Y: wo shi Y, and this is Chinese Studio, wher you can improve your Chinese every day. What’s the problem B?
B: Serves me right I guess, those snacks were too much of a good thing, and I’ve broken one of my teeth.
Y: Ok, no arguing, we’re off to see the wonderful dentist in Beijing.
Key words of the day
Tooth/teeth 牙，I need to see a dentist. 我要看牙医。I lost a tooth. 我掉了颗牙。Toothbrush牙刷, toothpaste 牙膏，I don’t want the tooth pulled out. 我不想拔牙 All in today’s Chinese Studio.
Y: That was a little bit of bad luck B, our teeth are precious things. In Chinese we call them ya2, and that has nothing to do with my name Yajie.
B: Ya4, tooth or teeth, and what do we call the tooth doctor, the dentist?
Y: That’s a ya2 yi1.
B: ya2 yi1.
Y: yi1 is short for yi1 sheng1, and it means doctor,
B: yi1,
Y: ya2 yi1.
B: ya2 yi1. dentist. So, I need to see a ya2 yi1.
Y: People won’t understand that B, try this instead. Wo3 yao4 kan4 ya2 yi1.
B: Wo3 yao4 kan4 ya2 yi1
Y: wo3 yao4 means I need to do something,
B: wo3 yao4,
Y: kan4 means to see,
B: kan4,
Y: ya2 yi1, the dentist,
B: ya2 yi1,
Y: Wo3 yao4 kan4 ya2 yi1
B: Wo3 yao4 kan4 ya2 yi1 I need to see a dentist.
Conversation 1
A: 我要看牙医。需要预约吗？
B: 不需要，直接去就可以了。
Y: So here we are at the yiyuan, the hospital which is wher the dentists usually work.
B: Those guys in the white coats look as though they mean business. I want to say, I lost a tooth.
Y: Okay, you can say: 我掉了颗牙。
B: wo3 diao4 le ke1 ya2.
Y: diao4 means lost,
B: diao4,
Y: ke1 is the measure word for tooth. Here it’s short for yi4 ke1, which means one,
B: ke1,
Y: ya2 is tooth,
B: ya2,
Y: wo3 diao4 le ke1 ya2.
B: wo3 diao4 le ke1 ya2. I lost a tooth.
Conversation 2
A: 大夫, 我掉了颗牙。
B: 让我看看。
B: Time to hop on that torture chair, and I’d like to tell ya2 yi1, the dentist, I don’t want my tooth pulled out.
Y: You could use sign language, but better still, say this, wo3 bu4 xiang3 ba2 ya2.
B: wo3 bu4 xiang3 ba2 ya2.
Y: bu4 xiang3 means don’t want something,
B: bu4 xiang3,
Y: ba2 ya2 means to pull out the tooth,
B: ba2 ya2,
Y: wo3 bu4 xiang3 ba2 ya2.
B: wo3 bu4 xiang3 ba2 ya2. I don’t want the tooth pulled out.
Conversation 3
A: 我不想拔牙。
B: 没事，不疼的。
B: It’s not all bad news here in the dental clinic, I’ve never seen so many smiles, at least in the brochures which are advertising toothbrushes and tooth paste. What do we call those Y?
Y: A tooth brush is ya2 shua1,
B: ya2 shua1,
Y: as ya2 means tooth, and shua1 means brush,
B: ya2 shua1, toothbrush,
Y: And toothpaste is ya2 gao1,
B: ya2 gao1,
Y: gao1 is something like paste,
B: gao1,
Y: ya2 gao1
B: ya2 gao1, toothpaste,
Conversation 4
A: 你要买什么？
B: 牙膏和牙刷。
