Category: Mandarin

< Talking About WeatherThe Verb - yu - have >

Alternative flash content
Requirements
In this lesson, we will learn the use of the phrase <y xi>. This phrase is put
after a verb to express the notion of performing an action just a little bit. You will
also commonly hear <y xir >. There is no difference in using the two
phrases. Let's listen to Li Lei and Han Meimei's dialogue to learn about the tentative
phrase.
Li Lei:

<d ro y xi> <Excuse me.>

Han Meimei:

<zn me le > <whats up?>

Li Lei: <w yng y xi n de ch xng ma?> <May I use

your car?>

Han Meimei: <shn me sh hu hun w?> <When will you return

me?>

Li Lei:

<jn tin wn shng> <tonight.>

To begin the conversation, Li Lei says, <d ro y xi> <Excuse me.>

<d ro y xi> <interrupt> is a verb which means to interrupt. <y xi> is a
phrase used after a verb to express the notion of performing an action just a little
bit. Therefore, the short sentence literally means I want to interrupt you for a little
bit, or Can I interrupt you for a little bit? According to the actual situation, it can
be translated to excuse me. This short sentence is very useful. When you want to

ask someone for help or interrupt a person when this person is in the middle of
something, <d ro y xi> <Excuse me.> is a polite way to start the
conversation.

Then, Han Meimei asks, ? <zn me le?> <whats up?> This is a colloquial
expression in Chinese people's daily life. It is used between people who are familiar
with each other. We have learned a question word <zn me yng?> <how?>
which means how. The meaning of <zn me le > <whats up?> is
completely different. It means What's the matter?, What's up? or What's new?

Li Lei asks whether he can use Han Meimei's car, ? <w yng
y xi n de ch xng ma > < May I use your car?>; <yng> <use> is a verb
we have learned, which means to use. <n de ch><your car> means your
car. <de> is the marker of a possessive relationship, which we are very familiar
with. Again, we find the phrase <y xi> after the verb. This pattern is often
used when asking for permission. It softens the tone of the request. It is very similar
to the reduplication of verbs that we have learned. In fact, they are interchangeable
when you ask for permission to use an object. For example, the following examples
mean the same thing.

<w yng y xi n de ch> <I want to use your car for a little bit.>

<w yng yng n de ch> <I want to use your car for a little bit.>

To further soften the tone of the request, Li Lei uses a tag question ?<xng ma?
><ok?> When we talked about the reduplication of verbs, we learned that there are
four common tag questions asking for permission or compliance. They are:

<ho ma > <ok?>

<ho b ho?><ok?>

<xng ma?><ok?>

<xng b xng> <ok?>

Then, Han Meimei asks <shn me sh hu hun w?> < When will
you return me?>
<shn me sh hu> <when?> is a question word we are familiar with,
which means when. So far, we have encountered the character <hi> <return>
twice. In comparing two objects, the character <hi> is used before the adjective
in the pattern: A b +Adjective. <hi> <return> is also used with the
character <sh> to form a new phrase <hi sh> <or>, which means or.
In this lesson, <hun> <return> changes its pronunciation and becomes a verb,
which means to return. In the Chinese language, there are a lot of multifunctional
characters and a certain amount of characters with multiple pronunciations.

Last, Li Lei answers, <jn tin wn shng> <tonight.> , which is a time word
that means tonight.

Let's listen to the dialogue again.

Li Lei:<d ro y xi> <Excuse me.>

Han Meimei: <zn me le > <whats up?>

Li Lei: <w yng y xi n de ch xng ma?> <May I use

your car?>

Han Meimei: <shn me sh hu hun w?> <When will you return

me?>

Li Lei: <jn tin wn shng> <tonight.>

!<hn ho> <Thats Great> I hope you enjoyed this lesson. Remember that
practice is the key to success in learning Chinese. The more you practice, the more
you will grasp.
< Talking About WeatherThe Verb - yu - have >
< Prev Next >
Copyright 2012-2013 All Rights