Day Day Up Chinese! Free Online Mandarin Chinese Self-Study Textbook

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19.01 Mom and Dad

爸爸 Bàbɑ Dad	哥哥 Gēge Older brother	弟弟 Dìdi Younger brother
妈妈 Māma Mom	姐姐 Jiějie Older sister	妹妹 Mèimei Little sister

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Notes:

Unlike in English, there are separate terms for older and younger siblings. Younger siblings usually refer to their older siblings by their family position, not their name. There are also separate terms for maternal and paternal family members, which we will look at later.

Vocabulary point:

妈妈 māma mother, 姐姐 jiějie older sister, 妹妹 mèimèi younger sister all share the same root character, or radical, 女 nǚ which means female.

好 hǎo good and 她 tā she also share this root character.

19.02 How's your Mom and Dad?

萨拉:	王军，你好！ Wáng Jūn，nǐ hǎo！
王军:	你好！ Nǐ hǎo!
萨拉:	你爸爸，妈妈身体好吗？ Nǐ bàbɑ，māma shēntǐ hǎo ma?
王军:	他们都很好，谢谢。 Tāmen dōu hěn hǎo, xièxie.

Notes:

If there is a close relationship between the possessor and the possessed, 的 de is usually not used. It should be noted here if that if 的 de is used in a relationship that is presumably close, it indicates a degree of estrangement.

19.03 My Dad's from the Northeast

马特:	你爸爸是北方人吗？ Nǐ bàbɑ shì Běifāngrén ma？
王军:	是啊。他是东北人，他来自哈尔滨。 Shì a. Tā shì Dōngběirén, tā láizì Hàěrbīn.
马特:	你妈妈也是东北人吗? Nǐ māma yě shì Dōngběirén ma?
王军:	不是，她是南方人。 Bú shì, tā shì Nánfāngrén.

Notes:

东北 Dōngběi is a region of China famous among students of Mandarin Chinese for having arguably the most standard pronunciation of any area in the country.

Dōng means east and 北 Běi means north, altogether the region consists of the three provinces northeast of the Great Wall that were until the 19th century off limits to Han Chinese. Consequently, many of the major urban areas in the region are quite new, most being around 100 years old.

19.04 Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers

工人 Gōngrén Worker	农民 Nóngmín Peasant	军人 Jūnrén Soldier
母亲 Mǔqin Mother	父亲 Fùqin Father	父母 Fùmǔ Parents

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Notes:

母亲 mǔqīn and 父亲 fùqīn are the formal words for mother and father, the first character from each combine to make the plural parents 父母 fùmǔ . The character 亲 qīn indicates family relation.

19.05 Example Sentences

我父亲是工人。 Wǒ fùqin shì gōngrén.	My father is a worker.
我母亲是老师。 Wǒ mǔqin shì lǎoshī.	My mother is a teacher.
我哥哥是军人。 Wǒ gēge shì jūnrén.	My older brother is a soldier.
他父母是农民。 Tā fùmǔ shì nóngmín.	His parents are peasants.

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19.06 He is a worker

A:	他是谁？ Tā shì shéi?
B:	他是我哥哥。 Tā shì wǒ gēge.
A:	他也是大学生吗？ Tā yě shì dàxuéshēng ma?
B:	不是，他是工人。 Bú shì, tā shì gōngrén.

19.07 She is a businessperson

A:	她是谁？ Tā shì shéi?
B:	她是我妹妹。 Tā shì wǒ mèimei.
A:	你妹妹是老师吗？ Nǐ mèimèi shì lǎoshī ma?
B:	不是，她是商人。 Bú shì, tā shì shāngrén.

19.08 Are your teachers all Chinese?

萨拉:	王军，那是谁？ Wáng Jūn，nà shì shéi？
王军:	那是我们老师。 Nà shì wǒmen lǎoshī.
萨拉:	她是哪国人？ Tā shì nǎ guórén?
王军:	她是中国人。 Tā shì Zhōngguórén.
萨拉:	你们老师都是中国人吗？ Nǐmen lǎoshī dōu shì Zhōngguórén ma?
王军:	不是，我们系也有外国老师。 Bú shì, wǒmen xì yě yǒu wàiguó lǎoshī.

Notes:

有 yǒu means to have. We will look at this verb more closely in the next lesson.

Vocabulary point:

系 xì means "academic department".

A Transcribe the characters below into pinyin

1.) 哥哥 _____________________	2.) 名片 ____________________
3.) 工人 _____________________	4.) 妹妹 ____________________
5.) 姐姐 _____________________	6.) 弟弟 ____________________
7.) 农民 _____________________	8.) 父母 ____________________

B Translate the following pinyin into English

1.) jūnrén ____________________	2.) shāngrén _________________
3.) nóngmín ____________________	4.) fùqin __________________
5.) mèimei _________________	6.) mǔqin ____________________

C Transcribe the following sentences into pinyin

1.) 你妹妹是商人吗？

_________________________________________________________.

2.) 你哥哥是工人吗？

_________________________________________________________.

3.) 你爸爸是北方人吗？

_________________________________________________________.

D Match the words with the translation

1.) 父亲	Worker
2.) 军人	Father
3.) 妹妹	Older brother
4.) 工人	Little sister
5.) 哥哥	Soldier

E Fill in the blanks

萨拉:	Wáng Jūn，nà shì ________？
王军:	Nà shì ________ lǎoshī.
萨拉:	Tā shì nǎ ________?
王军:	Tā shì ___________.
萨拉:	Nǐmen l________ dōu _______ Zhōngguórén ma?
王军:	Bú shì, wǒmen xì yě ______ wàiguó lǎoshī.

F Circle the pinyin for the character

妹 :	shēnɡ mèi jiàn gāo	军 :	kě gāo míng jūn
农 :	xiān shēn shén nóng	母 :	nán mǔ xiǎo míng
工 :	gōng xiān shén máng	弟 :	dì wǒ xiǎo mèi
父 :	xìng xiè míng fù	民 :	míng mín nǚ shén

G Arrange the words into sentences

1.) Zhōngguórén lǎoshī Nǐmen dōu ma shì ?

_______________________________________________________?

2.) ma lǎoshī shì Nǐ mǔqin ?

_______________________________________________________?

3.) gōngrén Tā fùmǔ shì .

_______________________________________________________.

4.) shì Tā ma jūnrén yě ?

_______________________________________________________?

H Select the right character for the word

1.) 名_____ (piàn)
(A) 商	(B) 兴	(C) 片	(D) 绍
2.) 介_____ (shào)
(A) 绍	(B) 京	(C) 屋	(D) 片
3.) 同_____ (wū)
(A) 京	(B) 经	(C) 兴	(D) 屋
4.) 职_____ (yuán)
(A) 介	(B) 员	(C) 片	(D) 国

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