CLO_047: I grew up overseas
Listen to this lesson, to learn what the following means:
Dialogue: Numbers
A: Bu4 hao3 yi4si. Wo3 mi2lu4 le. Wo3 you3 di4tu2, ke3shi4 wo3 kan4 bu4 dong3 zhe4ge zi4 shi4 shen2me yi4si.
B: Wo3 ye3 kan4 bu4 dong3. Yin1wei4 wo3 zai4 wai4guo2 zhang3 da4, suo3yi3 wo3 Zhong1wen2 bu2 tai4 hao3.
Dialogue: Tones
A: Bù hǎo yìsi. Wǒ mílù le. Wǒ yǒu dìtú, kěshì wǒ kàn bù dǒng zhège zì shì shénme yìsi.
B: Wǒ yě kàn bù dǒng. Yīnwèi wǒ zài wàiguó zhǎng dà, suǒyǐ wǒ Zhōngwén bú tài hǎo.
Premium Online Content: Please log in or subscribe to view the content below.
PDF Notes: 
January 14th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
I was tripped up by the phrase “wǒ zài wàiguó zhǎng dà” when I first heard it because I didn’t immediately understand it was talking about something that happened in the past. I incorrectly translated it “I am growing up in a foreign country”. If I had tried to construct this phrase on my own I might have guessed something like “wǒ zài wàiguó zhǎng dà le” or “wǒ shì zài wàiguó zhǎng dà de”. I really can’t figure out how to express past tense. Can someone explain?
Thanks, tom
January 14th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Hi Tom,
Good question. The “le” particle indicates indicates a change in situation. So stating “wǒ zài wàiguó zhǎng dà le” would translate as “I have grown up overseas.” In other words, I have stopped growing up now. In this situation that would sound strange.
Your other example could be used though “wǒ shì zài wàiguó zhǎng dà de.” I haven’t taught that construction yet though which is why it wasn’t used.
What may also have confused this sentence is that “zài” can also be used to indicate being in the middle of completing an action so in theory “wǒ zài zhǎng dà” would mean “I’m in the middle of growing up.” Here however the “zài” is being used to show where the action is taking place - “zài wàiguó.”
Hope that helps!
July 20th, 2009 at 1:29 am
Hello,
I have a question.
In the vocabulary questions:
Is your friend a foreigner? Ni pengyou shi waiguoren ma?
howcome you say ni pengyou and not ni de pengyou?
Thanks
July 20th, 2009 at 2:35 am
Hi Sandra,
Good question. The “de” can be omitted when referring to something or someone close. So “Wo jia” (my house), “Wo baba” (my father) or in this case “Ni pengyou” can get away with not having the “de’. In this case it suggests a closer friend than “Nide pengyou”.
December 22nd, 2011 at 3:41 pm
Hi,
So on this lesson, I just learned that if you want to say “you can understand a language (by reading/looking at it)” you say 看不懂. But would it also make sense to say 讀不懂 instead to say the same thing?
December 27th, 2011 at 9:19 pm
Hi Justin,
I’ve never heard the usage of 看不懂 (although your logic makes sense!), so I would stick to 讀不懂!