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In the dorm Dachuan and Gao Qiang are playing Chinese chess. Then the telephone rings, and Dachuan answers it.

Dialogue One

wèi　nǐ　hǎo
喂， 你　好。
Hello.
nǐ　hǎo　qǐng　wèn　xiǎo　qiáng　zài　ma
你　好。　请　 问　　小　　强　　在　 吗？
Hello. Is Xiaoqiang there?
xiǎo　qiáng　nǐ　dǎ　cuò　le　zhèr　méi　yǒu　zhè　ge　rén
小　　 强？　你　打　错　 了。这儿　 没　 有　　这　 个　人。
Xiaoqiang? Wrong number. There is no person here with such a name.
xiǎo qiáng　shì　wǒ　de　xiǎo　míng　hǎo　de　wǒ　mǎ　shàng　lái
小　 强　　 是　 我　 的　 小　　名。　好　 的， 我　 马　　上　　来。
Xiaoqiang is my nick name. Ok. I'm coming.
Dialogue Two

wèi　nǐ　hǎo
喂， 你　好。
Hello.
nǐ　hǎo　qǐng　 wèn　gāo　qiáng　 zài　ma
你　好。　请　　问　　高　　强　　在　 吗？

Hello. Is Gao Qiang in?
zhēn　bù　qiǎo　 tā　qù　chī　fàn　le
真　　 不　 巧，　他　去　吃　饭　 了。
Sorry, he is out at the moment.
nà　wǒ　wǎn　 yì　 diǎnr　zài　dǎ　gěi　 tā　xiè　xie　zài　jiàn
那　 我　 晚　　一　点儿　 再　 打　给　 他。谢　 谢， 再　见。
I'll phone him later. Thanks. Bye.
zài　jiàn
再　 见。

Bye.
Explanation of difficult points


1. "小……" and "老……"
"小……" (xiǎo) is often used before surnames or given names as a type of nickname [e.g. in Dialogue 1, "高强" (gāo qiáng) uses the nickname "小强" (xiǎo qiáng)]. Another common way of making nicknames is by putting "老" (lǎo) before one's surname. Usually this is used with older men, for example, "老王" (lǎo wáng).

2. "这儿" and "这"
"这儿" (zhèr) versus "这" (zhè): The first means "here", the second means "this". "这儿" is the same as "这里" (zhè lǐ).

3. 真
"真" (zhēn) means "really" and is often used before an adjective to signal emphasis.

4. 那
"那" (nà) is defined in this dialogue as "in that case...".