Lesson 050 Asking Qestions (2)

Yajie: Hello everybody, welcome to Chinese Studio. 欢迎大家收听《欢乐汉语》。I’m Yajie.
Cam: 大家好！(dajiahao) I’m Cam. Last time we learned how to ask questions with positive responses. Today we will learn the negative form.
Yajie: First let’s check key words of the day.

***************Key words of the day
Today we will learn to ask questions in the negative form such as, Won’t you go to the company today? 今天你不去公司吗 公司, company. 学校, school. 超市, supermarket.
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Yajie: 今天你不去公司吗？Won’t you go to the company today?
Cam: 今天你不去公司吗? (jintian ni bu qu gongsi ma?)
Yajie: 今天, today. All in first tone.
Cam: 今天(jintian).
Yajie: 你, ni, the third tone, meaning “you”.
Cam: 你(nǐ).
Yajie: 不去(bù qù). not going.
Cam: 不去(bú qù).
Yajie: 公司, company. 公, g-o-n-g, the first tone; 司, s-i, also the first tone.
Cam: 公司(gongsi).
Yajie: 今天你不去公司吗？Won’t you go to company today?
Cam: 今天你不去公司吗? (jintian ni bu qu gongsi ma?)

Conversations(1):

Cam: I’m a little bit confused after listening to the conversations, especially the answers to the questions. I think they are quite different from English.
Yajie: You can say 是, yes, or不, no. Then comes your statement. For instance if you don’t want to go to company today, you may say, 是的，今天我不去公司。The first part是的 is to confirm the question brought up.
Cam: 是的(shi de) means yes.  Such as yes, I will not go to the company today.
Yajie: Right.  After shi de, add 今天我不去公司。(jintian wo bu qu gongsi) I won’t go to the company today.
Cam: 今天我不去公司。(jintian wo bu qu gongsi)
Yajie: Also if you are working for the state-owned company in China, you may call it 单位(danwei), work unit.
Cam: 单位(danwei).
Yajie: 单,d-a-n, the first tone; 位, w-e-i, the fourth tone.
Cam: 单位(danwei).
Yajie: You know the Chinese word for school?
Cam: Is it 学校(xuexiao)?
Yajie: 学x-u-e, the second tone; 校x-i-a-o, the fourth tone.
Cam: 学校(xuexiao).

Conversations(2):

Cam: I remember that we’ve learned the Chinese word for supermarket, which is 超市(chaoshi), right? 
Yajie: Right. If you’d like to ask someone to come to the supermarket, you may say it in this way “现在你不去超市吗”?  Won’t you come to the supermarket now?
Cam: 现在你不去超市吗?(xianzai ni bu qu chaoshi ma?)
Yajie: 现在, now.
Cam: 现在(xianzai).
Yajie: 你,n-i, you,
Cam: 你(ni)
Yajie: 去, to go.
Cam: 去(qu).
Yajie: 超市, chaoshi, supermarket.
Cam: 超市(chaoshi). The first tone, and the fourth tone.
Yajie: 吗is the question mark. 现在你不去超市吗?
Cam: 现在你不去超市吗?(xianzai ni bu qu chaoshi ma?)

Conversations(3):

***************Key words Reminder
Won’t you go to the company today? 今天你不去公司吗 公司, company. 学校, school. 超市, supermarket.