Intermediate Spoken Chinese

Lydia Dunn, who has just enrolled as a graduate student in art history at National Taiwan University in Taipei, is looking for an apartment. From a campus telephone booth, she calls the telephone number listed in a newspaper advertisement to find out more information.

Basic Conversation 17-3

1. TAIWANESE LANDLORD	Wéi?
	Hello?
2. DUNN	Wéi? Wŏ zài bàoshang kàndào nĭmende guănggào—
	Hello? In the newspaper I saw your advertisement—
3. TAIWANESE LANDLORD	Duìbuqĭ, nĭde diànhuà záyīn tài dàle, tīngbuqīngchu. Qĭng nĭ shuō dà shēng yìdiăn.
	I’m sorry, there’s too much static on your line, I can’t hear clearly. Please speak a little louder.
4. DUNN	Wéi? Wŏ shuō wŏ zài bàoshang kàndào nĭmende guănggào (M.), yŏu gōngyù yào chūzū (Shìde.). Bù zhīdào zūchuqule méiyou?
	Hello? I said that I saw your advertisement in the newspaper (Yeah.), you have an apartment to rent out (Yes.). I wonder if it has been rented out or not?
5. TAIWANESE LANDLORD	Hái méiyou, dànshi yŏu rén lái kànguo, hăoxiàng mán yŏu xìngqude (Ò.). Rúguŏ nĭ xiăng lái kànde huà, zuìhăo zăo yìdiăn.
	Not yet, but somebody came to look at it, and they seem to be quite interested (Oh.). If you want to come look at it, you’d better come soon.
6. DUNN	Qĭng wèn, gōngyù yŏu duō dà?
	Excuse me, how big is the apartment?
7. TAIWANESE LANDLORD	Chàbuduō yŏu sānshiwŭpíng. Yŏu kètīng, cāntīng, sānjiān wòshì, yùshì gēn chúfáng.
	It’s about 35 ping. It has a living room, dining room, three bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen.

Build Up

1. Taiwanese landlord
Wéi?	Hello?
2. Dunn
bào	newspaper [N] (M: fèn)
zài bàoshang	in the newspaper
guănggào	advertisement [N]
Wéi? Wŏ zài bàoshang kàndào nĭmende guănggào—	Hello? In the newspaper I saw your advertisement—
3. Taiwanese landlord
záyīn	noise, static [N]
záyīn tài dàle	static is too loud
-qīngchu	clear [RE]
tīngqīngchu	hear clearly [RC]
tīngbuqīngchu	not be able to hear clearly
dà shēng	in a loud voice [PH]
shuō dà shēng yìdiăn	speak in a louder voice
Duìbuqĭ, nĭde diànhuà záyīn tài dàle, tīngbuqīngchu. Qĭng nĭ shuō dà shēng yìdiăn.	I’m sorry, there’s too much static on your line, I can’t hear clearly. Please speak a little louder.
4. Dunn
gōngyù	apartment [N]
yŏu gōngyù yào chūzū	you have an apartment to rent
shìde	“yes” [IE]
zū	rent [V]
-chūqu	out [RE]
zūchuqu	rent out [RC]
Wéi? Wŏ shuō wŏ zài bàoshang kàndào nĭmende guănggào (M.), yŏu gōngyù yào chūzū (Shìde.). Bù zhīdào zūchuqule méiyou?	Hello? I said that I saw your advertisement in the newspaper (Yeah.), you have an apartment to rent out (Yes.). I wonder if it has been rented out or not?
5. Taiwanese landlord
zuìhăo	it would be best, had better [MA]
yŏu xìngqu	have interest, be interested
Hái méiyou, dànshi yŏu rén lái kànguo, hăoxiàng mán yŏu xìngqude (Ò.). Rúguŏ nĭ xiăng lái kànde huà, zuìhăo zăo yìdiăn.	Not yet, but somebody came to look at it, and they seem to be quite interested (Oh.). If you want to come look at it, you’d better come soon.
6. Dunn
yŏu duō dà	is how big
Qĭng wèn, gōngyù yŏu duō dà?	Excuse me, how big is the apartment?
7. Taiwanese landlord
píng (T)	(unit of area, 36 sq. ft.) [M]
jiān	(for rooms) [M]
wòshì	bedroom [PW] (M: jiān)
yùshì	bathroom [PW] (M: jiān)
chúfáng	kitchen [PW] (M: jiān)
Chàbuduō yŏu sānshiwŭpíng. Yŏu kètīng, cāntīng, sānjiān wòshì, yùshì gēn chúfáng.	It’s about 35 ping. It has a living room, dining room, three bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen.

2. In English we say “in the newspaper” but in Chinese one says bàoshang “on the newspaper.” One could NEVER say *bàoli.

3A. The Taiwanese landlord has a Taiwanese accent in her Mandarin. For example, instead of standard Mandarin tīngbuqīngchu she says tīngbuqīngcu. Later, in line 7, instead of standard chàbuduō she says càbuduō.

3B. Qĭng nĭ shuō dà shēng yidian literally means “Please you speak in a little bigger voice,” i.e., “Please speak up a little.” Here is another example with dà shēng:

Also, compare dà shēng with SV4 xiăo shēng “in a low voice, quietly,” as in:

4A. Examine the sentence Wŏ shuō wŏ zài bàoshang kàndào nĭmende guănggào “I said that I saw your advertisement in the newspaper.” There is no verb suffix -le indicating completed action attached to the verb shuō here because shuō has as its object a whole clause (i.e., the long quotation that follows the verb shuō). When verbs like shuō or wèn “ask” are used to introduce direct or indirect quotations, no -le is used even though the action of “saying” or “asking” is completed.

4B. The parenthetical comments (M.) “Yeah” and (Shìde.) “Yes” in this line as well as (Ò.) “Oh” in line 5 are examples of so-called backchannel comments by the other speaker (7-4: 6C). It’s important when conversing with a Chinese speaker to indicate that you’re following her or his comments by using such backchannel comments; this is especially important when speaking on the telephone, since your interlocutor doesn’t have visual cues available.

4C. Zū alone means “rent (from someone else),” while zūchuqu is a resultative compound meaning “rent out (to someone else).”

5. ZUÌHĂO. This common moveable adverb means “it would be best” or “had better.” Since zuìhăo is a moveable adverb, it can occur either before or after the subject; but it occurs most frequently after the subject and before the verb. Zuìhăo is frequently used before the negative imperatives bié and búyào “don’t” to express “You better not....” The most common pattern with zuìhăo is:

It’s true that zuìhăo sometimes can be translated as “it would be best if” (e.g., Nĭ zuìhăo bié qù “It would be best if you didn’t go”), but be careful never to add a rúguŏ or yàoshi in such a sentence. Some more examples of zuìhăo:

Nĭ zuìhăo zăo yìdiăn dào chēzhàn qù, yàoburán kĕnéng huì gănbushàng huŏchē.

“You better go to the station early, otherwise you might not make the train.”

Nĭ zuìhăo xiān chī diăn dōngxi, yàoburán dĕng yìhuĭr yì mángqilai, jiù méi shíjiān le.

“You better eat something first, otherwise in a while when you get busy, you won’t have time.”

When pronouncing zuìhăo, be careful to distinguish it from zuìhòu “in the end.” Also, distinguish zuìhăo “it would be best, had better” from zhĭhăo “can only, have no choice but” (8-4: 5B). Finally, distinguish zuìhăo from the combination of the adverb zuì and the stative verb hăo as in zuì hăo, which simply means “best.” For example:

6. YŎU + QUANTITY EXPRESSION + STATIVE VERB TO INDICATE SIZE, DISTANCE, ETC. In this line, look at the question Gōngyù yŏu duō dà? “How big is the apartment?” (lit. “Apartment has how big?”) Then, in line 7, look at the sentence Chàbuduō yŏu sānshiwŭpíng “It’s about 35 ping” (lit. “About has 35 ping”). The verb yŏu “have” can be followed by quantity expressions to indicate size, area, years of age, etc. Often the quantity expression is followed by a stative verb. The basic pattern is:

7. Píng is a unit of area equal to 36 square feet or 3.4 square meters that was introduced during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan and is still used there today to indicate the area of apartments and houses. A píng is the size of two tatami mats. In Beijing, apartments are usually described as èrjūshì or liăngjūshì “two-room apartment” and sānjūshì “three-room apartment.” Another way to say “two-room apartment” in Beijing would be liăng shì yì tīng, lit. “two bedrooms and one living room.”

AV1–9. ROOMS AND BUILDINGS. These words related to rooms and buildings are listed in alphabetical order of the English translations.

1. chuānghu	window [N]
Bú yòng guān chuānghu, kāizhe hăole.	You don’t need to close the windows, it will be fine to keep them open.
2. kōngtiáo	air conditioning [N]
3. shēngyīn	sound; voice [N]
4. xiăo shēng	in a low voice, quietly [PH]
5. ānjìng	be quiet [SV]
6. chăo	be noisy [SV]
7. lìkè	immediately [A]

1. gélóu	attic [PW]
2. yángtái	balcony [PW]
3. dìxiàshì	basement [PW]
4. wòfáng	bedroom [PW] (M: jiān)
5. fàntīng	dining room [PW] (M: jiān)
6. diàntī	elevator [PW]
7. chēkù	garage [PW]
8. kèfáng	guest room [PW] (M: jiān)
9. lóutī	staircase [PW]

SUBJECT	ZUÌHĂO	VERB PHRASE
Nĭ	zuìhăo	bié wèn ta.
“You (had) better not ask him.”

YŎU	QUANTITY EXPRESSION	STATIVE VERB
Yŏu	sāngōnglĭ	cháng.
“It’s three kilometers long.” (lit. “It has three kilometers long.”)