Y: Ni hao Mark, what’s the problem?
B: dajia hao, wo shi Mark, sit in for Brendan… well there’s no problem here in the Chinese Studio, but I’ve realized I wouldn’t know wher to turn in the case of an emergency, so can you help me cover the emergency contingencies this week?
Y: Mei wenti. Here are some keywords to get us rolling.
Key words of the day
passport 护照wallet钱包Stop, thief! 抓小偷! wher’s a police station? 派出所在哪儿？ My bag was stolen 我的包被偷了。What was in it? 包里有什么？All in today’s Chinese Studio.
B: Although I haven’t had any problems, as yet, it’s better to be safe than sorry, be prepared. So let’s say Y, there he is, stop, thief,
Y: Put your best Chinese tones forward and call out … zhua1 xiao3 tou1.
B: zhua1 xiao3 tou1.
Y: zhua1 means to catch,
B: zhua1,
Y: xiao3 tou1 means thief,
B: xiao3 tou1,
Y: zhua1 xiao3 tou1
B: zhua1 xiao3 tou1, catch a thief,
Conversation 1
A: 抓小偷！
B: 抓小偷！ 别让他跑了。
B: He got away on me. you know that bag has my passport and wallet in it. wher’s a police station?
Y: That was too bad. Firstly, you should learn how to say this, pai4 chu1 suo3 zai4 na3er? wher’s a police station?
B: pai4 chu1 suo3 zai4 na3er?
Y: pai4 chu1 suo3 is a police station,
B: pa4 chu1 suo3,
Y: zai4 na3er literally means at wher,
B: zai4 na3er,
Y: pai4 chu1 suo3 zai4 na3er?
B: pai4 chu1 suo3 zai4 na3er? wher’s a police station?
Conversation 2
A: 我的钱包丢了，请问派出所在哪儿？
B: 往前200米。
B: The jing3 cha2, the police are very efficient, as long as I can tell them what happened. My bag was stolen.
Y: They’ll get the general idea if you say it like this: wo3 de bao1 bei4 tou1 le.
B: wo3 de bao1 bei4 tou1 le.
Y: wo3 de means mine,
B: wo3 de,
Y: bao1 is bag,
B: bao1,
Y: the word “bei4” is used to form a passive verbal phrase,
B: bei4,
Y: tou1 means steal,
B: tou1,
Y: wo3 de bao1 bei4 tou1 le.
B: wo3 de bao1 bei4 tou1 le. My bag was stolen.
Conversation 3
A: 出什么事了？
B: 我的包被偷了。
B: The police will probably ask something like, what was in your bag?
Y: Yes they will, they want to know包里有什么? What was in it?
B: bao1 li2 you3 shen2 me?
Y: bao1 means bag, and li3 means inside the bag,
B: bao1 li3,
Y: you3 shen2me, literally means have what?
B: you3 shen2me
Y: bao1 li2 you3 shen2 me?
B: bao1 li2 you3 shen2 me? What was in it?. And to tell them, my passport and wallet?
Y: Remember it’s hu4zhao4, a passport, and a wallet is qian2 bao1,
B: qian2 bao1,
Y: qian2 means money,
B: qian2,
Y: bao1 means a small flat case,
B: bao1,
Y: qian2 bao1,
B:qian2 bao1, a wallet,
Conversation 4
A: 包里有什么？
B: 有我的护照和钱包。
