Who’s hungry now!?
My Chinese tutor is very concerned about me being hungry. No matter what time of day I go for a lesson, no matter if I tell her I have just eaten, and even if I tell her I’m bringing my own lunch, she prepares some food for me. So one week, I did the only thing left for me to do! I took her out to lunch.
Of course, we made a lesson out of it and had a grand time in the process. Not only did we speak a lot in Chinese, but she helped me practice writing a lot of Chinese characters. The outing ending with an unexpected bonus. But, first, some vocabulary to help tune your ear to certain words in the lesson:
漢堡 ㄏㄢˋ ㄅㄠˇ (hàn bǎo) hamburger
去接 ㄑㄩˋ ㄐㄧㄝ (qù jiē) to go pick up
餓 ㄜˋ (è) hungry
點 ㄉㄧㄢˇ (diǎn) to order, a dot, snacks, o’clock
草莓 ㄘㄠˇ ㄇㄟˊ (cǎo méi) strawberry
薯條 ㄕㄨˇ ㄊㄧㄠˊ (shǔ tiáo) French fries
檸檬汁 ㄋㄧㄥˊ ㄇㄥˊ ㄓ (níng méng zhī) lemonade, lemon juice
無意 ㄨˊ ㄧˋ (wú yì) to have no intention of…
意外地 ㄧˋ ㄨㄞˋ ㄉㄜ˙ (yì wài)(de.) (unexpected, accidental)(ly)
份量 ㄈㄢˋ ㄌㄧㄤˋ (fèn liàng) amount
說說笑笑 ㄕㄨㄛ ㄕㄨㄛ ㄒㄧㄠˋ ㄒㄧㄠˋ (shūo shūo xiào xiào) to chat and laugh, to banter
國家 ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄐㄧㄚ (guó jiā) a nation, a country
吃不完 ㄔ ㄅㄨˋ ㄨㄢˊ (chī bù wán) to eat not finish
甜點 ㄊㄧㄢˊ ㄉㄧㄢˇ (tián diǎn) dessert
出差 ㄔㄨ ㄔㄞ (chū chāi) go out of town on business
寂寞 ㄐㄧˋ ㄇㄛˋ (jì mò) lonely, lonesome
孤獨 ㄍㄨ ㄉㄨˊ (gū dú) solitary, lonely
撫慰 ㄈㄨˇ ㄨㄟˋ (fǔ wèi) to console, to comfort
遇到 ㄩˋ ㄉㄠˋ (yù dào) to meet, to run into
年青人 ㄋㄧㄢˊ ㄑㄧㄥ ㄖㄢˊ (nián qīng rén) young person
巧遇 ㄑㄧㄠˇ ㄩˋ (qiǎo yù) opportune meeting
陌生人 ㄇㄛˋ ㄕㄥ ㄖㄣˊ (mò shēng rén) stranger
今天中午我請我的中文老師到餐廳吃午飯。
(今天)(中午)(我)(請)❶(我的)
(ㄐㄧㄣ ㄊㄧㄢ)(ㄓㄨㄥ )(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄑㄧㄥˇ)(ㄨㄛˇ ㄉㄜ˙)
(jīn tiān)(zhōng wǔ)(wǒ)(qǐng)(wǒ de.)
(today)(noon)(I)(to ask, to invite)(my)
……(中文)(老師)(到)(餐廳)(吃)(午飯)
……(ㄓㄨㄥ ㄨㄣˊ)(ㄌㄠˇ ㄕ)(ㄉㄠˋ)(ㄘㄢ ㄊㄧㄥ)(ㄔ)(ㄨˇ ㄈㄢˋ)
……(zhōng wén)(lǎo shī)(dào)(cān tīng)(chī)(wǔ fàn)
……(Chinese language)(teacher, experienced master)(to go, to arrive)(dining hall, restaurant)(to eat)(noon meal, lunch)
Today at noon, I asked my Chinese teacher to go to out for lunch.
在我去接她之前，我做了很多事情。
(在)(我)(去)(接)(她)(之)❷(前)，
(ㄗㄞˋ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄑㄩˋ)(ㄐㄧㄝ)(ㄊㄚ)(ㄓ)(ㄑㄧㄢˊ),
(zài)(wǒ)(qù)(jiē)(tā)(zhī)(qián)
(at)(I)(to go)(to receive, to welcome, to meet)(her)(marks previous phrase modifies what will follow in the sentence)(before)
……(我)(做)(了)(很)(多)(事情)
……(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄗㄨㄛˋ)(ㄌㄜ˙)(ㄏㄣˇ)(ㄉㄨㄛ)(ㄕˋ ㄑㄧㄥˊ)
……(wǒ)(zuò)(le.)(hěn)(duō)(shì qíng)
……(I)(to do, to make)(emphasis)(very)(many)(affairs, things)
Before I went to pick her up, I did many things.
我跑步兩個半英哩，
(我)(跑步)(兩)(個)(半)(英哩)❸
(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄆㄠˇ ㄅㄨˋ)(ㄌㄧㄤˇ)(ㄍㄜ˙)(ㄅㄢˋ)(ㄧㄥ ㄌㄧˇ)
(wǒ)(pǎo bù)(liǎng)(ge.)(bàn)(yīng lǐ)
(I)(to run)(two)(MW)(half, and a half)(mile)
I ran 2 and a half miles,
游泳二十分鐘，
(游泳)(二)(十)(分鐘)
(ㄧㄡˊ ㄩㄥˇ)(ㄦˋ)(ㄕˊ)(ㄈㄣ ㄓㄨㄥ)
(yóu yǒng)(èr)(shí)(fēn zhōng)
(to swim)(two)(ten)(minute)
swam 20 minutes,
我想我今天的運動夠了。
(我)(想)(我)(今天)(的)(運動)(夠)(了)
(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄒㄧㄤˇ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄐㄧㄣ ㄊㄧㄢ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄩㄢˊ ㄉㄨㄥˋ)(ㄍㄡˋ)(ㄌㄜ˙)
(wǒ)(xiǎng)(wǒ)(jīn tiān)(de.)(yún dòng)(gòu)(le.)
(I)(to think)(I)(today)(adjective marker)(enough)(emphasize)
I think I have exercised enough for today.
我肚子很餓。
(我)(肚子)(很)(餓)
(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄉㄨˋ ㄗ˙)(ㄏㄣˇ)(ㄜˋ)
(wǒ)(dù zi.)(hěn)(è)
(my)(stomach, belly)(very)(to be hungry)
I was very hungry.
我們到了餐廳我點漢堡，薯條，和一杯草莓檸檬汁。
(我們)(到)(了)(餐廳)
(ㄨㄛˇ ㄇㄣ˙)(ㄉㄠˋ)(ㄌㄜ˙)(ㄘㄢ ㄊㄧㄥ)
(wǒ men.)(dào)(le.)(cān tīng)
(we)(to arrive)(emphasize completion)(restaurant, dining hall)
……(我)(點)❹(漢堡)，(薯條)，
……(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄉㄧㄢˇ)(ㄏㄢˋ ㄅㄠˇ), (ㄕㄨˇ ㄊㄧㄠˊ)
……(wǒ)(diǎn)(hàn bǎo), (shǔ tiáo),
……(I)(to order)(hamburger), (French fries)
…………(和)(一杯)[(草莓)(檸檬)(汁)]❺
…………(ㄏㄢˋ)(ㄧˋ ㄅㄟ)[(ㄘㄠˇ ㄇㄟˊ)(ㄋㄧㄥˊ ㄇㄥˊ)(ㄓ)]
…………(hàn)(yì bēi)[(cǎo méi)(níng méng)(zhī)]
…………(and)(one cup)[(strawberry)(lemon)(juice)]
When we got to the restaurant, I ordered a hamburger, French fries, and strawberry lemonade.
我無意地跟服務員說中文。
(我)(無意)(地)(跟)(服務員)(說)(中文)
(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄨˊ ㄧˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄍㄣ)(ㄈㄨˊ ㄨˋ ㄩㄢˋ)(ㄕㄨㄛ)(ㄓㄨㄥ ㄨㄣˊ)
(wǒ)(wú yì)(de.)(gēn)(fú wù yuán)(shuō)(zhōng wén)
(I)(inadvertent, accidental)(ly)(with)(waitress, waiter)(to speak)(Chinese language)
I accidentally spoke in Chinese to the waitress.
她笑一笑，大概覺得很好玩。
(她)(笑一笑)，(大概)(覺得)(很)(好)(玩)
(ㄊㄚ)(ㄒㄧㄠˋ ㄧˊ ㄒㄧㄠˋ), (ㄉㄚˋ ㄍㄞˋ)(ㄐㄩㄝˊ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄏㄣˇ)(ㄏㄠˇ)(ㄨㄢˊ)
(tā)(xiào yí xiào), (dà gài)(jué de.)(hěn)(hǎo)(wán)
(she)(to laugh a little), (probably)(to feel)(very)(good)(to play, to have fun)
She laughed and probably thought it was good fun.
我很好的老師只點了雞肉沙拉，可是份量很多。
(我)(很)(好)(的)(老師)(只)(點)(了)(雞肉)(沙拉)❻，
(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄏㄣˇ)(ㄏㄠˇ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄌㄠˇ ㄕ)(ㄓˇ)(ㄉㄧㄢˇ)(ㄌㄜ˙)(ㄐㄧ ㄖㄡˋ)(ㄕㄚ ㄌㄚ)
(wǒ)(hěn)(hǎo)(de.)(lǎo shī)(zhǐ)(diǎn)(le.)(jī ròu)(shā lā)
(my)(very)(good)(adjective marker)(teacher)(only)(to order)(emphasize completion)(chicken meat)(salad)
……(可是)(份量)❼(很)(多)
……(ㄎㄜˇ ㄕˋ)(ㄈㄣˋ ㄌㄧㄤˋ)(ㄏㄣˇ)(ㄉㄨㄛ)
……(kě shì)(fèn liàng)(hěn)(duō)
……(but, however)(quantity, amount)(very)(much)
My very good teacher only ordered chicken salad, but it was a very large amount.
我跟老師用中文說說笑笑，
(我)(跟)(老師)(用)(中文)(說說笑笑)
(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄍㄣ)(ㄌㄠˇ ㄕ)(ㄩㄥˋ)(ㄓㄨㄥ ㄨㄣˊ)(ㄕㄨㄛ ㄕㄨㄛ ㄒㄧㄠˋ ㄒㄧㄠˋ)
(wǒ)(gēn)(lǎo shī)(yòng)(zhōng wén)(shuō shuō xiào xiào)
(I)(with)(teacher)(to use)(Chinese language)(to chat and laugh, to banter)
My teacher and I chatted and laughed in Chinese,
其他的客人可能會覺得他們到了其他的國家。
(其他)(的)(客人)(可能)(會)(覺得)
(ㄑㄧˊ ㄊㄚ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄎㄜˋ ㄖㄣˊ)(ㄎㄜˇ ㄋㄥˊ)(ㄏㄨㄟˋ)(ㄐㄩㄝˊ ㄉㄜ˙)
(qí tā)(de.)(kè rén)(kě néng)(huì)(jué de.)
(other)(adjective marker)(customer, client, visitor)(might, possibility)(will)(to feel, to think)
……(他們)(到)(了)(其他)(的)(國家)
……(ㄊㄚ ㄇㄣ˙)(ㄉㄠˋ)(ㄌㄜ˙)(ㄑㄧˊ ㄊㄚ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄐㄧㄚ)
……(tā men.)(dào)(le.)(qí tā)(de.)(guó jiā)
……(they)(to arrive)(emphasizes previous clause)(other)(adjective marker)(country, nation)
Other visitors might feel feel they have arrived in another country.
我的漢堡太大，我吃不完。
(我的)(漢堡)(太)(大)，(我)(吃)(不)(完)
(ㄨㄛˇ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄏㄢˋ ㄅㄠˇ)(ㄊㄞˋ)(ㄉㄚˋ), (ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄔ)(ㄅㄨˋ)(ㄨㄢˊ)
(wǒ de.)(hàn bǎo)(tài)(dà), (wǒ)(chī)(bù)(wán)
(my)(hamburger)(too)(big), (I)(to eat)(not)(to finish)
My hamburger was too big, I couldn’t finish it.
我把剩下的帶回家。
(我)(把)(剩下)(的)(帶)(回)(家)
(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄅㄠˋ)(ㄕㄥˋㄒㄧㄚˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄉㄞˋ)(ㄏㄨㄟˊ)(ㄐㄧㄚ)
(wǒ)(bào)(shèng xià)(de.)(dài)(huí)(jiā)
(I)(to carry, to hold)(to remain, left over)(adjective marker)(to carry, to take along, to bear)(to return)(home)
I will take the leftovers home.
我們吃飽飯離開餐廳，我還是會去買巧克力當甜點
(我們)(吃)(飽)(飯)(離開)(餐廳)
(ㄨㄛˇ ㄇㄣ˙)(ㄔ)(ㄅㄠˇ)(ㄈㄢˋ)(ㄌㄧˊ ㄎㄞ)(ㄘㄢ ㄊㄧㄥ)
(wǒ men.)(chī)(bǎo)(fàn)(lí kāi)(cān tīng)
(we)(to eat)(eat heartily, eat one’s fill)(food, meal)(to depart, to leave)(restaurant)
……我還是會去買巧克力❻當甜點
……(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄏㄞˊ ㄕˋ)(ㄏㄨㄟˋ)(ㄑㄩˋ)(ㄇㄞˇ)(ㄑㄧㄠˇ ㄎㄜˋ ㄌㄧˋ)(ㄉㄤ)(ㄊㄧㄢˊ ㄉㄧㄢˇ)
……(wǒ)(hái shì)(huì)(qù)(mǎi)(qiǎo kè lì)(dāng)(tián diǎn)
……(I)(still)(will)(to go)(to buy)(chocolate)(to be)(dessert)
After we ate our fill and left the restaurant, I still went to buy chocolate to be dessert.
我的老公出差去了，讓我覺得有些寂寞。
(我的)(老公)(出差)(去)(了)
(ㄨㄛˇ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄌㄠˇ ㄐㄨㄥ)(ㄔㄨ ㄔㄞ)(ㄑㄩˋ)(ㄌㄜ˙)
(wǒ de.)(lǎo gōng)(chū chāi)(qù)(le.)
(my)(husband)(to go on business trip)(to go)(emphasize previous clause)
……(讓)(我)(覺得)(有些)(寂寞)❽
……(ㄖㄤˋ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄐㄩㄝˊ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄧㄡˇ ㄒㄧㄝ)(ㄐㄧˊ ㄇㄛˋ)
……(ràng)(wǒ)(jué de.)(yǒu xiē)(jí mò)
……(to make)(me)(to feel)(some, somewhat)(lonely, lonesome)
My husband went on a business trip, which makes me feel a little lonely.
巧克力是他不在時給我很好的撫慰。
(巧克力)(是)(他)(不)(在)(時)
(ㄑㄧㄠˇ ㄎㄜˋ ㄌㄧˋ)(ㄕˋ)(ㄊㄚ)(ㄅㄨˊ)(ㄗㄞˋ)(ㄕˊ)
(qiǎo kè lì)(shì)(tā)(bú)(zài)(shí)
(chocolate)(to be)(he)(not)(at)(when, time)
……(給)(我)(很)(好)(的)(撫慰)
……(ㄍㄟˇ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄏㄣˇ)(ㄏㄠˇ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄈㄨˇ ㄨㄟˋ)
……(gěi)(wǒ)(hěn)(hǎo)(de.)(fǔ wèi)
……(to give)(me)(very)(good)(adjective marker)(comfort, to console)
When my husband is out of town on business, chocolate gives me comfort.
我們在See’s巧克力店遇到兩個從台灣來的年青人。
(我們)(在)See’s(巧克力)(店)
(ㄨㄛˇ ㄇㄣ˙)(ㄗㄞˋ)See’s(ㄑㄧㄠˇ ㄎㄜˋ ㄌㄧˋ)(ㄉㄧㄢ)
(wǒ men.)(zài)See’s(qiǎo kè lì)(diàn)
(we)(at)See’s(chocolate)(store)
……(遇到)(兩)(個)(從)(台灣)(來)(的)(年青人)
……(ㄩˋ ㄉㄠˋ)(ㄌㄧㄤˇ)(ㄍㄜ˙)(ㄘㄨㄥˊ)(ㄊㄞˊ ㄨㄢ)(ㄌㄞˊ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄋㄧㄢˊ ㄑㄧㄥㄖㄣˊ)
……(yù dào)(liǎng)(ge.)(cóng)(tái wān)(lái)(de.)(nián qīng rén)
……(to run into, to come across)(two)(MW)(from)(Taiwan)(to come)(adjective marker)(young person)
When we were at See’s, the chocolate store, we ran into two young people who were from Taiwan.
他們跟我老公一樣在同一個公司上班。
(他們)(跟)(我)(老公)(一樣)
(ㄊㄚ ㄇㄣ˙)(ㄍㄣ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄌㄠˇ ㄍㄨㄥ)(ㄧˊ ㄧㄤˋ)
(tā men.)(gēn)(wǒ)(lǎo gōng)(yí yàng)
(they)(with)(my)(husband)(just like, the same)
……(在)(同)(一)(個)(公司)(上班)
……(ㄗㄞˋ)(ㄊㄨㄥˊ)(ㄧ)(ㄍㄜ˙)(ㄍㄨㄥ ㄙ)(ㄕㄤˋ ㄅㄢ)
……(zài)(tóng)(yī)(ge.)(gōng sī)(shàng bān)
…….(at)(like, same)(company)(to go to work)
They work at the same company as my husband.
老師問我:
(老師)(問)(我)
(ㄌㄠˇ ㄕ)(ㄨㄣˋ)(ㄨㄛˇ)
(lǎo shī)(wèn)(wǒ)
(teacher)(to ask)(me)
(My) teacher asks me:
你有勇氣跟陌生人說中文嗎？
(你)(有)(勇氣)(跟)[(陌生)(人)](說)(中文)(嗎)
(ㄋㄧˇ)(ㄧㄡˇ)(ㄩㄥˇ ㄑㄧˋ)(ㄍㄣ)[(ㄇㄛˋ ㄕㄥ)(ㄖㄣˊ)](ㄕㄨㄛ)(ㄓㄨㄥ ㄨㄣˊ)(ㄇㄚ˙)
(nǐ)(yǒu)(yǒng qì)(gēn)[(mò shēng)(rén)](shuō)(zhōng wén)(ma.)
(you)(to have)(courage)(with)[(strange, unfamiliar)(person)](to speak)(Chinese language)(question particle)
Have you had the courage to speak Chinese with a stranger?
巧遇總是一件有趣的事情。
(巧遇)❾(總是)(一)(件)(有趣)(的)(事情)
(ㄑㄧㄠˇ ㄩˋ)(ㄗㄨㄥˇ ㄕˋ)(ㄧˊ)(ㄐㄧㄢˋ)(ㄧㄡˇ ㄑㄩˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄕˋ ㄑㄧㄥˊ)
(qiǎo yù)(zǒng shì)(yí)(jiàn)(yǒu qù)(de.)(shì qíng)
(opportunity, as it happens)(always)(one)(MW for events)(interesting)(adjective marker)(affairs)
There is always the opportunity for interesting things.
Notes:
❶ Whereas in English we say we “take someone out to eat,” that implies the wrong thing in Chinese. But you will notice later that I do “take” my leftovers home!
❷ Just like the last sentence in the blog Happiness Makes You Sweet 幸福讓你保有甜蜜 in Chinese, 之 is equivalent to 的 here. It means that what comes before it describes what comes after it.
❸ In the dictionary, you may also see 英里 for “mile,” but my Chinese tutor says that adding the 口 particle in front helps to distinguish it from kilometer.
❹ You may have noticed by now that 點 is nearly as common as 好 in the Chinese language! I think of it in this context as “pointing out” what I want, since that goes with the more literal meaning of dot or point for the character. When using it in describing time, I think of “pointing out the time.”
❺ You could also say 檸檬水 for lemonade. Notice that the first two characters here are the same as in the sentence, meaning lemon, but the last character 水 ㄕㄨㄟˇ (shuǐ) means water. So, literally lemon water.
❻ This is a “sound” word, meaning that characters have been found to make it approximate the word salad from the original language (which in this case is English via Latin and French), but the characters themselves probably have nothing to do with the meaning. In this case, this is definitely true, as 沙 means sand or gravel and 拉 means pull or drag.
❼ The ㄈㄣˋ (fèn) here can also be represented by the character 分. And the character 量 with the 4th tone means it is being used as a noun, but if 量 is used with a 2nd tone it becomes a verb that means to measure.
❽ Another Chinese word that means lonely is 孤獨 (see vocabulary list), but it has more severe connotations of isolation. 寂寞 has more to do with temporary feelings.
❾ This word is doubly interesting, as it is made of two characters used previously in the blog. Can you find them?
