HSK 2Lesson 11
Li Wen visits Bai Jiayue after she has been feeling unwell. You will ask about pain, talk about medicine from a pharmacy, and offer simple care with something the person likes.
You will learn to check on someone who feels unwell, talk about headaches and medicine, invite someone in, and say what someone likes most.
*(Not explicitly provided in the source excerpts.)*
Part 1 · 13 new words
Contains 6 words
medicine
body; health
when; time
pharmacy; drugstore
to hurt; painful
head
Contains 3 words
to enter
aspect particle marking a continuing state or accompanying action
Contains 2 words
most
often
Contains 2 words
on the road; on the way
slow
Part 2 · 11 phrases
李文，快请进！
Li Wen, please come in!
头还疼吗？
Does your head still hurt?
医生开了一些药。
The doctor prescribed some medicine.
身体不舒服时要吃点儿东西。
When you do not feel well, you should eat a little something.
我去买你最喜欢的中国菜吧。
I will go buy the Chinese food you like most.
这几天经常头疼。
My head has often hurt these days.
从药店买了点儿药。
I bought some medicine from the pharmacy.
Part 3 · 2 conversations
Li Wen visits Bai Jiayue after she has been feeling unwell.
白家月Bai Jiayue
李文，门开着，快请进！
Li Wen, the door is open; please come in!
李文Li Wen
家月，你怎么样了？头还疼吗？
Jiayue, how are you now? Does your head still hurt?
Part 4 · 3 points
Aspect Particle 着 (1)
Use action or posture + 着zhe + main action when the first activity continues in the background while the second happens.
An ongoing background action
The first action or posture continues while the main action happens.
to move
路上慢点儿。
Go a little slower on the way.
门开着，快请进！
The door is open; please come in!
她坐着吃药。
She sits while taking medicine.
别动。
Don't move.
不那么疼了。医生开了一些药，吃完就好一点儿了。
It does not hurt that much now. The doctor prescribed some medicine, and after taking it I felt a little better.
李文Li Wen
身体不舒服时要吃点儿东西。我去买你最喜欢的中国菜吧。
When your body does not feel well, you should eat a little. I will go buy the Chinese food you like most.
The doctor has told Bai Jiayue to continue her medicine, so Li Wen offers to buy the same medicine while she rests.
李文Li Wen
家月，医生让你再吃几天这个药吗？
Jiayue, did the doctor tell you to take this medicine for a few more days?
白家月Bai Jiayue
对，医生让我再吃三天。药快没有了。
Yes. The doctor told me to take it for three more days. I am almost out.
李文Li Wen
药叫什么名字？你说一下吧。你坐着休息，我去帮你买。
What is the medicine called? Tell me the name. Sit and rest, and I will buy it for you.
白家月Bai Jiayue
好，名字在这儿。药店在学校旁边。
Okay, the name is here. The pharmacy is next to the school.
Read V1着V2 as simultaneous activity, not ‘first V1, then V2.’
In sentences
Maintain a posture while acting
现在我坐着休息。
Now I am sitting and resting.
坐着zuò zhe is the continuing posture; 休息xiūxi is the main action.
Keep smiling while speaking
他笑着说话。
He speaks while smiling.
笑xiào continues as the manner or accompanying action while 说话shuōhuà is the main event.
Contrast: report two separate events
他笑了。他说话了。
He smiled. Then he spoke.
Without V1着V2, these are two separate completed reports rather than one action continuing during the other.
In the pattern verb 1 + 着zhe + verb 2, the action or posture before 着zhe stays in progress while the action after it is the main event. 他笑着说话tā xiào zhe shuōhuà means that he keeps smiling while he speaks. 笑xiào supplies the accompanying manner; 说话shuōhuà is the main action. The two verbs are simultaneous, not a sequence. Compare 他笑了。他说话了tā xiào le. tā shuōhuà le, which reports two separate events. Use V1着V2 when the first verb supplies an ongoing posture, manner, or accompanying action for the second.
Aspect Particle 着 (2)
Put 着zhe after a verb such as 开kāi to describe the state that is currently being maintained.
A continuing visible state
Describe how a person or thing remains, not the moment it changed.
Use 了le to foreground the change; use 着zhe to foreground the state that remains.
In sentences
State remains
门开着。
The door is open.
开着kāi zhe describes the door's maintained open state.
A person maintains a state with an object
她拿着药。
She is holding the medicine.
拿着ná zhe presents the holding as the state that continues; 药yào is the object being held.
Contrast: picking up is an event
她拿了药。
She picked up the medicine.
拿了ná le reports the completed action; 拿着ná zhe describes the holding state that continues.
Contrast: a change occurs
门开了。
The door opened.
了le presents a new change; it does not simply describe the state as continuing.
The same particle 着zhe can present a state as continuing at the moment being described. 门开着mén kāi zhe does not report the event of somebody opening the door; it says the door remains open. With verbs such as 拿ná, it can also describe a person maintaining a state with an object: 她拿着药tā ná zhe yào means that she is holding the medicine. Compare 门开了mén kāi le, ‘The door opened,’ and 她拿了药tā ná le yào, ‘She picked up the medicine.’ Those 了le sentences foreground a change or completed event; 着zhe foregrounds the state that remains. Unlike the V1着V2 pattern in Grammar 01, this state pattern does not require a second main action after 着zhe.
Adverb of Degree zui
Put 最zuì before an adjective, state, or preference verb to say it has the highest degree within a known group.
Rank one item at the top
最zuì places the following quality or preference at the highest degree in the relevant group.
Ask what group is being compared. In 我最喜欢中国菜wǒ zuì xǐhuan Zhōngguó cài, Chinese food ranks first among the foods under discussion.
In sentences
Highest adjective degree
这个手表最漂亮。
This watch is the prettiest.
最zuì ranks this watch's appearance above the other relevant watches.
Strongest preference
我最喜欢中国菜。
I like Chinese food the most.
最zuì ranks 喜欢xǐhuan, so Chinese food is the speaker's top preference.
Highest result of an action
她跑得最快。
She runs the fastest.
最zuì ranks the result description 快kuài within the group of runners.
Contrast with a high but unranked degree
这个手表很漂亮。
This watch is very pretty.
很hěn describes the watch as pretty; it does not rank it above the others.
我去买你最喜欢的中国菜吧。
I will go buy the Chinese food you like most.
最zuì ranks one person, thing, quality, or preference at the top of a comparison set supplied by the conversation. Before an adjective, as in 这个手表最漂亮zhège shǒubiǎo zuì piàoliang, it means ‘the most’ or an English ‘-est’ form. Before a preference verb, as in 我最喜欢中国菜wǒ zuì xǐhuan Zhōngguó cài, it marks the strongest preference. It can also rank the result of an action, as in 她跑得最快tā pǎo de zuì kuài, ‘she runs fastest.’ Unlike 很hěn, which only describes a high degree, 最zuì implies that other members of a group are being compared, even when they are not named.
