HSK 1Lesson 19
The lesson uses airports, taxis, trains, planes, and hotels to practice travel methods and ongoing actions.
You will learn to say how someone travels and describe what someone is currently seeing or hearing.
Say how someone travels and describe what someone is currently seeing or hearing.
Part 1 · 19 new words
Contains 5 words
car; vehicle
train
airplane
taxi
to drive a car
Contains 3 words
to drive; to open
how
Contains 6 words
see; meet
in the middle of; currently
Contains 5 words
airport
Daxing Airport
Part 2 · 15 phrases
你怎么去大兴机场？
How are you going to Daxing Airport?
我坐火车去
I go by train.
我坐飞机去西安
I fly to Xi'an.
出租车在哪儿？
Where is the taxi?
出租车在那边
The taxi is over there.
你怎么去学校？
How do you go to school?
我坐车去
I go by car.
我坐出租车去机场
Part 3 · 4 conversations
A traveler asks how someone is going to the airport and where they will fly.
美美Meimei
你怎么去大兴机场？
How are you going to Daxing Airport?
方方Fangfang
我坐出租车去机场。
I am taking a taxi to the airport.
美美Meimei
Part 4 · 3 points
Ongoing activity with 正在
Use 正在zhèngzài before 看kàn or 听tīng to say the looking or listening activity is happening right now.
Action happening now
Shows someone is in the middle of an action.
to sit; to take (transport)
look; watch; read
listen
see (successfully)
hear (successfully)
pick up; meet
Xi'an
Xi'an Hotel
I take a taxi to the airport.
他开车来
He drives here.
坐出租车
Take a taxi.
我坐火车去西安
I go to Xi'an by train.
我坐出租车去
I go by taxi.
我正在听。
I am listening now.
我听见王老师。
I hear Teacher Wang.
西安饭店在哪儿？
Where is Xi'an Hotel?
Are you taking a plane?
方方Fangfang
坐，我坐飞机去西安。
Yes, I am flying to Xi’an.
At the airport, one classmate checks whether another classmate has seen Teacher Wang.
美美Meimei
你在机场吗？
Are you at the airport?
方方Fangfang
在，我接王老师。
Yes, I am here to pick up Teacher Wang.
美美Meimei
你看见王老师了吗？
Have you seen Teacher Wang?
方方Fangfang
还没有，我正在看那边的人。
Not yet. I am looking at the people over there.
Two classmates compare how they and Teacher Wang will travel to the same destination.
美美Meimei
你怎么去西安？
How will you go to Xi'an?
方方Fangfang
我开车去。
I will drive there.
美美Meimei
王老师呢？
What about Teacher Wang?
方方Fangfang
她坐火车去。
She will take the train.
One classmate reports Teacher Wang's stated location, then confirms the pickup destination.
美美Meimei
你听见王老师说什么了吗？
Did you hear what Teacher Wang said?
方方Fangfang
听见了，她说在西安饭店。
Yes. She said she is at Xi'an Hotel.
美美Meimei
你去接她吗？
Will you go pick her up?
方方Fangfang
去，我去西安饭店接她。
Yes, I will go to Xi'an Hotel to pick her up.
我正在看wǒ zhèngzài kàn means I am looking right now; it does not yet say whether I successfully see the person.
Separate activity from result
Use the simple activity verb with 正在zhèngzài, then use the result verb when seeing or hearing succeeds.
我正在听wǒ zhèngzài tīng is the ongoing activity; 我听见王老师了wǒ tīngjiàn Wáng lǎoshī le reports the achieved result.
In sentences
Looking now
我正在看飞机。
I am looking at the plane.
正在zhèngzài comes before the action.
Listening now
我正在听。
I am listening now.
Use 正在zhèngzài with the activity verb 听tīng while listening is in progress.
Successful hearing result
我听见王老师了。
I heard Teacher Wang.
听见tīngjiàn says the listening succeeded; use the completed-result pattern, not 正在zhèngzài + 听见tīngjiàn.
还没有，我正在看。
Not yet. I am looking now.
Put 正在zhèngzài before an activity that is happening now: 我正在看wǒ zhèngzài kàn means ‘I am looking,’ and 我正在听wǒ zhèngzài tīng means ‘I am listening.’
Keep the activity and its result separate. 看kàn and 听tīng name what the person is doing; 看见kànjiàn and 听见tīngjiàn say that the person successfully sees or hears something. In this lesson, use 正在看zhèngzài kàn or 正在听zhèngzài tīng for the ongoing attempt, then use 看见了kànjiàn le or 听见了tīngjiàn le when the result happens. Do not build the Level 1 model with 正在看见zhèngzài kànjiàn or 正在听见zhèngzài tīngjiàn.
Negating and questioning past actions
Ask whether an event happened with verb + 了le + 吗ma. Answer with verb + 了le if it happened, or 没有méiyǒu + verb if it did not.
Ask whether the event happened
Checks whether an action or result has happened by now.
你看见王老师了吗？Nǐ kànjiàn Wáng lǎoshī le ma? asks whether Teacher Wang has been seen yet.
Give a positive or negative answer
Confirm the event with 了le, or negate it with 没有méiyǒu.
还没有hái méiyǒu can stand alone when the missing verb is clear from the question.
In sentences
Ask about a completed result
你看见王老师了吗？
Have you seen Teacher Wang?
了吗le ma asks whether the seeing result has happened by now.
Answer not yet
还没有，我正在看。
Not yet. I am looking now.
还没有hái méiyǒu gives the negative answer; the following sentence explains what is happening now.
Answer that it happened
我听见王老师了。
I heard Teacher Wang.
The verb phrase names the result, and 了le confirms that it happened.
我没有看见王老师。
I have not seen Teacher Wang.
Use subject + verb + 了le + 吗ma to ask whether an event has happened by now. This is not a general past-tense ending: the question checks whether the event occurred or reached its result. In a positive answer, repeat the verb and add 了le. In a negative answer, put 没有méiyǒu before the verb and leave out 了le. When the verb is already clear from the question, 还没有hái méiyǒu is a complete short answer meaning ‘not yet.’
Serial route and pickup action
Put related travel actions in their real order under one subject: say how or where someone goes, then say the action they go there to do.
Say method plus destination
Chains a transport action with going to a place.
坐飞机去西安zuò fēijī qù Xī’ān says the person flies to Xi'an.
Say where you go and why
Chains a route with the purpose action performed at the destination.
我去西安饭店接她Wǒ qù Xī’ān Fàndiàn jiē tā means I go to Xi'an Hotel in order to pick her up.
In sentences
Taxi to airport
我坐出租车去机场。
I take a taxi to the airport.
The transport action comes before 去qù plus destination.
Go somewhere to pick someone up
我去西安饭店接她。
I am going to Xi'an Hotel to pick her up.
The route comes first; 接她jiē tā gives the purpose of going there.
我坐飞机去西安。
I take a plane to Xi'an.
我去机场接王老师。
I am going to the airport to pick up Teacher Wang.
Chinese can place connected verb phrases one after another when the same person performs the whole sequence. To say the travel method, use 坐zuò + transport + 去qù + destination. To add the purpose, use 去qù + place + action + object, as in 我去西安饭店接她wǒ qù Xī’ān Fàndiàn jiē tā: first I go to the hotel, and the purpose is to pick her up. These are connected route-and-purpose chains, not unrelated actions separated by a comma.
Answer not yet
还没有，我正在看。
Not yet. I am looking now.
还没有not-yet answer正在看current action
Why it matters · 还没有hái méiyǒu means the event has not happened yet; the omitted verb is understood from the question.
Dialogue 4 · Hearing Where to Meet · Turn 4
Go to the hotel to pick her up
接，我去西安饭店接她。
Yes, I am going to Xi'an Hotel to pick her up.
去西安饭店route to destination接她purpose action
Why it matters · 去西安饭店qù Xī’ān Fàndiàn gives the route, and 接她jiē tā gives the purpose.
