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Lesson Transcript

Taiwanese Mandarin Survival Phrases Lesson 16: Riding the Bus, Part 1 - Does This Bus go to Taipei?
In this lesson, you will learn some phrases that you can use when riding a bus in Taipei.
In general, the sentence structure you can use to ask if a bus goes to a specific place is:
到(dào), plus the place you want to go, plus 吗(ma).
For example, we will use Taipei Station as our destination.
“Does this bus go to Taipei Station?” in Chinese, is 到台北車站嗎(Dào Táiběi chē zhàn ma).
Let’s break it down by tone:
到(dào) is fourth tone, the falling tone
台(Tái) is second tone
北(běi) is third tone
車(chē) is first tone
站(zhàn) is fourth tone.
吗(ma) has no tone, except the rise in tone to signify a question.
Now let’s break it down by meaning:
到(dào) means “to arrive.”
台北(Táiběi) means “Taipei.”
車站 (chē zhàn) literally means “this car,” but in this context, it means “Main Station.”
吗(ma) comes at the end of a sentence to indicate a question.
Altogether, we have 到台北車站嗎(Dào Táiběi chē zhàn ma)?
Listen again, one more time, slowly:
[Slow] 到台北車站嗎(Dào Táiběi chē zhàn ma)?
[Normal] 到台北車站嗎(Dào Táiběi chē zhàn ma)?
Next are two phrases you might hear in response to your question.
The first phrase is 到(dào), which means "Yes, it goes there." This is in fourth tone.
Literally, “到(dào)” means "to arrive" but in this situation, it translates in English as "to go."
The second phrase is 不到(bú dào), which means "No, it does not go there.”
Again, 到(dào) is in fourth tone
不(bù) is fourth tone, the falling tone.
By meaning, 不(bù) means "no" and 到(dào) means "go to"
The last phrase in this lesson is “Does this bus go to Taipei Main Station?” In Chinese, this is 這個車到台北車站嗎(Zhège chē dào Táiběi chē zhàn ma)?
You can use this phrase to ask anyone, not just another passenger on the bus.
Let’s break it down by tone:
這(zhè) is in fourth tone.
個(ge) has no tone; it’s a measure word.
車(chē) is in first tone, the flat tone.
Altogether, we have 這個車到台北車站嗎(Zhège chē dào Táiběi chē zhàn ma)?
Listen again, one more time, slowly:
[Slow] 這個車到台北車站嗎(Zhège chē dào Táiběi chē zhàn ma)?
[Normal] 這個車到台北車站嗎(Zhège chē dào Táiběi chē zhàn ma)?

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