CHINESE 1

中文一
Seminar 1 Week 4
Tracy
What did you learn in Week 3?

radicals
Today’s outline

Revision of Lesson 1 (Words & Grammar)

New words and expressions of Lesson 2

Text study & Grammar notes of Lesson 2

Lesson 1 您贵姓 ? nín guì xìng?
1. I am Australian.
2. What nationality are you?
3. I am Chinese. What about you?
4. Do you study Chinese?
5. We don’t study English. We study Chinese.
6. I am French and she is also French.
7. We all study Chinese.
Lesson 2 你住哪儿? ní zhù nǎr?
Characters 汉字 hàn zì

去 住 生 宿 舍 房 间 几 号 路
qù zhù shēng sù shè fáng jiān jǐ hào lù

给 打 电 话 在 家 今 明 午 晚
gěi dǎ diàn huà zài jiā jīn míng wǔ wǎn
词 语 CÍ YǓ
 Grammar Point 1
1) S 去 place

我去北京路。 I go to Beijing Road. ---- Question ?

他去中国。 He goes to China.

• 去 MUST be followed by a place or another verb becoming S 去 + V O.

我去学习法语。I go to study French. Here 去 is followed by another verb “to study”.

* The sentences such as “I go to the movies” or “They go to the opera” make no sense in Chinese, because “the movies” or “the
opera” are not places. In Chinese, you must say “I go to see a film” or “They go to watch an opera”.

* Go home. (in Chinese, 去 is NOT used in this V-O structure. You will learn the Chinese word of “return”, and in Chinese we say
“return home”, NOT “go home”)
 Grammar Point 2
2) 是……吗?
Is it… ? = a brief way to confirm the situation；
是南京路吗？
是中文一教室吗？
是王老师吗？

Eg. Is it right?
Is it Sidney Myer?
Grammar Point 3
3）几号+ 楼/房间?
What is your building/room number?

几 & 多少 ? (question words for number)

多少 duō shǎo: refers to a larger number (quantity).

你住北京路多少号？我住北京路328号。
几: refers to a small number (quantity).
你住留学生宿舍几号楼？我住留学生宿舍3号楼。
 Grammar Point 4
4) 205房间/北京路328号
205房间– 205 èr líng wǔ
北京路328号 – 328 sān bǎi èr shí bā
Number Chinese pinyin
Number Chinese pinyin number
number 100 一百 yì bǎi
4 四 sì
101 一百零一 yì bǎi líng yī
5 五 wǔ
10 十 shí 110 一百一十 yì bǎi yī shí
11 十一 shí yī 128 一百二十八 yì bǎi èr shí bā
12 十二 shí èr
1675 一千六百七十五 yì qiān liù bǎi qī
20 二十 èr shí
shí wǔ
99 九十九 jiǔ shí jiǔ
Grammar Point 5
5) S 给 somebody V O
◦ 给 leads the receiver of the action (somebody); 给 somebody should be in the adverb
position.

我给我妈妈买书。 I buy books for my mum. (妈: mother; 买: to buy; 书: book)

我给我朋友打电话。I make a phone call to my friend. (I ring my friend.)

◦ The negative form for S 给 somebody V O

In a negative sentence, “不”should be placed before给 somebody.

我不给她打电话。 I will not ring her.

Grammar Point 6
6) Auxiliary/modal/helping verbs (which help other verbs) such as
“can/may” (可以) should, like English, precede the verbs they help.

我可以去你（的）宿舍吗？ May I go to your dormitory?

你可以去我（的）宿舍。You may go to my dormitory.

For the sentence containing an auxiliary verb “可以” and “给 somebody”, “可

以” should be placed before the latter.

你可以给我打电话。 You may make a phone call to me? (You may ring me.)
 Grammar Point 7
7) S 在 place
This structure is equivalent to the English structure: someone/something is in a place. In Chinese, however, verb “to
be” is not required in this structure. 在 = to be in/at/on …
她在英国。 She is in UK.
她在哪儿？ Where is she?
我的汉语书在那儿。 My Chinese book is over there.
你的汉语书在哪儿？ Where is your Chinese book? (书: book)

7.1 The negative form for S 在 place: placing “不” before “在 place”
他不在家，他在宿舍。He is not at home, he is in the dormitory.
7.2 Adverb “都” should be placed before “在 place”; and the negative form, “不在 place”
我们都在宿舍。 We are all in the dormitory.
他们都不在家。 They are all not at home.
 Grammar Point 8
◦ T S (T) + … T = time words such as today; tomorrow afternoon; next year, 3pm, etc. In Chinese,
time words are placed either before or after subject (S).

明天晚上我可以给你打电话吗？ Can I ring you tomorrow evening?

我今天下午不在家。 I will not be at home this afternoon.

你明天下午去哪儿？ Where are you going tomorrow afternoon?

8.1 The sequence of times: larger unit precedes smaller unit.

今天上午 this morning 明天晚上 tomorrow evening

8.2 How to say “this morning, this afternoon, this evening” in Chinese: In Chinese, we say:
“today …” .

今天上午This morning (Today’s morning)

Supplementary time words
去年(nián) 今年(nián) 明年(nián)

last year this year next year

昨(zuó)天 今天 明天

yesterday today tomorrow

早(zǎo)上 上午 中午 下午 晚上

early morning morning noon afternoon evening