Unit 3: Where Do You Work?

Part I: Listen and Learn

1.
N- h3o.

Hello.

Zh8 sh= w# b4ba.

This is my father.

T1 z4i Zh!nggu@.

He is in China.

T1 b* g!ngzu$, tu=xi% le.

He doesn't work. He retired.

2.
Zh8 sh= w# d=di.

This is my brother.

T1 y7 z4i Zh!nggu@.

He is in China, too.

T1 sh= g!ngch6ngsh9.

He is an engineer.

T1 z4i Sh4ngh3i g!ngzu$.

He works in Shanghai.

Unit 3 Page 1

Conversational
Mandarin Chinese Online
________________________________________________________________________
3.
Zh8 sh= w# t4itai.

This is my wife.

T1 y7 sh= l3osh9.

She is a teacher, too.

T1 z4i Davis g!ngzu$.

She works in Davis.

4.
A: Zh8 sh= sh6i?

A: Who is this?

B: Zh8 sh= W2ng Xi3ohu2. T1 sh= xu6sheng.

B: This is Wang Xiaohua. He is a student.

A: T1 y#u ji7jie ma?

A: Does he have sisters?

B: Y#u. T1 y#u y0 ge ji7jie, m6iy#u m8imei, g5ge, d=di.

B: Yes, she has a elder sister. She doesn't have younger sister and brothers.

A: T1 ji7jie z4i n3l- g@ngzu$?

A: Where does his sister work?

B: T1 z4i B7ij9ng g!ngzu$, sh= g!ngch6ngsh9.

B: She works in Beijing. She is an engineer.

Unit 3 Page 2

Conversational Mandarin Chinese Online

________________________________________________________________________
5.
A: Zh8 sh= sh6i?

A: Who is this?

B: Zh8 sh= Xi8 l3osh9 de 6rzi.

B: This is Prof. Xie's son.

A: T1 z4i n3l- g!ngzu$?

A: Where does he work?

B: T1 z4i Ohio g!ngzu$.

B: He works in Ohio.

Unit 3 Page 3

Conversational
Mandarin Chinese Online
________________________________________________________________________
Part II. Utterances and Notes

'z4i ... g!ngzu$' means 'to work somewhere'. 'z4i' here serves as a preposition.

'de' is a possessive marker. 'Xi8 l3osh9 de 6rzi' means Prof. Xie's son. When the
relationship is very close, the word 'de' is optional. For example, 'w# b4ba, w#
m1ma, t1 p6ngyou, (my father, my mother, his/her friend) and etc.

Pay particular attention to the position of location words. In Chinese location

words usually occur before the verb. This is very different from English. Please
compare the following Chinese and English counterparts:
He works in Shanghai.
T1 z4i Shanghai g!ngzu$.

The following are some useful words you may need in order to talk about your
family members. If you need a specific word, please ask your instructor or tutor.
d4ifu
j9ngll3ob3n

a doctor, a physician
a manager
a boss, an owner of a business

B1l0
L^nd%n
B7ij9ng

Paris
London
Beijing

Unit 3 Page 4

Conversational Mandarin Chinese Online

________________________________________________________________________
Part III: New Sentence Modules
1. He is in...

T1 z4i

Zh!nggu@
Sh4ngh3i
B7ij9ng
Ohio
Davis

2. Where does he work ...? He works in...

n3lT1 z4i

Zh!nggu@
Sh4ngh3i
B7ij9ng
Ohio
Davis

g!ngzu$

3. Does (s)he have ...?

T1 y#u ji7jie ma?
T1 y#u m6iy#u ji7jie?

T1 y#u

y0 ge ji7jie
y0 ge 6rzi
li3ng ge m8imei
li3ng ge d=di
y0 ge g5ge

T1 m6iy#u

ji7jie
6rzi
m8imei
d=di
g5ge

Unit 3 Page 5

Conversational
Mandarin Chinese Online
________________________________________________________________________
Part IV. Practice makes perfect
Now you have studied a new unit. Can you figure out how to say the following words or
phrases in Chinese?
she, son, daughter, to work, to be at (somewhere), to retire, an engineer, a teacher, wife,
younger sister, an elder brother
do not work, do not have,
where, in Beijing, in Shanghai, in China
Prof. Xie's, Wang Xiaoping's, my father's
Answer the following questions based on your own situation. Please be sure to give real
answers.
N- x=ng sh6nme?
N- ji4o sh6nme?
N- sh= xu6sheng ma?
N- y#u m6iy#u g5ge, ji7jie, d=di, m8imei?
N- b4ba z4i n3l- g!ngzu$?
N- m1ma z4i n3l- g!ngzu$?
N- b1ba sh= g!ngch6ngsh9 ma?
N- m1ma sh= l3osh9 ma?

Communicative Tasks
1. Prepare a short presentation to talk about yourself and your family. Please use all
sentence patterns in Unit 1 through Unit 3.
2. Conduct a conversation with one of your classmates asking each other's information,
family members and etc.

Unit 3 Page 6