Lesson 2 - Are You Chinese?

Transcription

1 Welcome to the second lesson in Chinese. In this lesson we'll build on the words from Lesson 1 and create some new sentences. When you finish this lesson you'll know: - Plural form of he/she/it - How to tell someone your name or ask theirs - How to tell someone your nationality or ask if they are a citizen of a specific country (three countries are covered in this lesson; China, America, and the UK) Vocabulary: In this lesson we picked 10 words which will help you to build some more basic phrases. We ve introduced three countries (China, England and America) in this lesson; this will not only give you the ability to be able to talk about places and nationalities in this lesson, but in future lessons you ll build on these words to speak about languages. The other words in this lesson are common words which are used frequently in Chinese to build sentences, you ll encounter them often. Be sure to use our printable Chinese flash cards to study the words offline. Spending a little time with the flash cards will make the lessons much easier. When studying the Chinese characters look at the radicals and character components as they often give you hints to the meaning of the word. Some words have phonetic components, you don t need to learn the phonetics this early in your lesson but as you build your vocabulary you ll start to recognize the phonetics - and in some instances you ll actually be able to say the word before you know the meaning of it. Let s get started and take a detailed look at each of the Chinese words for this lesson. 呢(ne): interrogative final Radical: 口 (mouth) Phonetic: 尼 (ne) Component: 口 (mouth) and 尼 (phonetic - ne) Page 1 of 7

2 Like the question word 吗 learned in Lesson 1, the mouth radical here symbolizes asking a question while 尼 is for phonetic representation (ne). 呢 has a neutral tone and follows a pronoun to reflect a question toward someone else. For example, if someone asks you how you are (你好吗?), following your answer you can ask them the same question simply by saying: 你呢? 再见(zài jiàn): goodbye Radicals: 冂 (display case) and 见 (see) 再 - again/once more 见 - to see Components for 1st Character: 冂 (display case) and 王 (king, prince) Components for 2nd Character: 见 (see) The radical 冂 (display case) combined with 王 (king, prince) make 再. The character 再 means again and 见, a radical in itself, means to see. Together, they translate as "again see", or see you again (commonly used as goodbye). Memorization Hint: 再见 has the same ending sound as "see you again" it rhymes. 们(mén): plural suffix Radical: 亻 (person) Component: 亻 (person) and 门 (door) 们 is composed of the upright person radical and 门 (door). Place it after a pronoun to make the pronoun plural. Memorization Hint: So perhaps if there s a person at the door there may be others behind him, giving meaning to more than one. 中国(zhōng guó): China Radicals: 丨 (line) and 囗 (enclosure) 中 - middle/center 国 - country/nation Components for 1st Character: 丨 (line) and 口 (box) Components for 2nd Character: 囗 (enclosure) and 玉 (jade) 中 represents an arrow hitting a bull s eye directly in the center, thus it means center. 国 is composed of a 玉 (jade) which is protected by an enclosure, thus it represents the idea of something valued enclosed within a wall or border. Memorization Hint: Think of people as the valuable things within a border. Thus 国 gets its meaning for country. Putting 中 and 国 together comes to mean center country as China is the central country to all of Asia. 美国(měi guó): America Radicals: 羊 (sheep) and 囗 (enclosure) 美 - beautiful 国 - country/nation Components for 1st Character: 羊 (sheep) and 大 (big) Components for 2nd Character: 囗 (enclosure) and 玉 (jade) 美 combines both 羊 (sheep) and 大 (big) to represent beauty. Memorization Hint: Sheep are a beautiful animal, we make much of our clothes from their wool. To have a big sheep would certainly very beautiful to a sheep herder, thus the combination of 大 (big) and 羊 (sheep) to make the 美 (měi) character. Together 美 with 国 it means beautiful country as a description for America the Beautiful. 英国(yīng guó): UK, England Page 2 of 7

3 Radicals: 艹 (grass) and 囗 (enclosure) 英 - brave 国 - country/nation Components for 1st Character: 艹 (grass) and 央 (center) Components for 2nd Character: 囗 (enclosure) and 玉 (jade) 英 originally meant flower but is more commonly known as brave. It combines the 艹(grass) radical with the 央 (center) character. To stand in the center of a grassy area during battle may be considered quite brave. Memorization Hint: 英 (yīng) together with 国 it means brave country, or England or the UK. After all, the English have always been looked upon as brave and courageous people. 是(shì): is, are, am Radical: 日 (sun) Component: 日 (sun) and 正 (right/just) 是 is a picture of 日 (sun) over the 正 (right/just) character, in a slightly modified form. Memorization Hint: To stand under the sun and proclaim something which you believe is just or right shows the world that you exist and are something. 叫(jiào): called Radical: 口 (mouth) Component: 口 (mouth) 叫 is to tell someone what you're called (i.e. your name). For instance you would say, "I'm called Nancy". Memorization Hint: You can remember this character by the mouth radical and thinking of someone calling out a person s name, thus the meaning called. 都(dōu): all, both Radical: 阝(city) Component: 阝(city), 者 (person who does something) You can place 都 after a plural subject to show "we all..." or "they all..." (我们都... 他们都...) Memorization Hint: The radical for this character looks like the letter B. Just remember B stands for Both! 人(rén): person, people Radical: 人 (person) Component: 人 (person) 人 is a pictograph of a standing person, thus it means person. This should be a very easy word to remember and you ll see it often. Memorization Hint: A two legged person is easy to remember. Discussion: Let's start off by exploring the plural form of pronouns. In Chinese there is a distinction between the singular and plural forms of pronouns. Looking at the three pronouns we learned so far (我, 你, and 他) each of them can be changed from singular to plural by adding the suffix 们 (mén). For example, we/us is 我们 (wŏmén) and they/them is 他们 (tāmén). You can be even more specific by saying 我们都是中国人, which means "We are all/both Chinese". Page 3 of 7

4 In Lesson 1 you learned how to greet someone by saying 你好 (nĭ hǎo). Now you can greet several people at once by saying 你们好 (nĭmén hǎo). It is worth noting here that common nouns, unlike pronouns, are typically neutral with respect to number. The singular and plural forms of common nouns are identical in both spoken and written language. In this lesson we introduced three countries to our vocabulary. These three are good ones to remember as you ll run into them quite often. You can check an English/Chinese dictionary to learn additional countries. Most countries include a prefix followed by 国 (guó). The meaning of 国 is country. Grammar: Question Particles - 呢 cannot be used to ask an original question, but is used to reflect a question back at the asker by prefacing it with an appropriate pronoun: 你好吗?... 我很好 你呢 (I'm fine, and you?) - 吗 can make a statement into a yes or no question only, but 呢 can reflect questions of any type. Singular and Plural Nouns - Common nouns typically have no distinction between the singular and plural forms. - Pronouns are changed from singular to plural by adding the suffix 们. Vocabulary Review: 呢 再见 们 中国 美国 英国 是 叫 都 人 ne zài jiàn mén zhōng guó měi guó yīng guó shì jiào dōu rén interrogative final goodbye plural suffix China America UK, England is, are, am called all, both person, people Dialog: Ms. Zhang's business partner, Li Jia, is waiting for them to arrive for dinner. As he waits in the crowded restaurant, an old friend spots him and stops to chat. His friend is just leaving when Ms. Zhang and their guests arrive. Li Jia has had so many business meetings the last few days that he's really confused about which country Linda and Jim come from. Page 4 of 7 Copyright

5 Friend: 再见! Zài jiàn! Goodbye! 你好! Nĭ hǎo! Hello! Jim & Linda: 你好! Nĭ hǎo! Hello! 你... 是英国人吗? Nĭ shì yīng guó rén ma? Are you British? Linda: 不是, 我是美国人. Bú shì, wŏ shì měi guó rén. No, I m American. 他呢?他是不是中国人? Tā ne? Tā shì bú shì zhōng guó rén? And him? Is he Chinese? Jim: 不是, 我不是中国人. 我也是美国人. 我们都是美国人. Bú shì, wŏ bú shì zhōng guó rén. Wŏ yě shì měi guó rén. Wŏ mén dōu shì měi guó rén. No, I m not Chinese. I m also American. We re both American. Page 5 of 7 Copyright

6 我叫 Li Jia. 你们呢? Wŏ jiào Li Jia. Nĭ mén ne? I m called Li Jia. And you? Linda: 我叫 Linda. Wŏ jiào Linda. I m called Linda. Jim: 我叫 --!! Wŏ jiào --!! I m called --!! to be continued... Fill in the Blank: 你好, 我 Thomas. (called) Nĭ hǎo, wŏ Thomas. Hello, I m called Thomas. 是 中国人. (I) shì zhōngguó rén. I am Chinese. 他们 是. (American) Tā mén shì. They are American. 不是 英国人. (he) bú shì yīngguó rén. He isn t English. 他是 人. (Chinese) Tā shì rén. He is Chinese. Page 6 of 7

7 我 Mike. (called) Wŏ jiào. I m called Mike. 你是 人吗? (English) Nĭ shì rén ma? Are you English? 他们 是中国人. (both) Tā mén shì zhōng guó rén. They are both Chinese., 我 不是 美国人. (no), wŏ bú shì měiguó rén. No, I m not American. 我 是 美国. (person) Wŏ shì měiguó. I am American. 是 中国人. (they) shì zhōngguó rén. They are Chinese. 我叫 Carrie,? (and you?) Wŏ jiào Carrie,? I m called Carrie, and you?! (goodbye)! Goodbye! Page 7 of 7