我生病了 Wǒ shēngbìngle

We will begin this lesson on body parts in Chinese.

English	Chinese	Pinyin
Head	头	tou
Leg	脚	Jiǎo
Hand	手	Shǒu
Stomach	肚子	Dùzi
Teeth/Tooth	牙齿	Yáchǐ
Eyes	眼睛	Yǎnjīng
Nose	鼻子	Bízi
Tongue	舌头	Shétou
Fingers	手指	Shǒuzhǐ
Toes	脚趾	Jiǎozhǐ
Knees	膝盖	Xīgài
Throat	喉咙	Hóulóng

 

In Chinese, when we want to say we have a headache, toothache or pain, we add the Chinese word 痛 Tòng or 疼 Téng to the body part that is in pain. For example, headache is 头痛(疼), toothache is 牙齿痛(疼).

 

Now, let’s begin our dialogue for this lesson. Xiao Li is on her way to the supermarket when she saw Zhang Yun. She is surprised to see Zhang Yun not in her working uniform. She called out to her to check what has happened.

Xiao Li:	Hey, Zhang Yun
Zhang Yun:	Oh, its you, Xiao Li.
Xiao Li:	What happened? Why aren’t you at work today?
Zhang Yun:	I can’t go because I am sick.
Xiao Li:	I see. Which part of the body are you not feeling well?
Zhang Yun:	My throat and head are very painful.
Xiao Li:	I think you have caught a cold.
Zhang Yun:	I think so.
Xiao Li:	You had better go see a doctor and rest well.
Zhang Yun:	Yes, I am on my way to the clinic now.
Xiao Li:	That is good then. You have to take care of yourself.
Zhang Yun:	I will. Thank you for your concern.

小丽:	喂，张云
张云:	哦，是你，小丽
小丽:	怎么了？你怎么今天没去上班？
张云:	我病了所以没去。
小丽:	原来是这样。你那里不舒服？
张云:	我喉咙和头很痛。
小丽:	我想你是感冒了。
张云:	我想是吧。
小丽:	你最好去看医生然后好好休息。
张云:	是的。我现在正要去看医生。
小丽:	那就好。你得好好照顾自己。
张云:	我会的。谢谢你的关心。

Xiao Li:	Wèi, Zhāng yún
Zhang Yun:	Ó, shì nǐ, xiǎo lì
Xiao Li:	Zěnme Le? Nǐ zěnme jīntiān méi qù shàngbān?
Zhang Yun:	Wǒ bìngle suǒyǐ méi qù.
Xiao Li:	Yuánlái shì zhèyàng. Nǐ nàlǐ bú shūfú?
Zhang Yun:	Wǒ hóulóng hé tóu hěn tòng.
Xiao Li:	Wǒ xiǎng nǐ shì gǎnmào le
Zhang Yun:	Wǒ xiǎng shì ba
Xiao Li:	Nǐ zuì hǎo qù kàn yīshēng ránhòu hǎohǎo xiūxí
Zhang Yun:	Shì de. Wǒ xiànzài zhèng yào qù kàn yīshēng
Xiao Li:	Nà jiù hǎo. Nǐ de hǎohǎo zhàogù zìjǐ
Zhang Yun:	Wǒ huì de. Xièxiè nǐ de guānxīn

Simplified Chinese	PinYin	English
哦	Ó	Oh, ah, ok
上班	shàngbān	Go to work
想	xiǎng	Think
就	jiù	Then, as soon as

 

哦 Ó

 

This is an interjection word like the one we learned in our previous lesson 啊. Like the word 啊, 哦 can be used in different situation as well. For example, when expressing surprise, you can use哦. For example, 这个苹果真好吃哦! Zhège píngguǒ zhēn hào chī ó (oh, this apple is really nice). You can also use 哦 when you are in agreement. For example, 哦，我会好好做的Ó, wǒ huì hǎohǎo zuò de (Ok, I will do well).

 

上班 shàngbān

 

This phrase上班shàngbān is made up of two Chinese words shàng and bān. Shàng by itself means up and bān means class or team in English. But when you add them together, it means go to work. So, when you want to say go to school, you use the word 上 shàng and the word 学 xué to mean go to school. 上学 shàngxué. When you want to say get off work, you add the word 下to the word班 to mean get off work 下班 Xiàbān. But when you want to say get off school, you don’t say 下学 but 放学 Fàngxué

 

想 xiǎng

 

The word 想 xiǎng when used by itself means to think as a verb. However, the meaning of the word changes when you add this word with another Chinese word. For example, 想念 means to miss like I miss my mother ( 我想念我妈妈Wǒ xiǎngniàn wǒ māma). Another example is 想到xiǎngdào. 想到 means to call to mind. For example, when I saw his mom, I thought of my mom ( 我看到他妈妈的时候，我就想到我妈妈Wǒ kàn dào tā māma de shíhou, wǒ jiù xiǎngdào wǒ māma).

 

就 jiù

 

就 jiù can be used to emphasize a fact or explaining an event happening as soon as the first event has finished. For example, 他一回到家就去冲凉 Tā yī huí dàojiā jiù qù chōngliáng He has his shower as soon as he reaches home. This is talking about an event happening when he reaches home. 你饿了就去吃饭吧! Nǐ èle jiù qù chīfàn ba.  Go and eat if you are hungry! This sentence states the fact that he is hungry and should go and eat.

 

That is all for this lesson. Hope to see you again in our next Chinese lesson.