Portuguese as well? :innocent:
Engla
Team ChineseClass101.com
I'm glad in this lesson they read through the sample sentences in the pdf, as it makes it easier to learn them. I hope they do this more in future lessons here and in Portuguese Pod 101. :thumbsup:
Just out of curiosity, why is it cheaper to get a pet vaccinated if you adopted them off the street? And even cheaper if you plan to release them back into the wild?! Does that mean China doesn't like people owning pets?
It just sounds odd to me