HSK 4Lesson 3
To talk about a person you often need their looks. You will describe someone you are looking for, shop for sweaters and socks, describe how a teacher looked then and now, and sort through a big bag of clothes.
You will learn to describe how a person looks and what they wear, and to describe a quantity with a size word such as a big bag.
Part 1 · 16 new words
Contains 6 words
handsome
beautiful
skin
appearance; look
nose
to get a haircut
Contains 7 words
spectacles; eyeglasses
hat; cap
Contains 3 words
thick (for clothes and objects)
thick; coarse
Part 2 · 10 phrases
那个人的样子很特别，我一下就记住了。
That person had such a distinctive look that I remembered them right away.
我每个月去理一次发，短头发洗起来快。
I get a haircut once a month; short hair is quick to wash.
那个小伙子笑起来特别帅，女同学都爱看他。
That young man is especially handsome when he smiles, and the girls in class love to look at him.
她皮肤很好，笑起来特别美丽。
Her skin is lovely, and she looks especially beautiful when she smiles.
他看书时戴眼镜，出门时戴帽子。
He wears glasses when he reads and a hat when he goes out.
外面下雪了，毛衣外面再穿一件外套就不冷了。
It's snowing outside; put a jacket on over your sweater and you won't be cold.
Part 3 · 4 conversations
Bai Jiayue has been waiting a long time for her younger brother; she describes him to Wang Yixue, who thinks she saw him by the school gate.
白家月Bai Jiayue
你在学校门口看到我弟弟了吗？我等了他半天了。
Did you see my younger brother at the school gate? I've been waiting for him for ages.
王一雪Wang Yixue
不知道是不是他。他长什么样子？
I'm not sure if it was him. What does he look like?
Part 4 · 1 point
数词+形容词+量词
Put 大dà or 小xiǎo between the number and the measure word, as in 一大包yí dà bāo.
Say a big or small quantity
Use 大dà or 小xiǎo between the number and the measure word.
coat; jacket
(wool) sweater
leather shoes
socks; stockings
to wear (glasses, a hat)
thin; fine
买皮鞋要穿着袜子去试，大小才对。
When you buy leather shoes, try them on with socks, so the size is right.
画大树用粗笔，画小花用细笔。
Use a thick pen to draw big trees and a thin pen to draw small flowers.
他的鼻子很高，大家都说他像外国人。
His nose is high, so everyone says he looks like a foreigner.
明天要拍照，我下午想去理发。
We're taking photos tomorrow, so I want to get a haircut this afternoon.
白家月Bai Jiayue
个子很高，鼻子高高的，戴着眼镜。昨天刚理发，头发短短的。
Tall, with a high nose, and he wears glasses. He just got a haircut yesterday, so his hair is short.
王一雪Wang Yixue
他穿什么衣服？
What is he wearing?
白家月Bai Jiayue
黑色外套，黑色皮鞋，还戴着帽子。
A black coat, black leather shoes, and a hat.
王一雪Wang Yixue
这么说，我刚才在门口的树下看见一个这样的小伙子，挺帅的。
In that case, I just saw a young man like that under the tree by the gate. Quite handsome.
白家月Bai Jiayue
那一定是他！我马上去找他。
That must be him! I'll go find him right away.
Liu Xiaoxue is shopping for a sweater and socks; the clerk explains the difference between the thick and the thin sweaters.
服务员Clerk
欢迎，毛衣在这边。粗的八十，细的一百二。
Welcome, the sweaters are over here. The chunky ones are eighty, the fine ones a hundred and twenty.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
粗的看着太厚了。细的呢？
The chunky ones look too thick. What about the fine ones?
服务员Clerk
细的不厚，也好看，里面还能穿衬衫。
The fine ones aren't thick, they look nice, and you can wear a shirt under them.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
那我要一件细的。袜子有吗？
Then I'll take a fine one. Do you have socks?
服务员Clerk
有，三双五十，黑色的和白色的都有。
Yes, three pairs for fifty, in black and white.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
黑色的要两双，白色的要一双。
Two pairs of black and one of white, please.
Anne and Liu Xiaoxue look at a photo of Teacher Wang from her university days and talk about how she looks now.
安妮Anne
王老师大学时的照片你看了吗？
Have you seen Teacher Wang's photo from her university days?
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
看了。她那时候真美丽，皮肤白白的。
Yes. She was beautiful then, with fair skin.
安妮Anne
现在也是。她快五十了，样子还很年轻。
She still is. She is almost fifty, and she still looks young.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
她说办法很简单：多喝水，多睡觉。
She says the trick is simple: drink more water and sleep more.
安妮Anne
多喝水我能做到，多睡觉就难了，作业太多了！
Drinking more water I can manage. Sleeping more is the hard part. There's too much homework!
Liu Ming brings home a big bag of clothes his brother's family no longer has room for, and Li Wen tries them on.
李文Li Wen
这一大包是什么？
What's this big bag?
刘明Liu Ming
是我哥哥给你的衣服，他们家放不下了。有外套、毛衣、一双皮鞋，还有一小包袜子。
Clothes from my brother for you; they don't have room for them anymore. There's a coat, a sweater, a pair of leather shoes and a small bag of socks.
李文Li Wen
这件外套太大了，我穿着不好看。
This coat is too big; it doesn't look good on me.
刘明Liu Ming
冬天里面可以多穿一件厚毛衣，你再试一下。
In winter you can wear a thick sweater under it. Try it again.
李文Li Wen
还是太大。这双皮鞋很好看，是新的吗？
Still too big. These leather shoes are nice, though. Are they new?
刘明Liu Ming
是新的。你穿上，让我看看样子。
They're new. Put them on and let me see how they look.
李文Li Wen
大小刚好！皮鞋我要了，外套还是你自己穿吧。
They fit perfectly! I'll take the shoes. You'd better wear the coat yourself.
一大包衣服yí dà bāo yīfu means a big bagful of clothes.
In sentences
A big bagful vs a big bag
我只有一个小包，放不下这一大包衣服。
I only have one small bag; it can't hold this big bagful of clothes.
一个小包yí ge xiǎo bāo is a small bag; 一大包衣服yí dà bāo yīfu is a big bagful of clothes.
A small cup
我要两小杯茶。
I want two small cups of tea.
小xiǎo describes the cup size.
A long stretch
下了车，还要走一大段路才能到我家。
After you get off the bus, there's still a long stretch to walk before you reach my home.
大dà sits between 一yī and 段duàn: a big stretch of road.
A：你要几杯水？ B：一大杯就行，我现在很渴。
A: How much water do you want? B: One big glass will do; I'm very thirsty.
刘明的哥哥给了他一大包衣服，里面还有一小包新袜子。
Liu Ming's brother gave him a big bagful of clothes, with a small packet of new socks inside.
The pattern is number + size adjective + measure word + noun. The adjective describes the size of the whole quantity, so 一大包衣服yí dà bāo yīfu means a big bagful of clothes. Compare 一个大包yí ge dà bāo, which means one big bag. Only 大dà and 小xiǎo fit here, and the measure word must be one that can hold or divide the thing, such as 包bāo, 杯bēi or 段duàn.
