Intermediate Spoken Chinese

Sandra Russell, an American graduate student in Taipei, hails a taxi for herself and a friend. She tells the driver the destination and they chat for a while. On arrival, she asks what the fare is and pays the driver.

Basic Conversation 11-1

1. RUSSELL	Máfan dào Chóngqìng Nán Lùde Táiwān Yínháng, xièxie.
	Please go to the Bank of Taiwan on Chongqing South Road, thanks.
2. DRIVER	Nĭde Guóyŭ shuōde bú cuò ó! Zài náli xuéde?
	You speak Mandarin really well! Where did you learn it?
3. RUSSELL	Wŏ zài Mĕiguo, dàlù gēn Táiwān dōu xuéguo.
	I studied it in America, mainland China, and Taiwan.
4. DRIVER	Nĭ lái Táiwān duō jiŭ le?
	How long have you been in Taiwan?
5. RUSSELL	Láile sān’ge duō yuè le.
	I’ve been here for more than three months.
	(after a while) Āiyò! Nĭ kāide tài kuàile, xiàsĭ rén le! Kĕ bu kéyi kāi màn yìdiăn?
	Whew! You’re driving too fast, that was terrifying! Could you slow down a bit?
6. DRIVER	Méi wèntí, fàngxīn la.
	No problem, relax.
	(after a while) Qiánmiàn jiù dàole.
	It’s up ahead.
7. RUSSELL	(when the cab comes to a stop) Duōshăo qián?
	How much is it?
8. DRIVER	Jiŭshiwŭkuài.
	95 NT.
9. RUSSELL	Yìbăikuài, bú yòng zhăole.
	Here’s 100 NT, keep the change.
10. DRIVER	Xièxie.
	Thanks.

Build Up

1. Russell
Chóngqìng	Chongqing (city in Sichuan) [PW]*
Chóngqìng Nán Lù	Chongqing South Road [PW]
yínháng	bank [PW] (M: jiā)
Táiwān Yínháng	Bank of Taiwan [PW]
Máfan dào Chóngqìng Nán Lùde Táiwān Yínháng, xièxie.	Please go to the Bank of Taiwan on Chongqing South Road, thanks.
2. Driver
Guóyŭ (T)	Mandarin (language) [N]
ó	(indicates interest or excitement) [P]
shuōde bú cuò ó	is spoken well
Nĭde Guóyŭ shuōde bú cuò ó!	You speak Mandarin really well!
Zài náli xuéde?	Where did you learn it?
3. Russell
dàlù	mainland [PW]
Wŏ zài Mĕiguo, dàlù gēn Táiwān dōu xuéguo.	I studied it in America, mainland China, and Taiwan.
4. Driver
le	(indicates action continuing up to the present) [P]
duō jiŭ le	how long has it been
Nĭ lái Táiwān duō jiŭ le?	How long have you been in Taiwan?
5. Russell
Láile sān’ge duō yuè le.	I’ve been here for more than three months.
xià	frighten [V]
-sĭ	to the point of death [RE]
xiàsĭ	frighten to death [RC]
xiàsĭ rén le	it frightens people to death
màn	be slow [SV]
kāi màn yìdiăn	drive a little more slowly
Āiyò! Nĭ kāide tài kuàile, xiàsĭ rén le! Kĕ bu kéyi kāi màn yìdiăn?	Whew! You’re driving too fast, that was terrifying! Could you slow down a bit?
6. Driver
wèntí	problem [N]
méi wèntí	there is no problem, “no problem” [IE]
fàngxīn	be at ease, relax [VO]
la	(combined form of le and a) [P]
fàngxīn la	relax
Méi wèntí, fàngxīn la.	No problem, relax.
Qiánmiàn jiù dàole.	It’s up ahead.
7. Russell
Duōshăo qián?	How much is it?
8. Driver
Jiŭshiwŭkuài.	95 NT.
9. Russell
bú yòng zhăo	you don’t need to give change
Yìbăikuài, bú yòng zhăole.	Here’s 100 NT, keep the change.
10. Driver
Xièxie.	Thanks.

* Throughout this book, as was the practice in Basic Spoken Chinese, if an item in the Basic Conversation or Supplementary Vocabulary section shows a word class abbreviation [in brackets] after the English translation, this indicates that the item occurs at that point for the first time in the course. It should be given special attention for learning, since knowledge of it will be assumed in the rest of the course.

1. When telling a taxi driver where to go, it’s also common simply to state your destination, for example, Chóngqìng Nánlù Táiwān Yínháng “the Bank of Taiwan on Chongqing South Road.” Adding Máfan dào... “Could I trouble you to go to...” at the beginning and xièxie “thank you” at the end makes this request polite.

2A. Although the term Guóyŭ “Mandarin” is now used primarily in Taiwan, it’s occasionally still heard in Hong Kong and mainland China.

2B. ACCENTED MANDARIN. The driver in this basic conversation doesn’t speak standard Mandarin; his Mandarin is influenced by his native language, Taiwanese. For example, in line 2, instead of shuō he says suō; and in line 8, instead of jiŭshiwŭkuài he says jiŭsiwŭkuài. The type of pronunciation you’re learning for your active use in this course is that of standard Mandarin, which is based on the dialect of Beijing and is considered the Chinese national language. While the majority of Chinese speakers throughout all of China can understand standard Mandarin without any problem, speakers from areas other than Beijing and environs frequently use non-standard, dialect-influenced pronunciations in their Mandarin. In the speech of non-standard Mandarin speakers there are fewer unstressed syllables and there is less use of the (r) suffix. Other common features of non-standard Mandarin include:

(a) Initialszh-, ch-, and sh- may lose the h to become z-, c-, and s- so that, for example, zhū “pig” sounds like zū “rent,” chăo “noisy” sounds like căo “grass,” and shān “mountain” sounds like sān “three.”

(b) Initial f- may change to hu- so that, for example, fàn “cooked rice” sounds like huàn “change.”

(c) The distinction between initials l- and n- may be lost so that, for example, lán “blue” and nán “difficult” sound the same.

(d) The distinction between finals -in and -ing and between finals -en and -eng may be lost so that, for example, xìn “letter” and xìng “be surnamed” sound the same, or so that dĕng “wait” sounds like dĕn.

(e) Tones may differ from standard Mandarin. For example, in the Mandarin dialect of Tianjin, only 75 miles from Beijing, syllables which would be Tone One in standard Mandarin are pronounced like standard Mandarin Tone Three, and syllables which would be Tone Two in standard Mandarin are pronounced as Tone One. Also, Mandarin as spoken by many speakers from Taiwan and southern mainland China has fewer neutral tones than when spoken by northern speakers. However, this doesn’t mean that you don’t need to learn standard Mandarin tones; when native Chinese speakers use tones in a non-standard manner, there is still a system to their speech (e.g., their Tone Three may correspond regularly to standard Mandarin Tone One), so standard speakers will subconsciously make the proper adjustments and still understand them. If you, as a non-native Chinese speaker, pronounce tones “any old way,” there will be no system, and you’re likely to be misunderstood.

You may be wondering how Chinese can communicate if all these distinctions in pronunciation are lost; and, in particular, how you’ll ever get all this straight. The short answer to the first question is that context usually makes the meaning clear. As regards the second question, for the time being just be aware that non-standard pronunciations exist, so that if you try out your Chinese in the local Chinese restaurant and hear someone say Wŏ sì Céndū rén rather than standard Mandarin Wŏ shi Chéngdū rén “I’m from Chengdu,” you won’t be overly surprised and will have a general idea of what is going on. The important thing for you to focus on now is learning how to speak and understand Mandarin with standard pronunciation. In time, as your Chinese language experience increases, you’ll gradually get used to common accented Mandarin pronunciations.

2C. The sentence final particle ó, which indicates interest or excitement, is especially common in Taiwan. It’s sometimes also used to indicate lively, friendly warnings. Examples:

2D. COMPLIMENTS. Chinese people are quick to compliment foreigners who can speak some Mandarin. In fact, no matter how long a foreigner has lived in China or how good their Chinese is, Chinese people will often express amazement that they can speak any Chinese at all; this rapidly gets tiring, especially for long-time foreign residents, but the best attitude probably is to grin and bear it. Chinese people traditionally don’t accept most compliments that are made to them, so if you’re complimented for your Chinese, it would be better if you didn’t just say Xièxie “thank you.” Instead, you should politely decline such compliments with Náli, náli “Not at all” or Mámahūhū “It’s only so-so” (lit. “horse-horse tiger-tiger”) or Hái chàde hĕn yuăn ne “I still have a long ways to go” or Shuĭpíng yŏuxiàn “My level is limited.” As for offering compliments to others, note that in Chinese society, you usually offer compliments only to someone equal or inferior in status. It would be presumptuous, for example, for a student to compliment a teacher on a class or lecture, for how (from the Chinese perspective) is the student able to judge? In English, students might compliment a teacher by saying “Hey, Professor, that was a great class!” but in Chinese you’d be more likely to say something like Wŏ jīntiān gēn lăoshī xuédàole hĕn duō dōngxi “Today I learned many things from the teacher.”

2E. Zài náli xuéde? “Where did you learn it?” is short for Nĭ shi zài náli xuéde? In rapid conversation, the shi of the shi...de construction is frequently omitted.

3. Unless clarified otherwise, dàlù “mainland” usually refers to the Chinese mainland.

4A. LE TO INDICATE TIME CONTINUING UP THROUGH THE PRESENT. Examine the question Nĭ lái Táiwān duō jiŭ le? Literally, this means something like “You come to Taiwan how long has it been?” In smoother English, we can translate this question as “How long have you been in Taiwan?” Now look at the answer to this question in line 5: Láile sān’ge duō yuè le “I’ve been here for more than three months.” In sentences indicating duration of time, a sentence-final particle le at the end of the sentence indicates that the action of the verb has been continuing for a period of time up to and including the present. This is like the English construction “have been VERB-ing (for a certain period of time).” The pattern is:

Be careful to distinguish sentences that have only a verb -le from those that have both a verb -le and a sentence-final particle le at the end of the sentence. Verb -le alone indicates completed action; verb -le and sentence le occurring together in a sentence indicate duration of time continuing up through the present. Contrast the following pairs:

“She worked at that trading company for five years.” (she’s not working there now)

“She’s been working at that trading company for five years.” (she’s still working there now)

“She studied Chinese for two years.” (e.g., when she was a student in college twenty years ago)

“She’s been studying Chinese for two years.” (and she’s still studying it now)

There is one exception to the rule about le at the end of a sentence to indicate time continuing up through the present. If there is an adverb like zhĭ “only” or cái “only” modifying the verb, then there is no le at the end of the sentence, even if the sense is that the action of the verb continues up through the present. The reason is that with zhĭ or cái, the focus is on relative shortness of time, not on continuity of time through the present. For example, consider the exchange below:

Speaker B: Wŏde tóngxué dōu xuéle yìnián le, kĕshi wŏ zhĭ xuéle bànnián.

“My classmates have all been studying for one year, but I’ve only been studying for half a year.”

4B. The question Nĭ lái Táiwān duō jiŭ le? “How long have you been in Taiwan?” is actually an abbreviated form of Nĭ lái Táiwān láile duō jiŭ le? with exactly the same meaning. Either construction is correct.

5A. IMPERATIVES CONSISTING OF VERB + STATIVE VERB + YÌDIĂN(R). In utterance 5, look at kāi màn yidian “drive more slowly.” This is a common pattern for telling someone how to do something. A pronoun such as nĭ may optionally be added at the beginning. The yìdiăn(r) at the end is often in the neutral tone. To sum up, the pattern is:

5B. Learn the resultative verb ending -sĭ “to the point of death” or “extremely,” as in xiàsĭ “frighten to death.” Other common resultative verbs ending in -sĭ include mángsĭ “so busy one is going to die—extremely busy,” lèisĭ “so tired one is going to die—extremely tired,” and gāoxìngsĭ “so happy one is going to die—incredibly happy.” Be aware the ending -sĭ is used mostly in statements, not in questions. So you could say Wŏ lèisĭle “I’m exhausted” but you couldn’t ask someone *Nĭ lèisĭle ma? “Are you exhausted?”

5C. Like its English equivalent, the question Kĕ bu kéyi kāi màn yidian? “Could you drive a little more slowly?” functions not as a question to be pondered and answered but rather as a polite request to do something. Other ways to convey the same meaning would be Qĭng nĭ kāi màn yidian and Kāi màn yidian, hăo bu hăo?

5D. Taiwan taxi drivers are renowned for their dare-devil driving. Don’t be hesitant to ask your driver to slow down if you think he or she is driving dangerously.

9A. Bú yòng zhăole is a common way to say “keep the change” (lit. “don’t need to make change”).

9B. Although tips aren’t usually given to taxi drivers in Taiwan, it’s customary to round off fares and let drivers keep small change. In Beijing, taxi drivers aren’t allowed to take tips.

SV2A. As you may have guessed, the coverb zuò “by (car, bus, train, boat, airplane)” derives from the verb zuò “sit,” so the example sentence Wŏmen zuò jìchéngchē qù ba “Let’s go by taxi” could be translated literally as “Let’s sit in a taxi and go.”

SV2B. The formal written word for “taxi” in Taiwan is chūzū qìchē, the same as in mainland China. But in conversation, most people in Taiwan refer to taxis as jìchéngchē (lit. “calculate journey vehicle”).

SV3–4. The noun wèntí can mean “question” as well as “problem.” The context usually makes the meaning clear.

1. yàojĭn	be important [SV]
bú yàojĭn	be unimportant; “never mind” [IE]
Nĭ wàngle dài qián bú yàojĭn, wŏ yŏu.	That you forgot to bring money doesn’t matter; I’ve got some.
2. zuò	sit in/on; take; by (car, train, boat, airplane) [CV]
jìchéngchē (T)	taxi [N] (M: liàng)
zuò jìchéngchē	by taxi
Wŏmen zuò jìchéngchē qù ba.	Let’s go by taxi.
3. jiĕjué	solve [V]
jiĕjué wèntí	solve problems
Nèiyang bù néng jiĕjué wèntí.	You can’t solve problems that way.
4. wèntí	question [N]
Lăoshī, wŏ yŏu yíge wèntí.	Teacher, I have a question.

Màn diănr ó!	“Hey, buddy, slow down!”
Bù zăole ó!	“Hey, it’s getting late, you know!”

SENTENCE INDICATING DURATION OF TIME	LE
Wŏ xué Rìyŭ xuéle liùge yuè le.	le
“I’ve been studying Japanese for six months.”

Kāi kuài yidianr.	“Drive a little faster.”
Zŏu màn yidianr.	“Walk more slowly.”
Nĭ shuō qīngchu yidian.	“Speak more clearly.”
Xiĕ hăokàn yidian.	“Write it nicer.” (lit. “Write it more good-looking by a little.”)

VERB	STATIVE VERB	YÌDIĂN(R)
kāi	màn	yidian
“drive more slowly”