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Welcome to CultureAlleyMandarin!! Nǐhǎo this is Basic Mandarin lesson 13!
Lets start by going over some of the phrases that you learnt in the last lesson…
Teacher becomes Lǎoshī , Lawyer becomes Lǎoshī
Doctor translates to Yīshengand Engineer is translated as Gōngchéngshī
Similary, Manager is Jīnglǐ
Accountant becomes KuàiJì housewife translates as Jiātíngzhǔfù and
Retired is Tuìxiūle Hope you remembered all of them!
Now lets go through some other phrases we learnt last time!
I am a doctor translates to WǒshìYīsheng, She is a manager becomes TāshìJīnglǐ while,
He is an accountant will become Tāshìkuàijì and finally,
I am retired translates as Wǒshìtuìxiū le
let go over these occupational phrases as well!
What does your father do?translates as Nǐbàbazuòshénmegōngzuò, My father is a lawyerbecomes Wǒbàbashìlǜshī
, similarly, What do you do? Translates to Nǐzuòshénmegōngzuò
while I am an engineer will become Wǒshìgōngchéngshī
Lets quickly go over the conversation between Mark and Lisa! As always, we will first cover
the conversation in English, and then in Mandarin! Mark How are you?
Lisa Not bad! How are you? Mark I am also very good!
Lisa This is my father Mark What does your father do?
Now lets see how it goes in Mandarin! Mark Nǐhǎo ma?
Lisa Búcuò! Nǐhǎo ma? Mark WǒYěhěnhǎo!
Lisa Tāshìwǒbàba Mark Nǐbàbazuòshénmegōngzuò?
Great! Now lets cover the remaining part of our conversation as well!
Here it is in English Lisa My father is a lawyer,and you?
Mark I am an engineer Lisa What does your mother do?
Mark My mother is a housewife Lisa What do you do?
Mark I am a doctor Lisa Wonderful!
heres what it would sound like in Mandarin! Lisa Wǒbàbashìlǜshī,nǐ ne?
Mark WǒshìGōngchéngshī Lisa Nǐmāmazuòshénmegōngzuò?
Mark Wǒmāmashìjiātíngzhǔfù Lisa Nǐzuòshénmegōngzuò ?
Mark WǒshìYīsheng Lisa Taìhǎo le!
Excellent! Lets move on to todays lesson! Today, we will learn about Measure words!
Todays lesson will teach something that is peculiar to Mandarin alone- measure words!
Lets see what they mean and how theyre used! In English, we often have words defining the
type of object being discussed. A good example would be, a loaf of bread,
a flock of sheep, or a glass of water . Mandarin uses a similar part of speech known
as Measure words that may refer to the number, shape, or any other specification
of an object! Lets learn a few important characteristics about measure words before we proceed!
An important point about measure words is that, unlike English, every
noun requires a measure word in Mandarin! While in English, we can say, three goats,
in Mandarin have to say something like, three measure word goats!
Interestingly, There are more than hundred measure words in Mandarin!
we will only cover a few relevant ones today!So lets start!
The first measure word we will learn is Zhāng Zhāngis the Measure word for something flat
such as a bed, a photo, or a paper It is pronounced with a high level tone, like
Zhāng Great! Now lets learn how to say One photo!
Since weve already learnt that one translates as yí
lets see how to say photo in Mandarin! Photo literally translates asZhàopiàn where
Both Zhào and piàn are pronounced with a falling tone on a
Can you try and say that? Its Zhàopiàn .. Very good!
Since zhāng is the measure word for flat objects, One photo translates as Yízhāngzhàopiàn
literally meaning, One measure word photo, the measure word here being zhāng!
Did you get that ?Lets take another example One(a) piece of paper
Once again, We already learnt that one = yí So lets see how do we say one piece of paper
in Mandarin! In Mandarin, One piece of paper translates
asYìzhāngzhǐ where zhǐ spoken with a falling riding tone, equals paper!
Can you try saying Paper? It translates as zhǐ
Wondeful! Now lets learn how to say One boy or a boy
One as always, =translates to yí lets see what does boy translate as !
In mandarin, the word Boy translates toNánháizi where Nán ,spoken in the second tone means
male, and Háizialso spoken in the second tone, tanslates as Child
Can you try and say that together? Its Nánháizi Excellent! Lets move on to another measure
word! The next measure word we will learn is ge
Used for people as well as other general things ge , spoken with a neutral tone, is one of
the most important measure words in Mandarin! Whenever in doubt, using ge would be your
best move! Lets go ahead and see how ge is used!
In mandarin, One boybecomes Yígenánháizi literally
meaning One (measure word) boyGood! Now lets try and say A schoolbag!
As always, one translates to yí ! Lets see how do we say schoolbag in Mandarin!
A schoolbagbecomes Yígeshūbāo wherein shūbāomeans Schoolbag
Schoolbag or shūbāo is made of two distinct terms ,Shūmeaning book or letter, and bāo
meaning to hold, wrap or include! shūbāouses high level tones on both u and
a and is pronounced as shūbāo! great !
Alright! Now lets see if you remember what weve learnt till now!
How do we say boy in Mandarin ? Do we say Nánháizi or is it Nánsheng or
do we say Yíháizi instead? The correct way of saying boy in Mandarin
is Nánháizi ! lets see another one! How do we say, One photo in Mandarin?
Do we say Yízhàozhāngpiàn or can we say Yízhāngzhàopiàn or is it Yízhàopiànzhāng
instead? in Mandarin One photo literally translates
as Yízhāngzhàopiàn good work! Till now we discussed the use of measure words
alongside nouns. However, Measure words are also inserted between a demonstrative pronoun,
such as this and that and a noun To understand its usage, well have to learn
two new words, This and that! So lets begin! This translates to Zhèand is pronounced using
the falling tone. Can you try and say Zhè ? Excellent!
That translayesas Nà whixh is also pronounced using the falling tone!
Try and say Nà ,its like Nà ! Great! Now lets see how to say This photo!
This photo translates to Zhèzhāngzhàopiàn literally meaning
This followed by a measure word photo Good! Now lets say That boy!
That boy will become Nàgenánháizi, literally translating as
That (measure word)boy … Heres a quick grammar tip for you! A demonstrative
and a noun shall always have a measure word in between !
Lets take a look at some more examples to gain clarity!
Lets say the following sentences! This is a pen
This is not a pencil That is not a dictionary and lastly,
That is a book Lets start by learning the measure words to
say these sentences! The first one is Zhī Zhī is the Measure
word for stick like objects such as pens or chopsticks, and is pronounced using a high
level tone! Can you try and say ZhīGood work!Now lets
use it in a sentence! This is a pen translates to Zhèshìzhībǐ
, where Bǐ pronounced using a falling rising tone, means pen.
Once again, the sentence becomes Zhèshìzhībǐ great! Lets move on to the next one!
This is not a pencil becomesZhèbúshìzhīqiānbǐ , where Pencil translates to Qiānbǐ
Qiānbǐ is pronounced with a high level tone on a and a falling rising tone on i, like
Qiānbǐ Can you try and say the whole sentence? Its
Zhèbúshìzhīqiānbǐ very good! Lets see another one!
The Measure word for volume or any bound print or written matter is Běn which is pronounced
in the falling rising tone! Leetstry and use Běn in a sentence!
That is not a dictionary translates to Nàbúshìběnzìdiǎn where Dictionary isZìdiǎn
Zìdiǎn is pronounced with a falling tone on i and a falling rising tone on a, like
Zìdiǎn Can you try and say it? Its Zìdiǎngood!
Lets look at another sentence! That is a book will translate to Nàshìběnshū
where bokk becomes Shū Shūis pronounced with a high level tone , o
once again the whole sentence becomes Nàshìběnshū Excellent! That is all we will cover today!
Now Lets see if you remember what weve learnt till now!
How will you say this in Mandarin? Do we say it as Yí or is it Zhè ?
In mandarin, this literally translates to Zhè! Lets see another one!
How do we say that boy in Mandarin? Do we say Nàgenánháizi or would it be Wǒgenánháizi
or simply Genànánháizi?
The correct way of saying that boy in Mandarin is, Nàgenánháizi Hope you got that one
right! What does Yí mean?
Does it mean Boy ?or is it a Measure word, or does it simply mean one
Yí means one in Mandarin! Good job! Now lets go over the words weve learnt today!
Measure word for flat objectsis Zhāngwhile that for people or general is Ge
This will be Zhèand ThatBecomesNà Measure word for stick like objectsis Zhīwhereas
Measure word for volume is Běn Great! Now lets take a look at the phrases
we learnt throughout the lesson! One photo translates to Yízhāngzhàopiàn
and A piece of paperbecomes Yìzhāngzhǐ
One boy becomes Yígenánháizi while A schoolbag translatesto Yígeshūbāo
This photo will become Zhèzhāngzhàopiàn whereas
That boy translates to Nàgenánháizi Similarly,
This is a pen becomes Zhèshìzhībǐ and This is not a pencilbecomes Zhèbúshìzhīqiānbǐ
Laslty That is not a dictionary is translated as
Nàbúshìběnzìdiǎn and That is a book becomes Nàshìběnshū that
finishes our lesson for the day! Once again, its time for the Culture leaf
of the day! Today we shall talk about the Dragonboat festival!
The dragon boat festival, or Duānwǔ, is celebrated between late May and early June
every year It iscelebrated to commemorate the death of
an ancient poet, Qu Yuan, who lived 2000 year ago
His advice to the king of Chu, was to hire honest people, rather than his favourites
and for this he was banished from the kingdom On hearing later that the kingdom fell, he
threw himself into the Miluoriver and drowned to death
IN his honour, The people of Chu, threw bamboo shafts full
of rice into the river, so that the fish would eat rice and not his body, and thus,
Till day, people throw rice dumplings into the river to revisit his sacrifice
Today the day is also celebrated by dragon-boat races to commemorate the poet
Many weeks are spent creating elaborate dragon boats which are similar to canoes
Here you xan see the picture of Dragon Boat Festival in Haiwei,China
In the next lesson we will learn question formation and negations!
We hope you enjoyed your lesson today! See you at the Alley for the next one!
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