Learn how to form question-sentences in Chinese that begin with "why"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Frank: Hey, everyone. |
| Echo: Da jia hao! |
| Frank: Welcome back ChineseClass101.com, Season 1, Lesson 20 in our Beginner series. |
| Echo: 二十。(Èrshí) |
| Frank: Today, we’ve got a great dialogue between our friend, Ma Li, and her dad. |
| Echo: They’re at Ma Li’s apartment. |
| Frank: They’re both speaking casually. |
| Echo: Sure. |
| Frank: Hey, you know that Jimmy have, about being back in high school on a test, and you’ve shown up in your pajamas? |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Frank: Well, okay. Maybe that’s just me. But you can actually do this. Head up to ChineseClass101.com and put yourself to the test using test and quizzes that are part of the premium subscription. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Frank: It really helps make those lesson stick. |
| Echo: Exactly. |
| Frank: Let’s get on to the dialogue. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| 爸爸:给你的妈妈打电话吧。(BÀBA: Gěi nǐ de māma dǎ diànhuà ba.) |
| 马丽:为什么？(MǍ LÌ: Wèishénme?) |
| 爸爸:她很想你。(BÀBA: Tā hěn xiǎng nǐ.) |
| 马丽:好，我会的。(MǍ LÌ: Hǎo, wǒ huì de.) |
| Frank: Now one more time, just a little slower. |
| 爸爸:给你的妈妈打电话吧。(BÀBA: Gěi nǐ de māma dǎ diànhuà ba.) |
| 马丽:为什么？(MǍ LÌ: Wèishénme?) |
| 爸爸:她很想你。(BÀBA: Tā hěn xiǎng nǐ.) |
| 马丽:好，我会的。(MǍ LÌ: Hǎo, wǒ huì de.) |
| Frank: Now Echo, you can be mad at our boy, Zhang Fei, all you want, but I bet you he calls his mother. |
| Echo: Probably. |
| Frank: Ma Li doesn’t. That’s all I’m saying. Nobody’s perfect. |
| Echo: Well, maybe they are the best match. |
| Frank: There you go. It’s not a perfect world but maybe they’re perfect for each other. |
| Echo: Whatever. |
| Frank: Let’s do it line-by-line. |
| 爸爸:给你的妈妈打电话吧。(BÀBA: Gěi nǐ de māma dǎ diànhuà ba.) |
| Frank: Give your mom a call. |
| 马丽:为什么？(MǍ LÌ: Wèishénme?) |
| Frank: Why? |
| 爸爸:她很想你。(BÀBA: Tā hěn xiǎng nǐ.) |
| Frank: She really misses you. |
| 马丽:好，我会的。(MǍ LÌ: Hǎo, wǒ huì de.) |
| Frank: Okay. I will. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Frank: Okay, there’s really great vocab that we had today and we’re not just phoning it in either. Let’s do this. |
| Male: Now the vocab section. |
| Echo: 给 (gěi)[natural native speed]. |
| Frank: To give. |
| Echo: 给(gěi)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 给(gěi)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 妈妈(māma) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: Mother. |
| Echo: 妈妈(māma)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 妈妈(māma)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 打电话(dǎ diànhuà) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: To make a phone call. |
| Echo: 打电话(dǎ diànhuà)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 打电话(dǎ diànhuà)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 为什么(wèishénme) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: Why? |
| Echo: 为什么(wèishénme)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 为什么(wèishénme)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 想。(Xiǎng.) |
| Frank: To miss. |
| Echo: 想。(Xiǎng.) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 想(Xiǎng)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 我会的(wǒ huì de) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: I will do it. |
| Echo: 我会的(wǒ huì de)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 我会的(wǒ huì de)[natural native speed]. |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Frank: Okay. Now we’re back. In the first two words in our vocabulary today were also probably among the first words you ever spoke, mom and dad. |
| Echo: 妈妈(māma)，爸爸。(bàba.) |
| Frank: Important stuff. Let’s hear them in some sample sentences. “My father works in China”. |
| Echo: 我的爸爸在中国工作。(Wǒ de bàba zài zhōngguó gōngzuò.) |
| Frank: Is your mother in America? |
| Echo: 你的妈妈在美国吗？(Nǐ de māmā zài měiguó ma?) |
| Frank: Luke, I am your father. |
| Echo: Luke, 我是你爸爸。(Wǒ shì nǐ bàba.) |
| Frank: Now other words for family include, “son”. |
| Echo: 兒子(Érzi) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: Daughter. |
| Echo: 女兒(Nǚ'ér) [natural native speed]. Actually, we learned the word for “child” and “children” before. It’s 孩子，孩子们.(Háizi, háizimen.) |
| Frank: Exactly. Now family relations are very interesting in China. You can’t just say “brother” or “sister”. |
| Echo: Yes. Very specific. |
| Frank: Exactly. You would have to say “older brother”. |
| Echo: 哥哥(gēgē) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: Or younger brother. |
| Echo: 弟弟(dìdi) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: Older sister. |
| Echo: 姐姐(jiějie) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: Or younger sister. |
| Echo: 妹妹(mèimei) [natural native speed]. That’s very easy for you to distinguish it, right? |
| Frank: Yeah. I mean, the second you say it, you know exactly who you’re talking about. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Frank: Our next phrase means “to make a phone call”. |
| Echo: 打電話(dǎ diànhuà) |
| Frank: Let’s that part a little bit. The first word… |
| Echo: 打(dǎ) |
| Frank: …actually means “to hit”. |
| Echo: Right. |
| Frank: We use it here to dial. The second part of it means “phone”. |
| Echo: 电话。(diànhuà) |
| Frank: This is a set phrase. |
| Echo: 打电话。(dǎ diànhuà) |
| Frank: But for the phrase “to give someone a call”, you need the word for “give”. |
| Echo: 给(gěi) |
| Frank: Here’s some examples. “Give me a call”. |
| Echo: 给我打电话。(Gěi wǒ dǎ diànhuà.) |
| Frank: We’ll give you a call tomorrow. |
| Echo: 我们明天给你打电话。(Wǒmen míngtiān gěi nǐ dǎ diànhuà.) |
| Frank: Who called Ma Li? |
| Echo: 谁给马丽打电话了？(Shéi gěi mǎ lì dǎ diànhuàle?) |
| Frank: That wraps up the vocab. Let’s head on to grammar. |
| Echo: Let’s go |
Lesson focus |
| Male: It’s grammar time. |
| Frank: You already know the words for “you”, “me”, “they”, and “us”. Today, we’re going to teach you how to make a pronoun possessive. |
| Echo: Just add 的.(de.) |
| Frank: Just tack that particle on right after the pronoun, and “me”… |
| Echo: 我(Wǒ) |
| Frank: …becomes “mine”. |
| Echo: 我的(Wǒ de) |
| Frank: “You”… |
| Echo: 你(Nǐ) |
| Frank: …becomes “yours”. |
| Echo: 你的(Nǐ de) |
| Frank: “He” or “her”… |
| Echo: 他／她(Tā/tā) |
| Frank: …becomes “his” or “hers”. |
| Echo: 他／她的(Tā/tā de) |
| Frank: “We”… |
| Echo: 我们(Wǒmen) |
| Frank: …becomes “ours”. |
| Echo: 我们的(Wǒmen de) |
| Frank: “You”… |
| Echo: 你们(Nǐmen) |
| Frank: …becomes “yours”. |
| Echo: 你们的。(Nǐmen de.) |
| Frank: “They”… |
| Echo: 他们(Tāmen) |
| Frank: …becomes “theirs”. |
| Echo: 他们的(Tāmen de) |
| Frank: Next stop, “why”. |
| Echo: 为什么(Wèishéme) |
| Frank: In this lesson, we learn the question word for “why”. |
| Echo: 为什么(Wèishéme) |
| Frank: We’ve already learned the words for “what”… |
| Echo: 什么(Shénme) |
| Frank: …and “who”. |
| Echo: 谁(Shéi) |
| Frank: As in these sentences: “what is this?” |
| Echo: 这是什么？(Zhè shì shénme?) |
| Frank: Who is she? |
| Echo: 她是谁？(Tā shì shéi?) |
| Frank: As with those words, the word for “why”… |
| Echo: 为什么(Wèishéme) |
| Frank: …doesn’t need the question particle… |
| Echo: 吗(Ma) |
| Frank: …at the end of the sentence. For example, “why are you going?” |
| Echo: 你为什么去？(Nǐ wèishéme qù?) |
| Frank: Why did you call me? |
| Echo: 你为什么给我打电话？(Nǐ wèishéme gěi wǒ dǎ diànhuà?) |
| Frank: Why are you eating hot pot? |
| Echo: 你为什么吃火锅？(Nǐ wèishéme chī huǒguō?) |
| Frank: It’s just because it’s good. One other thing worth noting are other question words where at the end of the sentence. But why… |
| Echo: 为什么(Wèishéme) |
| Frank: Goes after the subject. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Frank: Listen to the difference between this: “what are you eating”… |
| Echo: 你吃什么？(Nǐ chī shénme?) |
| Frank: …and “why are you eating?” |
| Echo: 你为什么吃？(Nǐ wèishéme chī?) |
| Frank: Once again, the word for “why”… |
| Echo: 为什么(Wèishéme) |
| Frank: …goes after the subject. |
| Echo: 你为什么吃？(Nǐ wèishéme chī?) |
| Frank: But you never need to ask why we want you guys to head up to ChineseClass101.com and leave us a comment, do you? |
| Echo: No. |
| Frank: No. We love you guys and we want to hear from you. If you got any questions, any comments, anything at all, our fully trained teachers and staff are waiting to answer you. |
| Echo: Yeah. If you want to ask 为什么.(Wèishéme.) |
| Frank: We’re there to answer your why and we’ll see you there. But for now, from Beijing, I’m Frank Fradella… |
| Echo: 我是(Wǒ shì) Echo |
| Frank: …and we’ll see you next time. 再见。(Zàijiàn.) |
| Echo: 下次见。(Xià cì jiàn.) |
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Comments
HideHello Wan Ba Dan,
Thank you for your comment. Actually he says 大家好 (dàjiā hǎo) at 00:06, it means hello everybody. 😉
As always, let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai
Team ChineseClass101.com
Hello again Mahmoud,
We're glad to hear it! 👍
As always, let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai
Team ChineseClass101.com
Ive always wondered what the guy says at 00.06 in the bumper music. It sounds like "zao shang hao", but the 'shang' is something else? Thanks for your time. Xie xie nin de shijian le.
Thank you so much for your reply, I watched the video about the basic grammar and now I understood and I found more that I didn't notice before, thanks again. 🙏😁
Hello Mahmoud,
Thank you for your comment. The word order is the same for questions and statements in Chinese, so where to put the question words depends on the question, i.e. what you're asking.
You may check out this video about the basic Chinese word order:
https://www.chineseclass101.com/lesson/introduction-to-chinese-3-introduction-to-chinese-grammar/#comment-111024
Hope it helps, let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
I am still confused about where to put the question word in the sentence as I can see you used "shéi" at the beginning of a question when you gave an example there "Shéi gěi mǎ lì dǎ diànhuàle?" And when you used another example "Tā shì shéi?" You put it at the end, what is the difference and how to use it am so confused 😁
Thank you.
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 transcript
favorite phrase is 你为什么去？
robert
你好 丽丽，
It is true that other question words go at the end of the sentence, or to simply put it, the last part of the sentence, they don't necessarily have to be at the very end/ the last word of the sentence. The question '你叫什么名字?' is a great example. Another similar example is '你看什么书？' (What books do you read?). '什么名字' and '什么书' are like the 'object' part of the sentences.
Hope it helps, let us know if you have any questions. 下次见！😄
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
您好老师。
I have a question.
In the dialogue it was said that 为什么 goes after the subject and that other question words go at the end of the sentence.
Then this phrase/question popped into mind：
“你叫什么名字?"
May I ask why this is different?
许多谢谢。
Hi Kristina
There is not a special word in Chinese for a twin to address the other twin sister/brother. Most of the time a twin may refer to the other twin:
我的哥哥，弟弟，姐姐，妹妹 ( my elder brother, younger brother, elder sister, younger sister), like any other person refers to his siblings.
And a person may put a word (双胞胎 - twin) in front of 哥哥，弟弟，姐姐，妹妹, to specify this brother or sister is a twin one:
我的双胞胎弟弟 (my twin younger brother).
Thanks for learning with us.
Amy
Team ChineseClass101.com
What do twins call their sister/brother twin?
你好，Najl
很高兴你能用中文写短讯。- I'm really glad that you could write to us in Chinese.
Probably you need to prepare a little before you go to meet some Chinese people, such as 很高兴见到你。我喜欢中国菜。（Nice to meet you. I like Chinese food.)
Thanks for learning with us. 谢谢!
Amy
Team chineseclass101.com
大家好！我今天去了中国酒家。我不知道为什么不说话了中文。
你好，卫力，
当 你 想 读的时候， 随时 都可以告诉我们。
When you want for extra reading, tell us at any time.
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com
Great idea, Cho!
Perhaps, when I get to the intermediate level and you think I'm ready. 我高兴地试试。I will be asking you for recommendations when the time comes.
卫力
卫力，你好。
Maybe later U can read some short novels, to get familiar to Chinese syntax.
（也许 以后 你 可以 读 一些 短篇 小说， 熟悉熟悉 中文的 句子结构。）
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com
谢谢！
Syntax 很重要。
卫力,
我为什么跟你们学中文？
我们习惯把“跟你们”放在动词前面。
We used to putting "跟你们" before the verb.
Cho
Team ChinseseClass101.com
大家好，
我太喜欢这个课了！
我为什么学中文跟你们？
因为有非常好用的课！
太谢谢你！
（Wǒ tài xǐhuān zhège kèle! Wǒ wèishéme xué zhōngwén gēn nǐmen? Yīnwèi yǒu fēicháng hǎo yòng de kè! Tài xièxiè nǐ!)
[I really liked this lesson. Why do I study Chinese with you? Because you have really useful lessons. Thanks so much]
再见，
卫力