If you’ve ever learned even a little Chinese, you probably know the phrase “对不起(duì bù qǐ)”. In most textbooks, “对不起(duì bù qǐ)” is translated to mean “sorry,” or “I’m sorry.” Other books might say it means “Excuse me”. I often hear my beginning students use this phrase. However, you may notice that Chinese people don’t say it that often. Are all Chinese people being rude? Of course not! The difference is that “对不起(duì bù qǐ)” is not 100% the same as the English phrase “I’m sorry”. In Chinese, “对不起(duì bù qǐ)” is only used when you did something wrong, and caused trouble. Today, we will look at this simple but often incorrectly used phrase.
It’s common for an English speaker to say “sorry” when he or she feels sorry for someone else’s problem. For example, if I told you that I failed my TOEFL exam, you might expect to be able to reply “对不起(duì bù qǐ)”. However, instead of feeling comforted, most Chinese would feel confused by that reply. As we stated above, this phrase is only used when the person saying it did something wrong. It’s not your fault the person failed the exam! An appropriate response for this bad news could be:
啊？太糟了(a? tài zāo le)。Ah? That’s too bad.
别难过(bié nánguò)。Don’t be sad.
怎么会(zěnme huì)？How come this happened?
The only case you could use “对不起(duì bù qǐ)” in response to bad news is if you mentioned something that made the other person sad or uncomfortable. For example,
A：你的狗怎么样(nǐ de gǒu zěnmeyàng)？How is your dog?
B：我的狗死了(wǒ de gǒu sǐ le)。My dog passed away.
A：对不起(duì bù qǐ)！I’m sorry.
In this case, it’s your “fault” that you mentioned the sad thing, so it would make sense to use “对不起(duì bù qǐ)” to apologize.
One other time it’s appropriate to use “对不起(duì bù qǐ)” is when we might use the English phrase “Excuse me”. Again, if you’re causing someone trouble or inconvenience, then you can use “对不起(duì bù qǐ).” For example,
对不起，这是我的座位(duì bù qǐ, zhè shì wǒ de zuòwèi)。= Excuse me, but this is my seat.
对不起，请让我过去(duì bù qǐ, qǐng ràng wǒ guòqù)。= Excuse me, please let me pass.
对不起，请再说一遍(duì bù qǐ, qǐng zài shuō yíbiàn)。= Pardon me, please say it again.
Aside from “对不起(duì bù qǐ),” there are always other phrases one might hear a lot in Chinese. One of these is “不好意思(bù hǎo yì si),” which also means “sorry,” but is not as emotionally strong as “对不起(duì bù qǐ).” In most cases, “不好意思(bù hǎo yì si)” is equal to “excuse me.” For example, if you accidentally bump into someone, “不好意思(bù hǎo yì si)” is a good choice.
Another often-used phrase is “抱歉(bào qiàn)”. This one is quite formal, but is still used very frequently, especially in Taiwan. “抱歉(bào qiàn)” is often preceeded by “很(hěn),” which intensifies it. For example:
我们没有完成合同，我很抱歉(wǒ men méiyǒu wán chéng hétong, wǒ hěn bàoqiàn)。We didn’t complete the contract. I feel sorry.
我不能参加这次会议，我很抱歉(wǒ bù néng cānjiā zhè cì huìyì, wǒ hěn bàoqiàn)。I can’t attend this meeting. I feel sorry.
Because of how formal this phrase is, it typically doesn’t carry much emotional weight. As a native speaker, I usually won’t use this phrase with my friends.
Now you know the secrets of saying “sorry” in Chinese. So, next time your Chinese friend tells you they failed their exam, don’t say “对不起(duì bù qǐ)!” Unless, of course, you caused it to happen.
2015年10月28日星期三
2015年9月1日星期二
Describe Action with “得(de)”
In English, when you want to describe an action, you can simply use an adverb. For example, I run quickly. I get up early. Unfortunately, though, using this “verb + adverb” structure in Chinese is much more complicated. Today, we will focus on getting the hang of how to describe verbs with an adverb in Chinese.
The key word for this structure is the particle word “得(de)”. Look at the following sentence:
我吃得很慢(wǒ chī de hěn màn)。I eat slowly.
我唱得很好(wǒ chàng de hěn hǎo)。I sing well.
我说得很流利(wǒ shuō de hěn liú lì)。I speak fluently.
我运动得很多(wǒ yùndòng de hěn duō)。I work out often (a lot).
In these situations, it appears quite similar to English. All we have to do is use “得(de)” and “很(hěn) after the verb.
1. Rule one: If there is no object in the sentence, the structure is:
Subject + verb + 得(de) + 很(hěn) + adjective.
But what if we would like to use object with our verb? After all, I don’t eat slowly all the time – what if I only eat fish slowly? Then, the sentence turns into: 我吃鱼吃得很慢(wǒ chī yú chī de hěn màn)。 Let’s take a look at a few more examples,
我唱英语歌唱得很好(wǒ chàng yīngyǔ gē chàng de hěn hǎo)。I sing English songs well.
我说汉语说得很流利(wǒ shuō hànyǔ shuō de hěn liú lì)。I speak Chinese fluently.
我复习汉语复习得很好(wǒ fùxí hànyǔ fùxí de hěn hǎo)。I review Chinese well.
2. Rule two: If there is an object in the sentence, always do this:
Subject + verb + object + verb(reduplication) + 得(de) + 很 (hěn) + adjective.
So far, so good, right? Congratulations! If you master these two rules you’ll be correct in 70% of situations! But what about the other 30% ? Read on.
我睡觉睡得很好(wǒ shuìjiào shuì de hěn hǎo)。I sleep well. If you look at this sentence, you will find although 睡觉(shuìjiào) is known as one word “to sleep” and there is no object in it, it doesn’t fit the first rule: it’s not 我睡觉得很好(wǒ shuì jiào de hěn hǎo) . This is because we have one final rule to learn:
3. Rule three: For some two-character verbs, the structure is:
Subject + verb + first character of the verb + 得(de) + 很(hěn) + adjective.
我洗澡洗得很快(wǒ xǐzǎo xǐ de hěn kuài)。 I take a shower quickly.
我跳舞跳得很好(wǒ tiàowǔ tiào de hěn hǎo)。 I dance well.
我开车开得很慢(wǒ kāichē kāi de hěn màn)。 I drive slowly.
The reason why we only duplicate the first character, and not the whole word, is that this kind of verb is composed of two characters; the first character refers to an action, and the second character to the object of that action. For example, in the verb 跳舞(tiàowǔ), 跳(tiào) means “to jump,” and 舞(wǔ) means “a dance (noun)”. So in this case, we only duplicate the “action” character – the first character.
Though this rule is not hard to understand, there’s no shortcut to learn which verbs are in this special type of 2-character verb. My best suggestion is learn them one by one. Here are some common ones:
跳舞(tiào wǔ) to dance
唱歌(chàng gē) to sing
睡觉(shuìjiào) to sleep
开车(kāi chē) to drive
帮忙 (bāng máng) to help
见面(jiàn miàn) to meet (someone)
结婚(jié hūn) to get married
生气(shēng qì) to be angry
One tip: Don’t be upset if you can’t remember them all at first. Even if you just use 我跳舞得很好(wǒ tiàowǔ dé hěn hǎo), most Chinese people will still understand. Be brave, and start practicing describe actions with 得(de). The more you practice, the better you will be!
The key word for this structure is the particle word “得(de)”. Look at the following sentence:
我吃得很慢(wǒ chī de hěn màn)。I eat slowly.
我唱得很好(wǒ chàng de hěn hǎo)。I sing well.
我说得很流利(wǒ shuō de hěn liú lì)。I speak fluently.
我运动得很多(wǒ yùndòng de hěn duō)。I work out often (a lot).
In these situations, it appears quite similar to English. All we have to do is use “得(de)” and “很(hěn) after the verb.
1. Rule one: If there is no object in the sentence, the structure is:
Subject + verb + 得(de) + 很(hěn) + adjective.
But what if we would like to use object with our verb? After all, I don’t eat slowly all the time – what if I only eat fish slowly? Then, the sentence turns into: 我吃鱼吃得很慢(wǒ chī yú chī de hěn màn)。 Let’s take a look at a few more examples,
我唱英语歌唱得很好(wǒ chàng yīngyǔ gē chàng de hěn hǎo)。I sing English songs well.
我说汉语说得很流利(wǒ shuō hànyǔ shuō de hěn liú lì)。I speak Chinese fluently.
我复习汉语复习得很好(wǒ fùxí hànyǔ fùxí de hěn hǎo)。I review Chinese well.
2. Rule two: If there is an object in the sentence, always do this:
Subject + verb + object + verb(reduplication) + 得(de) + 很 (hěn) + adjective.
So far, so good, right? Congratulations! If you master these two rules you’ll be correct in 70% of situations! But what about the other 30% ? Read on.
我睡觉睡得很好(wǒ shuìjiào shuì de hěn hǎo)。I sleep well. If you look at this sentence, you will find although 睡觉(shuìjiào) is known as one word “to sleep” and there is no object in it, it doesn’t fit the first rule: it’s not 我睡觉得很好(wǒ shuì jiào de hěn hǎo) . This is because we have one final rule to learn:
3. Rule three: For some two-character verbs, the structure is:
Subject + verb + first character of the verb + 得(de) + 很(hěn) + adjective.
我洗澡洗得很快(wǒ xǐzǎo xǐ de hěn kuài)。 I take a shower quickly.
我跳舞跳得很好(wǒ tiàowǔ tiào de hěn hǎo)。 I dance well.
我开车开得很慢(wǒ kāichē kāi de hěn màn)。 I drive slowly.
The reason why we only duplicate the first character, and not the whole word, is that this kind of verb is composed of two characters; the first character refers to an action, and the second character to the object of that action. For example, in the verb 跳舞(tiàowǔ), 跳(tiào) means “to jump,” and 舞(wǔ) means “a dance (noun)”. So in this case, we only duplicate the “action” character – the first character.
Though this rule is not hard to understand, there’s no shortcut to learn which verbs are in this special type of 2-character verb. My best suggestion is learn them one by one. Here are some common ones:
跳舞(tiào wǔ) to dance
唱歌(chàng gē) to sing
睡觉(shuìjiào) to sleep
开车(kāi chē) to drive
帮忙 (bāng máng) to help
见面(jiàn miàn) to meet (someone)
结婚(jié hūn) to get married
生气(shēng qì) to be angry
One tip: Don’t be upset if you can’t remember them all at first. Even if you just use 我跳舞得很好(wǒ tiàowǔ dé hěn hǎo), most Chinese people will still understand. Be brave, and start practicing describe actions with 得(de). The more you practice, the better you will be!
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