Learn one Chinese idiom, one Chinese sentence pattern by reading one joke in Chinese [Beginner]

January is always a busy month after holidays. That makes me think that probably we should do some light weight learning with a touch of humour to make our day more delightful. How about we start by learning one Chinese idiom and one Chinese sentence pattern before we read a joke (which is a really short one)?

I will explain the vocabulary you might encounter in the joke too. So when you start to read the joke, I recommend you to read all through without any look up. At the end of the joke, ask yourself whether you get it.

As it’s labeled in the title, this post is specifically for beginners, other level readers are also welcomed to test your Chinese reading on the joke.

OK now, the idiom we’ll learn today is 一无所知 yīwúsuǒzhī . Literarilly, it means “one not know”. It’s actual meaning is “know nothing about”. Then how can we use it in real life conversation? Well, this is wher the sentence pattern can help you with:

 

    … 对 … 一无所知 (… duì … yīwúsuǒzhī)

    (someone) knows nothing about (something)

 

A very simple example goes like this:

 

    wǒ duì nǐ yīwúsuǒzhī.

    我对你一无所知.

    I know nothing about you.

    

If we break them down, you’ll see the sentence pattern is used in this way:

 

    我 + 对 + 你 + 一无所知.

    

Is that clear?

For beginners, you might also need to know “one RMB dollar” in Chinese is “一元 yīyuán“;

“如果 rúguǒ” means “if”;

“算术 suànshù” means “math”;

“才 cái” means “really” in this context.

“向…要… xiàng … yào …” means “ask (something) from (somebody)”.

OK then, are you ready now? If yes, try to read the joke all by yourself. No peeking in your dictionary. Just try your best. In the end, see if you can get it. Have fun, my friends!

 

[simplified Chinese]

 

“如果你有一元钱，又向父亲要了两元，那你一共有多少钱？”

“一元。”

“你对算术真是一无所知。”

“你对我爸爸才一无所知。”

[tradiational Chinese]

“如果你有一元錢，又向父親要了兩元，那你一共有多少錢？”

“一元。”

“你對算術真是一無所知。”

“你對我爸爸才一無所知。”

 

 

[pinyin]

” rúguǒ nǐ yǒu yīyuán qián， yòu xiàng fùqīn yào le liǎng yuán， nà nǐ yī gòngyǒu duōshao qián？”

” yīyuán。”

” nǐ duì suànshù zhēn shì yīwúsuǒzhī。”

” nǐ duì wǒ bàba cái yīwúsuǒzhī。”

 [English]

“Say you have one dollar. You ask your Dad to give you another two dollars. Then how much money you have in total?”

“One dollar.”

“You really know nothing about math.”

“No, you really know nothing about my Dad.”