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 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 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 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 说 part 4

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

This video will cover several common phrases in our daily talk: 说明书 instruction manual 说不定 can't say for sure, maybe 说白了 frankly speak 说实话 speak the truth, to be honest



Notes about this video:

说明 explain

说明书 instruction manual, book of directions

相机说明书 camera instruction manual

打印机说明书 printer manual

说不定 maybe, can't say for sure

说不定明天他就回来了。 Maybe he will come back tomorrow.

说白了 to speak frankly

说白了，她并不喜欢你。 Frankly speaking, she doesn't like you at all.

并不 not at all, emphatically not.

说实话 to speak the truth, frankly

说实话，她并不喜欢你。 To be honest, she doesn't like you at all.

A Character a Day 说 part 2

说话 is a very common verb in our daily speaking. Sometime an extra character can be added between the two characters and we get some interesting phrases like gossip (说闲话), 说废话 (talk nonsense) etc.

Notes about this video:

说话 speak, talk

这个人不爱说话。 This person doesn't like to talk.

别说话了，老师来了。 Stop talking anymore. The teacher is coming.

说闲话 gossip, make sarcastic or critical comments

说废话 to talk nonsense

说实话 to speak the truth, frankly

part 1

Part 3

Part 4

High Mountains and Flowing Rivers

The text of this video is below: 

今天我要为大家介绍一则成语。

Today I am going to introduce an idiom to you.

这则成语是“高山流水”。

This idiom is " high mountains and flowing rivers" 

高山流水的典故来源于《列子  汤问》。

The story behind this idiom comes from Lie Zi . Yin Tang's Questions.

在《列子  汤问》中写道： 

It was written like this in that book.

伯牙善鼓琴，钟子期善听。

Bo Ya was a good gǔqín player, and Zhong Ziqi had a good ear for music. 

伯牙鼓琴，志在登高山，钟子期曰：“善哉，峨峨兮若泰山！” 

When Bo strummed his gǔqín, with his mind on mounting a lofty mountain, Zhong commented, "How delightful! It sounds as grand as Mountain Taishan."

志在流水，钟子期曰：“ 善哉，洋洋兮若江河！” 

When Bo meditated on flowing waters, Zhong said, "How nice! It sounds as vast as the Yellow River and the Yangzi River." 

今天我们用“高山流水” 比喻知音或乐曲高妙。

  The phrase "high mountain and flowing rivers" is now a figurative expression for "bosom friends" or "musical virtuosity".

Keywords to help you understand:

成语 chéngyǔ :  idiom

则 zé :  measure word for idiom, short story, news etc.

高山 gāoshān :  high mountain

流水 liúshuǐ :  flowing water, river

典故 diǎngù :  allusion or quotation from classical works

来源 lái yuán :  origin, source, originate 

伯牙bóyá :  name of a person

善 shàn :  be good at

鼓 gǔ : drum, strum

琴 qín : General name for certain musical instrument, 古琴, seven-stringed plucked instrument in some ways like the zither.

钟子期 zhōngzǐqī : name of a person

听tīng : listen, hear

志 zhì : intend, intention

登 dēng : climb, mount

曰 yuē : (ancient classic formal verb) say, speak

峨 é :high moutain
兮 xī :  ( ancient classic formal auxiliary) akin to 啊 ā  in modern Chinese

若 ruò : like , as if

泰山 tài shān : Mountain Taishan, regarded as the king of mountains in ancient times

洋yáng : vast

江河jiāng hé : rivers

今天 jīntiān :  today, nowadays 

我们 wǒ men : we

用 yòng : use

比喻 bǐ yù :   metaphor, draw an analogy; a method of comparing one thing to another with which it shares some similarities with the aim of achieving a more vivid form of expression

知音 zhī yīn : understanding friend; someone who is keenly appreciative of one's talents; 

或 huò :  or

乐曲 yuè qǔ :  music

高妙 gāo miào : virtuosity

有一首名为《高山流水》的古筝曲非常的脍炙人口。也许你也会在这首曲子中欣赏到巍峨的山岭和湍流不惜的江河。
There is a famous Guzheng music named by High Mountains and Running Rivers. Maybe you will see the gorgeous high mountains and vast roaring rivers in this music. :)

朋友们，学习愉快！
Happy learning! My friends! 

Usage of 一 part 1

Character “一” (yī ) has a very simple shape. But it's usage is not simple at all.
First I want to tell you the story behind three characters. They are 一(yī )  二(èr ) 三(sān ).  The ancient Chinese people invented character 一(yī )  in the idea that one is the simplest element and also the whole cosmos. The massive cosmos was divided into sky and earth,  another character 二 (èr ), which means two, shows you the picture. In this character the top horizontal line refers to the sky and bottom line refers to the earth. Later on, human being showed up between the sky and earth,  then another character 三(sān ), which means three, is on the stage. In this character, the top and bottom lines refer to the sky and earth, and the line between means the human being. 

The basic meaning of "一"  is one. We need it when we count.

For example,

One person     一个人(yí ge rén )

One hour         一小时 (yì xiǎo shí )

"一" means "the first time, once"

一见钟情 (yí jiàn zhōng qíng )：fall in love at the first sight

一见 （yí jiàn ): see somebody or meet somebody for the first time
钟 ( zhōng ) :  Maybe you already know it has a meaning is 'clock' , but here it means ' focus, concentrate'
情 ( qíng ) :  feeling, passion

For example:
在一次聚会上，他俩一见钟情。
zài yí cì jù huì shàng ,tā liang yí jiàn zhōng qíng
At a party, they fell in love with each other at the first sight.

在…… 上   is an important sentence structure. The basic usage of this structure is to indicate that the position of an object is located at or on top of a surface.

Such as,
书在桌子上。
shū zài zhuō zi shàng .
The book is on the table.

But here 在…… 上 is used to describe "at a party, at a meeting , or at a ceremony " etc.
在一次会议上     at a meeting
在一次典礼上      at a ceremony, at a celebration

Related post:

Usage of 一 part 2
Tone Sandi of Character 一


If you check the following online dictionary, you will find more common words and idioms that have 一 as their part. 

参考象形字典

Buy fruit and vegetable 买水果蔬菜

Level B1 Making Question with the 是……的 Sentence Structure

A warm reminder: click the video in this post, you will see the pinyin and hear my reading of the example sentences.
If you are not familiar with the 是……的 sentence structure yet, maybe it will be better to read  Level B1 Sentence Structure 是…… 的 first before you start to read this post.

In this post, we will continue to talk about the 是…… 的 sentence structure. Specifically we are going to make questions based on the original declarative sentence examples mentioned in the post Level B1 Sentence Structure 是…… 的

He went to Xi'an yesterday.
他昨天去了西安。

To emphasize that he went to Xi'an yesterday, not another day.
他是昨天去西安的。
If we have question about what time he went to Xi'an, we may ask, "When did he go to Xi'an? " 

他是哪天去西安的？ ( The only thing we need to do is replace the time part with the question word 哪天 (which day, when)）

Sometime, we can omit 是 in above question, then we get:

他哪天去西安的？

(Notice that here we can not drop the 的 at the end of the question. If so, then meaning of 他哪天去西安？will be "When will he go to Xi'an?" )

He went to Xi'an by plane yesterday.
他昨天坐飞机去了西安。

To emphasize the time part:
他是昨天坐飞机去西安的。

To ask about the time information:

他是哪天坐飞机去西安的?

To clarify that he took plane, not train or bus.
他昨天是坐飞机去西安的。
To ask about the way of transportation he used to go to Xi'an yesterday:
他昨天是怎么去西安的？    （Now we just replace the transportation way 坐飞机 (by plane) with 怎么 (how, in what way or method))

He went to Xi'an by plane yesterday to visit a friend.
他昨天坐飞机去了西安去见一个朋友。

To clarify the time:
他是昨天坐飞机去西安去见一个朋友的。
To ask about the time information:

他是哪天坐飞机去西安去见一个朋友的?

To emphasize the way of transportation:
他昨天是坐飞机去西安去见一个朋友的。
To ask about the way of transportation he used to go to Xi'an yesterday:
他昨天是怎么去西安去见一个朋友的?
Or we can make the question simpler by drop some information that is not really necessary ( in this situation,去见一个朋友, to visit a friend, is not really necessary)  in our question:

他昨天是怎么去西安的?

To emphasize the purpose:
他昨天坐飞机去西安是去见一个朋友的。
To ask about the purpose or reason why he went to Xi'an
他昨天坐飞机去西安是为什么？  （ Here we replace the purpose 去见一个朋友, to visit a friend, with the question word 为什么(why, for what reason) . Also please notice that we drop the 的 at the end of the sentence, otherwise it will sound awkward. )

Or we can ask this question without the 是……的 structure:

为什么他昨天坐飞机去西安？   

or 

为什么他昨天去西安？

But there is a little difference between the two ways to ask question. With 是……的 structure, we show more curiosity about the reason.

Related posts:
Making Negative Sentence with 是……的 Structure
Level B1 Sentence Structure 是…… 的

Level B1 Negative Sentence of Sentence Structure 是…… 的

My suggestion is that you read Level B1 Sentence Structure 是……的 first before you start to read the following content.

The previous post: Level B1 Sentence Structure 是……的 covers basic rules of making 是……的 structure sentence. This post will cover how to make negative sentence in this structure.

To make negative 是…… 的 sentence, you only need to add 不 before 是.

Now I am going to review those examples, then make the negative sentences of them.

He went to Xi'an yesterday.
他昨天去了西安。

To emphasize that he went to Xi'an yesterday, not another day.  

他是昨天去西安的。

But, if he actually went to Xi'an the day before yesterday, not yesterday, you want to deny the time information. Then we need to make a negative sentence by adding 不 before 是 to emphasize that it's NOT yesterday.

It's not yesterday when he went to Xi'an.
他不是昨天去西安的。

He went to Xi'an by plane yesterday.
他昨天坐飞机去了西安。

To emphasize the time part:
他是昨天坐飞机去西安的。
The negative sentence will be :
他不是昨天坐飞机去西安的。

To clarify that he took plane, not train or bus.
他昨天是坐飞机去西安的。
The negative sentence will be:
他昨天不是坐飞机去西安的。  （ Maybe he went to Xi'an by train.)

He went to Xi'an by plane yesterday to visit a friend.
他昨天坐飞机去了西安去见一个朋友。

To clarify the time:
他是昨天坐飞机去西安去见一个朋友的。
The negative sentence will be:
他不是昨天坐飞机去西安去见一个朋友的。

To emphasize the way of transportation:
他昨天是坐飞机去西安去见一个朋友的。
The negative sentence will be:
他昨天不是坐飞机去西安去见一个朋友的。

To emphasize the purpose:
他昨天坐飞机去西安是去见一个朋友的。
The negative sentence will be:
他昨天坐飞机去西安不是去见一个朋友的。 （Maybe he went to Xi'an to have a meeting. )

Related posts:
Making Question with 是……的 structure
Level B1 Sentence Structure 是……的

Level B1 Sentence Structure 是…… 的

A warm reminder: click the video in this post, you will see the pinyin and hear my reading of the example sentences. 

"是……的" is a special sentence structure to emphasize or clarifying part of the detail information. It is used very often in everyday Chinese. One thing worth noting is that this sentence structure is mainly used when the action took place in the past.

The basic rule of how to transfer a normal sentence into a 是……的 sentence structure is: first, find the part that you want to clarify or emphasize, then add 是 before that part and add 的 at the end of the sentence.

Let's get better understanding of this sentence structure through some examples from simple ones to complex ones.

Original sentence:

 He went to Xi'an yesterday.
他昨天去了西安。

Notice that 了 is used to imply the action already completed in the past.

If you want to emphasize that he went to Xi'an yesterday, not another day.  Then the time part of the sentence should be emphasize, so we add 是 in front of 昨天, and add 的 at the end of the sentence. Also, please note that you need to drop the 了 in the original sentence.

他是昨天去西安的。
(The meaning more like: It's yesterday when he went to Xi'an)

Now I am adding more information into the original sentence:

He went to Xi'an by plane yesterday.
他昨天坐飞机去了西安。

 To emphasize the time part:
他是昨天坐飞机去西安的。

 Maybe you want to clarify that he took plane, not train or bus. Then you need to add 是 before the way of transportation and add 的 at the end of the sentence.
他昨天是坐飞机去西安的。

Again I am adding more information into the original sentence:

He went to Xi'an by plane yesterday to visit a friend.
他昨天坐飞机去了西安去见一个朋友。

To clarify the time:
他是昨天坐飞机去西安去见一个朋友的。

To emphasize the way of transportation:
他昨天是坐飞机去西安去见一个朋友的。

To emphasize the purpose:
他昨天坐飞机去西安是去见一个朋友的。

Now it's your turn. Try to do the following exercise. Type your answer as comments to get feedback from me. :)
 She went to Britain to learn English.
   她去英国学英语。
 1. Write your sentence with 是…… 的 structure to emphasize the place is Britain not anywhere else.
2. Write your sentence with 是…… 的 structure to clarify that her purpose is to learn English not any subject else.

Ralted posts:
How to make negative sentence with 是……的 structure
Making question with 是……的structure
More complete information about this sentence structure can be found at Chinese Grammar Wiki.

Usage of 都, 都不, 不都

都, which basically means all, is an adverb that shows up in our daily talk with very high frequency. It is very unique that 都 can only refer to plural things which precede it, and has the effect of 'totaling' the plural or collective noun.

陈述句 Declarative sentence

In English, there are 'both and all' to describe two or more subjects having the same feature or do the same action. 都 covers 'both' and 'all'. 
For example,
I am a teacher.               -->  我是老师。
You are a teacher.         -->  你是 老师。
(There are two teachers now.)
We are both teachers.     -->  我们都是老师。
He is also a teacher.        -->  他也是老师。
(There are more than two teachers now.)
We are all teachers.        -->  我们都是老师。

否定句 Negative sentence

There are two different negative sentences.

'both not' and 'all not' negative sentence

For example,

I am not a teacher.         -->  我不是老师。

You are not a teacher.    -->  你不是老师。

(Two people both are not teachers.)

Both of us are not teachers.      -->  我们都不是老师。

He is not a teacher either.                 -->  他也不是老师。

(More than two people are not teachers.)

All of us are not teachers. / None of us are teachers.   -->  我们都不是老师。

'not both' and 'not all' negative sentence

For example,
I am not a teacher.             -->  我不是老师。
You are a teacher.              -->  你是老师。
Not both of us are teachers.    -->   我们不都是老师。
He is a teacher.                   --> 他是老师。
Not all of us are teachers.   -->   我们不都是老师。

Now it's your turn. Please translate one of the following sentences into Chinese and type as your comment to get feedback from me.

1. We both eat breakfast.
2. They all want to go.
3. None of them wants to go.
4. Neither of his parents likes hiking.
5. The apple is expensive. The pear is not expensive. Not all the fruit is expensive.

Asking Name in Chinese

 Sometime people volunteer to tell you their name before you ask them. Sometime you need to ask them about their names. The words used to ask name are different when you are in different situation.

In informal situation and the people you meet are almost the same age or younger than you, you can simply ask them, " What is your name?" How to say that in Chinese? It will be: "你(nǐ) 叫(jiào) 什(shén)么(me)  名(míng)字(zì)？"你(nǐ) means you; 叫(jiào)means to call, 叫(jiào) is also frequently used when you introduce your own name; 什(shén)么(me)   means what; 名(míng)字(zì) means name. So literally, "你(nǐ) 叫(jiào) 什(shén)么(me)  名(míng)字(zì)？" means " you are called what name? "  And the response is "我wǒ 叫jiào+ < name> "

Click the following video to hear the sound:

In formal situation or the people you meet are much older than you, if you want to know their name, you need to choose some polite words. It will be: "您nín 贵guì 姓xìng？"  您nín is a polite way to say 'you'; 贵guì means honorary; 姓xìng means family name. "您nín 贵guì 姓xìng？"  literally means," your honorary family name? "  or  " May I have your honorary family name please? " Most of time, if you ask another person's name in this polite way, you will get the response as "免miǎn 贵guì 姓xìng+  < family name >"。免miǎn, basically means avoid, exempt; 贵guì means honorary; "免miǎn 贵guì " literally means to avoid the honoring (of my family name). It's a bit strange. But that's one common way to show your humbleness.  Anyway " 免miǎn 贵guì 姓xìng+  < family name >" means "my family name is ...  "

Click the following video to hear the sound:

 

Other articles that you may be interested:
Greetings in Chinese One
Self-introduction
Summary of Pronoun  

Summary of Pronoun

If you just started learning Chinese and you are not very familiar with the pronouns, this article should be an easy step by step learning progress for you. It's also good for beginners to do a nice review of what you've learned.

Compared to English, the pronouns in Chinese are much simpler. There are only three different sounds and five different characters that cover all the pronouns we need. Furthermore, they stay the same no matter the pronouns are the subject or object.

Click the following video to hear the sound.

Before we do more sentence practice, let's learn several verbs. 

Now let's try to say the following sentences:   :)

Click the following video to hear the sound.

How about the pronouns that represent a group of people? In English, we have "we, us, you, they, them".  But in Chinese, we only need to add a magic suffix们(men) behind the pronouns we've just learned above to get the pronouns that represent a group.

Click the following video to hear the sound.

Let's try to say more sentences.  First, we will need a very important verb, that is 是(shì). 是 (shì)equals to all the forms of ' to be' in English. In English, we have " is, are, was, were". In Chinese, the 是(shì) covers all of them.

Then we need the following words to do the sentence practice:

Click the following video to hear the sound.

Click the following video to hear the sound.

As for the last sentence ' we are teachers', you maybe want to emphasize that 'we are ALL teachers.'  How to say that in Chinese?  'All', in Chinese will be ' 都, 全部' .  So is it correct to say, 我们是都 老师？ No, that's not. That really sounds awkward.  When the sentence gets more complicated, the words sequence will be different in Chinese. First, let me say that in English, but in the Chinese way. That will be:

Click the following video to hear the sound.

Now it's your turn.  Please do some substitutional practice with the different new words we've just learned above.  

I am a student | doctor | nurse.

You are a student | doctor | nurse.

She is a student | doctor | nurse.

We are all students | doctors | nurses.

They are all students | doctors | nurses.

Other articles that you may be interested:
Greetings in Chinese One
Greetings in Chinese Two 
Greetings in Chinese Three 
Greetings in Chinese Four 
Greetings in Chinese Five 
Self-introduction
Summary of Pronoun  (this one)
Asking name in Chinese

The usage of 地道

Literally 地道 means tunnel, subway, or underpass. There was a classic movie called 地道战 (the War in the Tunnel) , which was about the story of Chinese soldiers and farmers dug tunnels underground to fight the Japanese invaders in the 1940s. 
But in our daily conversation, 地道 has quite a few different interesting usages. Let's see some examples:

她的普通话说得真地道。
She speaks perfect mandarin.
他干的活儿真地道。
His work is really well-done.
In above sentences, 地道 means perfect, or skill up to standard. 

那家中餐馆的饭菜很地道。
The food in that Chinese restaurant is really authentic. 
In this sentence, 地道 means authentic.

这是地道的龙井茶。
This is genuine Longjing tea.
Here, 地道 means from the place well-known for a certain product;

那人很不地道。
That person is not an honest one. He cheated. 
In this sentence, 地道 means honest, obey the common moral rules.

Self-introduction 自我介绍

There are basically two different situations in which you do self-introduction. One situation is you need to introduce yourself to another person; another situation is you need to introduce yourself to a group of strangers.

A simple self-introduction includes: your name, the place where you come from, and then add some more pleasantry.

There are several different ways to tell your name. They are:

Since we are in such a busy world that everything needs to be done quickly, most people do prefer the first two ways. 

Next, you need to tell people where you are from, such as your homeland, home country, the company you are working for etc. 

At last, show the others more pleasantry.

If you are introducing yourself to another person, you need to say:

Another common way is: 

If you are introducing yourself to two or more people, you need to say:

Let's see some examples:

Example 1:

Mike is introducing himself to another person.

 

Example 2:

Mike is introducing himself to a group of people.

Or

More simple greetings, please refer to   Greetings
Other articles that you may be interested:
Greetings in Chinese One
Greetings in Chinese Two 
Greetings in Chinese Three 
Greetings in Chinese Four 
Greetings in Chinese Five 
Self-introduction   (this one)
Summary of Pronoun