HSK 3Lesson 1
Annie lands in Beijing after fourteen hours in the air. You will follow Wang Yixue as she looks for Annie in the arrivals hall, then watch the two of them sort out a suitcase mix-up and head for the car.
You will learn to spot someone in a crowd, welcome a friend you have never met in person, and report a mix-up with luggage.
Part 1 · 13 new words
Contains 6 words
adult; grownup
old man or woman; the elderly
a man; a male
a woman; a female
prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity; old (of people)
other people; others; other person
Contains 2 words
noun suffix (as in 桌子, 椅子)
member; staff (suffix for a person with a job)
Contains 5 words
to meet; to see each other
to recognize; to remember sth (or sb) on seeing it
Part 2
Part 3 · 10 phrases
这家饭馆很便宜，大人孩子都爱来。
This restaurant is cheap, so grown-ups and kids both love to come.
老人一个人住，孩子们每个星期天都回家看他。
The old man lives alone, and his children come home to see him every Sunday.
我们见过面，但是我还不知道他叫什么。
We’ve met, but I still don’t know his name.
我认识他，但是他穿了新衣服，我都不认得了。
I know him, but he’s in new clothes and I didn’t even recognize him.
欢迎你来我家玩儿，星期天我们包饺子。
You’re welcome at our place; we’re making dumplings on Sunday.
行李不多，里面只有几件衣服和两本书。
There isn’t much luggage, just a few clothes and two books inside.
Part 4 · 4 conversations
Wang Yixue is waiting in the arrivals hall for Annie’s plane. She phones her father, who is waiting in the car, and tells him she can’t find Annie.
王一雪Wang Yixue
爸爸，我到机场了，里面人真多啊！
Dad, I’m at the airport. It’s packed in here!
王爸爸Yixue’s father
安妮到了吗？
Has Annie landed?
王一雪Wang Yixue
Part 5 · 2 points
老—
Put 老lǎo before a surname to call a friendly, familiar person by name.
Call someone by name
老lǎo + surname makes an easy, familiar name.
In the airport, the old man tells Annie to call him 老高lǎo Gāo, a friendly name that has nothing to do with his age.
In sentences
to welcome; welcome
luggage
we or us (including both the speaker and the person(s) spoken to); (dialect) I or me
名单上有名字，
There are names on the list,
名字后面还有谁？
But who is behind those names?
今天他们认识你，
Today they know you.
明天——
Tomorrow—
你是谁？
Who are you?
今天你是谁？
Who are you today?
今天你是谁？
Who are you today?
今天他们叫你名人，
Today they call you a celebrity.
明天可能叫你别人。
Tomorrow they may call you someone else.
今天你是谁？
Who are you today?
今天你是谁？
Who are you today?
很多人知道你的名字，
Many people know your name.
有几个人知道你累不累？
How many know whether you are tired?
名单上有你，
Your name is on the list.
名单上有谁？
Whose name is on the list?
名字可以留下，
A name can remain,
人还是会变。
But people still change.
今天你是谁？
Who are you today?
今天你是谁？
Who are you today?
男生想快点变成男人，
A boy wants to become a man quickly.
男人又想回到从前。
A man wants to return to the past.
人人都想当司机，
Everyone wants to be the driver,
可是要开到哪边？
But where are they going to drive?
今天他们叫你经理，
Today they call you a manager.
很多同事站你旁边。
Many coworkers stand beside you.
明天你不在那个位置，
Tomorrow you will no longer be in that position.
还有谁说“再见”？
Who will still say “goodbye”?
名人的名字大家都知道，
Everyone knows a famous person’s name.
名人知道谁的名字？
But whose names does that famous person know?
房间里面很多人笑，
Many people laugh inside the room.
门一关——
Once the door closes—
还有谁在？
Who is still there?
今天你是谁？
Who are you today?
今天你是谁？
Who are you today?
今天他们叫你名人，
Today they call you a celebrity.
明天可能叫你别人。
Tomorrow they may call you someone else.
今天你是谁？
Who are you today?
今天你是谁？
Who are you today?
很多人知道你的名字，
Many people know your name.
有几个人知道你累不累？
How many know whether you are tired?
今天你是谁？
Who are you today?
今天你是谁？
Who are you today?
昨天很多人在找你，
Yesterday, many people were looking for you.
今天你也在找别人。
Today, you are looking for someone else too.
昨天你走在最前面，
Yesterday, you walked at the very front.
今天也可能是病人。
Today, you might be a patient too.
到了那个时候，
When that time comes,
谁是经理不重要。
Who is the manager does not matter.
谁有名字不重要。
Who has a name does not matter.
谁还没走——
Who has not left—
你才知道。
Then you know.
阿姨在等，
An auntie is waiting.
爱人在等。
A loved one is waiting.
没人说太多，
No one says much.
也没人走。
No one leaves either.
我那天才明白，
That day, I finally understood:
最安静的人，
The quietest person
有时候——
Sometimes—
爱你最多。
Loves you the most.
别人可以进去吗？
Can other people go in?
我以前一直问。
I used to ask all the time.
后来门开了，
Later, the door opened.
我又开始问：
I began to ask again:
进去以后呢？
What happens after you go in?
进去以后呢？
What happens after you go in?
如果没人真的认识你，
If no one truly knows you,
里面和外面——
Inside and outside—
有什么不同？
What is the difference?
今天你是谁？
Who are you today?
今天你是谁？
Who are you today?
没有工作，没有名字，
With no job and no name,
你还会是谁？
Who would you still be?
今天你是谁？
Who are you today?
今天你是谁？
Who are you today?
今天你是谁？
Who are you today?
没有工作，没有名字，
With no job and no name,
你还会是谁？
Who would you still be?
这个手机不是我的，是别人忘在这儿的。
This phone isn’t mine; somebody else left it here.
时间不早了，咱们走吧，我还要做晚饭呢。
It’s getting late; let’s go, I still have to make dinner.
朋友们都叫他老刘，但是他比我们都小。
His friends all call him Lao Liu, but he’s younger than all of us.
他是机场的工作人员，每天要接很多电话。
He works at the airport and answers many calls every day.
到了，但是我还没看见她。这儿的人真多：有大人，有孩子，还有老人，男人女人都有，但是我看哪个都不是她！
It has, but I haven’t seen her. So many people here: grown-ups, kids, old people, men and women, and none of them looks like her!
王爸爸Yixue’s father
你们不是每天都在手机上说话吗？
Don’t you two talk on the phone every day?
王一雪Wang Yixue
说是说，但是手机里的她小小的，我怎么认得啊？
We do, but she’s tiny on my phone screen. How am I supposed to recognize her?
王爸爸Yixue’s father
你等一下，她下了飞机会给你打电话的。
Wait a bit. She’ll call you after she gets off the plane.
王一雪Wang Yixue
她的手机还没开呢！我再等等吧。你在车里别睡着啊！
Her phone isn’t even on yet! I’ll just keep waiting. Don’t fall asleep in the car!
Annie comes out of the gate and walks straight past Yixue, who calls after her. They meet face to face for the first time.
王一雪Wang Yixue
安妮！安妮！我在这儿！
Annie! Annie! I’m over here!
安妮Annie
啊？你是一雪？你比手机里漂亮多了，我都不认得了！
Huh? You’re Yixue? You’re so much prettier than on my phone that I didn’t recognize you!
王一雪Wang Yixue
你也是！你从我前面走过去了，我叫了你三次呢。
So are you! You walked right past me. I called you three times!
安妮Annie
对不起！我坐了十四个小时飞机，眼睛都累了。
Sorry! I sat on the plane for fourteen hours, and my eyes are exhausted.
王一雪Wang Yixue
没关系！我们在手机上说话说了半年，今天第一次见了面。欢迎你来北京！
It’s fine! We’ve been talking on the phone for half a year, and today we finally met. Welcome to Beijing!
安妮Annie
谢谢你来接我！你的个子比我想的还高呢。
Thanks for coming to get me! You’re even taller than I thought.
王一雪Wang Yixue
别说这个了，我们去拿你的行李吧。
Never mind that. Let’s go get your luggage.
At the baggage claim, Annie’s black suitcase is nowhere to be seen. She goes to a staff member at the help desk.
安妮Annie
您好，我的行李不见了。我在那边等了二十分钟，还是没有看见。
Hello, my luggage is missing. I waited over there for twenty minutes and still haven’t seen it.
工作人员Airport staff member
没事，你的行李是什么颜色的？大的还是小的？
It’s okay. What color is it? Big or small?
安妮Annie
黑色的，不太大，上面有一个红色的小包。
Black, not too big, with a little red bag on top.
工作人员Airport staff member
黑色的行李太多了。会不会是别人拿错了？
There are so many black bags. Could someone else have taken it by mistake?
安妮Annie
别人拿错了？但是行李上写着我的名字啊！
Someone took it by mistake? But my name is written on it!
工作人员Airport staff member
这样吧，你坐在椅子上等一下，我去问问别的工作人员。
Tell you what: have a seat and wait a moment. I’ll go ask the other staff.
安妮Annie
谢谢您！里面有我给朋友的礼物呢！
Thank you! My gifts for my friends are in it!
An old man brings Annie’s suitcase back to the exit with a laugh. Yixue is there, and they head out to the car where her father is waiting.
老人Old man
女士，这个黑色的行李是你的吧？我拿错了，对不起啊。
Ma’am, this black suitcase is yours, isn’t it? I took it by mistake. Sorry about that.
安妮Annie
是我的！谢谢您！
It’s mine! Thank you!
老人Old man
我的还在那边呢，没人拿。我姓高，叫我老高吧。我老了，看哪个黑色的都是我的！
Mine is still over there; nobody took it. My surname is Gao, so call me Lao Gao. I’m old, and every black one looks like mine to me!
安妮Annie
老高，您慢走！
Lao Gao, take care!
王一雪Wang Yixue
安妮，咱们走吧，我爸爸在车里等了一个小时了。
Annie, let’s go. My dad has been waiting in the car for an hour.
安妮Annie
一个小时？我怎么叫他好呢？
An hour? What should I call him?
王一雪Wang Yixue
我妈妈叫他老王，你就叫他王先生吧，他会很高兴的！
My mom calls him Lao Wang, so just call him Mr. Wang. He’ll be so happy!
Surname
我们同学都叫他老高。
Everyone in the class calls him Lao Gao.
Surname after 老lǎo.
Birth order
我是家里的老大。
I’m the oldest in my family.
Number after 老lǎo for order of birth.
老高今天开车去机场接朋友。
Lao Gao is driving to the airport today to pick up a friend.
A：那位先生你认识吗？ B：认识，大家都叫他老高。
A: Do you know that gentleman? B: Yes, everyone calls him Lao Gao.
A：你在家里是老几？ B：我是老二，我姐姐是老大。
A: Where do you come in your family? B: I’m the second child; my older sister is the oldest.
机场里的老人姓高，他对安妮说：“叫我老高吧。”
The old man at the airport has the surname Gao, and he told Annie, "Call me Lao Gao."
我们叫楼下的女士“老王”，她笑着说：“我只有三十岁，不老！”
We called the lady downstairs “Lao Wang,” and she said with a smile, “I’m only thirty, not old!”
老lǎo before a surname, such as 老高lǎo Gāo, is a friendly way to address or mention a person who is about your age or older. It is not about being old: 老高lǎo Gāo can be forty or twenty. It can also go before a number for the order of children in a family: 老大lǎodà is the oldest, 老二lǎo’èr the second. Use it with a surname only, never with a given name or a title, and only with someone you are on easy terms with. You can use it at once when the person invites you, as in 叫我老高吧Jiào wǒ Lǎo Gāo ba; otherwise wait until you know each other. Compare 老人lǎorén, where 老lǎo really does mean "old". A common mistake is to stack it with a title: ✗ 老高老师lǎo Gāo lǎoshī; say ✓ 高老师Gāo lǎoshī or 老高lǎo Gāo.
—家、—子、—员
Add 子zi to a noun-like syllable to make a thing, and 员yuán to name a person by job.
Things with 子
The suffix 子zi closes a noun for an everyday object.
椅子yǐzi is a chair; the neutral-tone 子zi is part of the word and is never dropped.
People with 员
The suffix 员yuán names a person by job.
售货员shòuhuòyuán is a shop assistant; the same ending works for 服务员fúwùyuán and 工作人员gōngzuò rényuán.
In sentences
Table
桌子上有一个杯子。
There is a cup on the table.
Two 子zi words in one sentence.
Staff
他是商店的售货员。
He’s a shop assistant.
Job + 员yuán.
桌子上有一个杯子和两本书。
There is a cup and two books on the table.
A：请问，你是这里的服务员吗？ B：对，您想吃点儿什么？
A: Excuse me, are you a waiter here? B: Yes, what would you like to eat?
那个房子很新，孩子们都喜欢住在里面。
That house is very new, and the kids all like living in it.
机场的工作人员请安妮坐在椅子上等一下。
The airport staff asked Annie to wait on a chair for a moment.
商店里的售货员告诉我，这件衣服只卖一百块。
The shop assistant told me this piece of clothing costs only a hundred yuan.
子zi and 员yuán are word endings, not words you can use alone. 子zi, with a neutral tone, closes many everyday nouns: 桌子zhuōzi, 椅子yǐzi, 杯子bēizi, 房子fángzi. 员yuán comes after a word for work or a place and means a person doing that job: 服务员fúwùyuán, 售货员shòuhuòyuán, 工作人员gōngzuò rényuán. The suffix 家jiā works the same way for experts and you will meet it in Lesson 3. These endings make fixed words, so you cannot invent them freely; learn each word whole. A common mistake is to drop the ending: ✗
这样吧，你坐在椅子上等一下，我去问问别的工作人员。
Tell you what: have a seat and wait a moment. I’ll go ask the other staff.
Why it matters · 椅子yǐzi ends in the suffix 子zi, and 工作人员gōngzuò rényuán ends in 员yuán.
