Learn about the Chinese informal particle used to remind a friend of what just took place
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Echo: 嗨，大家好，我是Echo. (Hāi, dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì Echo.) |
| Dave: Hi and I am Dave and welcome to chineseclass101, the fastest, easiest and most fun way to learn Chinese. This is lesson 21 in our second season of our Elementary series. |
| Echo: The title of today’s lesson is Ideal Candidate. |
| Dave: That’s right. In this lesson, you will learn about personal preferences, likes and dislikes. |
| Echo: Right. The conversation takes place inside a home. |
| Dave: And the conversation is between two friends who are talking about which personal traits they like and dislike in other people. |
| Echo: Right and they are speaking casually. |
| Dave: Okay and before we go to the dialogue, I just like to remind everybody, if you haven’t done it already, please go to chineseclass101.com and register for a free lifetime account. |
| Echo: Right. It will only take you a couple of seconds. |
| Dave: Okay. Let’s get to the dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A:你最讨厌什么人？ (nǐ zuì tǎoyàn shénme rén?) |
| B:我……对不起，你说什么来着？ (wǒ ......duìbuqǐ, nǐ shuō shénme láizhe?) |
| A:你最讨厌什么人？ (nǐ zuì tǎoyàn shénme rén?) |
| B:我最讨厌三种人。 (wǒ zuì tǎoyàn sān zhǒng rén.) |
| A:哪三种人？ (nǎ sān zhǒng rén?) |
| B:第一种是记性不好的人。 (dì yī zhǒng shì jìxìng bùhǎo de rén.) |
| A:第二种呢？ (dì èr zhǒng ne?) |
| B:第二种是脾气不好的人。 (dì èr zhǒng shì píqì bùhǎo de rén.) |
| A:最后一种？(zuìhòu yī zhǒng?) |
| B:最后一种是记性不好的人。 (zuìhòu yī zhǒng shì jìxìng bùhǎo de rén.) |
| Dave: One more time a bit slower. |
| A:你最讨厌什么人？ (nǐ zuì tǎoyàn shénme rén?) |
| B:我……对不起，你说什么来着？ (wǒ ......duìbuqǐ, nǐ shuō shénme láizhe?) |
| A:你最讨厌什么人？ (nǐ zuì tǎoyàn shénme rén?) |
| B:我最讨厌三种人。 (wǒ zuì tǎoyàn sān zhǒng rén.) |
| A:哪三种人？ (nǎ sān zhǒng rén?) |
| B:第一种是记性不好的人。 (dì yī zhǒng shì jìxìng bùhǎo de rén.) |
| A:第二种呢？ (dì èr zhǒng ne?) |
| B:第二种是脾气不好的人。 (dì èr zhǒng shì píqì bùhǎo de rén.) |
| A:最后一种？ (zuìhòu yī zhǒng?) |
| B:最后一种是记性不好的人。 (zuìhòu yī zhǒng shì jìxìng bùhǎo de rén.) |
| Dave: One more time, with English. |
| Echo: 你最讨厌什么人？ (nǐ zuì tǎoyàn shénme rén?) |
| Dave: What do you hate the most in other people? |
| Echo: 我……对不起，你说什么来着？ (wǒ ......duìbuqǐ, nǐ shuō shénme láizhe?) |
| Dave: I – sorry, what did you say just now? |
| Echo: 你最讨厌什么人？ (nǐ zuì tǎoyàn shénme rén?) |
| Dave: Who do you find the most annoying? |
| Echo: 我最讨厌三种人。 (wǒ zuì tǎoyàn sān zhǒng rén.) |
| Dave: There are three types of people I hate the most. |
| Echo: 哪三种人？ (nǎ sān zhǒng rén?) |
| Dave: Which three types of people? |
| Echo: 第一种是记性不好的人。 (dì yī zhǒng shì jìxìng bùhǎo de rén.) |
| Dave: First, a person with a bad memory. |
| Echo: 第二种呢？ (dì èr zhǒng ne?) |
| Dave: And the second type. |
| Echo:第二种是脾气不好的人。 (dì èr zhǒng shì píqì bùhǎo de rén.) |
| Dave: The second type is a person who has a bad temper. |
| Echo: 最后一种？ (zuìhòu yī zhǒng?) |
| Dave: And the last type? |
| Echo: 最后一种是记性不好的人。 (zuìhòu yī zhǒng shì jìxìng bùhǎo de rén.) |
| Dave: The last type is a person who has a bad memory. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Dave: I think this person has been a little hypocritical about what they like and don’t like in a person. |
| Echo: Yeah this person can’t even remember what the original question is. |
| Dave: I personally like people who have a great sense of humor. |
| Echo: Yeah. I like impassionate people. |
| Dave: Well regardless of what your preference and friends is, well regardless of what your preference and friends is, today’s vocab lesson will allow you to talk about types of friends with ease. |
| Echo: Come on, let’s go to the vocab section already. |
| Dave: Echo, I also like patient people. |
| Echo: I am patient. Let’s go. |
| Dave: Let’s go on to the vocab section. And now the vocab section. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Echo: 讨厌 (tǎoyàn) |
| Dave: To hate. |
| Echo: 脾气 (píqì) |
| Dave: Temper. |
| Echo: 记性 (jìxìng) |
| Dave: Memory. |
| Echo: 种 (zhǒng) |
| Dave: Type or kind. |
| Echo: 最后 (zuìhòu) |
| Dave: Finally. |
| Echo: 来着 (láizhe) |
| Dave: Just now. |
| Echo: 来着 (láizhe) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Dave: Okay. Let’s take a closer look at usage for some of this vocabulary. |
| Echo: The first word is 讨厌。 (tǎoyàn) |
| Dave: To hate. |
| Echo: 讨厌。 (tǎoyàn) |
| Dave: This also means something along the lines of to be disgusted with someone or something. |
| Echo: Yeah. 我最讨厌不说真话的人。 (Wǒ zuì tǎoyàn bù shuō zhēn huà de rén.) |
| Dave: I most hate people who don’t tell the truth. |
| Echo: 我最讨厌不说真话的人。 (Wǒ zuì tǎoyàn bù shuō zhēn huà de rén.) |
| Dave: I hate people who don’t tell the truth the most. Yeah nobody likes a liar. Another quality the speaker said they don’t like was |
| Echo: 脾气。 (píqì) |
| Dave: Temper. |
| Echo: 脾气。脾气不好是个大问题。 (Píqì. Píqì bù hǎo shìgè dà wèntí.) |
| Dave: Having a bad temper is a big problem. |
| Echo: 脾气不好是个大问题。 (Píqì bù hǎo shìgè dà wèntí.) |
| Dave: Okay and the next word Echo. |
| Echo: 记性。 (jìxìng) |
| Dave: Memory. |
| Echo: 记性。他的记性非常好。 (Jìxìng. Tā de jìxìng fēicháng hǎo.) |
| Dave: His memory is really good. |
| Echo: 他的记性非常好。 (Tā de jìxìng fēicháng hǎo.) |
| Dave: This next word remember because this is a very versatile word that can be used in a lot of different circumstances. |
| Echo: 种。 (zhǒng) |
| Dave: Type or kind. |
| Echo: 种。 (zhǒng) |
| Dave: And this word is usually preceded by this |
| Echo: 这。 (Zhè.) |
| Dave: Or that |
| Echo: 那。我最不喜欢那种人。 (Nà. Wǒ zuì bù xǐhuān nà zhǒng rén.) |
| Dave: I really dislike that kind of person. |
| Echo: 我最不喜欢那种人。 (Wǒ zuì bù xǐhuān nà zhǒng rén.) |
| Dave: Moving on, our next word is a great adverb to know. |
| Echo: 最后。 (zuìhòu) |
| Dave: Finally. |
| Echo: 最后。最后我想再告诉你一次。 (Zuìhòu. Zuìhòu wǒ xiǎng zài gàosù nǐ yīcì.) |
| Dave: Finally, I want to tell you again one more time. |
| Echo: 最后我想再告诉你一次。 (Zuìhòu wǒ xiǎng zài gàosù nǐ yīcì.) |
| Dave: Finally, I want to tell you again one more time and finally, we are at our last vocab word for the day. |
| Echo: 来着。 (láizhe) |
| Dave: Just now. |
| Echo: 来着。你的问题是什么来着？ (Láizhe. Nǐ de wèntí shì shénme láizhe?) |
| Dave: What was your question again? |
| Echo: 你的问题是什么来着？ ( Nǐ de wèntí shì shénme láizhe?) |
| Dave: What was your question just now? Okay this phrase will be the center piece of our grammar point. So let’s pivot to that right now. It’s grammar time. Okay today’s grammar point is pretty straightforward. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Echo: The word is 来着。 (láizhe) |
| Dave: Just now. |
| Echo: 来着。 (láizhe) |
| Dave: This is an informal particle. It indicates that some event has happened a short time ago and the action has already been finished. |
| Echo: Right 来着。 (láizhe) can be used with the speaker needs to be reminded of certain information that was recently forgotten. Usually we needn’t use 了(Le) in the sentence again because 了 (Le) and 来着 (láizhe) have similar functions. |
| Dave: Let’s take a look at a sample sentence using 来着。 (láizhe) |
| Echo: 他昨天做什么来着？ (Tā zuótiān zuò shénme láizhe?) |
| Dave: What was he doing yesterday? |
| Echo: 他昨天做什么来着？ (Tā zuótiān zuò shénme láizhe?) |
| Dave: So yesterday the speaker knew what was being done but today he has already forgotten that information. |
| Echo: Right. Sentence containing 来着 (Láizhe) and 了 (Le) are not exactly the same but the meanings are similar. If you put 来着 (Láizhe) in a question, we are asking about something we just forgot. |
| Dave: For example, if you run into a familiar phase but their name is on the tip of your tongue and you can’t quite seem to remember this person’s name |
| Echo: So in this case, you can ask the question 他叫什么来着？ (Tā jiào shénme láizhe?) |
| Dave: What’s his name again? |
| Echo: 他叫什么来着？ (Tā jiào shénme láizhe?) So in this case, the use of 来着 (Láizh) means that you previously knew the person’s name but recently you forgot it. |
| Dave: So Echo, what is the trick for using this particle in a sentence? |
| Echo: The formation of 来着 (Láizhe) is simple. It is placed directly at the end of the sentence. |
| Dave: Can’t mess it up, just put it at the end. |
| Echo: Here are some examples using 来着。他的问题是什么来着？ (Láizhe. Tā de wèntí shì shénme láizhe?) |
| Dave: What was his question again? |
| Echo: 他的问题是什么来着？你刚才去哪儿来着？ (Tā de wèntí shì shénme láizhe? Nǐ gāngcái qù nǎ'er láizhe?) |
| Dave: Where did you go just now? |
| Echo: 你刚才去哪儿来着？ (Nǐ gāngcái qù nǎ'er láizhe?) |
| Dave: So the person knew before where his friend was going but now the person has returned and he’s forgotten where he went. |
| Echo: Right. 我有什么事来着？ (Wǒ yǒu shé me shì láizhe?) |
| Dave: What was I doing just now? |
| Echo: 我有什么事来着？ (Wǒ yǒu shé me shì láizhe?) |
| Dave: This is similar to the English expression, where was I? |
| Echo: Right. |
| Dave: In my old age, I find myself asking this question more and more. |
| Echo: 我刚才看到什么来着？ (Wǒ gāngcái kàn dào shénme láizhe?) |
| Dave: What did I see just now? |
| Echo: 我刚才看到什么来着？ (Wǒ gāngcái kàn dào shénme láizhe?) |
| Dave: And notice that you increase the emphasis on just now on the recency of the event by adding this phrase, Echo? |
| Echo: 刚才。 (Gāngcái.) |
| Dave: Which means just a second ago. |
| Echo: Right. |
| Dave: Just now. |
| Echo: 你刚才找谁来着？ (Nǐ gāngcái zhǎo shéi láizhe?) |
| Dave: Who were you looking for just now? |
| Echo: 你刚才找谁来着？ (Nǐ gāngcái zhǎo shéi láizhe?) |
| Dave: So we’ve thrown a lot of examples at you in the hopes that this word 来着 (Láizhe)will stick. |
| Echo: The one thing to remember about this word is that 来着 (Láizhe) should be placed at the end of the sentence. |
| Dave: And use it to add emphasis about something recently happening that you have forgotten something that you knew before. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Dave: Echo, why don’t you leave us with one last example. |
| Echo: Okay 你们怎么学的中文来着？ (Nǐmen zěnme xué de zhōngwén láizhe?) |
| Dave: How did you all learn Chinese lately? |
| Echo: 你们怎么学的中文来着？ (Nǐmen zěnme xué de zhōngwén láizhe?) |
| Dave: Well hopefully you did it by subscribing to our premium package which provides you with access to the |
| Echo: Voice recording tool. |
| Dave: That’s right. The voice recording tool in chineseclass101s premium learning center. |
| Echo: You can record your voice with a click of a button. |
| Dave: And then play it back just as easily. |
| Echo: So you record your voice and then listen to it. |
| Dave: Compare it to a native speakers |
| Echo: And adjust your pronunciation. |
| Dave: Helping you to improve your pronunciation fast. |
| Echo: 没错。 (Méi cuò.) |
Outro |
| Dave: Okay that’s it for this lesson. From Beijing, I am Dave. |
| Echo: 我是Echo. (Wǒ shì Echo.) |
| Dave: And we will see you in the next week. |
| Echo: 下次见 (Xià cì jiàn) Bye bye. |
| Dave: See you then. |
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Comments
HideWhat is your least desirable trait in another person?
Hello samia,
Thank you for sharing with us! We hope you enjoyed this lesson!
If you have any questions, please let us know.
Ngai
Team ChineseClass101.com
my favorite expression 你的问题是什么来着？
Hello Reach,
Thank you for your comment. 我有什么事来着？is more like in the middle of doing something, I forgot what I have to do.
If you have any questions, please let us know.
Ngai
Team ChineseClass101.com
Hi I don't understand this phrase. 我有什么事来着？Why is it translated to "What was I doing just now?"
Shouldn't 有 be translated to "have"? If we wanna say " What was I doing just now?", shouldnt we say "我刚才做什么来着?" (wo gangcai zuo shenme laizhe?
你好 robert groulx,
You are very welcome. 😇
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Good luck with your language studies.
Kind regards,
雷文特
Team ChineseClass101.com
thanks for the lesson
my favorite phrase is 你们怎么学的中文来着？
bragging is the least desirable trait
robert
Hello KMM,
You're welcome 😄.
No it's not a rule, and it's also not limited to two consecutive fourth tone phrases. In a normal speech, we don't stress or emphasize on all the syllables in a word/phrase. Therefore, you hear some characters in the neutral tone because they are not stressed and they sound shorter. Such as 妈妈 māmā => māma, 脾气 píqì => píqi, and so on.
Hope it clarifies, let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
Thank you for your answer.
So is it like a rule? For every two consecutive fourth tone phrase, the last one changes to neutral tone?
Hello KMM,
Thank you for your comment.
You hear 性 as a neutral tone is because when we speak, we don't stress on all the syllables so as to sound natural.
As always, let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
Hello,
Please clarify. For “记性” (ji4xing4), I heard “性” as neutral tone. Is there tone change going on with that phrase?
Hello, 杰米,
来着 doesn't mean again, but indicates something happened in the past.
你刚才说什么来着？
What did you say just know?
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com
I think a good translation for 来着 is "again."
你叫什么来着？-> What was your name again?
你刚才说什么来着？-> What did you just say again?
In The dialogue how can the person hate three types of people when his first type and third type are both the same :smile:
Am I missing something
第一种是记性不好的人 dì yī zhǒng shì jìxìng bùhǎo de rén. First, a person who has a bad memory.
最后一种是记性不好的人 zuìhòu yī zhǒng shì jìxìng bùhǎo de rén. The last type is a person who has a bad memory.
:smile:
Hi leto,
Thanks a lot for pointing that out, we'll have them fixed asap :oops:
Team ChineseClass101.com
The audio for 性格 is incorrect for both the vocabulary and for the Expanded with audio. The voice over is for temper or 脾气. However, the voice over for the corollary sample sentence is correct. I thought you might like to know.:oops:
Hello, Jane.
It has been several days since I mentioned about the review link. Can you please let me know when this is going to be fixed? I bet it is simply a typo in the URL to the file.
Hi 蓝大卫，
你好。Thanks for letting us know about the problem and thanks for the compliment. The problem will be fixed ASAP. Meanwhile, enjoy your lesson.
Regards,
Jane
I cannot access the review audio for this lesson either in iTunes or from this website. Please help! The audio review is very helpful and this is a very good lesson.