Lesson 146 My Birthday Party

M: Dàjiāhǎo! Huānyíngshōutīng xiànzài xuéhànyǔ, wǒshì ML.

S: Wǒshì Stuart. Lesson 146 today!

M: Right! Today I'm going to enjoy my birthday party, 我的生日宴会。

S: Ur – ML, I'm so sorry…but I'm afraid that I can't join your birthday party. Duìbùqǐ, ML, wǒ kǒngpà bùnéng cānjiā nǐde shēngrìyànhuìle. wǒ kǒngpà bùnéng cānjiā nǐde shēngrìyànhuìle.
M: But why? Wèi shénme? Wèi shénme?

S: Because my uncle and aunt are arriving in Beijing today. They came all the way from New York. Yīnwéi wǒde gūfu hé gūmā jīntiān dàoběijīng. wǒde gū fu hé gū mā jīntiān dàoběijīng. Tāmen cóng nǐuyuē lái.

M: Oh, I see.

S: Oh, I almost forgot! Wǒ chàdiǎn wàngle. Look, I bought a gift for you. Wǒ mǎile yíge lǐwù gěinǐ. Happy birthday, ML!

M: Thank you, Stuart! Thank you so much!

S: Ok, let's look at the new stuff. I said, Duìbùqǐ, ML, wǒ kǒngpà bùnéng cānjiā nǐde shēngrì yànhuìle. Duìbùqǐ, ML, wǒ kǒngpà bùnéng cānjiā nǐde shēngrì yànhuìle.

M: Duìbùqǐ, duìbùqǐ, we've learnt, means "sorry". 恐怕，KONG PA, third tone fourth tone, kǒngpà, means ‘to be afraid'.

S: And since ‘néng' means ‘can', néng, can you guess what ‘bùnéng' means? Simple! Cannot, bùnéng, bùnéng.

M: And the last new word in this sentence is ‘cānjiā', CAN JIA, both first tone, means to take part in, to attend. So the whole sentence is –

S: ML, wǒ kǒngpà bùnéng cānjiā nǐde shēngrì yànhuìle. Wǒ kǒngpà bùnéng cānjiā nǐde shēngrì yànhuìle.

M: Stuart bùnéng cānjiā wǒde shēngrì yànhuìle. Tā bùnéng cānjiā wǒde shēngrì yànhuìle. Why? Wèishénme? Wèishénme?

S: Because, my uncle and aunt are arriving in Beijing today. Yīnwéi wǒde gūfu hé gūmā jīntiān dàoběijīng. wǒde gūfu hé gūmā jīntiān dàoběijīng.

M: Gūmā, GU MA, both first tone, gūmā, father's sister. Gūmā. And gūfu, GU FU, gūfu, is gūmā's husband. We know in English we simply call them aunt and uncle, however, in Chinese, we have the names all different for calling father's sisters and brothers, and mother's sisters and brothers. We'll explain bit by bit in our following lessons.

S: My aunt and uncle came all the way from New York. Wǒde gūmā hé gūfu cóng nǐuyuēlái. Wǒde gūmā hé gūfu cóng nǐuyuēlái. Nǐuyuē, NIU YUE, third tone first tone, nǐuyuē, New York.

M: 从纽约来，to come from New York, cóng nǐuyuē lái. Notice the cóng somewher lái pattern is very useful, which means to come from somewher. For example, I came from Beijing. 我从北京来。我从北京来。

S: Tā cóng shànghǎi lái. He came from Shanghai. Tā cóng shànghǎi lái.

M: And, they came from New York. Tāmen cóng nǐuyuē lái.

S: Ah, ML, I almost forgot! Wǒ chàdiǎn wàngle. Look, I bought a gift for you.

M: 忘了，forgot, 忘了。And ‘to forget' is simply 忘，WANG, fourth tone, wàng. chàdiǎn, almost, chàdiǎn. Wǒ chàdiǎn wàngle. I almost forgot. Wǒ chàdiǎn wàngle.

S: Wǒ mǎile yíge lǐwù gěinǐ. I bought a gift for you. Lǐwù, LI WU, third tone fourth tone, lǐwù, gift. And gěinǐ here means ‘for you'. The whole sentence again. ML, wǒ chàdiǎn wàngle. Wǒ mǎile yíge lǐwù gěinǐ. wǒ chàdiǎn wàngle. Wǒ mǎile yíge lǐwù gěinǐ.

M: And what is it? Let's find out the next lesson. Zàijiàn!

S: zàijiàn!