HSK 2Lesson 12
This lesson uses a phone call about snow and a diary about running outside to practice weather words and comparison patterns.
Talk about weather, going outside, taking the subway, and comparing how different two situations are.
The learner will be able to understand and talk about weather conditions. They will be able to understand and describe the differences between states of an action, and master the use of comparative sentences to explain significant differences between things.
Part 1 · 10 new words
Contains 2 words
from childhood; since being little
when one was little; in childhood
Contains 3 words
subway; metro
building; floor
Contains 3 words
clear; sunny
outside
Contains 2 words
matter; thing
just; right in the middle of doing something
Part 2 · 12 phrases
这里比北京冷多了。
It is much colder here than in Beijing.
下得大不大？
Is it snowing heavily?
昨天比今天下得大。
Yesterday it snowed more heavily than today.
去外面的时候多穿点儿衣服。
Wear more clothes when you go outside.
阴天下雪什么的就少出去吧。
On cloudy, snowy days and things like that, go out less.
每天坐两站地铁去学校。
Every day I took the subway two stops to school.
今天是个大晴天。
Today is a very sunny day.
Part 3 · 2 conversations
Wang Yixue calls Teacher Wang to check the snowy weather before Teacher Wang goes out to buy food.
王一雪Wang Yixue
喂，王老师，听家月说你那边下雪了。那边比北京冷吗？你今天还要出去买吃的吗？
Hello, Teacher Wang. I heard it is snowing there. Is it colder than Beijing? Are you still going out to buy food today?
王老师Teacher Wang
这里比北京冷多了。今天不大，昨天比今天下得大。我要去买吃的。
Part 4 · 3 points
Comparative Sentences (4)
Add 多了duō le after the comparison adjective to say A is much more of that quality than B.
A large difference in one quality
Compare A with B, name the quality, then mark the gap as large.
stop; station
cloudy; overcast
他小时候经常跑步。
He often ran when he was little.
跑得比我快。
Runs faster than me.
他从小喜欢跑步。
He has liked running since he was little.
有事情记得给我打电话。
If there is something, remember to call me.
他正跑步呢。
He is running right now.
It is much colder here than in Beijing. It is not heavy today; yesterday it snowed more heavily than today. I need to go buy food.
王一雪Wang Yixue
那一次多买点儿，买完就回去吧。
Then buy a little more in one trip and go back as soon as you finish.
王老师Teacher Wang
好，我正准备出去，买完就回家。
Okay. I am getting ready to go out now, and I will come home as soon as I finish buying it.
On a sunny day, Li Wen adjusts the running pace to Bai Jiayue and the pair agree on a route to the subway station.
李文Li Wen
今天是个大晴天，我们去楼外面跑步吧。
Today is a very sunny day. Let's go outside the building to run.
白家月Bai Jiayue
好，但我跑得没有你快。
Okay, but I don't run as fast as you.
李文Li Wen
那我跑慢一点儿，我们一起跑到地铁站。
Then I'll run a little slower. We'll run to the subway station together.
白家月Bai Jiayue
好，到了地铁站我们就走回来。
Okay. When we reach the subway station, we'll walk back.
Keep the adjective bare after 比bǐ: say 冷多了lěng duō le, not 很冷多了hěn lěng duō le.
In sentences
Large weather difference
这里比北京冷多了。
It is much colder here than in Beijing.
多了duō le makes the difference in coldness large.
Another large degree difference
今天比昨天热多了。
Today is much hotter than yesterday.
The two days are compared on heat, and 多了duō le marks a large gap.
Use A + 比bǐ + B + adjective + 多了duō le when the two things differ by a large degree. In 这里比北京冷多了zhèlǐ bǐ Běijīng lěng duō le, both places are compared on coldness and 多了duō le makes the gap large. Here 多了duō le measures the degree of the adjective; it does not mean that there are more countable things. Do not put 很hěn before the adjective in a 比bǐ comparison.
Comparative Sentences (5)
Use 得de with the action result and place 比bǐ either before the comparison standard or before the action phrase.
Compare an action result
Compare how A and B perform the same action.
This form compares performance. For a simple adjective quality, use the basic A + 比bǐ + B + adjective form instead.
In sentences
比 phrase after 得
我跑得比你快。
I run faster than you.
跑得pǎo de opens the action-result description; 比你快bǐ nǐ kuài supplies the standard and difference.
比 phrase before the action
昨天比今天下得大。
Yesterday it snowed more heavily than today.
The two days come before the shared action 下得大xià de dà.
This subtype compares the manner or result of an action rather than a simple quality of a person or thing. One order is A + verb + 得de + 比bǐ + B + description, as in 我跑得比你快wǒ pǎo de bǐ nǐ kuài. Another is A + 比bǐ + B + verb + 得de + description, as in 昨天比今天下得大zuótiān bǐ jīntiān xià de dà. In both orders, 得de attaches the description to the action, and 比bǐ introduces the comparison standard.
Comparative Sentences (6)
When the action includes an object, name the full activity before 比bǐ, then repeat the verb after B before 得de and the result.
Keep the object and repeat the verb
Name A's full activity, introduce B, then repeat the verb so the result description has a place to attach.
The repeated verb is structural, not accidental repetition: 跑步pǎobù names the activity, while 跑得快pǎo de kuài describes its result.
In sentences
Running with the activity named
我跑步比你跑得快。
I run faster than you.
跑步pǎobù names the activity; 跑得快pǎo de kuài gives A's superior result.
Football with the object named
他踢足球比我踢得好。
He plays football better than I do.
足球zúqiú stays with A's first verb; 踢tī repeats after the comparison standard before 得好de hǎo.
Comparative Sentences (6) solves an object-placement problem. In 我跑步比你跑得快wǒ pǎobù bǐ nǐ pǎo de kuài, 跑步pǎobù names A's full activity before 比bǐ. After the comparison standard 你nǐ, the verb 跑pǎo appears again so 得快de kuài can describe the result. The same model appears in 他踢足球比我踢得好tā tī zúqiú bǐ wǒ tī de hǎo. Do not let the object replace the repeated result verb: the listener needs the second verb + 得de + description to know how the performances differ.
