Chinese · Intermediate (B1) · Chapter 11 of 12
Travel stories
旅途中的故事Lǚtú zhōng de gùshi
Tell the story of a trip that went wrong in Chinese: direction words after verbs (送回来), 一…就…, 连…都…, 差点儿 and reacting with surprise.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Tell a travel story with directions after verbs: 跑出去, 送回来
- Say “as soon as” with 一…就… and “even” with 连…都…
- Say what almost happened with 差点儿
- React with surprise and say what you'd have done if you'd known
Listen
Back in Chongqing, Kong Jia tells her friend Lei Ming how she lost her wallet in a taxi in Lijiang. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Lei Ming
孔佳，你回来了。丽江怎么样？
Kǒng Jiā, nǐ huílai le. Lìjiāng zěnmeyàng?
Kong Jia, you're back. How was Lijiang?
Kong Jia
很美，不过最后一天我差点儿没赶上飞机。
Hěn měi, búguò zuìhòu yì tiān wǒ chàdiǎnr méi gǎnshàng fēijī.
Beautiful. But on the last day I nearly missed my plane.
Lei Ming
真的假的？发生什么事了？
Zhēn de jiǎ de? Fāshēng shénme shì le?
Seriously? What happened?
Kong Jia
那天我从古城坐出租车去机场。一进机场，我就找不到钱包了。
Nà tiān wǒ cóng gǔchéng zuò chūzūchē qù jīchǎng. Yí jìn jīchǎng, wǒ jiù zhǎo bu dào qiánbāo le.
That day I took a taxi from the old town to the airport. As soon as I walked into the airport, I couldn't find my wallet.
Lei Ming
是不是丢在出租车上了？
Shì bu shì diū zài chūzūchē shang le?
Had you left it in the taxi?
Kong Jia
对。我马上跑出去，可是车已经开走了。我的身份证也在钱包里，没有身份证不能坐飞机。
Duì. Wǒ mǎshàng pǎo chūqu, kěshì chē yǐjīng kāizǒu le. Wǒ de shēnfènzhèng yě zài qiánbāo li, méiyǒu shēnfènzhèng bù néng zuò fēijī.
Yes. I ran straight out, but the taxi had already driven off. My ID card was in the wallet too, and you can't fly without it.
Lei Ming
天哪！那你当时一定很着急吧？
Tiān na! Nà nǐ dāngshí yídìng hěn zháojí ba?
Oh my goodness! You must have been in a real panic.
Kong Jia
非常着急，急得连话都说不出来了。幸亏我是用手机付的钱，在手机上找到了司机的电话。
Fēicháng zháojí, jí de lián huà dōu shuō bu chūlai le. Xìngkuī wǒ shì yòng shǒujī fù de qián, zài shǒujī shang zhǎodàole sījī de diànhuà.
I was so panicked I couldn't even speak. Luckily I'd paid on my phone, so I found the driver's number on it.
Lei Ming
司机接电话了吗？
Sījī jiē diànhuà le ma?
Did the driver answer?
Kong Jia
接了。他一听就说：“别着急，我马上给你送回来。”十分钟以后，他真的把钱包送回来了。
Jiē le. Tā yì tīng jiù shuō: “Bié zháojí, wǒ mǎshàng gěi nǐ sòng huílai.” Shí fēnzhōng yǐhòu, tā zhēn de bǎ qiánbāo sòng huílai le.
He did. As soon as he heard, he said, “Don't worry, I'll bring it straight back to you.” Ten minutes later he really did bring the wallet back.
Lei Ming
没想到司机这么好！你运气真不错。
Méi xiǎngdào sījī zhème hǎo! Nǐ yùnqi zhēn búcuò.
Who'd have thought the driver would be so nice! You were really lucky.
Kong Jia
是啊。要是早知道会这样，我就不把身份证放在钱包里了。
Shì a. Yàoshi zǎo zhīdào huì zhèyàng, wǒ jiù bù bǎ shēnfènzhèng fàng zài qiánbāo li le.
Yes. If I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have kept my ID card in my wallet.
Understand
Direction after the verb: 跑出去, 送回来
Chinese often adds a direction after a verb of movement. (lai) means towards the speaker and (qu) means away from the speaker. Put a direction word in front of them to be more exact: (chūqu), out (away from me); (huílai), back (here); (jìnlai), in (here); (shàngqu), up (there). Like this, (pǎo chūqu) is “run out”, and (sòng huílai) is “bring back”.
A place always goes before (lai) or (qu): (pǎo huí jiā qu), run back home. A thing often goes there too: (ná chū shǒujī lai), take out your phone. With (bǎ), the thing goes first: (tā bǎ qiánbāo sòng huílai le), he brought the wallet back.
With (bu) or (de) in the middle, said lightly without a tone, these become “can't” and “can”: (shuō bu chūlai), can't get the words out; (gǎn bu shàng), can't make it in time. (kāizǒu) is “drive away”.
| Chinese | Meaning |
|---|---|
| (zǒu jìnlai) | walk in (towards me) |
| (pǎo chūqu) | run out (away from me) |
| (sòng huílai) | bring back, return (to me) |
| (pá shàngqu) | climb up (there) |
| (ná chū shǒujī lai) | take out your phone |
一…就…, 连…都…, 差点儿
(yī … jiù …) means “as soon as …, …”: (tā yì tīng jiù shuō …), as soon as he heard, he said… (yī) is said with the tone change you know: (yí jìn), (yì tīng).
(lián … dōu …) means “even”: (lián huà dōu shuō bu chūlai), couldn't even speak. The surprising thing goes between (lián) and (dōu), or (yě).
(chàdiǎnr) means “almost, nearly”: (wǒ chàdiǎnr diūle qiánbāo), I nearly lost my wallet. With something you wanted, people often add (méi): (chàdiǎnr méi gǎnshàng fēijī), nearly didn't make the plane (but did).
- 我一到家就给你打电话。Wǒ yí dào jiā jiù gěi nǐ dǎ diànhuà.I'll call you as soon as I get home.
- 这个问题连孩子都知道。Zhège wèntí lián háizi dōu zhīdào.Even children know that.
- 路上堵车，我们差点儿赶不上火车。Lù shang dǔchē, wǒmen chàdiǎnr gǎn bu shàng huǒchē.There was a traffic jam, and we nearly missed the train.
Surprise and hindsight
To react to a surprising story, say (zhēn de jiǎ de?), seriously? (literally “true or false?”), (zěnme huì ne?), how could that happen?, or (tiān na!), oh my goodness! (méi xiǎngdào …) means “I never expected that …”: (méi xiǎngdào sījī zhème hǎo).
(xìngkuī) means “luckily, thank goodness”. For what you would have done differently, use (yàoshi zǎo zhīdào …, jiù … le), if I'd known …, I would have …: (yàoshi zǎo zhīdào huì xià yǔ, wǒ jiù dài sǎn le), if I'd known it would rain, I'd have brought an umbrella.
More in the grammar: Joining sentences: connectors · Direction complements: 来, 去 and more · Result and potential complements
New words
- 差点儿chàdiǎnralmost, nearly
- 赶上gǎnshàngto make it in time (for a train or plane) · (gǎn bu shàng), can't make it in time
- 飞机fēijīplane
- 古城gǔchéngold town, ancient city
- 一…就…yī … jiù …as soon as … · (yī) changes tone: (yí jìn), (yì tīng)
- 钱包qiánbāowallet, purse
- 丢diūto lose; to leave behind · (diū zài chūzūchē shang le), left in the taxi
- 着急zháojíworried, anxious, in a panic · (fēicháng zháojí), in a real panic; (fēicháng), very, extremely
- 连…都…lián … dōu …even
- 幸亏xìngkuīluckily, thank goodness
- 司机sījīdriver · (wǒ mǎshàng gěi nǐ sòng huílai), I'll bring it straight back; (mǎshàng), at once
- 送回来sòng huílaito bring back, to return (something to someone)
- 没想到méi xiǎngdàodidn't expect, never thought
- 运气yùnqiluck · (yùnqi zhēn hǎo), really lucky
Practise
1.You're at home and your friend comes back with your umbrella. What has she done?
2.Put the words in order, starting with (wǒ).
Tap the words below in the right order.I'll call you as soon as I get home.
3.Match the Chinese with the English.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
4.What does (tā máng de lián fàn dōu méi chī) mean?
5.Your friend tells you he won a car in a lottery. Which reaction fits?
0 of 5 exercises done.
Say it out loud
真的假的？
Zhēn de jiǎ de?
Seriously?
Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.
Check
Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.
0 of 5 answered.