Intermediate Spoken Chinese

The Taiwanese landlord answers more of Dunn’s questions about the apartment and makes an appointment with Dunn for her to view it (continued from the previous lesson).

Basic Conversation 17-4

1. DUNN	Yŏu méiyou jiājù, diànhuà?
	Does it have furniture and a telephone?
2. TAIWANESE LANDLORD	Yŏu yìxiē jiăndānde jiājù xiàng shāfā, cānzhuō, shūzhuō, chuáng, yīguì shemmede. Méiyou diànhuà.
	It has some simple furniture like a sofa, dining table, desk, bed, clothes closet and so on. There’s no phone.
3. DUNN	Fángzū yíge yuè dàgài shi duōshăo?
	About how much would the rent per month be?
4. TAIWANESE LANDLORD	Yíge yuè sānwànkuài, shuĭdiànfèi lìngwài suàn.
	30,000 NT per month, with water and electricity not included.
5. DUNN	Nà wŏ shémme shíhou lái bĭjiào fāngbian?
	So when would it be convenient for me to come?
6. TAIWANESE LANDLORD	Nĭ kéyi jīntiān xiàwŭ guòlái, míngtiān shàngwŭ yĕ kéyi. Zài wăn jiù pà biérén yĭjīng yào qiānyuē le.
	You could come over this afternoon or tomorrow morning. Any later and I’m afraid somebody else might already want to sign a lease.
7. DUNN	Wŏ jīntiān xiàwŭ sìdiăn zuŏyòu dào, fāng bù fāngbian?
	If I arrived this afternoon around 4:00, would that be convenient?
8. TAIWANESE LANDLORD	Méi wèntí. Guìxìng?
	No problem. What’s your last name?
9. DUNN	Wŏ xìng Dèng, Dèng Lì.
	My last name is Deng, Deng Li.
10. TAIWANESE LANDLORD	Hăode, Dèng Xiáojie, sìdiăn zhōng jiàn.
	All right, Ms. Deng, see you at four o’clock.
11. DUNN	Báibái.
	Bye.

Build Up

1. Dunn
Yŏu méiyou jiājù, diànhuà?	Does it have furniture and a telephone?
2. Taiwanese landlord
yìxiē	some [NU+M]
yìxiē jiăndānde jiājù	some simple furniture
shāfā	sofa [N] (M: tào)
cānzhuō	dining table [N] (M: zhāng)
xiàng shāfā cānzhuō	like a sofa and a dining table
shūzhuō(r)	desk [N] (M: zhāng)
chuáng	bed [N] (M: zhāng)
yīguì	clothes closet [N]
Yŏu yìxiē jiăndānde jiājù xiàng shāfā, cānzhuō, shūzhuō, chuáng, yīguì shemmede. Méiyou diànhuà.	It has some simple furniture like a sofa, dining table, desk, bed, clothes closet and so on. There’s no phone.
3. Dunn
fángzū	rent [N]
Fángzū yíge yuè dàgài shi duōshăo?	About how much would the rent per month be?
4. Taiwanese landlord
shuĭfèi	water fee [N]
diàn	electricity [N]
diànfèi	electricity fee [N]
shuĭdiànfèi	water and electricity fee [N]
lìngwài	in addition [MA]
lìngwài suàn	be figured in addition
Yíge yuè sānwànkuài, shuĭdiànfèi lìngwài suàn.	30,000 NT per month, with water and electricity not included.
5. Dunn
fāngbian	be convenient [SV]
bĭjiào fāngbian	relatively convenient
Nà wŏ shémme shíhou lái bĭjiào fāngbian?	So when would it be convenient for me to come?
6. Taiwanese landlord
jīntiān xiàwŭ guòlái	come over this afternoon
zài wăn	further late, any later
biérén	another person, others [PR]
qiānyuē	sign a lease [VO]
biérén yào qiānyuē le	someone else wants to sign a lease
Nĭ kéyi jīntiān xiàwŭ guòlái, míngtiān shàngwŭ yĕ kéyi. Zài wăn jiù pà biérén yĭjīng yào qiānyuē le.	You could come over this afternoon or tomorrow morning. Any later and I’m afraid somebody else might already want to sign a lease.
7. Dunn
sìdiăn zuŏyòu dào	arrive around 4:00
fāng bù fāngbian	convenient or inconvenient
Wŏ jīntiān xiàwŭ sìdiăn zuŏyòu dào, fāng bù fāngbian?	If I arrived this afternoon around 4:00, would that be convenient?
8. Taiwanese landlord
Méi wèntí. Guìxìng?	No problem. What’s your last name?
9. Dunn
Dèng	Deng [SN]
Wŏ xìng Dèng, Dèng Lì.	My last name is Deng, Deng Li.
10. Taiwanese landlord
Hăode, Dèng Xiáojie, sìdiăn zhōng jiàn.	All right, Ms. Deng, see you at four o’clock.
11. Dunn
Báibái.	Bye.

2A. Note yìxiē “some, a little” in yŏu yìxiē jiăndānde jiājù “it has some simple furniture.” You’ve previously seen zhèixiē “these” and nèixiē “those” (12-2: 8A). Then you learned xiē “some” in 15-4, in the phrase hái yŏu xiē tiáoliào “there are also some condiments.” Actually, xiē is an abbreviated form of the full form yìxiē, which has the same meaning as xiē. Yìxiē and xiē indicate a small, indefinite number or amount. When they denote an amount of something, they’re often interchangeable with yìdiăn(r). Some more examples with (yì)xiē:

Tāde péngyou hĕn duō, yŏu xiē shi Zhōngguo rén, yŏu xiē shi wàiguo rén.

In 7-2 we learned yŏude, which can also mean “some.” How are yìxiē and yŏude to be distinguished? Both of these can be used as pronoun subjects or to describe a noun subject. However, yìxiē can also follow the verb in a sentence, while yŏude can never follow the verb. So you can say Wŏ gĕile tā yìxiē shū “I gave her some books” but you CANNOT say *Wŏ gĕile tā yŏude shū.

Yìxiē or xiē, in the sense of “a little,” can also substitute for yìdiăn(r) in comparative constructions. For example:

2B. INNOVATIVE PRONUNCIATIONS. In the speech of some younger Beijing women, the word yìxiē is pronounced so that it sounds more like yìsiē. In fact, there are a number of new-style pronunciations common among the younger generation in Beijing. These innovative pronunciations include:

a. Use of s- in place of x- so that, for example, hĕn xiăo “very small” sounds like hĕn siăo and yìxiē “some” sounds like yìsiē.

b. Use of z- in place of j- so that, for example, jiŭ “nine” sounds like ziŭ, jīntiān “today” sounds like zīntiān, and jiànshè “construct” sounds like ziànshè.

c. Use of a lightly articulated v- in place of w- so that, for example, wèn “ask” sounds almost like vèn- and wĕidà “great” sounds somewhat like vĕidà. Some speakers may actually articulate a w- but spread and press their lips together so that the sound produced sounds like a v-.

The innovative pronunciations in (a) and (b) above are most frequently encountered in the speech of younger women from Beijing and environs. Men don’t normally use these pronunciations, which are considered feminine. However, the use of v- for w- appears to be more widespread, being heard even in the speech of television announcers—and in both mainland China and Taiwan. (One common example is vănjiān xīnvén for wănjiān xīnwén “evening news.”) While you should become familiar with these innovative pronunciations so that you can understand them when heard, it’s recommended that in your own speech you use the standard pronunciations you’ve learned, which are still preferred.

2C. Notice the use of xiàng “like” in Yŏu yìxiē jiăndānde jiājù xiàng shāfā, cānzhuō, shūzhuō, chuáng, yīguì shemmede “It has some simple furniture like a sofa, dining table, desk, bed, clothes closet and so on.” You had the verb xiàng previously in 13-2 in the sense of “resemble, be like.” In Chinese, xiàng is frequently used as an introductory verb, much like “like” in English. For example:

“Like today, the weather’s so bad, I really don’t much feel like going.”

2D. Shāfā, as you’ll probably have guessed, is a phonetic borrowing from English “sofa.” Be aware that while shāfā usually means “sofa,” some Chinese speakers use it for any type of chair or armchair with a soft, resilient cushion, even if it can seat only one person.

4. Study the structure of shuĭdiànfèi “water and electricity fee.” This is a combined form of shuĭfèi + diànfèi. Compare chēyuèpiào “individual bus tickets and monthly bus tickets” (from chēpiào + yuèpiào) that you learned in 9-4.

5A. Nà wŏ shémme shíhou lái bĭjiào fāngbian? “So when would it be convenient for me to come?” This line literally means “In that case, I what time come is comparatively convenient?”

5B. The common Chinese stative verb fāngbian “be convenient” deserves some comment. When refusing a request, rather than saying Bù xíng “No,” which would be considered too direct, Chinese people often say Bù fāngbian “That’s not convenient.” In fact, Bù fāngbian is one of the most common refusals. Of course, you also may turn someone down by saying Duìbuqĭ, bú tài fāngbian “I’m sorry, it’s not very convenient.” In general, fāngbian and bù fāngbian are used more loosely than in English, as is obvious from the next example:

“You can’t read Chinese characters, so reading a Chinese newspaper would be inconvenient.”

Be sure to distinguish the stative verb fāngbian “be convenient”‘ from the adverb shùnbiàn “conveniently, in passing, while I’m at it” that you learned in 11-2.

7. Notice the grammar of fāng bu fāngbian “convenient or not convenient.” This is a stative verb in an affirmative-negative question and represents an abbreviation of fāngbian bu fāngbian (cf. 5-1: 8A on deletion of second syllable of bisyllabic verbs in affirmative part of affirmative-negative questions).

1. yājīn	deposit [N]
Yājīn shi liăngge yuède fángzū.	The deposit is two months’ rent.
2. jiàoshì	classroom [N] (M: jiān)
qiáng	wall [N]
Wŏmen Zhōngwén jiàoshìde qiángshang guàzhe yìzhāng Zhōngguo dìtú.	There’s a map of China hanging on the wall of our Chinese language classroom.
3. yuànzi	courtyard, yard [N]
zhòng	plant [V]
huā(r)	flower [N] (M: duŏ for “a flower”)
zài yuànzili zhòng huār	plant flowers in the yard
jiăn	cut [V]
căo	grass [N] (M: gēn)
jiăncăo	mow the lawn [VO]
Xiānsheng zài jiăncăo, tàitai zài yuànzili zhòng huār.	The husband is mowing the lawn, and the wife is planting flowers in the yard.

Nĭ màn xiē zŏu.	“Walk a little slower.”
Zhèizhŏng bĭ nèizhŏng hăo yìxiē.	“This kind is a little better than that kind.”