Lesson 004: Notes
Choose a mode: [Pinyin ] [Simplified] [Traditional ] [English]
You answer “yes” or “no” to questions by restating the verb used in the question.
E.g. Nǐ shì Zhōngguórén ma ? Shì, wǒ shì Zhōngguórén .
In many cases when it is obvious, the pronoun is dropped. So in the above example, we answer shì rather than Wǒ shì .
To reply “no” to such a question we negate the verb in question.
So in the example above:
Are you Chinese? Am not. I’m not Chinese.
Nǐ shì Zhōngguórén ma ? Bú shì , wǒ bú shì Zhōngguórén .
Bù can change tone depending on the tone of the word that follows directly after it. If the word carries a falling tone, then bù is pronounced with a rising tone bú .
The yī in yīdiǎn literally means “one” (you will learn numbers in lesson 6). There is no translation for “a” in Chinese so they use “one” instead.
The possessive particle de is sometimes omitted, when multiple objects require it, so you may hear Nǐ Zhōngwén shuō de hěn hǎo or Nǐde Zhōngwén shuō de hěn hǎo .
Review Questions: Translate the following.
1. Are you American? [Show Answer]
2. No, I am British. [Show Answer]
3. I can speak a little Chinese. [Show Answer]
4. You speak English very well. [Show Answer]
5. I’m sorry, I can’t speak Chinese very well. [Show Answer]
——————————————————————————————————–
