Learn how to indicate a change of state
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Anthony: Welcome to chineseclass101, the fastest, easiest and most fun way to learn Chinese. |
| Echo: 大家好， 我是Echo。(Dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì Echo.) |
| Anthony: Hi and I am Anthony. This is our 20th lesson in our second season of our beginner series. And the title of this lesson is Always Come Prepared. |
| Echo: Always come prepared. |
| Anthony: Yeah now unfortunately for the people in today’s dialogue, they are learning this lesson the hard way. |
| Echo: Yes it appears that someone is not only running in late. |
| Anthony: But they’ve also forgotten to bring their keys. Crucial mistake. |
| Echo: Yes in today’s dialogue, we will go over different ways to apologize. |
| Anthony: There are a few and this is also an important tool in getting yourself out of a jam. |
| Echo: A politeness goes a long way. |
| Anthony: It does. And you know what else goes a long way? |
| Echo: A monthly subscription to chineseclass101. |
| Anthony: That’s right. For only $4, you can become a basic subscriber and have access to all the PDFs for all the lessons that we’ve ever done. |
| Echo: You can’t beat that deal. |
| Anthony: No you can’t. Now with that said, let’s go on to the dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 不好意思，我迟到了。(Bùhǎoyìsi, wǒ chídào le.) |
| 没事。(Méishì.) |
| 你带钥匙了吗？(Nǐ dài yàoshi le ma?) |
| 哦，我忘了！(O, wǒ wàng le!) |
| Anthony: One more time a little bit slower. |
| 不好意思，我迟到了。(Bùhǎoyìsi, wǒ chídào le.) |
| 没事。(Méishì.) |
| 你带钥匙了吗？(Nǐ dài yàoshi le ma?) |
| 哦，我忘了！(O, wǒ wàng le!) |
| Anthony: One more time, a little bit slower. |
| Echo: 不好意思，我迟到了。(Bùhǎoyìsi, wǒ chídào le.) |
| Anthony: I am sorry, I am late. |
| Echo: 没事。(Méishì.) |
| Anthony: It’s okay. |
| Echo: 你带钥匙了吗？(Nǐ dài yàoshi le ma?) |
| Anthony: Did you bring the key? |
| Echo: 哦，我忘了！(O, wǒ wàng le!) |
| Anthony: Oh I forgot it. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Echo: Yeah not only is he running late, he left his key too. |
| Anthony: Yeah well hopefully he has very forgiving friends. |
| Echo: Yeah in the dialogue, it sounded like it. |
| Anthony: In today’s dialogue, we are going to introduce you to some key words to apologize for your tardiness or your forgetfulness. |
| Echo: Right and a lot more words. |
| Anthony: Right. So let’s go into the vocab section. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Anthony: And now the vocab section. |
| Echo: 不好意思 (bùhǎoyìsi) |
| Anthony: I am sorry. |
| Echo: 不好意思, 不好意思. 迟到 (bùhǎoyìsi, bùhǎoyìsi. chídào) |
| Anthony: To be late. |
| Echo: 迟到, 迟到. 没事 (chídào, chídào. méishì) |
| Anthony: No problem. |
| Echo: 没事, 没事. 带 (méishì, méishì. dài) |
| Anthony: To bring. |
| Echo: 带, 带. 钥匙 (dài, dài. yàoshi) |
| Anthony: Keys. |
| Echo: 钥匙, 钥匙. 忘 (yàoshi, yàoshi. wàng) |
| Anthony: To forget. |
| Echo: 忘, 忘. 对不起 (wàng, wàng. duìbùqǐ) |
| Anthony: I am sorry. |
| Echo: 对不起, 对不起. 没关系 (duìbùqǐ, duìbùqǐ. méiguānxi) |
| Anthony: It doesn’t matter. |
| Echo: 没关系, 没关系 (méiguānxi, méiguānxi) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Anthony: Okay Echo, the first word that we heard in this dialogue was what? |
| Echo: 不好意思 (Bù hǎoyìsi) |
| Anthony: Sorry or I am embarrassed. |
| Echo: Yeah 不好意思 (Bù hǎoyìsi) |
| Anthony: Or it’s I am embarrassed but this is usually a soft way of apologizing. |
| Echo: And actually Chinese people use 不好意思 (Bù hǎoyìsi) more. |
| Anthony: Yeah very common. |
| Echo: 真不好意思。(Zhēn bù hǎoyìsi.) |
| Anthony: I am really sorry. |
| Echo: 真不好意思。(Zhēn bù hǎoyìsi.) |
| Anthony: Yes my cheeks are red, kind of. |
| Echo: 不好意思，过一下。(Bù hǎoyìsi,guò yīxià.) |
| Anthony: Excuse me, can I pass. |
| Echo: 不好意思，过一下。(Bù hǎoyìsi,guò yīxià.) |
| Anthony: But if you use can I pass alone without apologizing, it’s a little rough, isn’t it? |
| Echo: Yeah 过一下 (Guò yīxià) yeah… |
| Anthony: Yeah that’s kind of “get out of my way”. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Anthony: Okay Echo, our next word. |
| Echo: 迟到。(Chídào.) |
| Anthony: To be late. |
| Echo: 迟到。你又迟到了。(Chídào. Nǐ yòu chídàole.) |
| Anthony: You are late again. |
| Echo: 你又迟到了。(Nǐ yòu chídàole.) That’s not very good. |
| Anthony: If you have forgiving friends, they will say this. |
| Echo: 没事 (Méishì) |
| Anthony: No problem. |
| Echo: 没事。(Méishì.) Actually 没事 (Méishì) can be both it’s okay and you are welcome. So we can say 没事 (Méishì) |
| Anthony: Yeah I am sorry, no problem. |
| Echo: Yeah or 谢谢，没事。(Xièxiè, méishì.) |
| Anthony: Thank you, it’s okay. Don’t mention it. All right. |
| Echo: Okay next one 带 (Dài) |
| Anthony: To bring. |
| Echo: 带。我没带钱。(Dài dài. Wǒ mò dài qián.) |
| Anthony: I didn’t bring any money. |
| Echo: 我没带钱。钥匙 (Wǒ mò dài qián. Yàoshi) |
| Anthony: Keys. |
| Echo: 钥匙。他的钥匙掉了。(Yàoshi. Tā de yàoshi diàole.) |
| Anthony: He lost his keys. |
| Echo: 他的钥匙掉了。忘 (Tā de yàoshi diàole. Wàng) |
| Anthony: To forget. |
| Echo: 忘 (Wàng) |
| Anthony: Fourth tone. |
| Echo: 别忘了带信用卡。(Bié wàngle dài xìnyòngkǎ.) |
| Anthony: Don’t forget to bring your credit card. |
| Echo: 别忘了带信用卡。(Bié wàngle dài xìnyòngkǎ.) So actually there is a pattern here 别忘了(Bié wàngle) plus 带 (Dài) to bring and things you don’t want others to forget. |
| Anthony: Yes so for example, money. |
| Echo: Yeah 别忘了带钱。(Bié wàngle dài qián.) |
| Anthony: Yeah don’t forget to bring money. |
| Echo: Or 别忘了带手机。(Bié wàngle dài shǒujī.) |
| Anthony: Don’t forget to bring your cell phone. And then for foreigners traveling in China, don’t forget to bring your passport. |
| Echo: Right 别忘了带护照。(Bié wàngle dài hùzhào.) |
| Anthony: Yes okay. Now we talked about this a little earlier in the vocab section. This is the second way to apologize. |
| Echo: Right. The first way was 不好意思 (Bù hǎoyìsi) |
| Anthony: Yes. |
| Echo: Then this way 对不起 (Duìbùqǐ) |
| Anthony: I am sorry. |
| Echo: 对不起 (Duìbùqǐ) |
| Anthony: And this is the stronger way. |
| Echo: Stronger and more serious. |
| Anthony: More serious and if you want to have that very strong |
| Echo: 真对不起。(Zhēn duìbùqǐ.) Here we have 对不起，我错了。(Duìbùqǐ, wǒ cuòle.) |
| Anthony: Yeah I am sorry, it was my fault. |
| Echo: Yeah I was wrong. 对不起，我错了。(Duìbùqǐ, wǒ cuòle.) |
| Anthony: Yeah I am sorry, it’s my mistake. |
| Echo: 没关系。(Méiguānxì.) |
| Anthony: It doesn’t matter. |
| Echo: 没关系。没关系，我们走吧。(Méiguānxì. Méiguānxì, wǒmen zǒu ba.) |
| Anthony: Yeah so if you run late and you get there, you want to hear this. |
| Echo: 没关系，我们走吧。(Méiguānxì, wǒmen zǒu ba.) |
| Anthony: It doesn’t matter, let’s go. All right so in review, we’ve covered a few different ways to say I am sorry. |
| Echo: 不好意思 (Bù hǎoyìsi) |
| Anthony: And |
| Echo: 对不起 (Duìbùqǐ) |
| Anthony: Okay. Okay and we have two different ways to say it doesn’t matter. |
| Echo: 没事 (Méishì) |
| Anthony: And |
| Echo: 没关系。(Méiguānxì.) |
| Anthony: Okay great. So we’ve got that covered, let’s go on to the grammar section. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Anthony: The focus of today’s grammar point is the particle |
| Echo: 了 (Le) |
| Anthony: In Chinese, this has a couple of different uses but today we are only going to cover the change of state. |
| Echo: That’s right. Let’s go over our first example from the dialogue 我迟到了。(Wǒ chídàole.) |
| Anthony: I am late and before he arrived he was on his way but now that he arrived. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Anthony: There has been a change of state and he is officially late. |
| Echo: Right 我迟到了。(Wǒ chídàole.) let’s hear some other examples. 他的手机坏了。(Tā de shǒujī huàile.) |
| Anthony: His phone is broken. |
| Echo: 他的手机坏了。(Tā de shǒujī huàile.) |
| Anthony: His phone was working. It broke, now it’s broken. |
| Echo: Right. So it has changed. 我的东西掉了。(Wǒ de dōngxī diàole.) |
| Anthony: My things are lost. |
| Echo: 我的东西掉了。(Wǒ de dōngxī diàole.) |
| Anthony: Yes the things were in your possession. Somehow they mysteriously walked away. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Anthony: And they are lost. |
| Echo: Right. |
| Anthony: Change of state. Okay our next example. |
| Echo: 今天冷了。(Jīntiān lěngle.) |
| Anthony: Yeah today it’s cold. So yesterday, it might not have been cold but today it’s definitely cold. |
| Echo: Right. |
| Anthony: So the previous examples have been a change of state involving adjectives. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| Anthony: The next few examples are going to be involving verbs. |
| Echo: Okay let’s go. 我忘了。(Wǒ wàngle.) |
| Anthony: I forgot. I once knew, but now I can’t remember. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Anthony: Okay our next one. |
| Echo: 她买了。(Tā mǎile.) |
| Anthony: She purchased it. |
| Echo: 她买了。(Tā mǎile.) |
| Anthony: Yes she hadn’t bought it before but now she has. She’s paid the money and she has whatever she’s bought in her possession. |
| Echo: Yeah so 她买了。(Tā mǎile.) |
| Anthony: Okay. |
| Echo: 我吃了。(Wǒ chīle.) |
| Anthony: I’ve eaten. |
| Echo: 我吃了。(Wǒ chīle.) |
| Anthony: Yeah so maybe this might be after lunch. So maybe you saw a friend early in the day. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Anthony: Now you see him again, change of state, I have eaten. |
| Echo: And next one. 孩子睡了。(Háizi shuìle.) |
| Anthony: The child is asleep. |
| Echo: 孩子睡了。(Háizi shuìle.) |
| Anthony: So maybe you are telling somebody to be quiet. The child just went to bed. |
| Echo: 小声点，孩子睡了。(Xiǎoshēng diǎn, háizi shuìle.) |
| Anthony: Yes please be a little quiet. Please be a little quieter, the child is sleeping. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| Anthony: All right. Okay so we’ve done a change of state involving an adjective. |
| Echo: And a change of state involving a verb. |
| Anthony: But what about a verb object change of state combo Echo? |
| Echo: Well let’s go over it right now. |
| Anthony: Okay. |
| Echo: In the dialogue, we heard this sentence 你带钥匙了吗？(Nǐ dài yàoshile ma?) |
| Anthony: Did you bring the keys? |
| Echo: 你带钥匙了吗？(Nǐ dài yàoshile ma?) |
| Anthony: Yes. |
| Echo: So it’s very simple. We just put 了(Le) after the object. |
| Anthony: Okay. |
| Echo: Such as 我带钱了。(Wǒ dài qiánle.) |
| Anthony: Yes I brought money. |
| Echo: 我带钱了。(Wǒ dài qiánle.) |
| Anthony: And the verb object here is |
| Echo: 带钱。带钱 (Dài qián. Dài qián) So we put 了 after 带钱。(Dài qián.) |
| Anthony: Okay. Now our next sample sentence. |
| Echo: 北京下雪了。(Běijīng xià xuěle.) |
| Anthony: It is now snowing in Beijing. Before it wasn’t, but now the snow started to fall. |
| Echo: Right. 北京下雪了。(Běijīng xià xuěle.) |
| Anthony: Okay. |
| Echo: And the verb object is 下雪 (Xià xuě) |
| Anthony: Yes falling snow. |
| Echo: Okay next one 他有女朋友了。(Tā yǒu nǚ péngyǒule.) |
| Anthony: Yes he has a girlfriend which might be unbelievable, maybe the guy might not be the most attractive person but now he has a girlfriend where before he was single. So in review, we’ve covered the particle for a change of state. |
| Echo: 了(Le) Yes you can put this directly after the verb. |
| Anthony: Or at the end of the sentence if both a verb and object are included. So Echo, let’s go over one more sample sentence. |
| Echo: Okay 我学汉语了。(Wǒ xué hànyǔle.) |
| Anthony: Yes I am now studying Chinese. Before I wasn’t, now I picked up the books… |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Anthony: And I am studying as hard as I can. |
| Echo: And to study Chinese in the fastest and most fun way possible, come to chineseclass101. |
| Anthony: That’s right and sign up by simply entering your email address. |
| Echo: Right 好了。(Hǎole.) |
Outro |
| Anthony: Yeah we are done. Okay so from Beijing, I am Anthony. |
| Echo: 我是Echo。(Wǒ shì Echo.) |
| Anthony: Thanks for listening and we will see you next time. |
| Echo: 下次见 (Xià cì jiàn) Bye bye. |
| Anthony: Bye bye. |
Comments
HideWhat daily item do you forget to bring the most?
Hello Daryl Tickles Jr.,
Thank you for your comment. In this lesson, we're introducing 了 as a marker for change of state. 了 in that sentence indicates it wasn't snowing before, but it is now.
If you have any questions, please let us know.
Ngai
Team ChineseClass101.com
In the "Lesson Focus"
北京下雪了。
"It is now snowing in Beijing."
The 'le' at the end of that sentence means the pastence. Should be translated as, "It snowed in Beijing."
Hello robert groulx,
Thank you for your comment. We hope you enjoyed the lesson!
Let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
thanks for the lesson
my favorite words are 你带钥匙了吗？
robert
Hello Gerald,
Thank you for your comment. You can say:
我也总是忘我的钥匙 => 我也总是忘记带我的钥匙。
我的祖母有另一份副本 => 我的祖母有一条备用钥匙 (spare key)。
Yes, you're really lucky.😄 Let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
大家好！谢谢你的课！
我也总是忘我的钥匙，我不知道为什么！ 幸运的是，我的祖母有另一份副本😁
Hello, Albert Wingate,
Thank you for your comments.
In my opinion, “我迟到了。” means "I arrived at my destination late." The state changed right after the appointed time, from when I continue to be late.
"我吃了。"
It is a change of state and requires 了 at the end of the sentence to indicate a change of state.
= correct
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com
Well, let's see? The grammar lesson was intriguing. I have to confess that I am struggling with two things trying to learn about the 1) the structure of the Chinese language and 2) being able to remember Chinese characters so I can read them instead of relying on pinyin.
So is this correct?
我吃了。
Wǒ chī le.
"I've eaten."
I had not eaten. However, I ate. And so: I have eaten. It is a change of state and requires 了 at the end of the sentence to indicate a change of state. Maybe if I saw the person and she had spaghetti sauce around her mouth I would have an inkling.
Wow. What a great lesson. I enjoyed it entirely. Keep on keeping on. My gratitude to both Anthony and his partner Echo. You guys really taught me a lot in this lesson. I also enjoy the new format with the all the additional information available to work with. Thank you so much!
Without context it is difficult to discern whether there has been a change of state. The quality of "lateness" could have been a constant at that time and for some people it is habitual. So, saying "I am late." indicates a state of change or if it is on the other hand a constant state of being for some people on some days. I am late. I continue to be late and I arrive at my destination late. I always struggle with these kinds of concepts in general since specificity seems to be an aspect of the quality of lateness in the above sentence.
I would say: A little politeness goes a long way. No scraping here unless the faux pau is of gigantic proportions.
Nice dialogue by your staff. It sounded like they were actually talking to one another as opposed to speed reading. Thank you. Great pace, tones were clear. Easy to understand.
I forget my glasses and the key to my 93 Toyota tercel and usually have to go back home to retrieve them. That is what happens to me when I get too much in a hurry.
谢谢， Cho！
我会尝试做的！
卫力
卫力，
离开家去机场的时候，我忘了护照，所以不得不回家（拿）。
Please try not translate "my" as possible as you can. It will make your sentence smooth.
和：not between two phrases, only can used between two nouns.
回家（拿）：return home "and to take it".
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com
大家好，
Leaving my home to go to the airport, I forgot my passport and had to return home.
离开了我的家去机场的时候，我忘了护照要和需要回家。
（Líkāile wǒ de jiā qù jīchǎng de shíhòu, wǒ wàngle hùzhào yào hé xūyào huí jiā.）
再见，
卫力
Hi Ingkarat,
Good question! The 了 in 别忘了带信用卡 is the suffix for the verb "to forget" 忘, implying the completed action of "forgetting something", therefore even though the situation of fogetting the credit card has not happened, the reminder still needs the 了. Generally speaking, you can see 忘了 as a set phrase. :wink:
Regarding your Chinese, 因为这个情况还不发生 should be 因为这个情况还未发生. We use the character 未 (wèi) for "not yet".
Olivia
Team ChineseClass101.com
为什么例子中 “ 别忘了带信用卡” 可以用 '了' ? 在我的理解 ， 我认为不可以用“了” 因为这个情况还不发生
According to the example in the lesson note , 别忘了带w信用卡 。 Why we can use 了 in this sentence ? , In my understanding , I think that it can't use because this situation still has not happened.
PS. If you don't mind , please help me correct my chinese into the correct form of chinese grammar
Thank You :)
Hi Herman,
两个句子都是对的。前面强调一个状态 (status)，后面强调一个动作(action)。Grammatically 我们说“语法上来说”。
人最容易忘带的就是“雨伞”。
Echo
Team ChineseClass101.com
我想回答您上面的问题， 人最容易忘带的就是雨扇。
如果我写的句子有不对的话， 请您改正好吗。
为什么在例子中说 “ 他裤子买了” 不说 “ 他买了裤子”。 哪一个句子对的 gramatically？
中文怎么说 'gramatically" ? thanks