URLLesson Introduction
Rub-a-dub-dub four tones in the tub. Bath time just got more fun and your old repertoire of songs to shower by just expanded. In this podcast, lather up and learn how to take a shower, Chinese-style. Also included, for those with long-showering, hot water user-upper roommates: learn how to stage phantom phone calls from love interests. Sure to get them out in a hurry.
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eiflerl says
August 10, 2008
Why is a measure word omitted after nǎ in the sentence?
你是哪国人？ Nǐ shì nǎ guórén？
Everyone at Cpod does such a great job.
john says
August 10, 2008
eiflerl,
Thanks! The sentence you're asking about doesn't come from this lesson, does it?
Anyway, there's no measure word because the speaker is asking which country: "哪国" (nǎ guó), not "which person." In other words, "which country are you from?"
noger says
August 10, 2008
yeah,"哪国"means"which country are you from".
I can't understand all of the dialogue. my English are not well enough.but I have confidence to learn english well.
kimiik says
August 11, 2008
Bravo ! The "Related Lessons" list is really funny today :
rich says
August 11, 2008
Let's see...
jennyzhu says
August 11, 2008
A side note about shower, which many of you might already know: Chinese take showers at night lest we contaminate the scared clean bed (a quote from my mom).
kimiik says
August 11, 2008
Rich, I may have the explanation for the relation between plastique bag and shower. It could be related to the 淋浴时用的塑胶浴帽 (the plastic shower cap). The 浴帽 (shower/bathe cap) could be used by chinese man or woman to keep their hair dry during the shower.
rjberki says
August 11, 2008
Jen, I have been meaning to give that a try. I like the keep the bed clean thing and it would save me a lot of time in the morning. If only I can find a simple cure for bed head. :-)
ingmar says
August 11, 2008
Jenny,
is your bed scared or did you mean sacred......?
user14047 says
August 11, 2008
Is there a difference between shower and bath? Xi3zao3 seems to be the general term. By them telling me, how could I tell the difference if someone is taking a bath or shower?
virtualbob says
August 11, 2008
I would have thought that to not hear would be 听不到 (ting1bu5dao4). Kind of like 看不到 kan4bu5dao4, when you can't see something because of and obstruction. Quite interesting.
bingge says
August 11, 2008
This reminds me, I meant to mention this before. I think a great Q.W. series would be V不到, V不见，V不着, V不了, etc.
lostinasia says
August 11, 2008
There are a couple of Q.W. related to the, er, complements or whatever they're called:
I Can/Can't Afford it (...得起 & ...不起）
To Finish Something Off: Verb 好 (hǎo)
Using Verbs 不出来 (bu chūlai), 得出来 (de chūlai)
The grammar guide has a link for complements, although it doesn't seem to lead anywhere...
And Mandarin Chinese verb complement, on a different site, has some helpful stuff.
Summary as I see it: they're very useful, very common, pretty easy to understand, and awfully hard to integrate into my own speaking.
lostinasia says
August 11, 2008
A alternate list of "Related Lessons"... first topically...
Someone needs a shower
Morning Hygiene
Number Two
...and on the hear/ not hear issue:
KTV
Hard of Hearing
(WHAT is going on with the "Related Lessons" box?! It should be useful for something other than humor value... I got the results above with my computer and Mac's Spotlight in about five minutes. Seriously, directing someone at a Newbie level to a Media lesson?!)
virtualbob says
August 11, 2008
Definitely, I would love a Q.W. that would talk about this in detail. Seems like there is a lot of ground to cover on this topic.
daizi says
August 11, 2008
Yes, a general 请问 Qǐngwèn about resultative verbs (aka, complements of result, verb complements, 结果补语 jiéguǒ bǔyǔ) would be wonderful. They are so useful but it's helpful to see them all together.
This page has a somewhat helpful explanation of RVs:
http://www.ctcfl.ox.ac.uk/Grammar%20exercises/RVC.htm
garry says
August 11, 2008
Hi Everbody,
I always am confused by translations. In the dialogue the person says, 我在洗澡. It is translated as, I am taking a shower. I would say, I am having a shower. The point I am making is that the Chinese person says, I am in the shower, so why do we change it to something else?
To add to my confusion, the supplementary vocabulary says that 在 means currently. Does this mean that 在 can be substituted for 现在?
amber says
August 11, 2008
hi garry,
The 在 (zài) in:
我在洗澡 (Wǒ zài xǐzǎo)
derives from 正在 (zhèngzài), which means to be in the process or course of doing something. 正在 (zhèngzài) is often shortened to 在 (zài).
现在 (xiànzài) is a time word. if you used it in this sentence, as in 我现在洗澡 (Wǒ xiànzài xǐzǎo) it means I'm going to take a shower now.
洗澡 (xǐzǎo) is a verb, meaning to take a shower/bath. So the English translation reflects that.
amber says
August 11, 2008
user14047,
洗澡 (xǐzǎo) means either take a bath or take a shower, it's generally context.
But, if you really want to specify taking a bath, you can say: 泡澡 (pàozǎo)
calkins says
August 11, 2008
Great lesson.
RJ, I'm with you...I'd love to take a shower at night, instead of the morning, but I'd have mad scientist hair for work! What's the new avatar? Is that you?
garry says
August 11, 2008
Thank you Amber,
I realise now the mistake I made. I assumed that I knew what 在 meant, but I didn't at all. Armed with this new knowledge I will apply it, and also question other things that I have taken for granted.
rjberki says
August 12, 2008
Brent, actually after reading Johns article I think I will give it a try. Usually I am too tired at night to revel in the idea of a shower but I am going to push past that. I do take showers at night sometimes since there are other reasons for wanting to enter the sack clean, but alas I always shower again in the AM.
The avatar was me yes, but not much good if you had to ask. Time to take a new pic I guess.
-RJ
rjberki says
August 12, 2008
Amber,
So it seems there is no way to specify "shower". Is that correct?
panda2 says
August 14, 2008
RJ and others
Save water "shower with a friend" save the planet every bit helps
RJ said "I do take showers at night sometimes since there are other reasons for wanting to enter the sack clean"
checkingoutchina says
August 14, 2008
Can you also say:
ting bu dou
听不都
instead of ting bu jian?
john says
August 15, 2008
checkingoutchina,
Close! You can say 听不到 (tīng bu dào) instead of 听不见 (tīng bu jiàn).
amber says
August 17, 2008
hi RJ,
The actual 'term' for shower is 淋浴 (línyù), however it is very seldom used. Sometimes people say:
我去冲一下。
Wǒ qù chōng yīxià.
"I'm going to go rinse off."
seankai says
August 19, 2008
Is it just me, or is the guy in the shower very difficult for a newbie to understand? Is the way he speaks my goal? Or is the way Ken and Jenny speak my goal?
reanne says
August 25, 2008
Hi Jenny (or whoever else can answer this for me),
How would someone say "Chinese take showers at night lest we contaminate the sacred clean bed" in chinese? I would love to be able to quote that in both english & chinese.
谢谢
pinkjeans says
August 28, 2008
In Malaysia and Singapore, we are very used to saying 冲凉 (chōngliáng) to mean have a shower. I guess that would only apply in hot humid places where you really want to have a cool rinse, and that would often be twice a day, morning and night. Also traditionally, people, especially the villagers, would shower by scooping water from a well or large urn over themselves. It is indeed very refreshing!