Level 2 - Lesson 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.
Contains 6 words
medicine
body; health
when; time
pharmacy; drugstore
to hurt; painful
head
Contains 3 words
to enter
Contains 2 words
most
Contains 2 words
on the road; on the way
李文，快请进！
Lǐ Wén, kuài qǐng jìn!
Li Wen, please come in!
头还疼吗？
Tóu hái téng ma?
Does your head still hurt?
医生开了一些药。
Yīshēng kāi le yìxiē yào.
The doctor prescribed some medicine.
身体不舒服时要吃点儿东西。
Shēntǐ bù shūfu shí yào chī diǎnr dōngxi.
When you do not feel well, you should eat a little something.
我去买你最喜欢的中国菜吧。
Wǒ qù mǎi nǐ zuì xǐhuan de Zhōngguó cài ba.
Situation: 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!
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.
aspect particle marking a continuing state or accompanying action
to move
often
slow
I will go buy the Chinese food you like most.
这几天经常头疼。
Zhè jǐ tiān jīngcháng tóuténg.
My head has often hurt these days.
从药店买了点儿药。
Cóng yàodiàn mǎi le diǎnr yào.
I bought some medicine from the pharmacy.
路上慢点儿。
Lùshang màn diǎnr.
Go a little slower on the way.
门开着，快请进！
Mén kāi zhe, kuài qǐng jìn!
The door is open; please come in!
她坐着吃药。
Tā zuò zhe chī yào.
She sits while taking medicine.
别动。
Bié dòng.
Don't move.
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?
白家月
Bai Jiayue
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.
Situation: 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.’
坐着 (zuò zhe) is the continuing posture; 休息 (xiūxi) is the main action.
现在我坐着休息。
Now I am sitting and resting.
笑 (xiào) continues as the manner or accompanying action while 说话 (shuōhuà) is the main event.
他笑着说话。
He speaks while smiling.
Without V1着V2, these are two separate completed reports rather than one action continuing during the other.
他笑了。他说话了。
He smiled. Then he spoke.
现在我坐着休息。
Now I am sitting and resting.
他笑着说话。
He speaks while smiling.
他笑了。他说话了。
He smiled. Then he spoke.
Dialogue 02: Helping With Medicine, Turn 3
Rest while sitting
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.
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.
开着 (kāi zhe) describes the door's maintained open state.
门开着。
The door is open.
拿着 (ná zhe) presents the holding as the state that continues; 药 (yào) is the object being held.
她拿着药。
She is holding the medicine.
拿了 (ná le) reports the completed action; 拿着 (ná zhe) describes the holding state that continues.
她拿了药。
门开着。
The door is open.
她拿着药。
She is holding the medicine.
她拿了药。
She picked up the medicine.
门开了。
The door opened.
Dialogue 01: Checking on Bai Jiayue, Turn 1
The door is already open
李文，门开着，快请进！
Li Wen, the door is open; please come in!
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.
最 (zuì) ranks this watch's appearance above the other relevant watches.
这个手表最漂亮。
This watch is the prettiest.
最 (zuì) ranks 喜欢 (xǐhuan), so Chinese food is the speaker's top preference.
我最喜欢中国菜。
I like Chinese food the most.
最 (zuì) ranks the result description 快 (kuài) within the group of runners.
她跑得最快。
这个手表最漂亮。
This watch is the prettiest.
我最喜欢中国菜。
I like Chinese food the most.
她跑得最快。
She runs the fastest.
我去买你最喜欢的中国菜吧。
I will go buy the Chinese food you like most.
Dialogue 01: Checking on Bai Jiayue, Turn 4
Choose the food Jiayue likes most
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.
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.
She picked up the medicine.
了 (le) presents a new change; it does not simply describe the state as continuing.
门开了。
The door opened.
She runs the fastest.
很 (hěn) describes the watch as pretty; it does not rank it above the others.
这个手表很漂亮。
This watch is very pretty.
