Lesson 1 Dialogue 1

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Lesson 1 Dialogue 1

• Grammar

2
??!(Ni hao!) a common form of greeting

• It can be used to address strangers upon first
  introduction or between old acquaintances.
• To respond, simply repeat the same greeting.

3

• ?? (qing wèn) is a polite formula to be used to
  get someones attention before asking a question
  or making an inquiry
• similar to excuse me, may I please ask in
  English.

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?? (xiaojie) Miss, Young Lady

• A word with two third tone syllables. The tone
  sandhi rule applies, thus making the first third
  tone ? (xiao) a second tone.
• The second syllable ? (jie) can also be
  pronounced in the neutral tone

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The Verb ? (xìng)

• ? (xìng) is both a noun and a transitive verb.
• When it is used as a verb, it must be followed by
  an object.

6

• A

• B

• My surname is Li
• Wo xìng Li.
• ????

• What is your surname? (Lit You are surnamed
  what?)
• Ni xìng shénme?
• ?????

7

• ?(xìng) is usually negated with ? (bù).

8

• A

• B

• Is your family name Li?
• Ni xìng Li ma?
• ?????

• My surname is not Li.
• Wo bú xìng Li.
• ?????

9

• However, when ? (xìng) is used with ?(guì) to
  form a respectful or polite expression to ask for
  someones surname, the proper way to inquire and
  to respond is as follows

10

• A

• B

• What is your surname?(Lit Your honorable surname
  is?)
• Ni guì xìng?
• ????

• My surname is Wang.
• Wo xìng Wáng.
• ????
• Remember to drop the honorific ?(guì) when you
  reply

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Questions Ending with ? (ne)

• ? (ne) often follows a noun or pronoun to form a
  question when the content of the question is
  already clear from the context.

12

• A

• B

• Whats your family name, please?
• Qing wèn, ni guì xìng?
• ??, ????

• My family name is Li. How about you?
• Wo xìng Li, ni ne?
• ???,???

13

• A

• B

• Whats your name?
• Ni jiào shénme míngzi?
• ???????

• My name is Wang Peng. How about you?
• Wo jiào Wáng Péng, ni ne?
• ????,???

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• When ? (ne) is used in this way, there must be
  some context.
• In each of the two examples above, the context is
  provided by the preceding sentence, ??? (Wo xìng
  Li) in (1), and ???? (Wo jiào Wáng Péng) in (2).

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The Verb ? (jiào)

• The verb ? (jiào) has several meanings.
• It means to be called in this lesson.
• Like ? (xìng), it must be followed by an object,
  which can be either a full name or a given name,
  but seldom a given name that consists only of one
  syllable.

16

• A

• B

• What is your name?
• Ni jiào shénme míngzi?
• ???????

• My name is Wang Peng.
• Wo jiào Wáng Péng.
• ?????

17

• ? (jiào) is usually negated with ? (bù).

18

• A

• B

• Is your name Li Sheng?
• No jiào Li Sheng ma?
• ??????

• My name is not Li Sheng.
• Wo bú jiào Li Sheng.
• ??????

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the basic word order in a Chinese sentence
Subject Verb Object

• The word order remains the same in statements and
  questions.
• Remember that you dont place the question word
  at the beginning of a question as you do in
  English, unless that question word is the
  subject.

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??

• ??