Learn how to use the common expression 怪不得, from a conversation between two people in China
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Intermediate season 2, Lesson 11. Getting Caught in a Chinese Traffic Jam. |
| Chloe: 大家好。(Dàjiā hǎo.) I’m Chloe! |
| Becky: Hi everyone, I’m Becky. Welcome back to ChineseClass101.com. This is Intermediate Season 2, Lesson 11- Getting Caught in a Chinese Traffic Jam. |
| Chloe: In this lesson you’ll learn about a useful phrase 怪不得(Guàibùdé) to express that you’re not surprised at something when you know its cause. |
| Becky: The conversation takes place in a taxi. |
| Chloe: 是的，我们会听到一段出租车司机与乘客的对话。(Shì de, wǒmen huì tīng dào yīduàn chūzū chē sījī yǔ chéngkè de duìhuà.) |
| Becky: The speakers are talking about the traffic. So they will be using informal language. Okay let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A:师傅，去三元桥。 |
| (A: Shīfu, qù sān yuán qiáo.) |
| B:哎哎哎，你别系安全带呀！我这个好几年没用了。 |
| (B: Arrr, don't use the seat belt! It's not been used for several years.) |
| A:我... 哎哟，师傅，您能别并线并得这么快吗？我晕车。 |
| (A: Wǒ... Āiyō, shīfu, nín néng bié bìng xiàn bìng de zhème kuài ma? Wǒ yùnchē.) |
| B:堵得这么厉害，你看那些行人还不遵守交规，不并线咱们什么时候能过去？ |
| (B: Dǔ de zhème lìhài, nǐ kàn nàxiē xíngrén hái bù zūnshǒu jiāoguī, bù bìng xiàn zánmen shénme shíhou néng guòqù?) |
| A:哎呀，前边追尾了，怪不得这边动不了呢。 |
| (A: Āiyā, qiánbian zhuīwěile, guàibùdé zhè biān dòng bùliǎo ne.) |
| B:要不咱们掉个头？算了，我熄了火等着吧。 |
| (B: Yào bù zánmen diào gètóu? Suànle, wǒ xīle huǒ děngzhe ba.) |
| Becky: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| A:师傅，去三元桥。 |
| (A: Shīfu, qù sān yuán qiáo.) |
| B:哎哎哎，你别系安全带呀！我这个好几年没用了。 |
| (B: Arrr, don't use the seat belt! It's not been used for several years.) |
| A:我... 哎哟，师傅，您能别并线并得这么快吗？我晕车。 |
| (A: Wǒ... Āiyō, shīfu, nín néng bié bìng xiàn bìng de zhème kuài ma? Wǒ yùnchē.) |
| B:堵得这么厉害，你看那些行人还不遵守交规，不并线咱们什么时候能过去？ |
| (B: Dǔ de zhème lìhài, nǐ kàn nàxiē xíngrén hái bù zūnshǒu jiāoguī, bù bìng xiàn zánmen shénme shíhou néng guòqù?) |
| A:哎呀，前边追尾了，怪不得这边动不了呢。 |
| (A: Āiyā, qiánbian zhuīwěile, guàibùdé zhè biān dòng bùliǎo ne.) |
| B:要不咱们掉个头？算了，我熄了火等着吧。 |
| (B: Yào bù zánmen diào gètóu? Suànle, wǒ xīle huǒ děngzhe ba.) |
| Becky: Now. Let’s hear with English translation. |
| A:师傅，去三元桥。 |
| (A: Shīfu, qù sān yuán qiáo.) |
| A: Driver, please go to Sanyuanqiao. |
| B:哎哎哎，你别系安全带呀！我这个好几年没用了。 |
| (B: Arrr, don't use the seat belt! It's not been used for several years.) |
| B: Arrr, don't use the seat belt! It's not been used for several years. |
| A:我... 哎哟，师傅，您能别并线并得这么快吗？我晕车。 |
| (A: Wǒ... Āiyō, shīfu, nín néng bié bìng xiàn bìng de zhème kuài ma? Wǒ yùnchē.) |
| A: I'm ... Oh, driver, can you not cut the line so suddenly? I am getting car sick. |
| B:堵得这么厉害，你看那些行人还不遵守交规，不并线咱们什么时候能过去？ |
| (B: Dǔ de zhème lìhài, nǐ kàn nàxiē xíngrén hái bù zūnshǒu jiāoguī, bù bìng xiàn zánmen shénme shíhou néng guòqù?) |
| B: There are already so many cars, but you see those pedestrians don't follow traffic rules, when can we get to the other side if we don't cut lines? |
| A:哎呀，前边追尾了，怪不得这边动不了呢。 |
| (A: Āiyā, qiánbian zhuīwěile, guàibùdé zhè biān dòng bùliǎo ne.) |
| A: Ah, there's a car accident at the front, no wonder there's a traffic jam. |
| B:要不咱们掉个头？算了，我熄了火等着吧。 |
| (B: Yào bù zánmen diào gètóu? Suànle, wǒ xīle huǒ děngzhe ba.) |
| B: How about a U-turn? Nevermind, let's stop the engine and wait. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: The taxi driver sounds like he is in more of a rush than the passenger. |
| Chloe: 对啊，有时候出租车司机比乘客还急，因为他们想多拉几趟客人。而且堵车是挺烦人的。 不过话说回来，在中国打的还是很方便的一种交通方式，特别是赶时间的时候。(Duì a, yǒu shíhòu chūzū chē sījī bǐ chéngkè hái jí, yīnwèi tāmen xiǎng duō lā jǐ tàng kèrén. Érqiě dǔchē shì tǐng fánrén de. Bùguò huàshuō huílái, zài zhōngguó dǎ di háishì hěn fāngbiàn de yī zhǒng jiāotōng fāngshì, tèbié shì gǎn shíjiān de shíhòu.) |
| Becky: But you know, many foreigners can’t speak Chinese, will it be difficult for them to take a taxi? |
| Chloe: 其实不用担心，像北京上海这样大城市的出租车司机多多少少能说一些简单的英文。碰到不会说的，把中文地址给他们就行。(Qíshí bùyòng dānxīn, xiàng běijīng shànghǎi zhèyàng dà chéngshì de chūzū chē sījī duō duō shào shào néng shuō yīxiē jiǎndān de yīngwén. Pèng dào bù huì shuō de, bǎ zhōngwén dìzhǐ gěi tāmen jiùxíng.) |
| Becky: That’s good to know! But there’s one thing that foreign travellers should pay attention to. There are many illegal taxis around the airport and train stations. |
| Chloe: 对，我们叫这类出租车“野的”。打野的会比较便宜，但是存在一些安全隐患。(Duì, wǒmen jiào zhè lèi chūzū chē “yě de”. Dǎ yě de huì bǐjiào piányí, dànshì cúnzài yīxiē ānquán yǐnhuàn.) |
| Becky: How can you tell the difference between official and illegal taxis? |
| Chloe: 很简单，打车前记得看清楚有没有顶灯，车门上有没有出租车公司的标记，以及车内的计费器旁边有没有驾驶员的证件。(Hěn jiǎndān, dǎchē qián jìdé kàn qīngchǔ yǒu méiyǒu dǐngdēng, chēmén shàng yǒu méiyǒu chūzū chē gōngsī de biāojì, yǐjí chē nèi de jì fèi qì pángbiān yǒu méiyǒu jiàshǐ yuán de zhèngjiàn.) |
| Becky: That is a good tip for listeners. Okay, now let’s move on to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is |
| Chloe: 并线 (bìng xiàn) |
| Becky: To change lanes. |
| Chloe: 并线 (bìng xiàn) |
| Becky: Next |
| Chloe: 怪不得 (guàibùdé) |
| Becky: No wonder. |
| Chloe: 怪不得 (guàibùdé) |
| Becky: Next |
| Chloe: 掉头 (diàotóu) |
| Becky: U-Turn. |
| Chloe: 掉头 (diàotóu) |
| Becky: Next |
| Chloe: 晕车 (yùnchē) |
| Becky: Motion sickness. |
| Chloe: 晕车 (yùnchē) |
| Becky: Next |
| Chloe: 行人 (xíngrén) |
| Becky: Pedestrian. |
| Chloe: 行人 (xíngrén) |
| Becky: Next |
| Chloe: 遵守 (zūnshǒu) |
| Becky: To comply with. |
| Chloe: 遵守 (zūnshǒu) |
| Becky: Next |
| Chloe: 追尾 (zhuīwěi) |
| Becky: Rear-end. |
| Chloe: 追尾 (zhuīwěi) |
| Becky: Next |
| Chloe: 熄火 (xīhuǒ) |
| Becky: To extinguish, to stall. |
| Chloe: 熄火 (xīhuǒ) |
| Becky: And last. |
| Chloe: 交规 (jiāoguī) |
| Becky: Traffic rules. |
| Chloe: 交规 (jiāoguī) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Becky: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Chloe: 我们要学习的第一个词是“遵守”。(Wǒmen yào xuéxí de dì yī gè cí shì “zūnshǒu”.) |
| Becky: It means “to comply with something”. |
| Chloe: 没错。这个词由两个动词“遵”和“守”组成。遵(Méi cuò. Zhège cí yóu liǎng gè dòngcí “zūn” hé “shǒu” zǔchéng. Zūn) means “to abide by”, “to obey.” 比方说中国的古装剧，特别是宫廷剧里面经常会出现“遵旨”这个词。(Bǐfāng shuō zhōngguó de gǔzhuāng jù, tèbié shì gōngtíng jù lǐmiàn jīngcháng huì chūxiàn “zūn zhǐ” zhège cí.) |
| Becky This word means to follow the emperor’s order. |
| Chloe 是的，在中国古代皇帝的旨意是不能违背的，大家都得听他的。再来看“守”这个字，它与“遵”比较类似，意思是(Shì de, zài zhōngguó gǔdài huángdì de zhǐyì shì bùnéng wéibèi de, dàjiā dōu dé tīng tā de. Zàilái kàn “shǒu” zhège zì, tā yǔ “zūn” bǐjiào lèisì, yìsi shì)“to keep, to protect.” |
| Becky: So how do we use this verb? |
| Chloe: Well, 遵守(Zūnshǒu) is used with words related to rules or orders. We can say 遵守法律.(Zūnshǒu fǎlǜ.) |
| Becky: This means “to abide by the law”. |
| Chloe: 遵守规则。(Zūnshǒu guīzé.) |
| Becky: To observe the rules. |
| Chloe: 遵守命令。(Zūnshǒu mìnglìng.) |
| Becky: “To obey the orders.” Great, so what’s the next word? |
| Chloe: 下一个要学习的词是“掉头”。(Xià yīgè yào xuéxí de cí shì “diàotóu”.) |
| Becky: This word means “to make a U-turn, to turn around”. |
| Chloe: 对。刚才讲到“遵守”包含了两个动词，而“掉头”这个词则是由动词“掉”和名词“头”组成的。“掉”在这里相当于“调转”，“头”在这里则表示“方向”。(Duì. Gāngcái jiǎng dào “zūnshǒu” bāohánle liǎng gè dòngcí, ér “diàotóu” zhège cí zé shì yóu dòngcí “diào” hé míngcí “tóu” zǔchéng de.“Diào” zài zhèlǐ xiāngdāng yú “diàozhuǎn”,“tóu” zài zhèlǐ zé biǎoshì “fāngxiàng”.) |
| Becky: So when we put them together, it means “to turn in the opposite direction”. |
| Chloe: 没错。大家应该记得在对话里出租车司机说了一句“要不咱们掉个头”。(Méi cuò. Dàjiā yīnggāi jìdé zài duìhuà li chūzū chē sījī shuōle yījù “yào bù zánmen diào gètóu”.) |
| Becky Yeah，the taxi driver said this. |
| Chloe 个(Gè) is a measure word - it is short for 一个(Yīgè). Although we put a measure word here, it doesn’t change the meaning of 掉头(Diàotóu). |
| Becky: So why do you put that word in between? |
| Chloe: Well, although 个(Gè) didn’t change what the word means, the word becomes more casual and colloquial with it. We can apply this to other verbs. For example, 洗澡(Xǐzǎo) and 洗个澡(Xǐ gè zǎo)，上厕所(Shàng cèsuǒ) and 上个厕所(Shàng gè cèsuǒ)，吃饭(Chīfàn) and 吃个饭(Chī gè fàn). You’ll often hear them in our daily life. |
| Becky: Just add one word, and your language will sound more natural. That’s great! Now let’s get to the last word. |
| Chloe: 好的，最后一个词是“晕车”。(Hǎo de, zuìhòu yīgè cí shì “yùnchē”.) |
| Becky: It means “carsick”. |
| Chloe: 对。像我们经常会说“我晕了”。“我晕了”就是(Duì. Xiàng wǒmen jīngcháng huì shuō “wǒ yūnle”.“Wǒ yūnle” jiùshì)“I’m dizzy”的意思。因此我们可以看出，在“晕车”这个词里面，“晕”表示(De yìsi. Yīncǐ wǒmen kěyǐ kàn chū, zài “yùnchē” zhège cí lǐmiàn,“yūn” biǎoshì)“to get sick” 或者(Huòzhě)“to become dizzy”。 |
| Becky: So the other character must mean “car”. |
| Chloe: That’s right - it shows where you get sick. |
| Becky: Can we change “car” to other vehicles here? |
| Chloe: 当然可以，比方说“晕机”。(Dāngrán kěyǐ, bǐfāng shuō “yùnjī”.) |
| Becky: Airsick. |
| Chloe: 晕船.(Yùnchuán) |
| Becky: Seasick. Okay so the rule is simple. You just replace the vehicle that you get sick in. Okay now on to the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Chloe: 这节课我们要学习的是“怪不得”这个常用的表达方式。(Zhè jié kè wǒmen yào xuéxí de shì “guàibùdé” zhège chángyòng de biǎodá fāngshì.) |
| Becky: This is a casual word that you’ll often hear it in a conversation between friends, classmates or family members. |
| Chloe: 怪不得(Guàibùdé) has two meanings when it’s used in different contexts. 大家还记得吗？在对话里，出租车司机说了一句“前边追尾了，怪不得这边动不了了呢”。在这个语境里，“怪不得”相当于(Dàjiā hái jìdé ma? Zài duìhuà li, chūzū chē sījī shuōle yījù “qiánbian zhuīwěile, guàibùdé zhè biān dòng bùliǎole ne”. Zài zhège yǔ jìng lǐ,“guàibùdé” xiāngdāng yú)“no wonder”的意思(De yìsi). |
| Becky: So if you are not surprised to see a result because you know something has caused it to happen, you can use this word. |
| Chloe: 没错！我再给大家举一些例子。比如说，昨天他生病了，怪不得没来参加派对。(Méi cuò! Wǒ zài gěi dàjiā jǔ yīxiē lìzi. Bǐrú shuō, zuótiān tā shēngbìngle, guàibùdé méi lái cānjiā pàiduì.) |
| Becky: He got sick yesterday, that’s why he didn’t show up at the party. |
| Chloe: 好，来看下一个例子:她升职了，怪不得那么高兴。(Hǎo, lái kàn xià yīgè lìzi: Tā shēng zhíle, guàibùdé nàme gāoxìng.) |
| Becky: She got promoted, no wonder she’s so excited. |
| Chloe: 好，接下来我们来看一下“怪不得”的另一种用法。(Hǎo, jiē xiàlái wǒmen lái kàn yīxià “guàibùdé” de lìng yī zhǒng yòngfǎ.)As we have learned, when 怪不得(Guàibùdé) is used to express “no wonder”, it’s actually an adverb. But it can also be used as a verb. In this situation, 怪不得(Guàibùdé) is made up of two parts. 怪,(Guài) to blame, and 不得(Bùdé) which means not. Therefore, it means “not to blame”. Let’s take a look at two examples. 这件事他不知道，怪不得他.(Zhè jiàn shì tā bù zhīdào, guàibùdé tā.) |
| Becky: This means “He doesn’t know about it and he’s not to blame for this.” |
| Chloe: 她是自作自受，怪不得别人。(Tā shì zìzuòzìshòu, guàibùdé biérén.) |
| Becky: This means “She should accept the consequences of her own actions and there’s no one else to blame.” Now I think I understand how to differentiate the two usages. If the word is followed by a clause describing the reason that the situation happened, it means ”no wonder”. But if it is used with a word indicating a person, it probably means “not to blame”. |
| Chloe: That’s right. |
Outro |
| Becky: And that’s all for this lesson. Get instant access to all of our language learning lessons. With any subscription, instantly access our entire library of audio and video lessons. Download the lessons or listen or watch online. Put them on your phone or another mobile device and listen, watch and learn anywhere. |
| Chloe: Lessons are organized by level. So progress in other one level at a time. |
| Becky: Or skip around to different levels. It’s up to you. |
| Chloe: Instantly access them all right now. |
| Becky: Remember, you can always check the lesson notes and leave us a comment at chineseclass101.com. Thanks for listening and we will see you next time. Bye everyone. |
| Chloe: 今天的课到此结束，我们下节课见。拜拜！(Jīntiān de kè dào cǐ jiéshù, wǒmen xià jié kè jiàn. Bàibài!) |
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