HSK 2Lesson 4
Wang Yixue takes Liu Xiaoxue to a newly opened mall to shop for pants and a schoolbag. They use 的 (de) phrases to refer to places and products through descriptions.
You will learn to shop for clothes and schoolbags and use a descriptive phrase as a noun to refer to a person or thing.
The learner will be able to ask about past experiences, shop for clothing and schoolbags, and refer to a clear person or thing through a description or action.
Part 1 · 16 new words
Contains 4 words
aspect particle for past experience
because
so; therefore
to go over; to pass by
Contains 3 words
shopping mall; department store
pants; trousers
Contains 2 words
to go in
to try
Contains 7 words
measure word for long, narrow things
white
Part 2 · 8 phrases
我们来过这家商场吗？
Have we been to this mall before?
我们进去看看吧。
Let's go in and take a look.
我想买条裤子。
I want to buy a pair of pants.
我想买这条白色的裤子。
I want to buy this pair of white pants.
没来过，这是新开的。
No, we have not. This one is newly opened.
因为你有很多白色的，所以试试那条红色的吧。
Because you have many white ones, try that red pair.
红色的、绿色的、黑色的，你觉得哪个好？
Part 3 · 3 conversations
At a shopping mall, Liu Xiaoxue asks if they have been there before and says she wants to buy pants.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
妈妈，我们来过这家商场吗？
Mom, have we been to this mall before?
王一雪Wang Yixue
没来过，这是新开的。
No, we have not. This one is newly opened.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
Part 4 · 3 points
Experiential Particle 过
Put 过guo after a verb to ask or say whether someone has had that experience before now.
Past experience
Say whether an action has occurred at least once in someone's experience.
Negate with 没 + verb +
schoolbag
red
green
black
even more; more
color
The red one, the green one, or the black one: which do you think is good?
我也觉得绿色的更好看。
I also think the green one looks better.
我们进去看看吧，我想买条裤子。
Let's go in and take a look. I want to buy a pair of pants.
王一雪Wang Yixue
好，我们看看颜色。
Okay, let's look at the colors.
At the pants section, Liu Xiaoxue chooses white pants, but Wang Yixue suggests trying red because Xiaoxue already owns many white clothes.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
妈妈，我想买这条白色的裤子。
I want to buy this pair of white pants.
王一雪Wang Yixue
你有很多白色的衣服，为什么还买白色的？
You have lots of white clothes. Why are you buying white ones again?
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
因为我喜欢白色啊！
Because I like white.
王一雪Wang Yixue
就是因为你没穿过红色的，所以要试一试。
Precisely because you have never worn red, you should try it.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
好，我试试那条红色的。
Okay, I'll try that red pair.
At a schoolbag display, Liu Xiaoxue and Wang Yixue compare color options.
王一雪Wang Yixue
那边有书包，我们过去看看吧。
There are schoolbags over there. Let's go over and take a look.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
红色的、绿色的、黑色的，你觉得哪个好？
The red one, the green one, or the black one: which do you think is good?
王一雪Wang Yixue
绿色的不错。
The green one is pretty good.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
我也觉得绿色的更好看。
I also think the green one looks better.
In sentences
Experience question
我们来过这家商场吗？
Have we ever been to this mall?
The question asks whether this visit has happened before.
Negative experience
我们没来过。
We have never been here.
没méi comes before the verb while 过guo remains after it.
你穿过红色的吗？
Have you ever worn a red one?
我没穿过红色的。
I have never worn a red one.
Verb + 过guo presents an action as past experience without locating one particular event in time. Ask verb + 过 + object + 吗 (verb + guo + object + ma), answer positively with verb + 过 (verb + guo), and answer negatively with 没 + verb + 过méi + verb + guo. In 我们来过这家商场吗wǒmen lái guo zhè jiā shāngchǎng ma, the issue is whether visiting this mall is part of their experience. Use 没méi, not 不bù, for the negative.
Cause-and-Result Sentence 因为……所以……
Put 因为yīnwèi before the reason and 所以suǒyǐ before the result to state the full cause-and-result link.
Reason, then result
Make the cause and consequence explicit in that order.
因为yīnwèi introduces the reason; 所以suǒyǐ introduces the result.
In sentences
Full cause and result
因为你没穿过红色的，所以要试一试。
Because you have never worn red, you should try it.
Both sides of the logic are stated.
Reason-only reply
因为我喜欢白色。
Because I like white.
The result is understood from the preceding 为什么 question.
因为我喜欢白色，所以我买白色的。
Because I like white, I buy white ones.
因为没穿过，所以要试一试。
Because I have never worn it, I should try it.
The order is 因为 + reason, 所以 + result (yīnwèi + reason, suǒyǐ + result). The first clause explains why; the second tells what follows. In 因为你没穿过红色的，所以要试一试yīnwèi nǐ méi chuān guo hóngsè de, suǒyǐ yào shì yi shì, lack of experience is the reason and trying the red pair is the conclusion. In a direct answer to 为什么wèishénme, a short 因为yīnwèi clause may stand alone because the result is already understood.
The 的 (de) phrase: phrase + 的 (de)
Put 的de after a word or phrase to form a 的de phrase. The whole phrase can refer to the person or thing described: 新开的xīn kāi de, “the newly opened one.”
Review: let a phrase describe a noun
A phrase before 的de can identify or describe the noun that follows.
新开的商场xīn kāi de shāngchǎng follows the previously learned pattern phrase + 的de + noun. The phrase 新开xīn kāi describes 商场shāngchǎng.
New: use the 的 (de) phrase on its own
Put 的de after a word or phrase. The complete 的de phrase can now refer to a person or thing.
In 这是新开的Zhè shì xīn kāi de, the complete 新开的xīn kāi de phrase refers to the mall. Context supplies the referent; the formal structure being learned is phrase + 的de.
In sentences
Review: the phrase describes a noun
这是新开的商场。
This is a newly opened mall.
This is the previously learned attributive structure: 新开xīn kāi + 的de describes the following noun 商场shāngchǎng.
New: the 的 (de) phrase stands after 是 (shì)
这是新开的。
This is the newly opened one.
The complete 新开的xīn kāi de phrase refers to the mall. It stands on its own after 是shì, with no noun following 的de.
Use the 的 (de) phrase as an object
为什么还买白色的？
Why are you buying white ones again?
The complete 白色的báisè de phrase refers to white clothes and serves as the object of 买mǎi.
You already know how a phrase can describe a noun: phrase + 的de + noun, as in 新开的商场xīn kāi de shāngchǎng, “a mall that is newly opened.” In this lesson, phrase + 的de can stand on its own as a noun phrase: 新开的xīn kāi de, “the newly opened one.” The complete phrase ending in 的de refers to a person or thing identified by the description. Context tells the listener what it refers to; it may be something already mentioned or something obvious in the situation. 的de does not itself mean ‘one,’ ‘what,’ or ‘who.’ Those English words translate the meaning of the whole phrase in context.
绿色的不错。
The green one is pretty good.
The complete 绿色的lǜsè de phrase refers to a green schoolbag and serves as the subject of the sentence.
Dialogue 2 · Trying Red Pants · Turn 2
Named clothes, then understood clothes
你有很多白色的衣服，为什么还买白色的？
You have lots of white clothes. Why are you buying white ones again?
Why it matters · The first 的de links 白色báisè to the following noun in 白色的衣服báisè de yīfu. The second 白色的báisè de is a complete 的de phrase referring to white clothes, with no noun following it.
