Level 2 - Lesson 14
This lesson follows Yang Tongle arriving to spend New Year with Teacher Wang, meeting Li Wen, and talking about Teacher Wang's neighbors and boyfriend.
Contains 4 words
to celebrate/spend Chinese New Year
boring; not interesting
polite measure word for people
bag; package
Contains 2 words
in front; ahead
Contains 5 words
child; kid
就要过年了。
Jiùyào guònián le.
Chinese New Year is almost here.
一个人在这儿多没意思啊。
Yí ge rén zài zhèr duō méi yìsi a.
Being here alone is so boring.
王老师，你旁边这位是？
Wáng lǎoshī, nǐ pángbiān zhè wèi shì?
Teacher Wang, who is this person next to you?
我家就在前面那个楼。
Wǒ jiā jiù zài qiánmiàn nàge lóu.
My home is in the building up ahead.
你住的房子真不错。
Nǐ zhù de fángzi zhēn búcuò.
Situation: Teacher Wang welcomes Yang Tongle's early New Year arrival and immediately introduces him to Li Wen.
王老师
Teacher Wang
同乐，没想到你这么早就来了！
Tongle, I didn't expect you to arrive so early!
Existential Sentences (2)
Put the place first, then an existence verb with 着 (zhe), and introduce the person or thing after it.
Present a new person in a known place
Start from the location and then say who is there.
house; place to live
girl
to be surnamed; surname
eye; eyes
to dance
The place you live is really nice.
我楼下还住着一家中国人。
Wǒ lóuxià hái zhù zhe yì jiā Zhōngguó rén.
There is also a Chinese family living downstairs from me.
我也帮他们家的小孩儿学中文。
Wǒ yě bāng tāmen jiā de xiǎoháir xué Zhōngwén.
I also help their child learn Chinese.
是个女孩儿，学得也很好。
Shì ge nǚháir, xué de yě hěn hǎo.
She is a girl, and she studies well too.
她经常跑上来找我玩。
Tā jīngcháng pǎo shànglai zhǎo wǒ wán.
She often runs up to find me and play.
我男朋友姓杨。
Wǒ nán péngyou xìng Yáng.
My boyfriend's surname is Yang.
他个子高高的、大眼睛。
Tā gèzi gāogāo de, dà yǎnjing.
He is tall and has big eyes.
他跳舞也不错。
Tā tiàowǔ yě búcuò.
He dances pretty well too.
同乐的包很大。
Tónglè de bāo hěn dà.
Tongle's bag is big.
杨同乐
Yang Tongle
就要过年了，你一个人在这儿多没意思啊。
Chinese New Year is almost here. It would be so boring for you to be here alone.
王老师
Teacher Wang
对了，我给你介绍一下，旁边这位是李文。
By the way, let me introduce you. This person beside me is Li Wen.
杨同乐
Yang Tongle
李文，你好。我叫杨同乐。
Hello, Li Wen. My name is Yang Tongle.
Situation: At Teacher Wang's home, Yang Tongle notices a girl's bag and offers to return it to the child downstairs.
杨同乐
Yang Tongle
王老师，门口这个包是谁的？
Teacher Wang, whose bag is this by the door?
王老师
Teacher Wang
是楼下那个女孩儿的，她来我家玩儿了。
It belongs to the girl downstairs. She came over to play.
杨同乐
Yang Tongle
我给她送下去吧。她家在哪儿？
I'll take it down to her. Where does she live?
王老师
Teacher Wang
她家就在楼下。
Her home is just downstairs.
Situation: Two men are by the doorway, so Li Wen asks which one is Teacher Wang's boyfriend and uses her description to identify him.
李文
Li Wen
王老师，门口有两位男的，哪位是你男朋友？
Teacher Wang, there are two men by the door. Which one is your boyfriend?
王老师
Teacher Wang
眼睛很大、个子很高的那位。
The one with big eyes who is very tall.
李文
Li Wen
我看见了。他姓什么？
I see him. What is his surname?
王老师
Teacher Wang
他姓杨，叫杨同乐。
His surname is Yang, and his name is Yang Tongle.
The location-first order answers a question like 'Who or what is there?' rather than 'Where does this person live?'
The family is introduced after the location and 住着 (zhùzhe).
我楼下还住着一家中国人。
There is also a Chinese family living downstairs from me.
This ordinary sentence starts with the family and tells its location; it does not use the location-first existential frame.
一家中国人住在我楼下。
A Chinese family lives downstairs from me.
我楼下住着一家中国人。
There is a Chinese family living downstairs from me.
教室里坐着一位老师。
There is a teacher sitting in the classroom.
Dialogue 02: Returning a Neighbor's Bag, Turn 2
Introducing the downstairs neighbors
是啊！我楼下还住着一家中国人，他们有个小孩儿。
Yes. There is also a Chinese family living downstairs from me, and they have a child.
Use place + verb + 着 (zhe) + new person or thing when the important message is what exists or remains in that place. In 我楼下还住着一家中国人 (wǒ lóuxià hái zhùzhe yì jiā Zhōngguó rén), 我楼下 (wǒ lóuxià) sets the location, 住着 (zhùzhe) presents an ongoing living situation, and 一家中国人 (yì jiā Zhōngguó rén) introduces the family. This information order differs from an ordinary person-first sentence such as 一家中国人住在我楼下 (yì jiā Zhōngguó rén zhù zài wǒ lóuxià), which starts with an already identified family and tells where they live.
Adverb of Degree 多
Put 多 (duō) before an adjective or evaluation and often add 啊 (a) to exclaim how strongly it applies.
Make a strong exclamation
React to how good, difficult, boring, or otherwise striking something is.
The whole frame is an exclamation, even when the English translation uses 'how' rather than an exclamation word.
多 (duō) intensifies 没意思 (méi yìsi); it does not mean 'many.'
一个人过年多没意思啊！
How boring it would be to spend New Year alone!
Here 多 (duō) follows a number and makes the quantity approximate; it is not the degree-adverb pattern.
三百多块。
More than three hundred yuan.
一个人过年多没意思啊！
How boring it would be to spend New Year alone!
今天多冷啊！
How cold it is today!
Dialogue 01: Yang Tongle Arrives, Turn 2
Reacting to New Year alone
就要过年了，你一个人在这儿多没意思啊，所以我就早早过来了。
Chinese New Year is almost here. It would be so boring for you to be here alone, so I came early.
Use 多 (duō) + adjective or evaluation + 啊 (a) to express a strong reaction: 一个人过年多没意思啊 (yí ge rén guònián duō méi yìsi a) means 'How boring it would be to spend New Year alone!' The speaker is not asking for a number; 多 (duō) intensifies the evaluation. This is different from approximate-quantity 多 (duō), which follows a number, as in 三百多 (sānbǎi duō), 'more than three hundred.'
Compound Complement of Direction
After a movement verb, combine a path such as 上 (shàng), 进 (jìn), or 过 (guò) with 来 (lái) or 去 (qù) to show both the route and the speaker's viewpoint.
Choose path, then viewpoint
Describe how movement travels and whether it approaches or leaves the speaker's place.
A place object belongs before 来/去: 跑上楼来 (pǎo shàng lóu lái), not after the complete directional unit.
上 (shàng) gives the upward path and 来 (lái) points toward here.
她跑上来了。
She ran up here.
The destination 楼 (lóu) sits between 上 (shàng) and 来 (lái).
她跑上楼来找我玩。
She runs upstairs to find me and play.
A thing can appear between the path and 来/去 or after the complete directional complement.
拿出一本书来。／拿出来一本书。
有时间过来看我。
Come over to see me when you have time.
她经常跑上来找我玩。
She often runs upstairs to find me and play.
请拿出来一本书。
Please take out a book.
Dialogue 01: Yang Tongle Arrives, Turn 1
Coming over to visit
同乐，真是你啊！上次打电话，你说有时间过来看我，没想到这么快就来了！
Tongle, it really is you! Last time we talked on the phone, you said you would come see me when you had time. I didn't expect you to come so soon!
Dialogue 02: Returning a Neighbor's Bag, Turn 4
Running upstairs toward the speaker
A compound direction complement has two decisions: the path and the viewpoint. In 跑上来 (pǎo shànglai), 上 (shàng) means upward and 来 (lái) means toward the speaker's place; 跑上去 (pǎo shàngqu) would send the movement upward away from that viewpoint. Object placement depends on the object. A destination place goes before 来/去, as in 跑上楼来 (pǎo shàng lóu lái). With a movable thing, both 拿出一本书来 (ná chū yì běn shū lái) and 拿出来一本书 (ná chūlai yì běn shū) are available: the first places the thing between the path and viewpoint, while the second completes the direction before introducing the thing.
Take out a book.
对，她经常跑上来找我玩，我也帮她学中文。
Yes. She often runs upstairs to find me and play, and I also help her study Chinese.
