Learn how to put sentences into the past tense, and how to suggest that something has changed or just recently happened
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Frank: Hey, everyone. |
| Echo: 大家好。(Dàjiā hǎo.) |
| Frank: Welcome back to ChineseClass101.com, Season 1, Lesson 35 in our Beginner series. |
| Echo: 第三十五课。(Dì sānshíwǔ kè) |
| Frank: I’m your host, Frank Fradella, and I am joined in the studio, as always, by my lovely co-host, Echo. |
| Echo: 大家好。(Dàjiā hǎo) |
| Frank: Today’s dialogue is, again, about the weather. |
| Echo: There are two friends here. |
| Frank: They’re speaking casually. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| Frank: Let’s go on the dialogue now. |
| Echo: But before we do… |
| Frank: Oh, before we do, we want to remind you guys to check out that voice-recording tool up at ChineseClass101.com. It’s a great way to test your own pronunciation against a native speaker. Practice your tones, make sure you’re getting the stuff right. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| Frank: We’ll see you there. But for now, on to the dialogue. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Bunny: 下雨了！(BUNNY: Xiàyǔ le!) |
| 张颖: 你没带伞吗？(ZHĀNG YǏNG: Nǐ méi dài sǎn ma?) |
| Bunny: 没有，我忘带了。(BUNNY: Méiyǒu, wǒ wàng dài le.) |
| 张颖: 没关系，你可以用我的。给。(ZHĀNG YǏNG: Méiguānxi, nǐ kěyǐ yòng wǒ de. Gěi 。) |
| Frank: One more time, just a bit slower. |
| Bunny: 下雨了！(BUNNY: Xiàyǔ le!) |
| 张颖: 你没带伞吗？(ZHĀNG YǏNG: Nǐ méi dài sǎn ma?) |
| Bunny: 没有，我忘带了。(BUNNY: Méiyǒu, wǒ wàng dài le.) |
| 张颖: 没关系，你可以用我的。给。(ZHĀNG YǏNG: Méiguānxi, nǐ kěyǐ yòng wǒ de. Gěi 。) |
| Frank: Okay, great dialogue today. Not so great for them. It’s raining. |
| Echo: Yeah. Someone also… |
| Frank: Yeah, I forget an umbrella. Don’t you hate it when that happens? Actually, it happened to me the other day. I actually had to buy an umbrella on the street while it was raining. |
| Echo: Oh, really? |
| Frank: Yeah. |
| Echo: It’s about 10 Kwai? |
| Frank: Not 10 Kwai anymore. No. |
| Echo: Really? |
| Frank: Ten Kwai before it was raining. While it’s raining, 30 Kwai. |
| Echo: Okay. |
| Frank: Let’s go ahead and translate this line-by-line. |
| Bunny: 下雨了！(BUNNY: Xiàyǔ le!) |
| Frank: It's raining. |
| 张颖: 你没带伞吗？(ZHĀNG YǏNG: Nǐ méi dài sǎn ma?) |
| Frank: You didn't bring an umbrella? |
| Bunny: 没有，我忘带了。(BUNNY: Méiyǒu, wǒ wàng dài le.) |
| Frank: No, I didn’t. I forgot. |
| 张颖: 没关系，你可以用我的。给。(ZHĀNG YǏNG: Méiguānxi, nǐ kěyǐ yòng wǒ de. Gěi 。) |
| Frank: No problem. You can use mine. Here you go. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Frank: Oh, that was awfully nice. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| Frank: Here, you can use mine. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| Frank: Maybe they can even share one. |
| Echo: Right. |
| Frank: You know what, there’s some great vocab in this lesson. Let’s get on to the vocab section now. |
| Echo: 好的。(Hǎo de.) |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Male: Now, the vocab section. |
| Echo: 下雨(Xià yǔ) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: To rain. |
| Echo: 下雨(Xià yǔ) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 下雨(Xià yǔ) [natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 带(dài) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: To bring. |
| Echo: 带(dài)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 带(dài)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 伞(sǎn) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: Umbrella. |
| Echo: 伞(sǎn)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 伞(sǎn)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 忘(wàng) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: To forget. |
| Echo: 忘(wàng) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 忘(wàng) [natural native speed] |
| Echo: 用(yòng) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: To use. |
| Echo: 用(yòng) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 用(yòng) [natural native speed]. |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Frank: In our last lesson, we told you a couple of adjectives for describing the weather. We can say that the weather is good… |
| Echo: 好。(Hǎo.) |
| Frank: Bad… |
| Echo: 不好。(Bù hǎo.) |
| Frank: Poor. |
| Echo: 差。(Chà.) |
| Frank: You can say it’s hot. |
| Echo: 热。(Rè.) |
| Frank: Cold. |
| Echo: 冷。(Lěng.) |
| Frank: Cool. |
| Echo: 凉。(Liáng.) |
| Frank: And warm. |
| Echo: 暖和。(Nuǎnhuo.) |
| Frank: Now in this lesson, we’re going to give you some more hard-core vocabulary because the weather is taking a turn for the worse. |
| Echo: Right. |
| Frank: How do you say it’s dry? |
| Echo: 干。(Gān.) |
| Frank: How do you say it’s muggy? |
| Echo: 闷。(Mēn.) |
| Frank: Those were all adjectives, but sometimes the weather is so bad we actually have to use a verb to describe it. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Frank: How about it started raining? |
| Echo: 下月了(Xià yuèle) |
| Frank: It started snowing. |
| Echo: 下雪了。(Xià xuěle.) |
| Frank: The wind has started blowing. |
| Echo: 刮风了。(Guā fēngle.) |
| Frank: It started storming. |
| Echo: 打雷了。(Dǎléile.) |
| Frank: Awesome. Let’s put these words into some sentences. |
| Echo: 好。(Hǎo.) |
| Frank: Today is dry. |
| Echo: 今天很干。(Jīntiān hěn gān.) |
| Frank: Beijing is really dry. |
| Echo: That’s true. |
| Frank: Yes it does. |
| Echo: 北京非常干。(Běijīng fēicháng gān.) |
| Frank: Yesterday was too muggy. |
| Echo: 昨天太闷了。(Zuótiān tài mēnle.) |
| Frank: It’s raining, I won’ t go. |
| Echo: 下雨了。我不去了。(Xià yǔle. Wǒ bù qùle.) |
| Frank: It started raining. Come home. |
| Echo: 刮风了。回家吧。(Guā fēngle. Huí jiā ba.) |
| Frank: It’s thundering. Go! |
| Echo: 打雷了，走吧。(Dǎléile, zǒu ba.) |
| Frank: Now in the last few sentences, you can hear a very important particle tacking on at the end there. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| Frank: Let’s hear this one again. “Look, it’s snowing”. |
| Echo: 看，下雪了。(Kàn, xià xuěle.) |
| Frank: Now that particle at the end there… |
| Echo: 了。(Le.) |
| Frank: That’s what we’re going to talk about in today’s grammar section. Let’s get to it now. |
| Echo: 了。(Le.) |
Lesson focus |
| Male: It’s grammar time. |
| Frank: All right, folks. We’re here. It’s that time. This is the most important grammar point you’re ever hear. |
| Echo: Yes. Exactly. |
| Frank: It’s about the particle… |
| Echo: 了。(Le.) |
| Frank: Let’s hear it one more time, Echo. |
| Echo: 了(Le), neuter tone. 了(Le). |
| Frank: In our dialogue today, we heard this in the following two sentences. |
| Echo: 下雨了。(Xià yǔle.) |
| Frank: It started raining. |
| Echo: 我忘带了。(Wǒ wàng dàile.) |
| Frank: I forgot it. |
| Echo: Right. |
| Frank: Now… |
| Echo: 了(Le) |
| Frank: ..is actually doing two different things here. Let’s take a look at our first sentence. |
| Echo: 下雨了。(Xià yǔle.) |
| Frank: It’s raining. Now here… |
| Echo: 了。(Le.) |
| Frank: …suggest that there’s been a change of state. |
| Echo: 没错。下雨了。(Méi cuò. Xià yǔle.) |
| Frank: It has started raining. It was not raining before, but now it is. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| Frank: Let’s have some more examples. |
| Echo: 天黑了。(Tiān hēile.) |
| Frank: The sun has gone down. |
| Echo: 我来了。(Wǒ láile.) |
| Frank: I’ve arrived. |
| Echo: 他走了。(Tā zǒule.) |
| Frank: He's left. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| Frank: How about our second sentence? |
| Echo: 我忘带了。(wǒ wàng dài le.) |
| Frank: I forgot it. Now in this sentence… |
| Echo: 了。(Le.) |
| Frank: …is putting the sentence into the past tense. |
| Echo: 我忘带了。(Wǒ wàng dàile.) |
| Frank: “I forgot it.” Let’s hear some more examples. |
| Echo: 他昨天做了。(Tā zuótiān zuòle.) |
| Frank: He did it yesterday. |
| Echo: 我买了一把伞。(Wǒ mǎile yī bǎ sǎn.) |
| Frank: “I bought an umbrella.” Remember, if you run in to this particle… |
| Echo: 了。(Le.) |
| Frank: ..it means one of two things. |
| Echo: Either a change of state… |
| Frank: Right. |
| Echo: …or the past tense. 下雨了。(Xià yǔle.) |
| Frank: “It has started raining”. |
| Echo: 我忘带了。(Wǒ wàng dàile.) |
| Frank: “I forgot it.” Isn’t Chinese grammar easy? |
| Echo: Yeah. I told you. |
| Frank: So it’s either a change of state, as in… |
| Echo: 下雨了。(Xià yǔle.) |
| Frank: Or it’s in the past tense. |
| Echo: 我忘带了。(Wǒ wàng dàile.) |
| Frank: You know what else is in the past tense, Echo? |
| Echo: What? |
| Frank: This podcast. |
| Echo: Oh, no. |
| Frank: We’re done. It’s time to go. |
| Echo: 好吧。(Hǎo ba.) |
| Frank: We’re out of time, folks. It’s time for us to go. We’re going to get out here. But before we do, a message from me from the heart, I got to tell you, one of the hardest things about learning Chinese in the States was that feeling of isolation like you were all alone, studying on your own. I can really identify with that. But I am here to tell you, ChineseClass101 has a fantastic community of people who are online at ChineseClass101.com. We’re all here to help you. |
| Echo: We’re all here for you. |
| Frank: Answer any questions that you’ve got. Really, it doesn’t have to be that way. You can ask a question and get an answer from somebody who really knows what they’re doing. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò) |
| Frank: We hope to see you up there. But for now, from Beijing, I’m Frank Fradella. |
| Echo: 我是不是(Wǒ shì bùshì)Echo. |
| Frank: From our studios in Beijing, we’re saying 再见。(Zàijiàn.) |
| Echo: 拜拜。(Bàibài.) |
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