Lesson 243 Cars (3)

Y: We’re cruisin’ in our car this week on Chinese Studio, join us for the ride. Wo shi Yajie.
B: Da jia hao, wo shi B., let’s test drive the new car, bring it on.
Y: Buckle up, we’re on our way. 

Key words of the day
Battery  电平I’ve got a flat battery电平没电了。Taillights, 尾灯。Indicators 转向灯 The tail-lights aren’t working.尾灯不亮了。Engine发动机Bonnet 发动机盖Traffic jam 堵车All in today’s Chinese Studio

B: We’ve just got one minor problem Y, the battery’s flat. Sorry, I forgot to turn off the lights last night.
Y: Never mind, these things happen. Anyway, the battery, you mean the 电平，
B: dian4 ping2.And, the battery’s flat in Chinese is…
Y: you can say: 电平没电了。
B: dian4 ping2 mei2 dian4 le.
Y: dian4 ping2 is battery,
B: dian4 ping2
Y: mei2 dian4 le means run out of power
B: mei2 dian4 le. 
Y:  dian4 ping2 mei2 dian4 le
B: dian4 ping2 mei2 dian4 le The battery’s flat.

Conversation 1
A: 车子怎么也打不着。
B: 可能是电平没电了。

B: I’ll be more careful in the future with turning off the lights.
Y: Good idea. Let’s learn how to say these lights in Chinese. Firstly, the indicator lights… that’s  转向灯 .
B: zhuan3 xiang4 deng1.   
Y: zhuan3 xiang4, means turn to another direction,
B: zhuan3 xiang4.
Y: deng1 is light,
B: deng1,
Y: zhuan3 xiang4 deng1.
B: zhuan3 xiang4 deng1.  And what about the tail-lights?
Y: we call those 尾灯。
B: wei3 deng1.
Y: wei3 means tail, or the rear end,
B: wei3,
Y: deng1 means light,
B: deng1,
Y: wei3 deng1.
B: wei3 deng1. tail-lights. So, the tail-lights aren’t working.
Y: You mean: 尾灯不亮了。
B: wei3 deng1 bu2 liang4 le
Y: liang4 literally means shine,
B:  liang4
Y: bu2 means not, bu2 liang4 means the light doesn’t shine, here it means the lights aren’t working… 
B:  bu2 liang4.
Y: wei3 deng1, tail lights, 
B: wei3 deng1,
Y: wei3 deng1 bu2 liang4 le
B: wei3 deng1 bu2 liang4 le.  the tail-lights aren’t working.

Conversation2
A: 灯好像不亮了。
B: 哪个灯？
A: 是尾灯。尾灯不亮了。

B: I’m not much of a mechanic Y, but still, it is quite fun poking around the engine, under the bonnet.
Y: That’s strictly off limits for me. But I can say what we call them in Chinese. Engine in Chinese is 发动机。
B: fa1 dong4 ji1.
Y: And the bonnet, or hood,  that’s 发动机盖。
B: fa1 dong4 ji1 gai4.
Y:  gai4 simply means bonnet, or hood,
B: gai4.
Y:  fa1 dong4 ji1 is engine,
B: fa1 dong4 ji1
Y: fa1 dong4 ji1 gai4,
B: fa1 dong4 ji1 gai4, bonnet, 

Conversation 3
A: 问题到底出在哪？
B: 把发动机盖打开。让我看看发动机有没有问题。

B: We’re just about ready to go, but I do want to miss the rush hour.
Y: That’s essential, otherwise we’ll be caught in a traffic jam.
B: What’s traffic jam Y?
Y: we call it du3 che1.
B: du3 che1. 
Y: du3 means jam,
B:  du3,
Y: che1 literally means car,
B:  che1,
Y: du3 che1
B: du3 che1, traffic jam.

Conversation 4
A: 咱们晚点再走吧。
B: 好主意。不然碰上堵车就惨了。