Adverb of Place and Time

Adverb of time

In Mandarin, Adverb of time is always placed in front, either after or before the Subject. Here are a few vocabularies that we often use (there are more of course, and that’s your homework to practice on Pleco)

Today                                               jīntiān                     今天

Tomorrow                                       míngtiān                   明天
Yesterday                                        zuótiān                     昨天
The day after tomorrow                  hòutiān                     后天
The day before yesterday                qiántiān                    前天
In the future                                     yǐhòu                        以后
Previously                                        yǐqián                       以前
Now                                                 xiànzài                      现在
Later (In a moment)                        děngyīxià                  等一下                  

For example;

I am going to England tomorrow
我明天要去英国
Wǒ míngtiān yào qù yīngguó

OR

明天我要去英国

Míngtiān wǒ yào qù yīngguó

P.S. Telling time is another relevant topic to describing "time", however, due to it's lengthy explanation, I will dedicate a post to it next week.

Adverb of Place

Adverb of place in Mandarin is normally mentioned Before the activities by using the word “在 zài” before the place.

For example;

She is sleeping at home.

Sleep   睡觉   shuìjiào

Home   家      jiā

Translation:          他在家睡觉          tā zài jiā shuìjiào

In General, Here is the Pattern for the Sentence:
S + Adv of Place + Verb

Translate the following to Chinese:

1. He sleeps on the floor

2. My mother is coming home tomorrow

3. My elder sister speaks Mandarin at home.

4. My family and her family go to Paris next week.

5. I didn’t go to my grandma’s house yesterday.

As usual, answers to be revealed next week.

Tips: Read your answer out loud to practice on your pronunciation. Compare the words/phrase to Pleco recorded voice.

Happy Weekend,

Linda Tan

Yes or No Questions

Last week, I introduce a few simple sentence structure in positive form, negative and question forms. The lattest, the question, is referring to close ended question. It is a questions that can only be answered with YES or NO.

Apart from the use of 吗ma, here is another way of asking a Yes/No Question:

When subject “meets” with a VERB
(?) Subject + Verb + 不 bù + Verb

Example: Does she eat Hamburger?

 (?) 他吃汉堡包吗？       tā chī hànbaǒbāo ma?          does she eat hamburger?

OR
(?) 他吃不吃汉堡包？   tā chī bù chī hànbaǒbāo?        does she eat hamburger?

When subject “meets”  with an ADJECTIVE

(?) Subject + Adj + 不 bù + Adj

Example: Is your teacher tall?

(?) 你的老师高吗？               nǐ de lǎoshī gāo ma?             is your teacher tall?

OR
(?) 你的老师高不高？           nǐ de lǎoshī gāo bù gāo?       is your teacher tall?

When subject “meets”  with a NOUN

(?) Subject + 是不是 shì bù shì + Noun

Example: Is that your school?

(?) 那是你的学校吗？     nà shì nǐdexuéxiào ma?           is that your school?

OR
(?) 那是不是你的学校？ nà shì bù shì nǐdexuéxiào?      is that your school?

Here is How we answer to the questions above:

Q: 他吃不吃汉堡包？ OR他吃汉堡包吗？

A: Yes, I eat.              

   我吃wǒ chī OR  吃 chī

     No, I don’t.           

   不bù OR 我不吃 wǒ bù chī

Q: 你的老师高不高？ OR你的老师高吗？ 

A: Yes, She is

    高 gāo OR他高 tā gāo

     No, She is not

     不高 būgāo OR他不高 tā bùgāo

Q: 那是你的学校吗？ OR那是不是你的学校？

A: Yes, it is

     是 shì

     No, it is not

     不是 bùshì

Yes? No?
Linda Tan

Answers to Lesson on Simple Sentence Structure

Here are the 5 sentences that you are asked to translate based on the sentence structure that were introduced last Tuesday.

1. My car is broken

(+) 我的车坏             wǒdechē huài                          my car is broken

(-) 我的车不坏           wǒdechē bùhuài                      my car isn’t broken

(?) 你的车坏吗？         nǐdechē huài ma?                    is your car broken?

2. My teacher is tall

(+) 我的老师高                      wǒ de lǎoshī gāo                     my teacher is tall

(-) 我的老师不高                   wǒ de lǎoshī bùgāo                 my teacher isn’t tall

(?) 你的老师高吗？               nǐ de lǎoshī gāo ma?               is your teacher tall?

3. She eats hamburger

(+) 他吃汉堡包                tā chī hànbaǒbāo                    She eats hamburger

(-) 他不吃汉堡包         tā bùchi hànbaǒbāo               she doesn’t eat hamburger

(?) 他吃汉堡包吗？              tā chī hànbaǒbāo ma?            does she eat hamburger?

4. That is my school.

(+) 那是我的学校         nà shì wǒdexuéxiào                 That is my school

(-) 那不是我的学校         nà bùshì wǒdexuéxiào             That is not my school

(?) 那是你的学校吗？     nà shì nǐdexuéxiào ma?           is that your school?

5. My dad calls me.

(+) 我的爸爸骂叫我       wǒdebàba mà wǒ                    my dad scolds me

(-)  我的爸爸不骂我        wǒdebàba bùmà wǒ                my dad doesn’t scold me

(?) 你的爸爸骂你吗？     nǐdebàba mà nǐ ma?               does your dad scold you?

Please listen to the following:

If you get the structures correct, that's good enough. There might be some difference in the option of vocab use for certain words. Leave a comment to check if they are okay to be used in the sentences above.

Thank you.

Regards,

Linda Tan

Simple Sentence Structure

Here I would like to introduce simple sentence structure.

When a Subject "meets" a VERB
(+) S + Verb
(-) S + Bù  + Verb
(?) Positive Sentence + ma?    OR
      Negative Sentence + ma?

Example:
(+) Tā xiězì               他写字               He writes

(-) Tā bù xiězì           他不写字           He doesn't write

(?) Tā xiězì ma?       他写字吗？       Does he write?

     Tā bù xiězì ma?   他不写字吗？   Doesn't he write?

In Short, in negative sentence, we have to include 不 Bù in front of the Verb. As for the interrogative sentence, we have to add 吗 "ma" at the end of the sentence. By doing that it forms a closed ended question that can only be answered with a YES or a NO! Again, CLOSE ENDED QUESTION.

Moving on, when a Subject "meets" an ADJECTIVE, the formula is the same as the above:
(+) S + Adj
(-) S + Bù  + Adj
(?) Positive Sentence + ma?    OR
      Negative Sentence + ma?

Example:
(+) Wǒ māma piàoliang                  我妈妈 漂亮               My mom is beautiful

(-) Wǒ māma bù piàoliang              我妈妈不漂亮            My mom isn't beautiful

(?) Nǐ māma piàoliang ma?            你妈妈 漂亮 吗？      Is your mom beautiful?

      Nǐ māma bù piàoliang ma?      你妈妈 不漂亮 吗？   Isn't your mom beautiful?  

The last one is when a Subject "meets" with a NOUN, follow the following pattern:

(+) S + Shì + Noun

(-)  S + Bùshì + Noun

(?)  Positive Sentence + ma?

      Negative Sentence + ma?

Example:

(+) Tājiějie shì lǎoshi                她姐姐 是 老师                Her elder sister is teacher

(-) Tājiějie bùshì lǎoshi             她姐姐 不是 老师            Her elder sister is not teacher

(?) Tājiějie shì lǎoshi ma?         她姐姐 是 老师 吗？       Is her elder sister teacher?

Tājiějie bùshì lǎoshi ma?           她姐姐 不是 老师 吗？   Isn't her elder sister teacher?

In summary, when a subject is followed by a NOUN (I.e. things, people, places, animals), you have to add 是 "shì" before the noun. The negative is 不是 "bùshì" in which its meaning in Bahasa Indonesia becomes "bukan", in English, there is no difference, it is still a "NOT" XD

Try translating a few of the following sentence:

1. My car is broken

2. My teacher is tall

3. She eats hamburger

4. That is my school.

5. My dad scolds me.

After translating them, then turns all the above sentence into the (-) and (?) forms.

By knowing these sentence structures, you should be able to say simple sentences. Again, in enriching your vocabularies, no one can helps you much. You have to be discipline, play around with Pleco, watch Chinese movie, listen to Chinese song, and use it often!

Next post, I will reveal the answer for the above 5 sentences. Let's see how much you get them right. :)

Happy Week ahead,

Linda Tan

Nursery Rhyme

Kids can learn language from singing. For me, when I teach a song, I make sure that the kids know what it means. I will go through the lyrics line by line with them. Say the lyrics and translate it. Then I will repeat explaining the whole song again and again. This cannot be done just once. You have to repeat it over and over again.

I also make sure that I correct them when they pronounce a word in the lyrics wrongly. For me, it is how they learn the language properly.

Here I would like to introduce one of Popular Chinese Nursery Rhyme. Play the song for your kids, as for yourselves, you can try to translate what the song is saying. And then translate it to them. Here is the lyric:

Title: 我  的  朋友     在  哪里?
          Wǒ de péngyǒu zài nǎli?


First Part:
一 二 三 四 五 六 七，
Yī èr sān sì wǔ liù qī

我  的  朋友      在 哪里？

Wǒ de péngyǒu zài nǎli?

在   这里，在 这里
Zài zhèlǐ, Zài zhèlǐ

我   的  朋友    在   这里
Wǒ de péngyoǔ zài zhèlǐ

Second Part:
啦啦啦啦    真   欢喜
Lā lā lā la zhēn huānxǐ

同       唱歌     来  同    游戏

Tóng chànggē lái tóng yóuxì

笑 嘻嘻，多 甜蜜

Xiao xīxī duō tiánmì

我   的   朋友    就是  你
Wǒ de péngyǒu jiùshì nǐ


Here is the song:

This video is downloaded from youtube. Here is the link.

Happy Singing,
Linda Tan

Answer to Lesson 10: Love and Like

Here is the answer to Lesson 10 on Love and Like:

1. She loves talking
他爱说话
Tā ài shuōhuà

2. My mother likes roses
我妈妈喜欢玫瑰花
Wǒ māma xǐhuān méiguìhuà

3. Dogs like to eat bone
狗喜欢吃骨头
Goǔ xǐhuān chī gǔtou

4. My brother loves red car
我哥哥爱红车
Wǒ gēge ài hóngchē

5. We love travelling
我们爱旅游
Wǒmen ài lǚyóu

Hope you get all the above right :) Do not worry if you get some words different from mine, for example if you translate "travelling" as "旅行 Lǚxíng", that's fine too. If you use "讲话 - jiǎnghuà” instead of “说话 - shuōhuà" for talking, that's fine too. Don't hesitate to leave comment to confirm if your answer is acceptable. Will be more than happy to clarify.


Love,
Linda Tan

Lesson 10: Like and Love

Like is 喜欢
Love is 爱

"Like" can be followed by a noun or a verb. Same thing applies to the word "Love"

For example:
I like Banana = 我喜欢香蕉           Wǒ xǐ huān xiāng jiāo
Monkeys like to eat banana = 猴子喜欢吃香蕉       Hóu zi xǐ huān chī xiāng jiāo

He loves His Girlfriend = 他爱他的女朋友          Tā ài tā de nǚ péng yǒu
He loves Drawing = 他爱画画儿         Tā ài huà huàr

Try translating a few sentences below:

1. She loves talking
2. My mother likes roses
3. Dogs like to eat bone
4. My brother loves red car
5. We love travelling

Regards,
Linda Tan

Answers for Exercise Compilation

Here is the answer for previous post of exercises that covers all the topics that we have covered:

1. August 17 is Indonesia's National Day!

八月十七号是印尼的国庆节

Bāyuè shíqīhào shì yìnní de guóqìngjié

2. The girl's Mom wants to take her to the hospital.

女孩子的妈妈要带她去医院

Nǚ háizi de māma yào dài tā qù yīyuàn

3. Mrs. Smith is not my sister's English teacher

Smith 先生 不是我姐姐的英文老师

Smith xiānsheng bùshì wǒ jiějie de yīngwén lǎoshī

4. The red table is not belong to mom

那红桌子不时妈妈的

Nà hóng zhuōzi bùshì māma de

5. My maternal grandma wants to visit Paris next month!

下个月我的婆婆要游览巴黎

Xiàgèyuè wǒ de pópo yào yóulán Bālí

6. I call My father's elder brother as "Uncle"

我叫我爸爸的哥哥“叔叔”

Wǒ jiào wǒ bàba de gēge “shūshu”

Here are the step by step explanation for the above answer to refresh your mind on each topic:

1. August 17 is Indonesia's National Day!

八月十七号 = Bāyuè shíqīhào

You have to mention the month then followed by the date.

印尼的国庆节 =  yìnní de guóqìngjié

de is to indicate possession. In this case, the 'owner' of the national day is Indonesia. So, following the pattern "Owner" + de + "things owned" 

是 = shì

Because Indonesia's Independence day is a NOUN, thus, we need 是 shì before it.

The complete sentence is:

Bāyuè shíqīhào  shì  yìnní de guóqìngjié

2. The girl's Mom wants to take her to the hospital.

女孩子的妈妈 = Nǚ háizi de māma

Again, to show possession we follow this pattern: "Owner" + de + "things/person owned"

want = 要

take her to the hospital = 带她去医院 = yào dài tā qù yīyuàn
In Chinese, we do not have to translate the word "to" when it comes with the word "come" and "go".
For example: Go to Paris, we just translate the word "go" and "Paris"
Come to School, we just translate the word "Come" and "School"

The complete Sentence is:

Nǚ háizi de māma yào dài tā qù yīyuàn

3. Mrs. Smith is not my sister's English teacher
Smith 先生 不是我姐姐的英文老师

Smith xiānsheng bùshì wǒ jiějie de yīngwén lǎoshī

Smith 先生 = Smith xiānsheng
When we greet someone, we have to mention their name and follow by the way we address the person, such as Mr. Ms. or Mrs.

我姐姐的英文老师 = wǒ jiějie de yīngwén lǎoshī
There are 2 possession on the above phrase.
1. "I" have "sister"
2. "My Sister" has English Teacher

Let's translate English Teacher. Adjective: "English" = 英文, Noun: "Teacher" =  老师， so we say: 英文老师 yīngwén lǎoshī。
Then, translate My Sister: wǒ jiějie or wǒ de jiějie
Then, the second possession: wǒ jiějie de yīngwén lǎoshī

不是 = bùshì
We have to use shì in negative form (bùshì) because the phrase "my sister's English Teacher" is a NOUN! So, before that phrase, we need shì or bùshì

The Complete Sentence is:

Smith xiānsheng bùshì wǒ jiějie de yīngwén lǎoshī

4. The red table is not belong to mom

那红桌子不是妈妈的

Nà hóng zhuōzi bùshì māma de

This is one is almost similar to the number 3. Try to figure it out :)

5. My maternal grandma wants to visit Paris next month!

下个月我的婆婆要游览巴黎

Xiàgèyuè wǒ de pópo yào yóulán Bālí

下个月 = Xiàgèyuè = Next Month
In Chinese, Adverb of Time is always used in front.

我的婆婆要游览巴黎
wǒ de pópo yào yóulán Bālí
This is quite straight forward. "My Grandma" = "wǒ de pópo", then followed by "want to visit Paris" = "yào yóulán Bālí"

6. I call My father's elder brother as "Uncle"

我叫我爸爸的哥哥“叔叔”

Wǒ jiào wǒ bàba de gēge “shūshu”

This sentence is quite straight forward too. Try to figure it out yourself.