Level 2 - Lesson 6
This lesson follows Xiaoxue's birthday meal. You will talk about birthday foods, family plans, and how the day feels after everyone has eaten and rested.
Contains 5 words
cake
to spend; to celebrate
meat
birthday
fish
Contains 5 words
long
Contains 4 words
to open; to turn on
长长的面条儿，大大的蛋糕。
Chángcháng de miàntiáor, dàdà de dàngāo.
Long noodles and a big cake.
还有鱼啊肉啊什么的。
Hái yǒu yú a ròu a shénme de.
There is also fish, meat, and things like that.
过生日真好啊！
Guò shēngrì zhēn hǎo a!
Having a birthday is really great!
快快乐乐地玩。
Kuàikuàilèlè de wán.
Play happily.
孩子们早早地就上床了。
Háizimen zǎozǎo de jiù shàng chuáng le.
Situation: At home, Liu Ming helps Xiaoxue choose between birthday noodles and cake before she starts eating.
刘明
Liu Ming
小雪，今天是你的生日，长长的面条儿、蛋糕什么的都准备好了。
Xiaoxue, today is your birthday. The long noodles, cake, and other things are all ready.
Adjective Reduplication
Repeat a suitable one-syllable adjective as AA or a two-syllable adjective as AABB to make the quality feel vivid and concrete.
Make the quality vivid
Repeat the adjective, then connect it to a noun or action according to its sentence job.
bed
particle used before a verb to describe how an action is done
happy; joyful
comfortable; well
to draw; picture
paintbrush; drawing pen
to forget
The children went to bed early.
舒舒服服地睡一觉。
Shūshūfúfú de shuì yí jiào.
Sleep comfortably.
生日快乐！
Shēngrì kuàilè!
Happy birthday!
请打开礼物。
Qǐng dǎkāi lǐwù.
Please open the gift.
我想画生日蛋糕。
Wǒ xiǎng huà shēngrì dàngāo.
I want to draw a birthday cake.
这是我画生日蛋糕的画笔。
Zhè shì wǒ huà shēngrì dàngāo de huàbǐ.
This is the drawing pen I use to draw the birthday cake.
我的画笔呢？我忘了。
Wǒ de huàbǐ ne? Wǒ wàng le.
Where is my drawing pen? I forgot.
刘小雪
Liu Xiaoxue
今天真快乐！我想吃面条儿。
I'm so happy today! I want to eat noodles.
刘明
Liu Ming
好，吃完面条儿，还想吃什么？
Okay. After finishing the noodles, what else do you want to eat?
刘小雪
Liu Xiaoxue
还想和大家快快乐乐地吃蛋糕。
I also want to happily eat cake with everyone.
Situation: Xiaoxue's younger brother wants to give her a drawing but cannot find his brush.
弟弟
Younger brother
姐姐，我想给你画一个生日蛋糕。
Sister, I want to draw you a birthday cake.
刘小雪
Liu Xiaoxue
太好了，你的画笔呢？
Great. Where is your brush?
弟弟
Younger brother
我忘了，画笔在我的床上。
I forgot. The brush is on my bed.
刘小雪
Liu Xiaoxue
快去拿吧，回来好好地画。
Go get it, come back, and draw carefully.
Situation: After the birthday meal, Xiaoxue's parents talk about the children going to bed.
王一雪
Wang Yixue
小雪今天过生日，很快乐。
Xiaoxue celebrated her birthday today and was very happy.
刘明
Liu Ming
是啊，她吃了蛋糕，还打开了礼物。
Yes. She ate cake and also opened a gift.
王一雪
Wang Yixue
孩子们都累了，明天不上学。
The children are all tired, and they do not have school tomorrow.
刘明
Liu Ming
那就让他们舒舒服服地睡一觉吧。
Then let's let them sleep comfortably.
Do not repeat the whole two-syllable adjective as ABAB in this pattern. The lesson's two-syllable adjective form is AABB.
The one-syllable adjective 长 (cháng) becomes AA, and 的 (de) connects the vivid quality to the noun.
长长的面条儿
nice long noodles
The two-syllable adjective 快乐 (kuàilè) becomes AABB, and 地 (de) connects it to the action.
快快乐乐地玩
play happily
长长的面条儿。
Nice long noodles.
快快乐乐地吃蛋糕。
Happily eat cake.
舒舒服服地睡一觉。
Sleep comfortably.
Dialogue 01: Food for Xiaoxue's Birthday, Turn 1
Describe the noodles vividly
小雪，今天是你的生日，长长的面条儿、蛋糕什么的都准备好了。
Xiaoxue, today is your birthday. The long noodles, cake, and other things are all ready.
Dialogue 03: Resting After the Birthday, Turn 4
Describe comfortable sleep vividly
那就让他们舒舒服服地睡一觉吧。
Then let's let them sleep comfortably.
Adjective reduplication changes the shape of an adjective to present the quality as vivid, noticeable, or warmly descriptive. A suitable one-syllable adjective commonly repeats as AA, as in 长长 (chángcháng), ‘nice and long,’ or 大大 (dàdà), ‘nice and big.’ A two-syllable AB adjective commonly becomes AABB: 快乐 (kuàilè) becomes 快快乐乐 (kuàikuàilèlè), and 舒服 (shūfu) becomes 舒舒服服 (shūshūfúfú). The repeated adjective still needs the connector required by its job. Before a noun, use 的 (de): 长长的面条儿 (chángcháng de miàntiáor). To describe how an action happens, use 地 (de): 快快乐乐地玩 (kuàikuàilèlè de wán). Reduplication supplies the vivid quality; 的 (de) or 地 (de) connects that quality to what it describes.
Fixed Phrase 什么的
Put 什么的 (shénme de) after one or more examples to mean ‘and things like that.’
Leave the list open
Name useful examples and include other similar things without listing each one.
This is a statement-list phrase, not a question. Do not translate 什么 (shénme) separately as ‘what’ here.
面条儿 (miàntiáor) and 蛋糕 (dàngāo) are examples; 什么的 (shénme de) includes similar birthday items.
面条儿、蛋糕什么的都准备好了。
The noodles, cake, and other things are all ready.
啊 (a) separates the examples conversationally; 什么的 (shénme de) closes the list without making it complete.
还有鱼啊肉啊什么的。
There is also fish, meat, and things like that.
面条儿、蛋糕什么的都准备好了。
The noodles, cake, and other things are all ready.
还有鱼啊肉啊什么的。
There is also fish, meat, and things like that.
Dialogue 01: Food for Xiaoxue's Birthday, Turn 1
Name representative birthday foods
小雪，今天是你的生日，长长的面条儿、蛋糕什么的都准备好了。
Xiaoxue, today is your birthday. The long noodles, cake, and other things are all ready.
In this fixed phrase, 什么的 (shénme de) does not ask ‘what?’ It closes an open list: example or examples + 什么的 (shénme de). The speaker names representative items and signals that similar items are included but do not need to be listed. 面条儿、蛋糕什么的都准备好了 (miàntiáor, dàngāo shénme de dōu zhǔnbèi hǎo le) means that noodles, cake, and other birthday things are ready. The named examples must belong to a category the listener can infer from context. Use the phrase when the exact complete list is unimportant; do not use it when the listener needs every item.
Structural Particle 地
Use description + 地 (de) + action when the description tells how someone does the action.
Describe how an action is done
The words before 地 (de) give the manner or attitude of the action after it.
Ask what comes after the particle: if it is an action such as 玩 (wán), use 地 (de); if it is a noun such as 面条儿 (miàntiáor), use 的 (de).
快快乐乐 (kuàikuàilèlè) tells how the playing happens.
快快乐乐地玩
play happily
高兴 (gāoxìng) tells how the person speaks.
高兴地说谢谢
say thank you happily
Here 长长 (chángcháng) describes the noun 面条儿 (miàntiáor), so the connector is 的 (de), not 地 (de).
长长的面条儿
long noodles
快快乐乐地玩。
Play happily.
回来好好地画。
Come back and draw carefully.
高兴地说谢谢。
Say thank you happily.
Dialogue 01: Food for Xiaoxue's Birthday, Turn 4
How Xiaoxue will eat the cake
还想和大家快快乐乐地吃蛋糕。
I also want to happily eat cake with everyone.
Dialogue 02: A Drawing for the Birthday, Turn 4
How the brother should draw
快去拿吧，回来好好地画。
地 (de) turns the description before it into information about the action after it. In 快快乐乐地玩 (kuàikuàilèlè de wán), 快快乐乐 (kuàikuàilèlè) answers ‘how do they play?’ and 玩 (wán) is the action. This is different from 的 (de): 长长的面条儿 (chángcháng de miàntiáor) uses 的 (de) because 长长 (chángcháng) describes the noun 面条儿 (miàntiáor). Use 地 (de) before an action; use 的 (de) before the noun being described.
Go get it, come back, and draw carefully.
Dialogue 03: Resting After the Birthday, Turn 4
How the children can sleep
那就让他们舒舒服服地睡一觉吧。
Then let's let them sleep comfortably.
