Level 2 - Lesson 7
This lesson follows Annie and Chen Tian as they talk about basketball, soccer, running, swimming, and regular exercise habits.
Contains 3 words
from
toward
to start; beginning
Contains 9 words
to run
Contains 3 words
to play; to hit
你是什么时候从北京回来的？
Nǐ shì shénme shíhou cóng Běijīng huílai de?
When did you come back from Beijing?
你怎么往外跑？
Nǐ zěnme wǎng wài pǎo?
Why are you running outside?
一起去打篮球。
Yìqǐ qù dǎ lánqiú.
Go play basketball together.
你还喜欢什么运动？
Nǐ hái xǐhuan shénme yùndòng?
What other sports do you like?
星期天跟朋友们去踢球。
Xīngqītiān gēn péngyoumen qù tī qiú.
Situation: After class, Annie sees Chen Tian hurrying to basketball and asks to join his classmates.
安妮
Annie
陈天，你怎么一下课就往外跑？
Chen Tian, why do you run outside as soon as class ends?
Condensed Sentence 一……就……
Put 一 (yī) before the first event and 就 (jiù) before the second to say ‘as soon as A happens, B happens.’
Trigger, then immediate result
Once the first event occurs, the second follows right away or as a regular consequence.
basketball
exercise; sport; to exercise
soccer; football
ball
to run; running
to swim; swimming
to swim
hobby
to kick; to play
particle after a verb showing degree or state
Go play soccer with friends on Sunday.
你踢得怎么样？
Nǐ tī de zěnmeyàng?
How well do you play?
我踢得还可以。
Wǒ tī de hái kěyǐ.
I play okay.
你篮球打得怎么样？
Nǐ lánqiú dǎ de zěnmeyàng?
How well do you play basketball?
我跑得不快。
Wǒ pǎo de bú kuài.
I do not run fast.
我游泳游得不快。
Wǒ yóuyǒng yóu de bú kuài.
I do not swim fast.
我有时间去运动。
Wǒ yǒu shíjiān qù yùndòng.
I have time to go exercise.
陈天
Chen Tian
我跟同学说好了，一起去打篮球。
I already arranged with classmates to go play basketball together.
安妮
Annie
我也想运动，可以跟你们一起去吗？
I want to exercise too. Can I go with you?
陈天
Chen Tian
可以，我们一起走吧。
Sure. Let's go together.
Situation: On campus, Annie learns that Chen Tian is new to soccer and offers to play with him on Sunday.
安妮
Annie
你从什么时候开始踢足球的？
When did you start playing soccer?
陈天
Chen Tian
我从今年开始踢足球，现在踢得不太好。
I started playing soccer this year. Right now, I don't play very well.
安妮
Annie
我足球踢得还可以，星期天一起踢球吧。
I play soccer okay. Let's play together on Sunday.
陈天
Chen Tian
好，我一到学校就给你打电话。
Okay. I'll call you as soon as I get to school.
Situation: After class, Chen Tian and Annie choose an activity that suits Annie's abilities.
陈天
Chen Tian
下课了，我们去跑步还是去游泳？
Class is over. Should we go running or swimming?
安妮
Annie
游泳吧，我跑得不快。
Let's swim. I don't run fast.
陈天
Chen Tian
你游泳游得怎么样？
How well do you swim?
安妮
Annie
游得还可以，我们一起去吧。
I swim okay. Let's go together.
Keep both markers. 一 (yī) opens the trigger and 就 (jiù) marks its prompt result.
下课 (xiàkè) is the trigger; 往外跑 (wǎng wài pǎo) is the action that follows promptly.
你一下课就往外跑。
You run outside as soon as class ends.
Here the frame describes a repeated habit: having time regularly triggers exercise.
我一有时间就去运动。
Whenever I have time, I go exercise.
你一下课就往外跑。
You run outside as soon as class ends.
我一有时间就去运动。
Whenever I have time, I go exercise.
Dialogue 01: Basketball After Class, Turn 1
Ask about an immediate after-class action
陈天，你怎么一下课就往外跑？
Chen Tian, why do you run outside as soon as class ends?
The frame 一……就…… (yī...jiù...) links two events in a tight trigger-and-result relationship. Put 一 (yī) directly before the first event and 就 (jiù) directly before the event that follows: subject + 一 (yī) + event A + 就 (jiù) + event B. In 你一下课就往外跑 (nǐ yí xiàkè jiù wǎng wài pǎo), class ending is the trigger and running outside follows immediately. The frame can describe one occasion or a regular pattern; context supplies the time. It does not merely mean that A happens before B. Choose it when B follows promptly or predictably once A occurs.
Complement of State (1)
Use verb + 得 (de) + description to ask or state the quality, speed, or degree of an action.
Action, then its quality
The words after 得 (de) say how the action is performed.
This subtype is the direct V + 得 + description form. The next subtype explains what changes when the activity includes an object.
快 (kuài) is the proposed description; 吗 (ma) asks whether it is true.
你跑得快吗？
Do you run fast?
不快 (bú kuài) is the description of the running action.
我跑得不快。
I do not run fast.
踢得不太好。
I don't play very well.
游得还可以。
I swim okay.
Dialogue 02: Play Soccer Together, Turn 2
Describe beginner ability
我从今年开始踢足球，现在踢得不太好。
I started playing soccer this year. Right now, I don't play very well.
A state complement describes the way an action turns out or is performed. When the verb stands without an object, place 得 (de) immediately after the verb and put the description after 得 (de): verb + 得 (de) + description. 跑得快 (pǎo de kuài) means ‘run fast’; 跑得不快 (pǎo de bú kuài) means ‘not run fast.’ To ask for the missing description, use 怎么样 (zěnmeyàng) after 得 (de), or turn a specific description into a question with 吗 (ma). Do not put 很 (hěn), 不 (bù), or the quality before 得 (de); 得 (de) is the bridge from the action to its description.
Complement of State (2)
When the activity includes an object, name the object or verb-object activity first, then use the verb + 得 (de) + description.
Name the activity, then describe its action
Place the object-bearing activity before the verb that receives the 得 complement.
Do not say the object after the 得 description. Keep the complete activity before the verb + 得 unit.
篮球 (lánqiú) comes before 打得怎么样 (dǎ de zěnmeyàng), not after the quality question.
你篮球打得怎么样？
How well do you play basketball?
游泳 (yóuyǒng) names the activity; the repeated 游 (yóu) is followed by 得 (de) and its description.
游泳游得还可以。
I swim okay.
你篮球打得怎么样？
How well do you play basketball?
你游泳游得怎么样？
How well do you swim?
Dialogue 01: Basketball After Class, Turn 3
Ask about basketball ability
你篮球打得怎么样？
How well do you play basketball?
Dialogue 03: Run or Swim After Class?, Turn 3
Ask about a verb-object activity
你游泳游得怎么样？
得 (de) still connects an action to its quality, but an object cannot sit between the verb and 得 (de), and it does not follow the description in this pattern. Put the activity before the verb that receives the complement. With a sport object, use object + verb + 得 (de) + description: 篮球打得怎么样 (lánqiú dǎ de zěnmeyàng). With a verb-object activity, state the activity and repeat its verb: 游泳游得还可以 (yóuyǒng yóu de hái kěyǐ). The first part tells the listener which activity you mean; the repeated or following verb connects to 得 (de) and receives the quality description. When no object is named, use the simpler pattern from the previous point: 跑得不快 (pǎo de bú kuài).
How well do you swim?
