Position of 也 in a sentence

Related post:

Basic usage of 也

A Character a Day 也

Keynotes:

也  yě  also , too

Both parts are positive statements.

我会说中文，她也会说中文。

wǒ huì shuō zhōngwén, tā yě huì shuō zhōngwén

I can speak Chinese. She can also speak Chinese.

我会说中文，也会说英语。

wǒ huì shuō zhōng wén , yě huì shuō yīngyǔ

I can speak Chinese. Also I can speak English.

我有姐姐，也有妹妹。

wǒ yǒu jiějie , yě yǒu mèimei

I have older sister, also I have younger sister.

Both parts are negative statements.

我不会说法语，她也不会说法语。

wǒ bú huì shuō fǎyǔ, tā yě búhuì shuō fǎyǔ

I can’t speak French. She can’t speak French either.

我不会说法语，也不会说德语。

wǒ bú huì shuō fǎ yǔ  , yě bú huì shuō déyǔ

I can’t speak French. I can’t speak German either.

你不去，我也不去。

nǐ bú qù , wǒ yě bú qù

You don’t go, I don’t go either.

也许 yě xǔ  perhaps, maybe

可能   kě néng it’s possible that….,  maybe

也许他会来。

yě xǔ tā huì lái

Perhaps he will come.

试试这个方法，也许有用。

shì shi zhè ge fāngfǎ , yěxǔ yǒuyòng

Try this method. Maybe it works.

Position of 也 in a sentence

A Character a Day 可

A character a Day 会

Keynotes:

This character has two sounds.  huì and kuài

When it sounds huì, it can mean meeting, assembly

聚会    party

星期五晚上我们有个聚会。你要来吗？

We will have a party this Friday evening. Would you like to come?

晚会  lit. evening party.  

春节晚会  Spring Festival Gala

The CCTV New Year's Gala (中国中央电视台春节联欢晚会) is the premier mainland Chinese television event of the year. It is an evening gala of the drama, dance, and song, which is broadcast on the Chinese New Year EVE, Because it is viewed by an estimated 700 million people on New Year's Eve every year, the CCTV New Year's Gala has become a cultural phenomenon which began in the early 1980s, and since then it has become a necessity of New Year's nights. On New Year’s Eve, all the families are gathering together, eating delicious food and watching the 春节晚会 on TV.

会  also means ‘can, be able to ‘  When we talk about we can do something that requires effort to learn and practice, we use 会.

我会说英语。

I can speak English.

我会驾驶大卡车。

I can drive big truck.

会 can mean ‘understand’

误会   misunderstanding

这完全是一个误会。

This is totally a misunderstanding.

会 also sounds kuài, which means ‘sum, total’

会计  Accounting

注册会计师     Certified Public Accountant

A Character a Day 出

The basic meaning of 出 is 'proceed from inside to outside'. The following short video shows you how this character evolved through time.



Next, let's see the common usage of this character in our daily life.



出来
chūlái
come out

出去
chūqù
 go out

你出来一下，我想和你谈谈。
nǐ chūlái yíxià , wǒ xiǎng hé nǐ tāntan .
Come out for a while, I want to talk to you.


我出去一下，马上回来。
wǒ chūqù yíxià , mǎshàng huílai
I am getting out for a short while, and I will be back soon.

出差
chūchāi
go on a business trip

明天我要去纽约出差。
míngtiān wǒ yào qù niǔyuē chūchāi
I am going to New York for a business trip tomorrow.


出国
chūguó
go abroad

他已经出国了。
tā yǐjīng chūguó le
He already left the country.

出版
chūbǎn
 Publish

这家出版社出版了不少好书。
zhè jiā chūbǎnshè chūbǎn le bùshǎo hǎoshū
This press has published many good books.

A Character a Day 就 part 1

Manuscript:

早上好，学习中文的朋友。 Good morning, Chinese learner friend.

Today we are going to talk about 就。

When someone is urging you to hurry up,  you may say ,”我就来。”

我就来。 I will come right away.    Here 就 means ‘at once, right away’  

Here is a scenario. My friend and I have a date next morning at 8:20am. The next morning, at 8:00am, I arrive at the place where we are supposed to meet. I wait and wait.  She shows up at 8:30am. I am a bit mad. I say,”八点我就来了。”  Here, to emphasize that I am earlier than she expects. I use 就. Then I complain that she is later than I expect. I say, “八点半你才来。” 才 emphasizes something happens much later than one’s expectation.

八点我就来了。

bā diǎn wǒ jiù lái le

I’ve already been here at 8:00.

八点半你才来。

bā diǎn bàn nǐ cái lai

You showed up until 8:30.

That’s all for today. In part two of character 就, we will talk about sentence structure 一 …… 就……。 And I will introduce a pop song to you. See you then. 不见不散。

A Character a Day 要

manuscript: 

大家早上好，goodmorning everyone.

In this video, we are going to learn this character 要.

The basic meaning of 要 is to want or need. Just like in English, we say,” I want something”, we can say, “ 我要something”

For example:

我要茶。

wǒ yào chá.    I want tea.

我要牛排。

wǒ yào niú pái .   I want steak.

我要炒饭。

wǒ yào chǎo fàn . I want fried rice.

This sentence structure is very useful when you want to buy something or order food when you are eating out.

In English, we also say, “ I want to do something.”  Similarly, we can say ,” 我要do something.”

我要看电影。

wǒ yào kàn diàn yǐng .   I want to  see a movie.

我要买书。

wǒ yào mǎi shū .      I want to buy some books.

我要学中文。

wǒ yào xué zhōng wén . I want to learn Chinese.

Let’s wrap it up. Two main sentence patterns:

我要  something.

我要 to do something.

A Character a Day 了 part 8

Manuscript:

大家早上好，Goodmorning everyone. In the previous 7 sessions of this character, we already learned its usage when it makes 'le' sound. In this video we are going to talk about its usage when it makes liǎo sound.

Several phrases and words are frequently used when this character sounds liǎo.

For example,

了解 (liǎojiě ) to know, to understand

怎么回事？ 你了解吗？ (zěnme huí shì , nǐ liǎojiě ma ? ) What happened? Do you know?

了如指掌(liǎo rú zhǐ zhǎng ) ： to know something like the back of one's hand (idiom)

他在这个公司工作了几十年，对公司的情况了如指掌。

tā zài zhè ge gōngsī gōngzuò le jǐshí nián , duì gōngsī de qíngkuàng liǎo rú zhǐ zhǎng

He has been working at the company for decades, and he knows everything.

了不起 (liǎo bu qǐ ) ： amazing, terrific, extraordinary

他是一位了不起的音乐家。 He is an extraordinary musician.

tā shì yí wèi liǎo bu qǐ de yīn yuè jiā

Maybe you've heard about The Great Gatsby, a 1925 novel written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. Several movies have been made since the book was published.

This movie is also well known in China as 了不起的盖茨比 liǎo bu qǐ de gài cí bǐ

Related posts:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

A Character a Day 了 part 7

The video covers the modal 了, which shows at the end of a sentence to indicate a change in situation.




Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 8

A Character a Day 了 part 6

This video covers the pattern of question了 sentence with transitive verb:
subject verb 了 object 吗？
subject verb 了 object 没有？





Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 7

Part 8

A Character a Day 了 part 5

This video covers two common sentence patterns of negative 了 sentence with transitive verb:
Subject 没（有） verb object
Subject 还 没 （有） verb object 呢

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

A Character a Day 了 part 4

The video covers positive 了 sentence pattern with transitive verb:
subject action 1 就 action 2



Notes of this video:

In the previous section, we talked about the positive sentence pattern with transitive verb. And I mentioned that if the object of the sentence is a simple noun or general term, the sentence sounds incomplete in a native speaker's ear.

When the object is a simple noun, one of the most common了 sentence pattern is:

Subject action 1 就 action 2

In these sentence pattern, 就 implies that the second action happens very shortly after the first action completes.

For example,

我借了书就去看电影。

I will go to watch a movie shortly after I borrow the book.

明天我借了书就去看电影。

I will go to watch a movie after I borrow the book tomorrow.

昨晚我借了书就去看电影了。

Last evening, I went to watch a movie shortly after I borrowed the book.

Maybe you already noticed that there is another 了 at the end of the sentence. It's called the modal 了, also known as 了2. I will talk about it soon.

This sentence pattern can also be used to describe the habitual action.

每天晚上我吃了晚饭就看书。

After I eat supper, I read a book every evening.

Then, when can we just simply say “我借了书。”? I borrowed the book.

When you answer a question. “ 你借了书吗？” Have you borrow the book?

In this context, both the people in the dialogue know what book they are talking about.

Now it's your turn, please translate the following sentence into English and leave your answer as comments.

今晚我吃了饭就学习。

I will study right after I finish eating.

每天晚上我写了作业就休息。

I will rest right after I finish my homework.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

A Character a Day 了 part 3

This video covers positive 了 sentence pattern with transitive verb:
subject verb 了 object





Part 1

Part 2

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

A Character a Day 了 part 2

This video covers two question patterns:
Subject verb 了 吗？
Subject verb 了 没有？




Exercise:

Please write the corresponding question sentence of the following positive sentences.

他来了。

He has arrived.

他去了。

He has gone.

电影开始了。

The movie has started.

我结婚了。

I've been married.

我懂了。

I've gotten it.

她休息了。

She has taken a break. (/ She has lain down to rest. )

Part 1

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

A Character a Day 了 part 1

This video covers:
了 works as a perfective particle
intransitive verb sentence
two common negative sentence patterns



Exercise:

Please write the corresponding negative sentence of the following positive sentences.

他来了。

He has arrived.

他去了。

He has gone.

电影开始了。

The movie has started.

我结婚了。

I've been married.

我懂了。

I've gotten it.

她休息了。

She has taken a break. (/ She has lain down to rest. )

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

A Character a Day 时 part 5

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

This video will focus on:
the topic about time difference (时差）
jet lag (飞行时差反应）
to get over jet lag (倒时差）




Notes about this video:

There is a time difference between different time zone. Time difference will be 时差。

A  和 B的 时差是多少？
What is the time difference between place A and place B?

纽约和北京的时差是多少？
What is the time difference between New York and Beijing?

纽约和北京的时差是12 小时。
The time difference between New York and Beijing is 12 hours.


Nowadays, more and more people are involved in international travel. Jet lag is a common problem.
Jet lag is 飞行时差反应 . But we seldom use this phrase. So please don't worry about it.

When we talk about Jet lag in Chinese, we more likely to talk about  'to get over jet lag'  That will be '倒时差‘

怎么倒时差？
 How to get over jet lag?

你有国际旅行经验吗？
Do you have international travel experience ?

你怎么倒时差？
How do you get over jet lag?

A Character a Day 时 part 4

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3



This video focus on sentence pattern:
从 A 到 B ( way of travel ) 需要多少时间？
How long does it take to travel from A to B by ( way of travel)?




Notes about this video:

Here is a very useful sentence pattern. You may use it to ask how long it takes to move from place A to place B by certain way of travel.

从 A 到 B ( way of travel ) 需要多少时间？
How long does it take to travel from A to B by  ( way of travel)?

ways of travel :
走路  walk
骑车  ride bicycle
开车  drive a vehicle
坐公交  take bus
坐火车  take train
乘飞机  take airplane

从你家到学校，走路需要多少时间？
How long does it take to walk from your home to the school?

从他家到公司，坐公交需要多少时间？
How long does it take to get to the company from his home by bus?

Quiz:
Please translation the following sentence into English
从北京到上海，坐火车需要多少时间？

Part 5

A Character a Day 时 part 3

Part 1

Part 2


This video focuses on a sentence pattern:
(to do something) 需要多少时间？
How long does it take to do something?




Notes about this video:
When we want to ask how long it takes to do certain thing, we can simply ask “ How long does it take? “
需要多少时间？  
or
需要多长时间？

If we want to ask “ How long does it take to do something?”
The sentence pattern is :  do something 需要多少时间？

For example,
完成这幅画需要多少时间？
How long does it take to finish this painting?

完成这个项目需要多少时间？
How long does it take to finish this project?

Part 4

Part 5

A Character a Day 时 part 2

This video includes some dialogue about 时间:
How to ask another person whether he/she has time
Positive answer
Negative answer





Notes about this video:

明天你有时间吗？ 我们去看场电影。
Do you have time tomorrow? Let's go to watch a movie.

 好啊！ 我有时间。你想看什么电影？
Great! I do have some time. What movie do you want to watch?

不好意思， 明天我没时间。改天和你一起看。
I am sorry. I don't have time tomorrow. Would love to do it with you another day.

Part 1

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

A Character a Day 时 part 1

This video covers:
The component of the character 时
common word 小时
Common word 时间




Notes about this video:

Good morning, the character we are going to talk about is 时. The basic meaning of the this character is time.

The left part of this character is 日, which means sun or day. The right part of this character is 寸, which is a unit of length that we are still using nowadays.

Before the Chinese tailors make a dress for the customer, they need to do some measure. And the unit they are still using is 寸. One 寸 equals to 0.033 meters.

By the way, inch in Chinese is called 英寸.

So maybe we can understand character 时 as the measure of the movement of the sun, or measure of the day. That is time. Hope this will help you remember how to recognize this character.

I bet the first word you meet will be 小时, hour.

Three hours 三小时 or 三个小时

In our daily speaking, we use the word时间 to refer to time.

最近我很忙，没有时间画画。

Recently I am so busy that I don't have time to paint.

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5