Learn how to ask for help
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| Taiwanese Mandarin Survival Phrases Lesson 23: Help! |
| In this lesson, we are talking about emergency situations. |
| In Chinese, the first one phrase we’ll practice in emergency situations is 救命啊(Jiùmìng a)! This means “Help me!” |
| Let’s break it down by tone: |
| 救(jiù) is in fourth tone, falling tone |
| 命(mìng) is in fourth tone again falling tone |
| 啊(a) is in first tone, the flat tone |
| Let’s break it down by meaning: |
| 救(jiù) means "to save." |
| 命(mìng) means "life." |
| 啊(a) emphasizes the urgency of this phrase. |
| Literally 救命啊(Jiùmìng a)! means "save life" to use in emergency situations. In English, it translates as “Help me!” or “Save me” |
| Altogether, we have 救命啊(Jiùmìng a)! |
| Listen again, one more time, slowly: |
| [Slow] 救命啊(Jiùmìng a)! |
| [Normal] 救命啊(Jiùmìng a)! |
| In Chinese, you can say 小偷(Xiǎo tōu)! which means “thief.” |
| Let’s break it down by tone: |
| 小(xiǎo) is in third tone |
| 偷(tōu) is in the first, flat tone. |
| Let’s break down the meaning: |
| Literally 小(xiǎo) means "small" and 偷(tōu) means "to steal." |
| Together, this means "a burglar" or "a small time thief" |
| Altogether, we have 小偷(Xiǎo tōu)! |
| Listen again, one more time, slowly: |
| [Slow] 小偷(Xiǎo tōu)! |
| [Normal] 小偷(Xiǎo tōu)! |
| In Chinese, the word for "police" is 警察(jǐng chá). |
| Let’s break it down by tone: |
| 警(jǐng) is in third tone, falling-rising tone |
| 察(chá) is in second tone, the rising tone |
| Altogether, we have 警察(jǐng chá). |
| Listen again, one more time, slowly: |
| [Slow] 警察(jǐng chá). |
| [Normal] 警察(jǐng chá). |
| In Chinese, if you want to call the police, you can say 請打110(Qǐng dǎ yī yī líng). |
| Let’s break it down by tone: |
| 請(qǐng) is in second, rising tone |
| 打(dǎ) is in third tone |
| 110(yī yī líng) is said as first tone, first tone again, and then second tone. |
| Let’s break it down by meaning: |
| 請(qǐng) means "please." |
| 打(dǎ) means "to hit" but in this case, it also means "to dial." |
| 110(yī yī líng) means "110.” |
| Literally, this means "please dial 110" since the telephone number for police in Taiwan is 110. |
| Altogether, we have 請打110(Qǐng dǎ yī yī líng). |
| Listen again, one more time, slowly. |
| [Slow] 請打110(Qǐng dǎ yī yī líng). |
| [Normal] 請打110(Qǐng dǎ yī yī líng). |
Comments
Hide