LESSON NOTES

Absolute Beginner S3 #5
Have a happy birthday in China

CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese
2 Traditional Chinese
2 Pinyin
3 English
3 Vocabulary
4 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar
5 Cultural Insight

# 5
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 SIMPLIFIED CHINESE

1. 祝你生日快乐。

2. 谢谢。

3. 你几岁了？

4. 三十了。

5. 你老了。

TRADITIONAL CHINESE

1. 祝你生日快樂。

2. 謝謝。

3. 你幾歲了？

4. 三十了。

5. 你老了。

PINYIN

1. Zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè.

2. Xièxie.

CONT'D OVER

CHINESECLASS101.COM ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S3 #5 - HAVE A HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN CHINA 2

3. Nǐ jǐ suì le?

4. Sānshí le.

5. Nǐ lǎo le.

ENGLISH

1. Happy birthday to you.

2. Thank you.

3. How old are you?

4. Thirty.

5. You are old.

VOCABULARY

S implifie d Tr aditional Pinyin English

几岁 幾歲 jǐ suì how old

快乐 快樂 kuàilè happy

生日 生日 shēngrì birthday

祝你 祝你 zhù nǐ to wish you

多大 多大 duō dà how old

老 老 lǎo old

年轻 年輕 niánqīng young

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 生日礼物 生日禮物 shēngrì lǐwù birthday present

SAMPLE SENTENCES

你几岁了？ 那个孩子几岁了？
Nǐ jǐ suì le? Nàge háizi jǐ suì le?

How old are you？ How old is that kid?

祝你天天快乐。 你生日是什么时候？
Zhù nǐ tiāntiān kuàilè. Nǐ shēngrì shì shénme shíhòu?

May you be happy everyday. When is your birthday?

祝你生日快乐。 你多大了？
Zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè. Nǐ duō dà le?

Happy birthday to you. How old are you?

他又老了一岁。 他很年轻。
Tā yòu lǎo le yī suì. Tā hěn niánqīng.

He is one year older. He is very young.

这是你的生日礼物。
Zhè shì nǐ de shēngrìlǐwù.

This is your birthday present.

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson is 祝你 ...zhù nǐ...("Phrases")

祝你生日快乐 。Zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè.
"Happy birthday to you."

In Chinese, we have many fixed expressions starting with 祝你zhù nǐ that we frequently use
in various situations. 祝你zhù nǐ literally means, "to wish you..." in English. Today we are

CHINESECLASS101.COM ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S3 #5 - HAVE A HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN CHINA 4

going to devote the whole grammar section to introduce a few of these common expressions
that may help you to start a smooth conversation with locals. In fact, once you get more fluent
with your Chinese, you can sometimes drop 祝你zhù nǐ from the beginning. Or if the person
to be congratulated is a well-respected person, you should change 你nǐ to 您nín, a more
polite form of "you."

For Example:

1. 祝你一路平安。
Zhù nǐ yílùpíngān.
"Wish you a safe trip."

2. 祝你新年快乐。
Zhù nǐ xīnnián kuàilè.
"Wish you a happy new year."

3. 祝你圣诞快乐。
Zhù nǐ shèngdàn kuàilè.
"Wish you a happy Christmas."

4. 祝你身体健康。
Zhù nǐ shēntǐ jiànkāng.
"Wish you good health."

5. 祝你万事如意。
Zhù nǐ wàn shì rúyì.
"Everything goes as you wished."

6. 祝你梦想成真。
Zhù nǐ mèngxiǎngchéngzhēn.
"Wish all your dreams come true."

7. 祝你工作顺利。
Zhù nǐ gōngzuò shùnlì.
"Hope things go smoothly with your job."

CULTURAL INSIGHT

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Important Chinese Birthdays

The western tradition of celebrating individual birthdays is one of many cultural imports that
are taking hold in China with cream-covered birthday cakes and candles readily available in
bakeries around the cities, present giving, and birthday meals, and the more eastern birthday
celebrations of singing together in a KTV karaoke room. However, it is not entirely true to say
birthdays are a western import. Traditionally, the birthdays of young children and the elderly
were very important for the Chinese. On their first birthday, children were placed in the center
of a group of objects and the child would be encouraged to grab an object to determine their
future career prospects. So for example, if the baby were to pick up a coin it might become
rich. If it reached for a book, it might become a teacher, or if it reached for a doll, it might have
many children. Babies were also given hats or shoes decorated with pictures of tigers as
tigers were said to protect children. The sixtieth birthday is a very important date for adults as
it represents the end of one life cycle and the beginning of the next. This is often celebrated
with children and grandchildren offering symbolic foods to their parents such as noodles
representing long life, eggs, or artificial wheat-filled peaches.

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