LESSON NOTES

Absolute Beginner S3 #12

Saving Energy in China

CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese
2 Traditional Chinese
2 Pinyin
2 English
3 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar
5 Cultural Insight

# 12
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 SIMPLIFIED CHINESE

1. 这屋里有点儿黑。

2. 要开灯吗？

3. 要。

4. 对不起，没电了。

TRADITIONAL CHINESE

1. 這屋裏有點兒黑。

2. 要開燈嗎？

3. 要。

4. 對不起，沒電了。

PINYIN

1. Zhè wū lǐ yǒudiǎner hēi.

2. Yào kāidēng ma?

3. Yào.

4. duìbuqǐ, méidiàn le.

ENGLISH
CONT'D OVER

CHINESECLASS101.COM ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S3 #12 - SAVING ENERGY IN CHINA 2

1. A: It is a bit dark in this room.

2. B: Need the light turned on?

3. A: Yes.

4. B: I am sorry, the electricity is out.

VOCABULARY

S implifie d Tr aditional Pinyin English

to loose electricity, to
停电 停電 tíngdiàn have a blackout

暗 暗 àn dim

黑 黑 hēi black

要 要 yào to want

屋里 屋裏 wū lǐ inside the room

关灯 關燈 guāndēng to turn off the light

开灯 開燈 kāidēng to turn on the light

to have no power, to
没电 沒電 méidiàn be out of batteries

省电 省電 shěng diàn to save power

SAMPLE SENTENCES

我家停电了。 屋里很暗。
Wǒ jiā tíngdiànle. Wū lǐ hěn àn.

The electricity is out at my house. It is very dark in the room.

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她最喜欢黑色。 我想要去超市。
Tā zuì xǐhuan hēisè. Wǒ xiǎng yào qù chāoshì.

She likes black the most. I would like to go to the supermarket.

屋里有很多人。 你关灯了吗？
Wū lǐ yǒu hěn duō rén. Nǐ guāndēng le ma?

There are a lot of people in the room. Did you turn off the light?

开灯时要小心。 我的手机没电了。
Kāidēng shí yào xiǎoxīn. Wǒ de shǒujī méidiàn le.

Be careful when you turn on the light. My mobile phone is out of batteries.

用这个可以省电。
Yòng zhège kěyǐ shěng diàn.

Using this can save energy.

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson is the Verb 要 (yào)

要开灯吗 ？
Yào kāidēng ma?
"Need the light turned on?"

Today's grammar is dedicated to the word 要. This is a frequently used verb with a variety of
meanings. The first meaning of 要 is "to want." It is often used in conjunction with another
verb to express to want to do something. For example, the sentence 我要吃苹果 (wǒ yào
chī píngguǒ) means, "I want to eat an apple." However, speaking in this tone would somehow
make you sound a bit demanding and childish. To soften the tone you could add another
verb, 想, in front of 要吃 such as 他想要吃火锅。(Tā xiǎng yào chī huǒguō), meaning, "He
wants to have hot pot."Another example could be the one from our dialogue, 要开灯吗？
(Yào kāidēng ma?)

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The second meaning of 要 is "to need to," which is short for the words 需要. This meaning of
要 is often used in imperative sentences.

For Example:

1. 感冒就要多喝水。
|Gǎnmào jiù yào duō hē shuǐ.
"If you caught a cold, you need to drink more water."

2. 你要好好学习。
Nǐ yào hǎohāo xuéxí.
"You need to study hard."

3. 这个要放屋里。
Zhge yào fàng wū lǐ.
"This needs to be put inside."

The last meaning of 要 we want to talk about is when 要 is used as an indication of future
tense meaning something is going to happen. And it often forms a 要...了 pattern in the
sentence in this case.

For Example:

1. 要下雨了.
Yào xiàyǔ le.
"It is going to rain."

2. 他要回家了。
Tā yào huí jiā le.
"He is going home."

3. 明天他要去英国了。
Míngtiān tā yào qù Yīngguó le.
"Tomorrow he is going to the U.K."

CULTURAL INSIGHT

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China's Electricity

One of the most noticeable features of Chinese cities, especially at night time, is the
ubiquitous neon lights to be found outside almost every shop, billboard, and many public
buildings. Increasingly these are being joined by enormous Blade Runner-esque video
screens making even third and fourth tier cities resemble Times Square or Piccadilly Circus. It
is features such as these, which have all appeared in the last twenty years or so that have
lead China to become the world's second largest energy consumer after the USA. Most of this
electricity is generated using coal from China's huge coal fields in the north and north-east of
the country though there is a fairly large amount of power produced by hydropower in the
south-west. The unfortunate result of all this coal use is some of the highest levels of pollution
in the world and many resulting health problems, not to forget the many miners who lose their
lives in coal mines every year. There is an increasing awareness of environmental issues in
China but many worry that it could be too little, too late.

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