Listen and download Lesson 3 of Basic Spoken Chinese
Basic Spoken Chinese – Lesson 3: 请 qǐng, “please”
Literally: “please”.
Usage: Similar to English “please”. Usually goes at the beginning of a sentence.
Examples:
1) 请进，请坐，请喝茶。
Qǐng jìn, qǐng zuò, qǐng hē chá.
Please come in. Please take a seat. Please have some tea.
2) 请您排队好吗？
Qǐng nín páiduì hǎo ma
Please line up, OK?
3) 请注意安全。
Qǐng zhùyì ānquán.
Please be safe.
New words:
请 qǐng (interj.): please e.g. 请稍等 qǐng shāo děng (“please wait a moment”)
进 jìn (v.): to enter; to go in e.g. 他进了房间 tā jìn le fángjiān (“he entered the room”)
坐 zuò (v.): to sit e.g. 他坐在沙发上 tā zuò zài shāfā shàng (“he is sitting on the sofa”)
喝 hē (v.): to drink e.g. 喝咖啡 hē kāfēi (“to drink coffee”), 喝汤 hētāng (lit. “to drink soup”, e.g. “to have soup”), 喝醉 hēzuì (“to be drunk”), etc.
茶 chá (n.): tea e.g. 绿茶 lǜchá (“green tea”), 红茶 hóngchá (lit. “red tea”, i.e. “black tea”), etc.
您 nín (pron.): you (polite) 您好 nín hǎo (“hello”), 老师，您早 lǎoshī, nín zǎo (“good morning teacher”), etc.
排队 páiduì (v.): to line up; to queue e.g. 排队买票 páiduì mǎipiào (“to queue to buy tickets”), etc.
注意 zhùyì (v.): to pay attention (to) e.g. 注意身体 zhùyì shēntǐ (lit. “to pay attention to one’s body”, e.g. “to look after one’s health”), 我没有注意她 wǒ méiyǒu zhùyì tā (“I didn’t notice her”)
安全 ānquán: 1. (adj.) safe 住在这里很安全 zhù zài zhèlǐ hěn ānquán (“living here is very safe”) 2. (n.) safety 安全第一 ānquán dì yī (lit. “safety number-one”, i.e. “safety comes first”)
Did you know?
请 qǐng can also be used as a verb meaning “to treat someone”, e.g. 今天晚上我请你吃饭 jīntiān wǎnshang wǒ qǐng nǐ chīfàn (“let me treat you to dinner tonight”). You can also use the verb 请问 qǐngwèn when politely asking a question, e.g. 请问，去人民广场怎么走？ qǐngwèn, qù rénmín guǎngchǎng zěnme zǒu? (“excuse me, how do I get to the People’s Square?”).
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