Learn HSK 2 story | My Bus Driver, Mr. Liu

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HSK 2 > Stories

Vocabulary

| Proper Nouns

(Li Shfu): Mr. Liu, a persons name

| Nouns

(gnggng qch): public bus

(ynjing): eye

(his): black

(bis): white

(shubio): wrist watch

| Verbs

(shuhu): to talk

(chun): to wear (clothing)

(di): to wear; to put on (glasses, hat, gloves, etc)

(xio): to smile; to laugh

(bng): to help

(gosu): to tell

(shngbng): to fall ill

(zhdao): to know; to realize

| Adjectives

(mn): slow

| Pronouns

(dji): everybody

Grammar Points

1. ... (sh... de)

grammatical pattern. common and important structure in Chinese with broad application

... (sh...de) is a common grammatical structure in Mandarin Chinese. This pattern can be used in a variety of different ways. It is frequently used to emphasize details like the time or place at which something was done. It is also used in questions.

In this explanation, we will focus on how to use this construction to talk about what jobs people do.

To describe what someone does for a living, use the following structure:

Subject + + Verb + Object +

In this structure, the verb and object explain the job that is done by the subject.

Lets look at an example:

Li Shf sh ki gnggng qch de.

Mr. Liu is a bus driver.

Here, Mr. Liu is the subject. After the subject comes (sh; to be), followed by the verb (ki; to drive) and its object, (gnggng qch; bus), followed by (de). This structure is used to tell the reader that Mr. Liu drives buses for a living.

To remember how to use this construction, you can think of (sh) and (de) as two bookends placed on either side of detailed information about what job the person mentioned at the start of the sentence does.

Heres another example:

W sh jio Yngy de.

I teach English.

Like the first example above, in this sentence, the two components of the ... (sh...de) structure act as bookends surrounding a description of what the subject (w) does for a living, namely (jio Yngy).

As a beginning student of Mandarin Chinese, paraphrasing is an essential skill that will allow you to begin to communicate with native speakers in your own words even if your Mandarin vocabulary is still quite limited. The ... (sh...de) pattern is a useful tool that can help you use paraphrasing to talk about a variety of different professions without actually knowing the formal names of each one.

For example, if you dont know that (sj) is the word for driver, you can still express the same idea by saying that a person (sh ki gngjioch de). Likewise, if you dont know that the more advanced word for chef is (chsh), you can still describe what a chef does by saying that he or she (sh zu fn de).

2. (zhe)

particle. used to indicate continuous aspect

The aspect particle (zhe) is useful if you want to talk about an action that continues for some time instead of something that started and stopped immediately.

To use this particle, follow the pattern below:

Verb +

Lets take a look at an example:

W yo q shngdin midin dngx, n bng w knzhe bobo.

I need to go to the store to buy some stuff, so you watch the baby for me.

In this example, the speaker is planning to go into a store to do some shopping, and he needs the other person to watch his baby while he does so. Since the action of watching the baby will go on for some time, (zhe) is appropriate to use in this situation.

In many instances, adding (zhe) after a Chinese verb is similar to adding -ing in English when describing an ongoing action such as talking, watching or singing. Thinking about as similar to -ing is especially useful when you want to give some background information and show the context in which another more discrete, non-continuous action was performed.

When using (zhe) to describe an ongoing state, use the following structure:

Verb 1 + + Action Verb

Lets look at an example to see how this works:

T nzhe yg chbi, xiozhe shu: Xio pngyu, qng shngch.

Holding a cup of tea and smiling, he said, Please get in, little guy.

In this sentence, two verbs are being used to describe an ongoing state: (n) and (xio).

Adding (zhe) after these verbs tells the reader that holding a cup and smiling were ongoing actions that describe the state of the person (t) at the time that he performed another discrete, non-continuous action designated by the action verb (shu).

3. Result Complements ( jigu by)

grammatical structure. used to describe result of a verb

Result complements are used in Chinese to describe the result of a verb. They are an extremely common aspect of Chinese grammar. Some of the most frequently used result complements include (jin), (do) and (wn).

In English, its common to use two separate but related verbs, one of which is used to describe an action and the other of which is used to describe the result of that action. Chinese, however, tends to only use a single verb and then express the result of that verb using a result complement.

The verbs to look and to see in English are a case in point. It is possible to look without seeing anything. If you want to say that someone was looking for something and then actually saw what they were looking for, you would use the verb to see to explain the results of their visual search.

In Chinese, however, the single verb (kn) encompasses both the idea of looking and seeing. Therefore, when you want to say that someone actually saw something in Chinese, instead of using a different word, you need to add a result complement after the verb.

For example:

Ch do zhnle, Li Shf knjin y wi loninai mn man de zu shng ch.

When we arrived at the next stop, Mr. Liu saw an elderly grandmother slowly boarding the bus.

Because (kn) in this sentence doesnt just mean to look but rather to see, it is necessary to add the result complement (jin). In this case, the writer chose to use (jin), but it would also be possible to express the same meaning using (kn) and the result complement (do), as in (kn do).

Another Chinese verb that frequently requires a result complement when talking about the result of the action it describes is (tng).

In English, we have the verb to listen and the verb to hear. It is possible to listen without hearing anything, but if we want to talk about listening with a successful result, we say we hear something. Because there is no such distinction in Chinese, it is necessary to add a result complement to create the Chinese equivalent of to hear.

For example:

W gnggng tng do w mm shuhu de shngyn.

I just heard my mothers voice.

In this sentence, the speaker is talking about the successful result of listening. In other words, she wants to say that she heard something. Therefore, adding a result complement to the verb (tng) is necessary, and in this sentence, the writer chose to use (do).

Pinyin & English

W mitin zu gnggng qch q xuxio du hu kndo Li shfu. Li Shfu sh ki gng gng qch de, jnnin 50 su, dd de lin, xioxio de ynjing, shuhu de shngyn hn d. T hn xhuan bngzh biren.

Every day when I take the bus to school, I always see Mr. Liu. Mr. Liu is my bus driver. This year, hes 50 years old and he has a big face, small eyes and a loud voice. He likes helping other people.

Jntin t chunzhe y jin his yfu, y shung bis yndngxi, dizhe y kui shubio, nzhe y g chbi, xiozhe du w shu: "Xiopngyu, qng shngch." T zhdao w mitin du zi zhli shngch.

Today, he was wearing black clothes, a pair of white sneakers and a watch and holding a cup of tea. He smiled at me, saying, "Please get in, little guy." He knows that I always catch the bus here.

Ch do zhn le, t knjian y wi loninai mnman de zu shng ch. Li Shfu jude t shngbng le, ji wn loninai shbsh shngbng le yo q yyun. Loninai shu: "Shde, w yo q yyun, dnshi w b zhdao zi nr xich."

When we arrived at the next stop, he saw an elderly grandmother slowly boarding the bus. Mr. Liu thought she looked sick, so he asked her if she was feeling alright and whether she needed to go to the hospital. The elderly lady said, "Yes, I need to go to the hospital, but I dont know where to get off the bus."

Li Shfu shu: "Migunxi, do zhn le w gosu nn b." Gnggng qch do yyun ng zhn de shhou, Li Shfu bng loninai xile ch.

Mr. Liu said, "Not to worry, Ill let you know when we arrive at the right stop." Once the bus arrived at the hospital, Mr. Liu helped the old lady get off the bus.

Surn Li Shfu de ch mitin ynwi zh zhng shqing du hu wndin do xuxio, dnsh w hishi hn xhuan t.

Although Mr. Lius bus gets me to school late everyday because of this sort of thing, I still really like him.

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