My husband is an adventurer and he likes to fish. Seriously, I’m glad that he has the chance to go off into the wild and I know he is experienced and smart about being out there. Still, I like to express my concerns. He makes me laugh with his responses. Here is the type of conversation we have about these things.
First, some vocabulary to help tune your ear to the conversation:
阿拉斯加 ㄚ ㄌㄚ ㄙ ㄐㄧㄚ Alaska
灰熊 ㄏㄨㄟ ㄒㄩㄥˊ grizzly bear
鮭魚 ㄍㄨㄟ ㄩˊ salmon
骨頭 ㄍㄨˇ ㄊㄡˊ bone[s]
釣 ㄉㄧㄠˋ to fish with hook and bait
捉 ㄓㄨㄛ to grab, to capture
堅持地 ㄐㄧㄢ ㄔˊ ㄉㄜ˙ insistently
打包票 ㄉㄚˇ ㄅㄠ ㄆㄧㄠˋ to guarantee
再一次 ㄗㄞˋ ㄧˊ ㄘˋ again one time, one more time
記得 ㄐㄧˋ ㄉㄜˊ to remember
建議 ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄧˋ to recommend
答應 ㄉㄚ ㄧㄥ˙ to promise, to agree, to reply
唯一的 ㄨㄟˊ ㄧ ㄉㄜ˙ only, sole
Now, my thoughts on fishing in bear country –
我的老公跟朋友要去阿拉斯加釣鮭魚。
(我的)(老公)(跟)(朋友)(要)(去)(阿拉斯加)(釣)❶(鮭魚)
(ㄨㄛˇ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄌㄠˇ ㄍㄨㄥ)(ㄍㄣ)(ㄆㄥˊ ㄧㄡˇ)(ㄧㄠˋ)(ㄑㄩˋ)(ㄚ ㄌㄚ ㄙ ㄐㄧㄚ)(ㄉㄧㄠˋ)(ㄍㄨㄟ ㄩˊ)
(wǒ de.)(lǎo gōng)(gēn)(péng yǒu)(yào)(qù)(ā lā sī jiā)(diào)(guī yú)
(I/me + adjective marker = my)(husband)(with)(friend)(to want)(to go)(Alaska)(to fish with hook and bait)(salmon)
My husband and his friend want to go to Alaska to fish for salmon.
阿拉斯加的灰熊也愛捉鮭魚吃。
(阿拉斯加)(的)❷(灰熊)(也)(愛)(捉)(鮭魚)(吃)
(ㄚ ㄌㄚ ㄙ ㄐㄧㄚ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄏㄨㄟ ㄒㄩㄥˊ)(ㄧㄝˇ)(ㄞˋ)(ㄓㄨㄛ)(ㄍㄨㄟ ㄩˊ)(ㄔ)
(ā lā sī jiā)(de.)(huī xióng)(yě)(ài)(zhuō)(guī yú)(chī)
(Alaska)(adjective marker)(grizzly bear)(also)(to love, to like, to be fond of)(to grab, to capture)(salmon)(to eat)
Alaskan grizzly bears also love to catch salmon to eat.
我告訴我老公：請你不要被灰熊吃了!
(我)(告訴)(我)(老公)：
(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄍㄠˋ ㄙㄨˋ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄌㄠˇ ㄍㄨㄥ):
(wǒ)(gào sù)(wǒ)(lǎo gōng):
(I)(to tell)(my)(husband):
……(請)(你)(不)(要)(被)❸(灰熊)(吃)(了)
……(ㄑㄥˇ)(ㄋㄧˇ)(ㄅㄨˊ)(ㄧㄠˋ)(ㄅㄟˋ)(ㄏㄨㄟ ㄒㄩㄥˊ)(ㄔ)(ㄌㄜ˙)
……(qǐng)(nǐ)(bú)(yào)(bèi)(huī xióng)(chī)(le.)
……(please)(you)(not)(to want, going to)(by)(grizzly bear)(to eat)(emphasis)
I told my husband: Please, don’t get eaten by a grizzly bear!
他回答：為什麼不？
(他)(回答)：(為什麼)(不)
(ㄊㄚ)(ㄏㄨㄟˊ ㄉㄚˊ): (ㄨㄟˋ ㄕㄣˊ ㄇㄜ˙)(ㄅㄨˋ)
(tā)(huí dá): (wèi shén me.)(bù)
(he)(to reply, to answer): (why)(not)
He answered, “Why not?”
我堅持地說：如果灰熊來了， 只要給牠魚就好了！
(我)(堅持)(地)(說)：
(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄐㄧㄢ ㄔˊ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄕㄨㄛ):
(wǒ)(jiān chí)(de.)(shuō):
(I)(insist)(adds -ly to previous verb)(to say):
……(如果)(灰熊)(來)(了)，
……(ㄖㄨˊ ㄍㄨㄛˇ)(ㄏㄨㄟ ㄒㄩㄥˊ)(ㄌㄞˊ)(ㄌㄜ˙),
……(rú guǒ)(huī xióng)(lái)(le.)
……(if)(grizzly bear)(to come)(emphasis)
…………(只要)(給)(牠)(魚)(就)(好)(了)
…………(ㄓˇ ㄧㄠˋ)(ㄍㄟ)(ㄊㄚ)(ㄩˊ)(ㄐㄧㄡˋ)(ㄏㄠˇ)(ㄌㄜ˙)
…………(zhǐ yào)(gēi)(tā)(yú)(jiù)(hǎo)(le.)
…………(only want, that’s it, all one has to do)(to give)(it)(fish)(just, at once)(good)(emphasis)
I insistently said, “If a grizzly bear comes, all you need to do is just give it the fish!”
他打包票地說：為了讓牠不吃我，我會跑得很快！
(他)(打包票)(地)❹(說)：
(ㄊㄚ)(ㄉㄚˇ ㄅㄠ ㄆㄧㄠˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄕㄨㄛ):
(tā)(dǎ bāo piào)(de.)(shuō):
(he)(to guarantee)(-ly, turns previous word into an adverb for the following verb)
……(為了)(讓)(牠)(不)(吃)(我)，
……(ㄨㄟ ㄌㄜ˙)(ㄖㄤˋ)(ㄊㄚ)(ㄅㄨˋ)(ㄔ)(ㄨㄛˇ),
……(wèi le.)(ràng)(tā)(bù)(chī)(wǒ),
……(in order to, for the purpose of)(to let)(it)(not)(to eat)(me)
…………(我)(會)(跑)(得)(很)(快)
…………(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄏㄨㄟˋ)(ㄆㄠˇ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄏㄣˇ)(ㄎㄨㄞˋ)
…………(wǒ)(huì)(pǎo)(de.)(hěn)(kuài)
…………(I)(will)(to run)(particle attaching adverbs to previous verb)(very)(fast)
He assuredly said, “In order to not let it eat me, I will run very fast!”
我再一次建議他：記得！你只要丟魚給牠就好！
(我)(再)(一)(次)(建議)(他)：
(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄗㄞˋ)(ㄧˊ)(ㄘˋ)(ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄧˋ)(ㄊㄚ):
(wǒ)(zài)(yí)(cì)(jiàn yì)(tā):
(I)(again)(one)(time)(to recommend)(him)
……(記得)！(你)(只要)(丟)(魚)(給)(牠)(就)(好)
……(ㄐㄧˋ ㄉㄜˊ): (ㄋㄧˇ)(ㄓˇ ㄧㄠˋ)(ㄉㄧㄡ)(ㄩˊ)(ㄍㄟ)(ㄊㄚ)(ㄐㄧㄡˋ)(ㄏㄠˇ)
……(jì de.): (nǐ)(zhǐ yào)(diū)(yú)(gēi)(tā)(jiù)(hǎo)
……(to remember): (you)(all that is needed)(to throw, to lose)(fish)(to give)(it)(emphasis)(good)
One more time I recommended to him: Remember! All you need to do is throw the fish to it, that will take care of it!
你一邊釣鮭魚，一邊還要小心注意看有沒有灰熊過來。
(你)(一邊)(釣)(鮭魚)，
(ㄋㄧˇ)(ㄧˋ ㄅㄧㄢ)(ㄉㄧㄠˋ)(ㄍㄨㄟ ㄩˊ),
(nǐ)(yì biān)(diào)(guī yú),
(you)(on one side, while)(to fish)(salmon)
……(一邊)(還)(要)(小心)(注意)
……(ㄧˋ ㄅㄧㄢ)(ㄏㄞˊ)(ㄧㄠˋ)(ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄒㄧㄣ)(ㄓㄨˋ ㄧˋ)
……(yì biān)(hái)(yào)(xiǎo xīn)(zhù yì)
……(on one side, while)(still)(to want, must, vital)(to be careful)(to pay attention)
…………(看)(有)(沒)(有)(灰熊)(過)(來)
…………(ㄎㄢˋ)(ㄧㄡˇ)(ㄇㄟˊ)(ㄧㄡˇ)(ㄏㄨㄟ ㄒㄩㄥˊ)(ㄍㄨㄛˋ)(ㄌㄞˊ)
…………(kàn)(yǒu)(méi)(yǒu)(huī xióng)(guò)(lái)
…………(to look)(to have)(not)(to have)(grizzly bear)(to pass through, to go over)(to come)
While you are fishing for salmon, you still need to be careful and pay attention to look for a grizzly bear that has come over.
他答應我他會很小心。
(他)(答應)(我)(他)(會)(很)(小心)
(ㄊㄚ)(ㄉㄚ ㄧㄥ˙)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄊㄚ)(ㄏㄨㄟˋ)(ㄏㄣˇ)(ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄒㄧㄣ)
(tā)(dā ying.)(wǒ)(tā)(huì)(hěn)(xiǎo xīn)
(he)(to promise, to agree, to reply)(me)(he)(will)(very)(to be careful)
He promised me he will be very careful.
我還是覺得有些擔心，所以我說：
(我)(還是)(覺得)(有些)(擔心)，
(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄏㄞˊ ㄕˋ)(ㄐㄩㄝˊ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄧㄡˇ ㄒㄧㄝ)(ㄉㄢ ㄒㄧㄣ),
(wǒ)(hái shì)(jué de.)(yǒu xiē)(dān xīn)
(I)(still)(to feel, to think)(some, somewhat)(worry, unease)
……(所以)(我)(說)：
……(ㄙㄨㄛˇ ㄧˇ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄕㄨㄛ):
……(suǒ yǐ)(wǒ)(shuō):
……(so)(I)(to say):
I still felt a bit worried, so I said:
我不要到阿拉斯加找你的骨頭。
(我)(不)(要)(到)(阿拉斯加)(找)(你的)(骨頭)
(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄅㄨˋ)(ㄧㄠˋ)(ㄉㄠˋ)(ㄚ ㄌㄚ ㄙ ㄐㄧㄚ)(ㄓㄠˇ)(ㄋㄧˇ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄍㄨˇ ㄊㄡˊ)
(wǒ)(bú)(yào)(dào)(ā lā sī jiā)(zhǎo)(nǐ de.)(gǔ tóu)
(I)(not)(to want)(to go, to arrive)(Alaska)(to look for)(your)(bone[s])
I don’t want to go to Alaska to look for your bones.
他回答說：唯一的骨頭妳可以找得到，就是鮭魚骨頭而已。
(他)(回答)(說)：
(ㄊㄚ)(ㄏㄨㄟˊ ㄉㄚˊ)(ㄕㄨㄛ):
(tā)(huí dá)(shuō):
(he)(to answer, to reply)(to say):
……(唯一的)❺(骨頭)(妳)(可以)(找)(得到)，
……(ㄨㄟˊ ㄧ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄍㄨˇ ㄊㄡˊ)(ㄋㄧˇ)(ㄎㄧˇ ㄧˇ)(ㄓㄠˇ)(ㄉㄜˊ ㄉㄠˋ),
……(wéi yī de.)(gǔ tóu)(nǐ)(kě yǐ)(zhǎo)(dé dào),
……(only, sole)(bones)(you)(can, able to)(to find)(to get, to obtain)
…………(就)(是)(鮭魚)(骨頭)(而已)
…………(ㄐㄧㄡˋ)(ㄕˋ)(ㄍㄨㄟ ㄩˊ)(ㄍㄨˇ ㄊㄡˊ)(ㄦˊ ㄧˇ)
…………(just)(to be)(salmon)(bone)(that’s all, nothing more)
He answered and said, “The only bones you will be able to find will be salmon bones, nothing more.”
Hopefully there will not be anything more exciting to add to the story!
Notes: