USF Chinese Learning in the Culture

Eric Shepherd, Xizhen Qin, Peijun Liu, Qiong Wu

1.1 Dialogue Setting

Meeting at the Airport: The following exchange takes place at the Beijing Capital Airport. Li
Aihua is an American student who has been studying Chinese in the US. She is now arriving in
Beijing, China as part of a short-term home stay program. Professor Wang has come to the
airport to pick Li Aihua up. The two have never met so is waiting outside of baggage claim with
a sign with Li Aihua's name written on it.
Chinese:

Pinyin:
L ihu:
Wng losh:

Qngwn, nn sh wnglosh ma?

W jish.
Vocabulary, Grammar, and Usage

1. Chinese surnames:
(l) a Chinese family name
(wng) a Chinese family name
(zhng) a Chinese family name
(lu) a Chinese family name
(chn) a Chinese family name
(yng) a Chinese family name
*Note that when stating names in Chinese, the surname/family name always comes first and is
followed by the given/first name.
2. Pronouns:
(n) you (neutral)
(nn) you (polite/honorific)
(w) I/me
(t) he/him
(t) she/her
(tmen) they/others; note that (-men) is a suffix that pluralizes the noun or pronoun that
it is attached to thus we have nmen (you plural), wmen (we/us), and tmen (they/them)
(zh) this
(n) that
3. Verb:
(qngwn) is a compound verb made up of two verbs qng (please/ to invite) and wn (to
ask); when used together it conveys the sense of "May I please ask...?"
4. Nouns:
(rn) people/person
(sh) book/books
(b) writing utensil (s)/pen (s)

USF Chinese Learning in the Culture

Eric Shepherd, Xizhen Qin, Peijun Liu, Qiong Wu

(bnzi) notebook (s)

(losh) general term for a teacher; term of address for teachers used following a surname
(xushng) student
5. Question Particle:
(ma) sentence final particle that indicates a question; compare the statement zh sh sh.
(This is a book.) with the question zh sh sh ma? (Is this a book?).
*Note that ma functions to mark questions in Chinese so there is no rise in intonation at the end
of questions as there is in English.
6. Question word:
(shnme) what; note that there is no need for the question particle ma in sentences that
already have question words
A. Zh sh shnme? (What is this?)
B. N sh shnme? (What is that?)
7. Copula:
(sh) verb that connects nouns; when connecting nouns it functions like the English verb "to
be/is"; when used alone as a response to a yes or no question, it functions like the English
"yes(literally, it is this way)".
A. Zh sh b. (This is a pen.)
B. N sh wng losh ma? (Are you Teacher Wang?)
C. T sh shnme rn? (What kind of person is he/she?/What role do they serve
in?)
T sh losh. (He/she is a teacher.)
D. N sh losh ma? (Are you a teacher?)
Sh. w sh losh. (Yes. I am a teacher.)
*(b) + verb (not verb): To negate verbs in Chinese, the verb negation marker
(b) is added before the verb. Note that the tone of b shifts depending on the tone of the word
that follows it.
A. Zh b sh b. (This is not a pen.)
B. N sh wng losh ma? (Are you Teacher Wang?)
W b sh wng losh. (I am not Teacher Wang.)
C. T sh losh ma? (Is he/she a teacher?)
T b sh losh. (He/she is not a teacher.)
(jish) verb that is an emphatic version of the copula sh; when used, as in the dialogue, as
a response to an inquiry about your identity, it indicates "I am (the person you have asked
about/that's me)".
A. N sh wng losh ma? (Are you Teacher Wang?)

USF Chinese Learning in the Culture

Eric Shepherd, Xizhen Qin, Peijun Liu, Qiong Wu

W jish. (That's me.)

Rehearsal
Linx y:
1

Qngwn , nn sh losh ma?

Sh, w sh lo sh.

Qngwn , t sh losh ma?

Sh, t sh losh.

Qngwn , n sh xusheng ma?

Sh, w sh xusheng.

Qngwn , t sh xusheng ma?

Sh, t sh xusheng.
Linx r:
1

Qngwn , nn sh wng losh ma?

Sh, w ji sh.

Qngwn , nn sh L losh ma?

Sh, w ji sh.

Qngwn , nn sh Yng losh ma?

USF Chinese Learning in the Culture

Sh, w ji sh.

Qngwn , nn sh Zhng losh ma?

Sh, w ji sh.

Qngwn , n sh L ihu ma?

Sh, w ji sh.
Lin x sn:
1

T sh shnme rn?

T sh losh.

T sh shnme rn?

T sh xusheng.

Tmen sh shnme rn?

Tmen sh losh.

Tmen sh shnme rn?

Tmen sh xusheng.
Lin x s:
1

Zh sh shnme?

Eric Shepherd, Xizhen Qin, Peijun Liu, Qiong Wu

USF Chinese Learning in the Culture

Zh sh sh.

Zh sh shnme?

Zh sh b.

Zh sh shnme?

Zh sh bnzi.
Linx w:
1

N sh shnme?

N sh sh.

N sh shnme?

N sh b.

N sh shnme?

N sh bnzi.
Lin x li:
1

Qngwn ,nn sh losh ma?

B sh ,w sh xusheng.

Qngwn , n sh xusheng ma?

Eric Shepherd, Xizhen Qin, Peijun Liu, Qiong Wu

USF Chinese Learning in the Culture

B sh , w sh losh.

Qngwn ,t sh Wng losh ma?

B sh , t sh Li losh.

Qngwn , t sh L losh ma?

B sh , t sh Chn losh.

Eric Shepherd, Xizhen Qin, Peijun Liu, Qiong Wu