Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
David: Welcome to ChineseClass101.com. I'm David.
Amber: 大家好,我是安伯。(Dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì ān bó.)
David: And we’re here today with another Upper Beginner Lesson, Season 1, Lesson 21 - An awkward situation in China.
Amber: 有这么一点尴尬。(Yǒu zhème yīdiǎn gāngà.)
David: Right. That’s the Chinese word for “awkward”.
Amber: 尴尬。(Gāngà.)
David: Right, and we’ve got a dialogue that’s about what happens when you put your foot in your mouth.
Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
David: How to take it out in Chinese.
Amber: 对。(Duì.)
David: Amber, where does this dialogue take place?
Amber: 在家里有两个朋友。(Zài jiā li yǒu liǎng gè péngyǒu.)
David: Right. So it’s two friends, in their home, they’re looking at photographs.
Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
David: And this is in casual Mandarin, as always. Let’s go to the dialogue. Okay, so this is a lesson about a photo.
DIALOGUE
A: 这张照片上是谁?(Zhè zhāng zhàopiàn shàng shì shéi?)
B: 那是我爸爸。(Nà shì wǒ bàba.)
A: 我以为他住三藩市。(Wǒ yǐwéi tā zhù Sānfānshì.)
B: 这是我父母离婚前照的。(Zhè shì wǒ fùmǔ líhūn qián zhào de.)
A: 哦,不好意思。(ò, bùhǎoyìsi .)
B: 没事,当时我还小,已经习惯了。(Méishì, dāngshí wǒ hái xiǎo, yǐjīng xíguàn le.)
A: Who is in this photo?
B: That's my father.
A: I thought he lived in San Francisco.
B: This was shot before my parents divorced.
A: Oh, I'm sorry.
B: It's OK, at that time i was only a little kid, I'm already used to it.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Amber: 老照片。(Lǎo zhàopiàn.)
David: Right. And the only thing we know about it is that it’s not showing San Francisco.
Amber: 对,因为他说 我以为他住三藩市。(Duì, yīnwèi tā shuō wǒ yǐwéi tā zhù sān fān shì.)
David: Yeah, and we’re going to get to that. But first we want to review some of the vocabulary. And a lot of this vocab has to do with photography.
Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
VOCAB LIST
Amber: 照片。(Zhàopiàn)
David: Photograph.
Amber: 照 片, 照片, 照。(zhào piàn, zhàopiàn, zhào.)
David: To photograph.
Amber: 照, 照, 张。(zhào, zhào, zhāng.)
David: Measure word for photos.
Amber: 张, 张, 三藩市。(zhāng, zhāng, sānfānshì.)
David: San Francisco.
Amber: 三 藩 市, 三藩市, 旧金山。(sān fān shì, sānfānshì, Jiùjīnshān.)
David: San Francisco.
Amber: 旧 金 山, 旧金山, 父母。(Jiù jīn shān, Jiùjīnshān, fùmǔ.)
David: Parents.
Amber: 父 母, 父母, 离婚。(fù mǔ, fùmǔ, líhūn.)
David: To divorce.
Amber: 离 婚, 离婚, 当时。(lí hūn, líhūn, dāngshí.)
David: At that time.
Amber: 当 时, 当时, 习惯。(dāng shí, dāngshí, xíguàn.)
David: To get used to.
Amber: 习 惯, 习惯。(xí guàn, xíguàn.)
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
David: Okay, first things first. We have two words for San Francisco in our vocab today. Amber, what is going on?
Amber: 唔,在对话里我们听到 三藩市。(Wú, zài duìhuà li wǒmen tīng dào sān fān shì.)
David: San Francisco.
Amber: 三藩市。(Sān fān shì.)
David: Right, the San Fran city is San Francisco.
Amber: 没错, 唔 …. 另外一个说法是 旧金山。(Méi cuò, wú…. Lìngwài yīgè shuōfǎ shì jiùjīnshān.)
David: And this literally translates as “old gold mountain”.
Amber: 没错, 旧金山。(Méi cuò, jiùjīnshān.)
David: But it’s also San Francisco.
Amber: 对,唔。(Duì, wú.)
David: Right? So we have two words that are fighting.
Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
David: They are fighting it out right now to see which people are going to use. The older one is “old gold mountain”.
Amber: 旧金山。(Jiùjīnshān.)
David: And it’s much more common where?
Amber: 在中国的北方。(Zài zhōngguó de běifāng.)
David: Yeah, it’s more common on the Mainland, but also in expat communities outside China.
Amber: 对,在可能在其他的国家。(Duì, zài kěnéng zài qítā de guójiā.)
David: Right.
Amber: 如果你学中文。(Rúguǒ nǐ xué zhōngwén.)
David: Right.
Amber: 对。(Duì.)
David: So, Chinese people who move to the United States will often refer to San Francisco as…
Amber: 旧金山。(Jiùjīnshān.)
David: Right. And this newer option…
Amber: 三藩市。(Sān fān shì.)
David: Is more common in southern China.
Amber: 对,或者香港,广东 尤其 …..。(Duì, huòzhě xiānggǎng, guǎngdōng yóuqí…....)
David: Yeah, and it’s a more contemporary usage.
Amber: 对。(Duì.)
David: So, we’ll see what people are saying in 10-20 years. Right? For now, though, if you live in San Francisco, you could say, “I live in San Francisco”.
Amber: 我住在三藩市。(Wǒ zhù zài sān fān shì.)
David: Or, “I live in San Francisco.”
Amber: 我住在旧金山。(Wǒ zhù zài jiùjīnshān..)
David: Right. And if you want to really confuse people you can say, “I used to live in San Francisco, but now I live in old gold mountain.”
Amber: 哈哈哈 …… 我以前住在三藩市, 现在住在旧金山。(Hāhā hā…… wǒ yǐqián zhù zài sān fān shì, xiànzài zhù zài jiùjīnshān.)
David: Right, you’re going to confuse people with that.
Amber: 对,所以说 …. 吓!(Duì, suǒyǐ shuō…. Xià!)
David: I didn’t think there was a difference. I guess there is.
Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
David: Moving on. What we’ve got here that’s sort of difficult is this photography vocabulary.
Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
David: We’ve got the word for “photograph”.
Amber: 照片。(Zhàopiàn.)
David: Photograph.
Amber: 照片。(Zhàopiàn.)
David: And we’ve also got a verb meaning “to take a photo”.
Amber: 对,照。(Duì, zhào.)
David: To take a photo.
Amber: 照。(Zhào.)
David: So the noun here is 照片, 片 (Zhàopiàn, piàn) is the slice that you take, really. There are also some other words you’re going to hear. For instance, people will often say “to shoot a photo”.
Amber: 拍照片。(Pāi zhàopiàn.)
David: To shoot a photo.
Amber: 拍照片。(Pāi zhàopiàn.)
David: Right. And when you’re at the tourist attraction in China, people will often ask you if you can take a photo of them.
Amber: 你能给我们拍照片吗?(Nǐ néng gěi wǒmen pāi zhàopiàn ma?)
David: Right. So, in most cases, you actually want to use…
Amber: 拍。(Pāi.)
David: To shoot.
Amber: 对。(Duì.)
David: However, in this dialogue, we use…
Amber: 照。(Zhào.)
David: And the reason for this is that 照 (Zhào) doesn’t generally take an object, so you don’t generally 照 (Zhào) a photograph, but you will 拍 (Pāi) a photograph.
Amber: 对,没错。(Duì, méi cuò.)
David: Right? So, again, if you want someone to take your photo, you should ask them, “Please, take a photo.”
Amber: 请给我拍照片。(Qǐng gěi wǒ pāi zhàopiàn.)
David: Right. Moving on we have a measure word.
Amber: 张。(Zhāng.)
David: Which is a measure word for anything that is flat.
Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
David: Right? So we can use this for a table ……
Amber: 一张桌子。(Yī zhāng zhuōzi.)
David: or a sheet of paper.
Amber: 一张纸。(Yī zhāng zhǐ.)
David: Or, in this case, a photograph.
Amber: 一张照片。(Yī zhāng zhàopiàn.)
David: Right. It’s flat, it’s rectangular-ish, so it’s 一张.(Yī zhāng.)
Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
David: Okay, the last word we want to call to your attention is “at that time”.
Amber: 当时。(Dāngshí.)
David: At that time.
Amber: 当时。(Dāngshí.)
David: Use this to start sentences when you’re talking about the past.
Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
David: For instance, at that time it was a little awkward.
Amber: 当时有一点尴尬。(Dāngshí yǒu yīdiǎn gāngà.)
David: At that time, it was a bit awkward.
Amber: 当时有一点尴尬。(Dāngshí yǒu yīdiǎn gāngà.)
David: Or maybe, “At that time, I didn’t know.”
Amber: 当时我不知道。(Dāngshí wǒ bù zhīdào.)
David: At that time I didn’t know, but now I do.
Amber: 当时我不知道, 但是现在我知道了。(Dāngshí wǒ bù zhīdào, dànshì xiànzài wǒ zhīdàole.)
David: Right. When you use this, people have to know what time period you’re talking about.
Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
David: Right? So it’s not just in the past.
Amber: 以前。(Yǐqián.)
David: It’s referring to a time in the past that you’ve already mentioned.
Amber: 没错, 就是要说具体的时间, 再说当时。(Méi cuò, jiùshì yào shuō jùtǐ de shíjiān, zàishuō dāngshí.)
David: Right. And, with that, let’s move on to our grammar section.

Lesson focus

M2: It’s grammar time!
David: In our grammar section today, we want to review three verbs for thinking.
Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
David: These three verbs are…
Amber: 以为,认为,想。(Yǐwéi, rènwéi, xiǎng.)
David: Okay. And we’re cheating because we actually want to speak mostly about the first, but all three of these verbs mean “to think”.
Amber: 对,没错。(Duì, méi cuò.)
David: Let’s hear them again.
Amber: 以为,认为,想。(Yǐwéi, rènwéi, xiǎng.)
David: Now, the easiest of these is…
Amber: 想。(Xiǎng.)
David: Means “to wish” or “to desire”.
Amber: 对,没错。(Duì, méi cuò.)
David: Right? Also “to miss”, but usually “to think”. For instance…
Amber: 让我想一下。(Ràng wǒ xiǎng yīxià.)
David: Let me think a bit.
Amber: 对, 让我想一下。(Duì, ràng wǒ xiǎng yīxià.)
David: “Let me think about it.” What about our next one?
Amber: 认为,比如说 我认为我们应该这样做。(Rènwéi, bǐrú shuō wǒ rènwéi wǒmen yīnggāi zhèyàng zuò.)
David: I think we should do it this way.
Amber: 我认为我们应该这样做。(Wǒ rènwéi wǒmen yīnggāi zhèyàng zuò.)
David: Now, we can swap 认为 out for 想 in that sentence.
Amber: 没错, 你也可以说 我想我们应该这样做。(Méi cuò, nǐ yě kěyǐ shuō wǒ xiǎng wǒmen yīnggāi zhèyàng zuò.)
David: Right. Or how about “I think we’ve met”?
Amber: 我想我们见过。(Wǒ xiǎng wǒmen jiànguò.)
David: Or…
Amber: 我认为我们见过。(Wǒ rènwéi wǒmen jiànguò.)
David: Right. So those two are mostly interchangeable.
Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
David: Right? It’s just about your degree of certainty, whereas 想 (Xiǎng) is maybe a bit less certain.
Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
David: Right? But what we see in our dialogue today is totally different.
Amber: 不太一样。(Bù tài yīyàng.)
David: Not just 不太一样 (Bù tài yīyàng) , it’s very much different.
Amber: 对,对,对。(Duì, duì, duì.)
David: Let’s see where this surfaces in the dialogue.
Amber: 我以为他住三藩市。(Wǒ yǐwéi tā zhù sān fān shì.)
David: I thought he lived in San Francisco.
Amber: 我以为他住三藩市。(Wǒ yǐwéi tā zhù sān fān shì.)
David: Now, notice here that we’re automatically kind of talking about the past tense because the meaning of the verb is not “think”, it’s “to think mistakenly”.
Amber: 对。(Duì.)
David: So, “I mistakenly thought he lived in San Francisco.”
Amber: 没错, 我以为他住三藩市。(Méi cuò, wǒ yǐwéi tā zhù sān fān shì.)
David: Right. So the fact that we’re using this verb means we know that this isn’t the case.
Amber: 对,我其实现在已经知道错了。(Duì, wǒ qíshí xiànzài yǐjīng zhīdào cuòle.)
David: Yes, I know I'm wrong, so we can't swap this out for…
Amber: 认为。(Rènwéi.)
David: Or…
Amber: 想。。(Xiǎng..)
David: Because the meaning would be different.
Amber: 没错, 因为 “认为” 和 “想” 没有 “错” 的意思。(Méi cuò, yīnwèi “rènwéi” hé “xiǎng” méiyǒu “cuò” de yìsi.)
David: Right. So you’d mean, “I think he’s in San Francisco” …...
Amber: 对对对。(Duì duì duì.)
David: or “I'm pretty certain he’s in San Francisco.” Here it means “I don’t know why I was wrong. I thought he was in San Francisco.”
Amber: 对,我再给你一些例子, 比如说我以为你住北京。(Duì, wǒ zài gěi nǐ yīxiē lìzi, bǐrú shuō wǒ yǐwéi nǐ zhù běijīng.)
David: I thought you lived in Beijing.
Amber: 我以为你住北京。(Wǒ yǐwéi nǐ zhù běijīng.)
David: Right. And you may hear that as part of a longer sentence - "I thought you lived in Beijing but you actually live in Shanghai.”
Amber: 我以为你住北京, 但是你其实住在上海。(Wǒ yǐwéi nǐ zhù běijīng, dànshì nǐ qíshí zhù zài shànghǎi.)
David: Right. How about “I thought the boss had left”?
Amber: 我以为老板下班了。(Wǒ yǐwéi lǎobǎn xiàbānle.)
David: I thought the boss had left.
Amber: 我以为老板下班了。(Wǒ yǐwéi lǎobǎn xiàbānle.)
David: Right, but he hasn’t.
Amber: 没错, 他还在办公室。(Méi cuò, tā hái zài bàngōngshì.)
David: He’s in his office, looking at me.
Amber: 对,没错。(Duì, méi cuò.)
David: Right? So, this is a bit of a review point but it’s really important. And when you hear Chinese people using 以为 (Yǐwéi), there’s a subtlety to what they’re saying that’s missed if you just think of it as “to think of”.
Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
David: It’s “to think of mistakenly”.
Amber: 唔,我现在知道我错了,所以才用 “以为”。(Wú, wǒ xiànzài zhīdào wǒ cuòle, suǒyǐ cái yòng “yǐwéi”.)
David: Yeah. So, again, there are these three verbs for thinking about things.
Amber: 想, 认为, 以为。(Xiǎng, rènwéi, yǐwéi.)
David: The first two are interchangeable, but the last one is quite different.
Amber: 唔 ..唔。(Wú.. Wú.)

Outro

David: And, with that said, that’s the end of our lesson for today. So, thank you for listening. Form Beijing, I'm David.
Amber: 我是安伯。(Wǒ shì ān bó.)
David: And we’ll see you on the site.
Amber: 网上见。(Wǎngshàng jiàn.) Bye-bye.

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