Learn how to ask to turn things on and off
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Frank: Hey, everyone. |
| Echo: Da jia hao! |
| Frank: Welcome back to ChineseClass101.com, Season 1, Lesson 36 in our Beginner series. |
| Echo: 第三十六课。(Dì sānshíliù kè.) |
| Frank: I’m your host, Frank Fradella, and I’m joined in the studio, as always, by my amazing co-host, Echo. |
| Echo: 谢谢。(Xièxiè.) |
| Frank: Today’s lesson is about those dog days of summer, when you need to turn on the AC. |
| Echo: Yeah, like these days in Beijing actually. |
| Frank: Absolutely. Very hot here. This is a dialogue between two friends. |
| Echo: They are speaking casually. |
| Frank: They’re at home. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| Frank: Let’s get on to the dialogue now. |
| Echo: But before we do… |
| Frank: Oh, before we do, that’s right. We want to remind you, folks, to head up to ChineseClass101.com. Leave us a comment on today’s lesson. We’ll see you there. For now, on to the dialogue. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| 张颖: 这儿太热了。(ZHĀNG YǏNG: Zhèr tài rè le.) |
| Bunny: 要开空调吗？(BUNNY: Yào kāi kōngtiáo ma?) |
| 张颖: 太好了，谢谢你。(ZHĀNG YǏNG: Tài hǎo le, xièxie nǐ.) |
| Bunny: 好的，马上。(BUNNY: Hǎo de, mǎshàng.) |
| Frank: One more time, just a bit slower. |
| 张颖: 这儿太热了。(ZHĀNG YǏNG: Zhèr tài rè le.) |
| Bunny: 要开空调吗？(BUNNY: Yào kāi kōngtiáo ma?) |
| 张颖: 太好了，谢谢你。(ZHĀNG YǏNG: Tài hǎo le, xièxie nǐ.) |
| Bunny: 好的，马上。(BUNNY: Hǎo de, mǎshàng.) |
| Frank: Okay, we’re back. You know, it really is kind of hot in Beijing these days. |
| Echo: Especially in the studio. |
| Frank: Especially in the studio. We’d love to turn on the air conditioning but unfortunately, our studio engineer would kill us. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Frank: So we’re just going to push on to the line-by-line and we’ll get cool later on. |
| Echo: 好。(Hǎo.) |
| 张颖: 这儿太热了。(ZHĀNG YǏNG: Zhèr tài rè le.) |
| Frank: It's really hot here. |
| Bunny: 要开空调吗？(BUNNY: Yào kāi kōngtiáo ma?) |
| Frank: Want to turn on the AC? |
| 张颖: 太好了，谢谢你。(ZHĀNG YǏNG: Tài hǎo le, xièxie nǐ.) |
| Frank: Awesome, thank you. |
| Bunny: 好的，马上。(BUNNY: Hǎo de, mǎshàng.) |
| Frank: Okay, right away. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Echo: Cute. |
| Frank: Okay, right away. |
| Echo: I would love to hear that... |
| Frank: I’m on it. |
| Echo: …to hear that myself. |
| Frank: Isn’t that great? It’s just like I’m on it. Dude, you want it, you got it. Let me go and do that. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Frank: Okay. Today’s vocab section has a lot of great stuff that we can turn on an off, including the air conditioner. Let’s get to the vocab section now. |
| Echo: 好的。(Hǎo de.) |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Male: Now the vocab section. |
| Echo: 热(rè) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: Hot. |
| Echo: 热(rè)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 热(rè)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 要(yào) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: To want. |
| Echo: 要(yào)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 要(yào)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 开(kāi) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: To turn on. |
| Echo: 开(kāi)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 开(kāi)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 空调(kōngtiáo) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: Air conditioner. |
| Echo: 空调(kōngtiáo)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 空调(kōngtiáo)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 马上(mǎshàng) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: Right away. |
| Echo: 马上(mǎshàng)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 马上(mǎshàng)[natural native speed]. |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Frank: All right, Echo. The focus of this vocab section is turning things on using this verb. |
| Echo: 开。(kāi.) |
| Frank: Obviously, there’s lots of things that you could turn on in your house; things like lights. |
| Echo: 灯。开灯。(Dēng. Kāi dēng.) |
| Frank: Cell phone. |
| Echo: 手机。开手机。(Shǒujī. Kāi shǒujī.) |
| Frank: A fan. |
| Echo: 电扇。开电扇。(Diànshàn. Kāi diànshàn.) |
| Frank: The air conditioner. |
| Echo: 空调。开空调。(Kòngtiáo. Kāi kòngtiáo.) |
| Frank: The T.V. |
| Echo: 电视。开电视。(Diànshì. Kāi diànshì.) |
| Frank: Now some of these words you already know. Let’s go ahead and practice turning things on in these sample sentences. How do you say, “Turn on the lights”? |
| Echo: 开灯。(Kāi dēng.) |
| Frank: Turn on your cellphone. |
| Echo: 开手机。(Kāi shǒujī.) |
| Frank: Turn on the fan. |
| Echo: 开电扇。(Kāi diànshàn.) |
| Frank: Okay, easy enough. How about, “Is the restaurant open?” |
| Echo: 这个饭馆开了吗？(Zhège fànguǎn kāile ma?) |
| Frank: Open. Did I say open? I did say open. We start one in there for you. Actually, the verb for “open” is the same verb for turning things on. |
| Echo: 开。(Kāi.) |
| Frank: Let’s hear that one more time. “Is the restaurant open?” |
| Echo: 这个饭馆开了吗？(Zhège fànguǎn kāile ma?) |
| Frank: The air conditioning is on. |
| Echo: 空调开了。(Kòngtiáo kāile.) |
| Frank: Turn on the computer. |
| Echo: 开电脑。(Kāi diànnǎo.) |
| Frank: Drive the car. |
| Echo: 开车。(Kāichē.) |
| Frank: To another curve ball there. This is actually the same verb for driving the car. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.). Hey, Frank, do you know the opposite of 开(Kāi)? |
| Frank: I do. Let’s see if our listeners can pick it up from these sentences. |
| Echo: Okay. |
| Frank: Turn off the lights. |
| Echo: 关灯。(Guān dēng.) |
| Frank: Close the door. |
| Echo: 关门。(Guānmén.) |
| Frank: Turn off the air conditioner. |
| Echo: 关空调。(Guān kòngtiáo.) |
| Frank: Shut off the DVD player. |
| Echo: 关ＤＶＤ机(Guān DVD jī) |
| Frank: There you go. So to turn something off, you just say 关.(Guān.) |
| Echo: Exactly. It’s the opposite of... |
| Echo: 开。(Kāi.) |
| Frank: You know what’s the opposite of vocab section? The grammar section. |
| Echo: What opposite? |
| Frank: It’s the Yin to the Yang. It’s the black to the white. It’s the balance. It’s… |
| Echo: Okay. Let’s just go to the grammar. |
| Frank: Let’s just go to the grammar section. |
| Echo: 马上。(Mǎshàng.) |
Lesson focus |
| Male: It’s grammar time. |
| Frank: Today we’re going to focus on a special type of sentence. In this dialogue, we heard this: |
| Male: 要开空调吗？(Yào kāi kòngtiáo ma?) |
| Female: 要开空调吗？(Yào kāi kòngtiáo ma?) |
| Frank: Do you want to turn on the air conditioner? |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) This is the 要 ...吗(Yào... Ma) sentence. It is how you say, “Do you want…” |
| Frank: Exactly. Like, “Do you want to see a movie?” |
| Echo: 要看电影吗？(Yào kàn diànyǐng ma?) |
| Frank: Do you want to sleep? |
| Echo: 要睡觉吗？(Yào shuìjiào ma?) |
| Frank: Do you want ice cream? |
| Echo: 要冰淇淋吗？(Yào bīngqílín ma?) |
| Frank: Echo, how do you say, “Do you want chocolate?” |
| Echo: 要巧克力吗？(Yào qiǎokèlì ma?) |
| Frank: I think we all know the answer to that one. |
| Echo: 当然。当然。(Dāngrán. Dāngrán.) |
| Frank: Do you want anything else? |
| Echo: 还要别的吗？(Hái yào bié de ma?)here means, “Do you want?” Do you know what I still want? I want to answer these questions. |
| Frank: Yeah. |
| Echo: Now we’ve told you before that you can actually use the same verb that’s in the question to answer with. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| Frank: In this case, that verb is… |
| Echo: 要。要。(Yào. Yào.) |
| Frank: Now if you want to say that in the negative, how do you say you don’t want something? |
| Echo: 不要。不要。(Bùyào. Bùyào.) |
| Frank: It’s just that easy. |
| Echo: 要。不要。(Yào. Bùyào.) |
| Frank: So the answer to any of the questions in this section, if you do want it, you can just say… |
| Echo: 要。我要。(Yào. Wǒ yào.) |
| Frank: If you don’t want it, you can say… |
| Echo: 不要。我不要。(Bùyào. Wǒ bùyào.) |
| Frank: That’s a really useful truth. |
| Echo: You know what I like? I like the phrase, “No, thanks.” This is very useful. |
| Frank: Very, very useful. Let’s hear it. |
| Echo: 不要，谢谢。(Bùyào, xièxiè.) |
| Frank: No, thank you. |
| Echo: No, thank you. 不要，谢谢。(Bùyào, xièxiè.) |
| Frank: We have to thank you, but we’re at the end of our podcast. |
| Echo: 不要。(Bùyào) |
| Frank: I know. It’s time to go. |
| Echo: 不要不要不要。(Bùyào bùyào bùyào.) |
| Frank: I’m sure it’s exactly our listeners are saying. It’s how I feel, too. But before we go, we do want to remind you, folks, to head up to ChineseClass101.com. Become a premium subscriber and check out that PDF transcript. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| Frank: I’m your host, Frank Fradella. |
| Echo: 我是(Wǒ shì)Echo |
| Frank: From our studios here in Beijing, it’s time for us to say 再见.(Zàijiàn.) |
| Echo: Bye-bye. |
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Comments
HideSummers in China can be hot, and stifling. It is coming to the end of the summer but we'd be curious to hear what you've learned. Picked up any suggestions for beating the heat?
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 or the lesson
my favorite phrase is 要睡觉吗？
robert
Hello, elijah roesner,
We are always going to help you for learning Chinese.
If you have any question, please let us know.
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com
i love my family. they are amazing. there you go cho thanks for letting me know
zaijian
Elijah
Hello, elijah roesner,
If you give me a word or a sentence, I can give you it's pinyin.?
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com
how do you say that in pinyin
Hello, elijah roesner,
please turn on the air conditioner.
请开一下空调。
please turn of the tv.
请关一下电视。
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com
nihao echo i have a question? if i said, please turn on the air conditioner, would i say, lai kai kongtiao.
and if i said, please turn of the tv i would say, lai guan dianshi.
Hi, tanler,
Thank you for your posting.
Languages are very interesting, isn't it?
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com
There are some places where English native speakers do say "open" the light. That expression comes from a time when lights were controlled by a gas valve. So it's really "open the valve" (打开阀门) .
Hi Liam,
Here is the answer:
你可以打开二楼的空调吗？
We often translate the of between two nouns by "的".
If you have any further question, please let us know.
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com
Hi,
If I wanted to ask a waiter to switch on the air conditioning on the second floor of a restaurant, could I say:
你可以打开空调二楼吗？
ni keyi dakai kongtiao erlou ma?
谢谢啊 :)
Liam
谢谢！
Another great explanation! I appreciate it!
卫力
Hi, 卫力，
今天希腊很冷。
Both 凉 and 冷 means cold.
凉 is only for objective state. “凉”只表示客观状态。
冷 is also for feeling. 冷还能表示感觉。
水是凉的。＝水是冷的。Water is cold.
今天（天气）很冷。(The weather) today is cold.
多穿一点，小心别着凉了。Take more clothes. Be careful, not to catch cold.
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com
谢谢你！
今天希腊很凉。 我不需要冰。
你好，卫力，
99 points!
今天希腊非常热。(Today Greece is hot.)
希腊 here is used as The Subject.
在希腊：Adverbial of Place
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com
大家好，
太好的课了！（Tài hǎo de kèle! ） What a great lesson!
今天在希腊非常热。我特别要开空调，但是电太贵了。我现在喝冰的水，因为冰的水很便宜。（Jīntiān zài xīlà fēicháng rè. Wǒ tèbié yào kāi kòngtiáo, dànshì diàn tài guìle. Wǒ xiànzài hē bīng de shuǐ, yīnwèi bīng de shuǐ hěn piányí.）
Today, it is extremely hot in Greece. I especially want to turn on the air conditioner, but the electricity is too expensive. I’m now drinking ice water, because ice water is cheap.
再见，
卫力
Hi Damien,
Good question! Actually both 家 (jiā) and 个 (gè) can be the measure word for fànguǎn, so both would work :wink:
Olivia
Team ChineseClass101.com
isn't the measure word for "fanguan" supposed to be "jia"? why did the speaker say zhege fanguan kai le ma instead of saying jia for the measure word?
Hi Jori,
Yes you can :)
Echo
Team ChineseClass101.com