HSK 4Lesson 22
A business trip by plane brings plans, checks and surprises. You will plan a business trip to Xi'an with a friend, go through security and ask for your gate, find out why a flight is not boarding, and get lost while changing planes in a big airport.
You will learn to plan a business trip by air, go through airport security, find your gate, deal with a delayed or cancelled flight, and change planes, and to say that you cannot do something however hard you try.
Part 1 · 14 new words
Contains 4 words
flight
to go on a business trip
destination
distance
Contains 5 words
to board a plane
to change planes
Contains 5 words
to cancel
to delay; to postpone
Part 2 · 8 phrases
去上海的航班每天有十几个。
There are a dozen or so flights to Shanghai every day.
登机以前，要先过安检。
Before boarding, you have to go through security first.
从北京飞过去要转机一次，会多花三个小时。
Flying from Beijing means one plane change, which adds three hours.
他经常出差，一个月有一半时间不在家。
He travels for work a lot, so he's away from home half of every month.
到了目的地以后，我先给你打个电话。
Once I get to my destination, I'll call you first.
下大雪，今天的比赛推迟了，明天的可能会取消。
It's snowing hard, so today's game was postponed, and tomorrow's might be canceled.
Part 3 · 4 conversations
Li Wen has to go to Xi'an for the company where he works part-time, and asks his roommate Liu Ming, who has been there, for advice.
李文Li Wen
下个星期我要去西安出差，你去过吗？
Next week I'm going to Xi'an on business. Have you been there?
刘明Liu Ming
去过两次。北京到西安的距离很远，坐飞机要差不多两个小时。
Twice. It's a long way from Beijing to Xi'an; the flight takes about two hours.
Part 4 · 1 point
怎么都/也+不/没……
Use 怎么也zěnme yě or 怎么都zěnme dōu before a negative to say that something does not or cannot happen, however hard you try.
Say every try fails
Put 怎么也zěnme yě before a verb with a 不bù result.
to land
security check
to turn
to suspend; to pause
to arrive; arrival
to stop
雨一直没有停止，所以比赛先暂停了。
The rain hasn't stopped, so the game was paused.
我家到学校的距离不远，走路十分钟。
My home isn't far from school; it's a ten-minute walk.
李文Li Wen
我订了星期二早上七点的航班，是不是太早了？
I've booked the seven a.m. flight on Tuesday. Is that too early?
刘明Liu Ming
是有点儿早。你的目的地离西安机场远吗？
It's a bit early. Is the place you're going far from Xi'an airport?
李文Li Wen
不远，开车四十分钟。我下午两点开会，早一点儿到比较好。
Not far, forty minutes by car. My meeting is at two in the afternoon, so it's better to get there early.
刘明Liu Ming
也对。可是随着春节的到来，坐飞机的人越来越多，你最好提前两个小时到机场。
True. But with the Spring Festival coming, more and more people are flying, so you'd better get to the airport two hours early.
Early on Tuesday morning Li Wen goes through airport security for his Xi'an flight, has to leave his water behind, and asks the officer the way to his gate.
安检员Security officer
请把包放在这里，手机和电脑也拿出来。
Please put your bag here, and take out your phone and computer too.
李文Li Wen
我包里还有一瓶水，可以带进去吗？
I have a bottle of water in my bag. Can I take it through?
安检员Security officer
水不能带进去。你可以在这儿喝完，或者放在那边。
You can't take water through. You can drink it here or leave it over there.
李文Li Wen
那我不要了。请问，十二号登机口怎么走？
Then I'll leave it. Excuse me, how do I get to gate twelve?
安检员Security officer
过了安检往右转，一直走就到了。
After security, turn right and keep going.
李文Li Wen
远吗？上次我在这个机场怎么也找不到登机口，差点儿没赶上飞机。
Is it far? Last time I couldn't find my gate in this airport however hard I tried, and I nearly missed my plane.
安检员Security officer
不远，走五分钟就到。你是七点去西安的航班吧？六点二十开始登机，六点四十就停止登机了。
Not far, it's a five-minute walk. You're on the seven o'clock to Xi'an, right? Boarding starts at six twenty and closes at six forty.
Wang Yixue asks the gate agent why her flight home to Shanghai hasn't started boarding.
王一雪Wang Yixue
请问，去上海的航班怎么还没开始登机？已经晚了半个小时了。
Excuse me, why hasn't the Shanghai flight started boarding? It's already half an hour late.
服务员Gate agent
对不起，上海正在下大雨，航班推迟了，现在暂停登机。
I'm sorry, it's raining heavily in Shanghai. The flight is delayed and boarding is suspended for now.
王一雪Wang Yixue
推迟到几点？我哥哥晚上要来机场接我。
Delayed until when? My brother is coming to pick me up at the airport this evening.
服务员Gate agent
现在还不知道，要等通知。如果雨一直不停，今天的航班可能会取消。
We don't know yet; we have to wait for news. If the rain doesn't stop, today's flight may be cancelled.
王一雪Wang Yixue
如果取消了，我怎么办？
And if it's cancelled, what do I do?
服务员Gate agent
您可以换明天早上第一个航班，我们会帮您换票。
You can change to the first flight tomorrow morning, and we'll change the ticket for you.
王一雪Wang Yixue
那我先给我哥哥打个电话，告诉他别来接我了。
Then I'll call my brother first and tell him not to come and pick me up.
Anne is flying to Xi'an to meet Liu Xiaoxue and has to change planes in Beijing; she is lost in the airport when Liu Xiaoxue, already in Xi'an, calls to see where she is.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
安妮，我已经到西安了。你到哪儿了？
Anne, I'm already in Xi'an. Where are you now?
安妮Anne
飞机刚在北京降落，我要在这里转机去西安。
The plane has just landed in Beijing. I change planes here for Xi'an.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
转机的时间长不长？
Do you have long to change?
安妮Anne
只有一个半小时，可是这个机场太大了，我怎么也找不到转机的地方。
Only an hour and a half, but this airport is huge and I can't find the transfer area however hard I try.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
别着急，你看看上面写的字，找“转机”两个字。
Don't worry. Look at the signs above you and find the word "transfer".
安妮Anne
看到了！要往左转，再坐电梯上一层。
I see it! I have to turn left and take the elevator up one floor.
Without 也yě or 都dōu, 怎么zěnme turns back into a question word: why.
In sentences
Cannot remember
这个字我怎么也记不住。
I can't remember this character however hard I try.
A potential complement with 不bù.
Will not
我说了好几次，他怎么都不听。
I told him several times, but he just won't listen.
不bù + verb: someone refuses.
Never expected
我怎么也没想到航班会取消。
I never expected the flight to be cancelled.
没méi for the past.
A：你怎么还没睡？ B：我怎么也睡不着，明天有一个很重要的考试。
A: Why aren't you asleep yet? B: I can't sleep however hard I try; I have an important exam tomorrow.
李文说了半天，安检的人怎么也不让他带水上飞机。
Li Wen talked for a long time, but the security officer wouldn't let him take the water on the plane no matter what.
王一雪等了一个小时，怎么都想不明白为什么还不能登机。
Wang Yixue waited an hour and still couldn't work out why boarding hadn't started.
In this pattern 怎么zěnme does not ask how; it means in any way at all. Followed by 也yě or 都dōu and a negative, it says that every attempt fails: 我怎么也找不到转机的地方wǒ zěnme yě zhǎo bu dào zhuǎnjī de dìfang, I can't find the transfer area however hard I try. The negative part is most often a potential complement with 不bù, such as 找不到zhǎo bu dào, 记不住jì bu zhù or 睡不着shuì bu zháo, for something you cannot manage; 不bù + verb, for someone who will not do something, as in 他怎么都不听tā zěnme dōu bù tīng; or 没méi + verb for the past, as in 怎么也没想到zěnme yě méi xiǎngdào, never expected it at all. 也yě and 都dōu mean the same here; 也yě is a little more common. The pattern follows the subject, or a topic placed first. It is the negative partner of 说什么也得shuō shénme yě děi and 怎么也得zěnme yě děi, must at all costs, which you met in Lesson 14. The most common mistake is to leave out 也yě or 都dōu: 我怎么找不到登机口？wǒ zěnme zhǎo bu dào dēngjīkǒu? is a real question, why can't I find the gate?
