CLO_040: Where is the restroom?
Listen to this lesson, to learn what the following means:
Dialogue: Numbers
A: Bu4 hao3 yi4si1. Qing3wen4, ni3 zhi1dao4 ce4suo3 zai4 na3li3 ma?
B: Zhi1dao4. Xian1 zhi2 zou3, ran2hou4 you4 zhuan3.
Dialogue: Tones
A: Bù hǎo yìsī. Qǐngwèn, nǐ zhīdào cèsuǒ zài nǎlǐ ma?
B: Zhīdào. Xiān zhí zǒu, ránhòu yòu zhuǎn.
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Isn’t “nali” already a question word, precluding the need for “ma?”
Hi Randall,
Good question. You can remove the ma if you are just asking where the restroom is. In this case, he is asking whether the other person knows where the restroom is or not.
Compare the following:
Qǐngwèn, cèsuǒ zài nǎlǐ?
May I ask, where is the restroom?
Qǐngwèn, nǐ zhīdào, cèsuǒ zài nǎlǐ ma?
May I ask, do you know where the restroom is?
Let me know if that makes sense.
Hi Adam,
Sorry to keep bothering you on the sentence builders but I think that’s where I have the most questions and comments. For the following:
bùhǎoyìsi kěyǐ gēn nǐ jiè cèsuǒ ma
Can you also say: bùhǎoyìsi kěyǐ yong cèsuǒ ma?
I remember the word “yong” means “to use” as in “Ni hui yong kuazi ma? (Can you use chopsticks?)
Also, in the hints and tip section you said “while there are over 15 000 Chinese characters out there, learning the most frequent 2000 is enough to allow you to read more than 80% of a Chinese newspaper).
I know you said to use the premium section but do you actually have a PDF file of these 2,000 characters? I imagine it would be very easy and convenient to have it all in one place instead of scattered around.
Thanks!
Hann
Hi Hann,
Please keep the questions coming - I’m sure they are useful to many others!
Yes, yong can be used with cesuo as well. So the difference in translation for the two sentences would be:
bùhǎoyìsi kěyǐ gēn nǐ jiè cèsuǒ ma?: Excuse me, can I use your restroom?
bùhǎoyìsi kěyǐ yong cèsuǒ ma?: Excuse me, can I use the restroom?
In the first question, you are emphasizing that the restroom belongs to the other person, whereas in the second you are just emphasizing that they have the authority to let you use it. So probably the first example would be used in someone’s house whereas the second could also be in a public place where you are asking the employee there.