Chinese

Module 2
HSK Standard Course 2
Lesson 7

UP DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS
OR  | 2019-2020
in focus:
giving directions
In this lesson, we will focus on how to ask
for and give directions to a certain location
This combines some function words
introduced here in Lesson 7 as well as in
Lesson 13. Our textbook is a little bit
annoying because it focuses more on
grammar rather than communicative
themes. But we will make do with what we
have ( = - = )
Asking relative distance with
In HSK 1, we learned to ask where something or some place is (for example, the all important
question: ? - Where is the CR?). Now, a common follow-up question that people ask
is whether the place that they are looking for is near or far relative to their current location.
Learning to ask for the relative distance of places could also come in handy for example if you
are looking for a hotel that is ideally situated relative to places that you need or want to visit.

PATTERN:

PLACE A + lí + PLACE B + Distance

This is the place that you are This is the place which serves
asking about or the place you as the reference point. You
are describing are comparing the distance
of PLACE A from PLACE B
Examples with
biànlìdiàn lí lǚguǎn yuǎn ma
便利店离旅馆远吗？ Is the convenience store far from the hotel?

wǒ jiā lí xuéxiào hěn jìn.

我家离学校 很近。 My house is near the school.

jīcháng lí zhèr yǒu 20 duō gōnglǐ

机场离这儿有20多公里。 The airport is 20-plus kilometers from here.
yínháng lí nǐmen de gōngsī yǒu duō yuǎn
银行离你们的公司(有)多远？How far is the bank from your company?
" + Adjective" is used to ask for the degree of the adjective.
It is the equivalent of the Tagalog question "gaano". The
is in parenthesis because it is optional and may be left out
in this kind of question
Other use of
can also be used with time expressions or to express how long from now a certain event will occur. We
see an example of this in dialogue #4. This is usually used to express how much time is left before
a certain event, so ("still have") or ("only have") is also often used before the duration of time.

PATTERN:

Length of
TIME/EVENT
A + lí + TIME/EVENT
B + yǒu + Time
This may be omitted especially if it is
understood to be the current point of time.

jīntiān lí wǒ de shēngrì háiyǒu sān ge xīngqi ne Today is still 3 weeks

今天离我的生日还有三个星期呢。 from my birthday.

lí bìyè háiyǒu liǎng ge yuè

There's still two months to graduation.
离毕业还有两个月。
Translate the ff. Use

(1) Our house is a bit far from the school.

(2) The airport is only eight kilometers away from our hotel.

(3) Is the bus station far from here?

(4) How far is the coffee shop from bookstore?

(5) There are two weeks until the New Year.

Answers: Did you get them
right?

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)
asking how to get to
some place
It literally means "how to
zěnme zǒu walk," but it's the question

PLACE + you ask to get specific

directions to a certain place

qǐng wèn, dìtié zhàn zěnme zǒu You can also use the phrase "how to go,"
it's just that is more common.
If you use the place goes after this
May I ask how to get to the subway station? expression:
qù yàodiàn zěnme zǒu Ex. Zěnme qù Tiān'ānmén?
'How to go to Tiananmen?'

How do I get to the drugstore?

qù yàodiàn zěnme zǒu Don't panic. New words are
introduced in the examples.
Take note of them :D
How do I get to the drugstore?
 common expressions
used in giving directions

wǎng
+ direction + zǒu guǎi zhuǎn

wǎng qián zǒu shí fēn zhōng jiù dào wǎng is a preposition which means "towards."
, Like other prepositions that we have learned so
far (e.g. it appears before the verb
Go forward / straight you'll get there in ten minutes It is not always required when giving directions if
zài qiánmiàn de lùkǒu, nǐ yào wǎng yòu guǎi the direction is found in the middle of the
sentence like in the 2nd & 3rd example. However
if it is the beginning of the sentence like in the 1st
example at the side, is required.
At the intersection in front, you should go right.
dào dì èr ge lùkǒu wǎng zuǒ guǎi, nǐ huì kàndào yàodiàn zài chāoshì pángbiān.

When you get to the second intersection turn left; you will the drugstore is beside the
supermarket.
 useful expressions in
giving directions
yìzhǐ zǒu
( ) When you go to China, people there also often give directions using the
Keep going straight cardinal directions north, south, east, and west. So you might hear the
following directions as well:
guò mǎlù
wǎng běi biān zǒu wǎng dōng guǎi

Cross the street

Turn to the east and are
Walk to the north
lùkǒu interchangeable in these
cases. literally means
wǎng nánfāng zǒu wǎng xīfāng zhuǎn "side" and can mean
intersection "side or direction"
Both can be omitted
hónglǜdēng Walk to the south Turn to the west as well

traffic light
Supplementary
Videos
The following videos will provide
more explanations and sample
dialogues:

https://bit.ly/asking_directions
https://bit.ly/asking_directions2

Challenge: Describe how to get from

the AS Steps to the College of Music
 word in focus
It's our old friend ! In we learned two of its functions.
We'll add to it a third function:

(1) To place emphasis and limit the scope of the referent

jiù
That's exactly the thing that I am looking for.

(2) To express a conclusion or resolution.

You like milk tea, then let's drink milk tea."

(3) To express that an event happened or will happen early or

sooner than expected or that it happened fast
Using Wǒ zuótiān wǎnshàng bā diǎn bàn jiù shuìjiào le.

I was already asleep at 8:30 last night.

Function #3:
To express that something
Wǒ zuò fēijī yí ge bàn xiǎoshí jiù dào Běijīng le.
happened or will happen early or
sooner than expected, or that it I would get to Beijing in one & a half hour riding an airplane.
happened quickly

EXAMPLE SENTENCES
PATTERN Tā èrshíwǔ fēn zhōng jiù zuò wán gōngkè le.

Subj. + Time + + Verb + Object

He already finished his homework in 25 minutes.

Watch this video for further

Dìtié yíhuìr jiù dào.
discussion:
https://bit.ly/HSK2_jiu01 The subway will get here in a short while.
Translate the following sentences
jiéhūn
1
mǐfàn zhōng
2
3
kěshì jiàoshì
4
5
Answers: Did you get them
right?

1 My older sister got married at 21 years old.

(21 pa lang kinasal na siya.)

2 The rice will be ready in 15 mins.

3 You left on Monday, how come you're already came back

today?

4 We start class at 11:30, but he's already inside the

classroom at 10:00.

5 Mother wakes up at 4:00AM every day.

 word in focus
You have encountered this particle before in
HSK 1 where you learned to use it to return a
question or as a close equivalent of "how
about __?"

ne We also learned that it is often used together

with + Verb + to express an action that is
in progress, similar to the English -ing verbs.

A third function of is as a modal particle that

expresses an exaggerative mood, often to convince
someone and argue something to be true or assert an
argument.
Examples with
Wǒ bú yào shuìjiào, xiànzài hái zǎo ne!
我不要睡觉，现在还早呢！
I don't want to sleep, it's still early now!

Wǒmen yìqǐ chīfàn ba, wǒmen hěn cháng shíjiān méi jiànmiàn ne.
我们一起吃饭吧，我们很长时间没见面呢。
Let's eat together, we haven't seen each other for a long time.

Bàba zài gōngzuò ne, bù néng gēn nǐ yìqǐ wán.

爸爸在工作呢，不能跟你玩。
Father is working, (he) can't play with you.

Wǒmen xiànzài hái bù néng huíjiā, gōngzuò hái yǒu hěn duō ne.

我们现在还不能回家，工作还有很多呢。
We can't go home right now, there's still a lot of work.
Notes on dialogues
Dialogue #2
Wǒ xià fēijī le.

We learned that / means "down / below."

It can also be used as a verb which means "to get off; to get
down from." Of course it's counterpart can also mean "to get
on; to go up"

shàng fēijī xià fēijī

get on a plane get off a plane

shàng chē xià chē

get in a car get out of a car
Notes on dialogues
Dialogue #4
gěi nǐ guò shēngrì

can be used as a verb on its own meaning "give" but als as a

preposition meaning "for." It marks who benefits from or the recipient
of the action.

means to celebrate one's birthday. can be used as a verb

meaning "to celebrate; to pass" with just a few words:
Wǒ yào huíjiā guònián.
I'm going to go home to celebrate the New Year.

Nǐ shì zěnme guò shíjiān?

How do you pass the time?
Check your comprehension
These are reading comprehension questions on pp. 43 of your textbook. Answer the questions
based on the textbook dialogues.
Dàwèi

1
xiūxí

2
gōnggòng qìchē gōngsī

3
lí yuǎn

4
gěi guò

5
Answers

1
kǎoshì zhǔnbèi

2
gōnggòng qìchē

3
yīnwèi lù