Learn a Chinese character that has several meanings that can cause you to get violent
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Brendan: You’re listening to ChineseClass101.com. The fastest, easiest and funniest way of learning Chinese. I’m Brendan. |
| Echo: Hi, 大家好，我是Echo.(Dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì Echo.) |
| Brendan: And we’re coming out at you from Beijing with Lower Intermediate series, season one, lesson 25, the last lesson in this series. |
| Echo: Right, congratulations! |
| Brendan: And today is about “The violent nature of the Chinese language.” |
| Echo: That’s right. And our conversation today is between a couple. |
| Brendan: We hope. |
| Echo: Yeah they are, I think. |
| Brendan: At this point anyway, it’s definitively casual Chinese. Now, we’re going to take you to the dialogue in just a moment, but before we do that, a reminder. It’s the end of the series. This is a great time to practice everything you’ve learned. Log into our premium learning center. We’ve got professional tutors standing by who’re waiting to help you practice and waiting to help you improve your Chinese with real life usage. |
| Echo: That’s right. |
| Brendan: All right, let’s get to the dialogue. I’ve been accused of snoring it’s a [wall]. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A:你怎么又这样？(Nǐ zěnme yòu zhèyàng?) |
| B:我怎么了？(Wǒ zěnme le?) |
| A:打呼噜！吵得我都睡不着。(Dǎhūlū ! Chǎo dé wǒ dōu shuì bu zháo.) |
| B:医生说你推我一下，我就不打了。(Yīshēng shuō nǐ tuī wǒ yīxià, wǒ jiù bù dǎ le.) |
| A:我推了，没用。(Wǒ tuī le, méiyòng.) |
| B:那就用力一点。(Nà jiù yònglì yīdiǎn.) |
| A:你没见我都已经把你推下床了。(Nǐ méi jiàn wǒ dōu yǐjīng bǎ nǐ tuīxià chuáng le.) |
| Brendan: Once more, slowly. |
| A:你怎么又这样？(Nǐ zěnme yòu zhèyàng?) |
| B:我怎么了？(Wǒ zěnme le?) |
| A:打呼噜！吵得我都睡不着。(Dǎhūlū ! Chǎo dé wǒ dōu shuì bu zháo.) |
| B:医生说你推我一下，我就不打了。(Yīshēng shuō nǐ tuī wǒ yīxià, wǒ jiù bù dǎ le.) |
| A:我推了，没用。(Wǒ tuī le, méiyòng.) |
| B:那就用力一点。(Nà jiù yònglì yīdiǎn.) |
| A:你没见我都已经把你推下床了。(Nǐ méi jiàn wǒ dōu yǐjīng bǎ nǐ tuīxià chuáng le.) |
| Brendan: And now, with English translation. |
| A:你怎么又这样？(Nǐ zěnme yòu zhèyàng?) |
| A: You're doing it again. |
| B:我怎么了？(Wǒ zěnme le?) |
| B: Doing what? |
| A:打呼噜！吵得我都睡不着。(Dǎhūlū ! Chǎo dé wǒ dōu shuì bu zháo.) |
| A: Snoring! It's so loud I can't get to sleep. |
| B:医生说你推我一下，我就不打了。(Yīshēng shuō nǐ tuī wǒ yīxià, wǒ jiù bù dǎ le.) |
| B: The doctor said if you just push me I'll stop. |
| A:我推了，没用。(Wǒ tuī le, méiyòng.) |
| A: I did push you, didn't work. |
| B:那就用力一点。(Nà jiù yònglì yīdiǎn.) |
| B: So push harder. |
| A:你没见我都已经把你推下床了。(Nǐ méi jiàn wǒ dōu yǐjīng bǎ nǐ tuīxià chuáng le.) |
| A: I already pushed you out of bed! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Echo: No, I saw it! |
| Brendan: You’ve never seen me snore. |
| Echo: One day, we had a party all of us, at your place and - |
| Brendan: Right. |
| Echo: - you suddenly fell asleep. |
| Brendan: That was extenuating circumstances. |
| Echo: Now you’re saying that. |
| Brendan: Yes, special circumstances. Anyway, this is the kind of argument that today’s dialogue is about. This is what the vocabulary’s about. So, let’s get to it. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Echo: 打呼噜 (dǎhū lū) |
| Brendan: “to snore” |
| Echo: 床垫 (chuángdiàn) |
| Brendan: “mattress” |
| Echo: 睡不着 (shuì bu zháo) |
| Brendan: “to be unable to get to sleep” |
| Echo: 推 (tuī) |
| Brendan: “to push” |
| Echo: 醒 (xǐng) |
| Brendan: “to wake up” |
| Echo: 睡衣 (shuìyī) |
| Brendan: “pajamas” |
| Echo: 失眠 (shīmián) |
| Brendan: “insomnia” |
| Echo: 安眠药 (ānmiányào) |
| Brendan: “sleeping pills” |
| Echo: 枕头 (zhěntou) |
| Brendan: “pillow” |
| Echo: 卧室 (wòshì) |
| Brendan: “bedroom” |
| Echo: 卧室 (wòshì) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Brendan: Okay, so now we’ve got our vocabulary terms. Let’s take a look at some samples sentences to see the way these behave in context. |
| Echo: First phrase 打呼噜 (Dǎ hūlū) |
| Brendan: “to snore” |
| Echo: 我爷爷他晚上老打呼噜。(Wǒ yéyé tā wǎnshàng lǎo dǎ hūlū.) |
| Brendan: “My grandpa always snores at night.” |
| Echo: 我爷爷他晚上老打呼噜。床垫 (Wǒ yéyé tā wǎnshàng lǎo dǎ hūlū. Chuáng diàn) |
| Brendan: “mattress” |
| Echo: 这个床垫真舒服。(Zhège chuáng diàn zhēn shūfú.) |
| Brendan: “This mattress is really comfortable.” |
| Echo: 这个床垫真舒服。(Zhège chuáng diàn zhēn shūfú.) |
| Brendan: And I remember when I first came to China I was really struck by how hard mattressed here were. They’re a lot harder then, I think, a lot of people are used to, certainly in the states. |
| Echo: That’s more comfortable. |
| Brendan: I actually –yeah. Now I find hard mattresses a lot more comfortable than very soft ones. |
| Echo: Yes. Better for your bone. |
| Brendan: Well, I still got lousy back, but, at this point anyway, I prefer the hard mattresses. |
| Echo: 睡不着 (Shuì bùzháo) |
| Brendan: “to be unable to get to sleep” |
| Echo: 别吵了，我都睡不着了。(Bié chǎole, wǒ dū shuì bùzháole.) |
| Brendan: “Stop being so loud! I can’t get to sleep!” |
| Echo: 别吵了，我都睡不着了。(Bié chǎole, wǒ dū shuì bùzháole.) Then we have 推。 |
| Brendan: “to push” or “to shove” |
| Echo: 她把她男朋友推下床了。(Tā bǎ tā nán péngyǒu tuī xià chuángle.) |
| Brendan: “She pushed her boyfriend out of bed.” |
| Echo: 她把她男朋友推下床了。醒。 (Tā bǎ tā nán péngyǒu tuī xià chuángle. Xǐng.) |
| Brendan: “to wake up” |
| Echo: 我早上6点钟就醒了。(Wǒ zǎoshang 6 diǎn zhōng jiù xǐngle.) |
| Brendan: “I woke up at six this morning.” |
| Echo: 我早上6点钟就醒了。睡衣。(Wǒ zǎoshang 6 diǎn zhōng jiù xǐngle. Shuìyī.) |
| Brendan: “pajamas” or “jim-jams” as some prefer to call them. |
| Echo: 我想要买一件新的睡衣。(Wǒ xiǎng yāomǎi yī jiàn xīn de shuìyī.) |
| Brendan: “I want to buy a new pair of pajams.” |
| Echo: 我想要买一件新的睡衣。失眠。(Wǒ xiǎng yāomǎi yī jiàn xīn de shuìyī. Shīmián.) |
| Brendan: “insomina” |
| Echo: 我昨天晚上又失眠了。(Wǒ zuótiān wǎnshàng yòu shīmiánle.) |
| Brendan: “I had insomnia again last night.” |
| Echo: 我昨天晚上又失眠了。(Wǒ zuótiān wǎnshàng yòu shīmiánle.) |
| Brendan: And notice that’s actually a verb, not a noun the way it would be in English. |
| Echo: That’s right. |
| Brendan: So, you can think of that sentences “I insomnied again last night.” |
| Echo: 如果你失眠了，你需要下面的这个东西。安眠药。(Rúguǒ nǐ shīmiánle, nǐ xūyào xiàmiàn de zhège dōngxī. Ānmiányào.) |
| Brendan: “sleeping pills” |
| Echo: 安眠药真的有用吗？(Ānmiányào zhēn de yǒuyòng ma?) |
| Brendan: “Do sleeping pills really work?” |
| Echo: 安眠药真的有用吗？(Ānmiányào zhēn de yǒuyòng ma?) |
| Brendan: Now, in my experience the answer is only maybe, but not sure. That’s just me. |
| Echo: 枕头。(Zhěntou.) |
| Brendan: “pillow” |
| Echo: 他们经常用枕头打来打去。(Tāmen jīngcháng yòng zhěntou dǎ lái dǎ qù.) |
| Brendan: “They’re always beating each other up with pillows.” |
| Echo: 他们经常用枕头打来打去。卧室。(Tāmen jīngcháng yòng zhěntou dǎ lái dǎ qù. Wòshì.) |
| Brendan: “bedroom” |
| Echo: 这就是我的卧室了。(Zhè jiùshì wǒ de wòshìle.) |
| Brendan: “This is my bedroom.” |
| Echo: 这就是我的卧室了。(Zhè jiùshì wǒ de wòshìle.) |
| Brendan: So there are vocabulary terms. Now let’s go on to what will be the last grammar point for this season. It’s grammar time! Now as I said at the very start of this lesson, this lesson is about the hidden violence that really [unintelligible 00:06:35] the Chinese language. What we’re talking about, of course, is this verb. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Echo: 打 (Dǎ) |
| Brendan: Meaning “to beat” or “to strike” or “to hit”. |
| Echo: Right. 打。(Dǎ.) |
| Brendan: But the tricky thing about it is that this actually is not what it appears to be. |
| Echo: 没错。在我们的对话里这个人“打呼噜”。(Méi cuò. Zài wǒmen de duìhuà li zhège rén “dǎ hūlū”.) |
| Brendan: That’s right. He’s snoring. Literally he’s hitting snores. |
| Echo: Right. 打呼噜。(Dǎ hūlū.) |
| Brendan: But of course, there’s no hitting going on there. And this is the way it is for a lot of actually very common Chinese verbs. |
| Echo: Right. Like 打电话。(Dǎ diànhuà.) |
| Brendan: “to make a phone call”. There’s probably not any punching going on there. |
| Echo: 打字。(Dǎzì.) |
| Brendan: “to type”. Literally to strike characters. |
| Echo: Or 打架。(Dǎjià.) |
| Brendan: “to fight”. Okay, there might be some hitting going on there. |
| Echo: But you can’t actually hit the fight, right? |
| Brendan: Right. |
| Echo: 打扰。(Dǎrǎo.) |
| Brendan: “to bother”. You’re talking about somebody speaking up or interupting. |
| Echo: That’s right. Or 打车。(Dǎchē.) |
| Brendan: “to get a cab” |
| Echo: or 打球。(Dǎqiú.) |
| Brendan: “to play ball”. Now that doesn’t involve hitting, to be fair. |
| Echo: Let’s hear some sample sentences. 他和朋友打了一个小时的电话。(Tā hé péngyǒu dǎle yīgè xiǎoshí de diànhuà.) |
| Brendan: “He talked with his girlfriend on the phone for an hour.” |
| Echo: 他和朋友打了一个小时的电话。(Tā hé péngyǒu dǎle yīgè xiǎoshí de diànhuà.) |
| Brendan: Now they were actually splitting it up. We’ve got 打电话 (Dǎ diànhuà) and then we’re putting a time freeze in between there. |
| Echo: Right. 他等了很久才打到车。(Tā děngle hěnjiǔ cái dǎ dào chē.) |
| Brendan: “He had to wait for a long time before he got a cab.” |
| Echo: 他等了很久才打到车。(Tā děngle hěnjiǔ cái dǎ dào chē.) |
| Brendan: There again, if we translate it into English there’s no hitting at all going on. |
| Echo: 他最喜欢的运动是打球。(Tā zuì xǐhuān de yùndòng shì dǎqiú.) |
| Brendan: “His favorite sport is playing ball.” Whichever specific ball. |
| Echo: 对，但是一般来说，在中国如果你说打球可能就是篮球。(Duì, dànshì yībān lái shuō, zài zhōngguó rúguǒ nǐ shuō dǎqiú kěnéng jiùshì lánqiú.) |
| Brendan: Well, for this generation, yeah. So usually - |
| Echo: 因为以前都是乒乓球。(Yīnwèi yǐqián dōu shì pīngpāng qiú.) |
| Brendan: Yeah. |
| Echo: Yeah, maybe. 他最喜欢的运动是打球。(Tā zuì xǐhuān de yùndòng shì dǎqiú.) |
| Brendan: So there we go through all of these verbs through Chinese. We’ve got these and there are many more where there’s a 打 in the Chinese. |
| Echo: Right. |
| Brendan: And there not any stiking going on. It’s just one of these features of the Chinese language. And this verb contributes to other verbs. |
| Echo: Right. |
Outro |
| Brendan: And in doing so it loses something of itself. That’s it. That’s the end of this lesson. That’s the end of this series. If you’ve gotten this far, congratulations! |
| Echo: Right! You must’ve made a lot of progress! |
| Brendan: Well, we hope so. If you have any questions about this lesson, about any other lesson, about this entire series or anything else - |
| Echo: - you can always leave a comment on the site or write to us at contactus@chineseclass101.com |
| Brendan: From Beijing I’m Brandon. |
| Echo: 我是Echo.(Wǒ shì Echo.) |
| Brendan: Congratulations and thanks for listening! |
Comments
HideCan you imagine that Chinese people literally hit telephone to make a phone call, or hit the car to hail a taxi? How many “打”dǎ... phrases can you come up with after leaning this lesson?
Hi Valentina,
Thank you for studying with us.
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Lena
Team ChineseClass101.com
Hi, I have been trying to find the audio recording tool but I don’t see it.
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 for the lesson
my favorite words are 他们经常用枕头打来打去
robert
Hello again Stiddy,
Thank you for your comment.
You can also say: 你怎么又是这样？or 你怎么又这样做？But he didn't really do anything, so saying 你怎么又这样做 is weird.
睡不着 => Yes it means can't fall asleep. There is no such expression as 睡不觉, we can say 睡不着觉.
Let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
Thanks for the explanation.
I have some more questions:
你怎么又这样？I feel like there is missing a word 做 or 是 as in 你怎么又做/是这样. Can I say it like this?
睡不着 Is it "can´t fall asleep"? why not use 睡不觉?
Hello Stiddy,
Thank you for your comment. Yes, 你没见 means "didn't you see...?", you're right about the translation of this line.
都...了 and 已经...了 are both used to express "already", they're often combined to form 都已经...了, the meaning is the same, with 都 it's more emphatic.
Hope it helps, let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
I don´t get the last phrase either.
你没见我都已经把你推下床了
First of all, does 你没见 "didn´t you see" mean? As like "didn´t you see that I already pushed you out of bed?"
Why does this Phrase use two Terms for "already"? 已经 and 都...了
Hello KMM,
血 has two pronunciations, xuè (written) and xiě (oral). Generally, we use xiě when we speak, xuè is used when it is in the written form. Also in compound words, 血 is usually pronounced as xuè. In short phrases or when 血 appears alone, 血 is usually pronounced as xiě.
高血压 - ɡāo xuè yā
吐血 - tù xiě
血块 - xuè kuài
血汗 - xuè hàn
血液 - xuè yè
Let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
Hello, I have a question regarding “血”, which is pronounced xue4 and sometimes xie3. What is the difference? Both mean blood and both are nouns. Some sample phrases are 高血压，吐血， 血块，血汗，血液
@careyxxx,
第二個句子最後不要“了”，其他非常好。
--Echo
打招呼，打盹
她問我我們見面的時候,為什麼總是她先打招呼？
學生白天工作.晚上上課學英語.他們常常打盹了.
The English translation for the last line of the dialogue isn't very good.
The original line is : 你没见我都已经把你推下床了, but the English translation is "I already pushed you out of bed". What about “你没见” ？
It seems like the English translation would be right if the first three Chinese characters weren't in the sentence