HSK 4Lesson 70
The Mid-Autumn Festival and the Spring Festival shape the Chinese calendar. Anne learns how Liu Xiaoxue's family spends both festivals and asks Teacher Wang about the end of term, and Li Wen and Liu Ming hunt for tickets home.
You will learn to talk about the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Spring Festival: when they fall, how families celebrate, holiday travel prices, deadlines before the break, and fractions, percentages, decimals and multiples.
Part 1 · 12 new words
Contains 3 words
mooncake
end of the year
month (on the calendar)
Contains 4 words
period; term; session
end (of a period)
Contains 4 words
of (literary particle)
before
Contains 1 word
at the same time
Part 2 · 8 phrases
八月十五，我们一家人一边吃月饼，一边看月亮。
On the fifteenth of the eighth month, our whole family eats mooncakes while looking at the moon.
年底的票最难买，你要早点儿订。
Tickets at the end of the year are the hardest to get, so book early.
你是几月份出生的？
What month were you born?
期末考试以前，图书馆里的座位很难找。
Before the end-of-term exams, seats in the library are hard to find.
睡觉之前，我要看十分钟书；起床之后，先喝一杯水。
Before bed I read for ten minutes; after I get up, I first drink a glass of water.
北京和上海之间有高铁，只要五个小时。
There's a high-speed train between Beijing and Shanghai; it only takes five hours.
Part 3 · 4 conversations
Anne asks Liu Xiaoxue when the Mid-Autumn Festival falls, how her family celebrates it and when to buy mooncakes.
安妮Anne
小雪，大家都说八月十五要吃月饼。那天一般在哪个月份？
Xiaoxue, everyone says you eat mooncakes on the fifteenth of the eighth month. Which month does that day usually fall in?
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
每年不一样，一般在九月，有时候在十月。
It changes every year. It's usually in September, sometimes in October.
Part 4 · 2 points
其他助词 之 / 等
之zhī joins with 前qián, 后hòu, 间jiān and 一yī to say before, after, between and one of; 等děng at the end of a list means 'and so on'.
Before or after an event
Put 之前zhīqián or 之后zhīhòu after the time or event.
within
within; inside
after
between
两个电话同时响了，我不知道先接哪个。
Two phones rang at the same time, and I didn't know which one to pick up first.
三天以内给我回信就可以，晚了就不行了。
Just write back within three days; later than that won't do.
安妮Anne
八月十五你们家怎么过？
How does your family spend the Mid-Autumn Festival?
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
晚上一家人一起吃饭、看月亮、吃月饼。月饼是八月十五最有名的食品之一。
In the evening the whole family eats together, looks at the moon and eats mooncakes. Mooncakes are one of the best-known foods of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
安妮Anne
我也想买几个尝尝。什么时候买比较好？
I'd like to buy a few to try too. When is the best time to buy them?
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
节日之前买，选择多；节日之后买，便宜多了，可是好的都卖完了。
Before the festival there's more choice. After the festival they're much cheaper, but the good ones have all sold out.
安妮Anne
那我这个周末就去买一盒，八月十五跟你们一起吃。
Then I'll buy a box this weekend and eat them with you at the festival.
Near the end of the year, Li Wen and Liu Ming compare holiday ticket prices and plan how to get train tickets home.
李文Li Wen
快到年底了，你回家的票买了吗？
It's nearly the end of the year. Have you bought your ticket home?
刘明Liu Ming
还没有。春节前后的机票太贵了，比平时贵了百分之五十。
Not yet. Plane tickets around the Spring Festival are too expensive, fifty percent dearer than usual.
李文Li Wen
我也看了，有的是平时的两倍，最便宜的也是平时的一点五倍。
I looked too. Some are twice the usual price, and even the cheapest are one and a half times the usual.
刘明Liu Ming
那还是坐火车吧，火车票的价格不变。
Then let's take the train. Train ticket prices stay the same.
李文Li Wen
可是火车票很难买。听说春节前后坐火车的人里，有三分之一是学生。
But train tickets are hard to get. I hear that a third of the people traveling by train around the Spring Festival are students.
刘明Liu Ming
那我们两个人同时在网上买，机会大一点儿。
Then the two of us will try to buy online at the same time. Our chances will be better.
李文Li Wen
好主意。记住，要买一月二十号到二十五号之间的票。
Good idea. Remember, we want tickets for between the twentieth and the twenty-fifth of January.
刘明Liu Ming
没问题，我们一会儿就开始。
No problem. We'll start in a moment.
Anne asks Teacher Wang about the end-of-term exam and essay deadline before the Spring Festival break, and about the next course.
安妮Anne
王老师，这学期的期末考试是什么时候？
Teacher Wang, when is this term's final exam?
王老师Teacher Wang
一月十五号。考完就放假了，正好过春节。
On the fifteenth of January. After the exam the holiday starts, just in time for the Spring Festival.
安妮Anne
考完试还要交作文吗？
Do we still have to hand in an essay after the exam?
王老师Teacher Wang
要。考完一周内交一篇，写你们国家的一个节日。
Yes. Hand one in within a week of the exam, about a festival in your country.
安妮Anne
一周以内写完有点儿难，我可以晚几天交吗？
Finishing it within a week is a bit hard. Could I hand it in a few days late?
王老师Teacher Wang
可以，最晚一月末，不能再晚了。过了春节，新一期的汉语班就开始了，你还来吗？
Yes, but the end of January at the latest. After the Spring Festival the new Chinese course starts. Are you coming back?
安妮Anne
来，我想再学一期。
Yes, I want to study for another term.
Anne asks Liu Xiaoxue what her family does on the evening before the Spring Festival and asks to join them.
安妮Anne
小雪，春节前一天晚上，你们家一般做什么？
Xiaoxue, what does your family usually do on the evening before the Spring Festival?
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
一家人一起包饺子，同时看电视。
The whole family makes dumplings together while watching TV.
安妮Anne
饺子里一般放什么？
What do you usually put in the dumplings?
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
肉、白菜、鸡蛋等。有时候我妈还会在一个饺子里放一块钱，谁吃到，谁明年就有好事。
Meat, Chinese cabbage, egg and so on. Sometimes my mom also hides a one-yuan coin in one dumpling, and whoever gets it will have good luck next year.
安妮Anne
真有意思！我能去你家一起包吗？
How interesting! Can I come to your place and make them with you?
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
当然可以。下午四点到六点之间来就行，我先给我妈打个电话说一下。
Of course. Any time between four and six in the afternoon is fine. I'll call my mom first to let her know.
Say 节日之前jiérì zhīqián, never 之前节日.
One of a group
Name the group, then add 之一zhīyī at the end.
月饼是…最有名的食品之一Yuèbǐng shì … zuì yǒumíng de shípǐn zhīyī: mooncakes are one of the best-known foods.
In sentences
Before and after
考试之前好好复习，考试之后就可以好好休息了。
Review hard before the exam, and after it you can have a good rest.
之前zhīqián and 之后zhīhòu follow the event.
Between
下午四点到六点之间来就行。
Any time between four and six in the afternoon is fine.
之间zhījiān follows two points in time.
One of
饺子是春节最常吃的食品之一，很多人都自己在家包。
Dumplings are one of the most common foods at the Spring Festival, and many people make them at home.
之一zhīyī closes the phrase, after 最zuì + adjective + noun.
And so on
饺子里一般放肉、白菜、鸡蛋等。
Dumplings usually have meat, Chinese cabbage, egg and so on in them.
等děng ends the list.
A：你什么时候回老家？ B：春节之前回去，春节之后再来北京。
A: When are you going back to your hometown? B: Before the Spring Festival, and I'll come back to Beijing after it.
期末考试和春节之间只有三天，安妮不知道怎么复习。
There are only three days between the final exams and the Spring Festival, and Anne doesn't know how to revise.
之zhī is a literary particle that once worked like 的de; today it lives on mainly in fixed forms. 之前zhīqián and 之后zhīhòu follow the time or event they refer to: 节日之前jiérì zhīqián, before the festival; 节日之后jiérì zhīhòu, after the festival. Do not put them in front of it. 之后zhīhòu alone at the start of a sentence means 'after that'. 之间zhījiān needs two things or two points in time: 四点到六点之间sì diǎn dào liù diǎn zhījiān, between four and six. 之一zhīyī means 'one of' and closes a noun phrase that names a group, usually with 最zuì: 最有名的食品之一zuì yǒumíng de shípǐn zhīyī, one of the best-known foods. A common error is putting 之一zhīyī first, as in English; it always comes last. In the same group of particles, 等děng after a list of nouns means 'and so on': 肉、白菜、鸡蛋等ròu, báicài, jīdàn děng. These forms sound slightly more formal than 以前yǐqián, 以后yǐhòu or 什么的shénme de, but they are common in everyday speech too.
小数、分数、百分数、倍数
Say fractions as 三分之一sān fēn zhīyī, percentages as 百分之五十bǎi fēn zhī wǔshí, decimals with 点diǎn and multiples with 倍bèi.
Fractions and percentages
Say the whole first, then 分之fēn zhī, then the part.
百分之五十bǎi fēn zhī wǔshí works the same way: the whole is a hundred.
Times as much
Use 是…的…倍shì … de … bèi to compare amounts.
In 一点五倍yī diǎn wǔ bèi, 点diǎn is the decimal point.
In sentences
Percentage
机票比平时贵了百分之五十。
Plane tickets are fifty percent dearer than usual.
百分之bǎi fēn zhī comes before the number.
Fraction
我们班有三分之一的同学是从南方来的。
A third of the students in our class come from the south.
The whole, 三sān, comes first.
Multiple
春节前后，有的机票是平时的两倍。
Around the Spring Festival some plane tickets cost twice the usual price.
是shì + standard + 的de + number + 倍bèi.
Decimal multiple
我现在的工资是去年的一点五倍。
My pay now is one and a half times what it was last year.
点diǎn is the decimal point.
A：今年机票比去年贵多少？ B：差不多贵了百分之三十。
A fraction names the whole first and the part second: 三分之一sān fēn zhīyī is one third, literally 'of three parts, one'; English order is the reverse, so a common error is saying 一分之三yī fēn zhī sān. A percentage is a fraction of a hundred: 百分之五十bǎi fēn zhī wǔshí, fifty percent. A decimal uses 点diǎn for the point, and digits after it are read one by one: 一点五yī diǎn wǔ, 1.5; 二点二五èr diǎn èr wǔ, 2.25. A multiple puts 倍bèi after the number: 两倍liǎng bèi, twice; 一点五倍yī diǎn wǔ bèi, one and a half times. To compare prices, use 是…的…倍shì … de … bèi: 机票是平时的两倍jīpiào shì píngshí de liǎng bèi
A: How much more expensive are flight tickets this year than last year? B: About thirty percent more.
春节前的火车票比平时贵了三分之一，李文想早点儿买。
Train tickets before the Spring Festival cost a third more than usual, so Li Wen wants to buy early.
我也看了，有的是平时的两倍，最便宜的也是平时的一点五倍。
I looked too. Some are twice the usual price, and even the cheapest are one and a half times the usual.
Why it matters · 倍bèi with a whole number and with a decimal.
