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Transcript

1. You have just learned the Chinese word that means “correct” Monday, 5 November 12
2. This is used in much the same way as the word “correct” is used in English. Monday, 5 November 12
3. You can often use it instead of, “yes”, when you want to answer in positively. Monday, 5 November 12
4. But it sounds a bit like it would in English to always say “correct” all the time instead of saying “yes”: not wrong exactly, but certainly a bit weird. Monday, 5 November 12
5. In fact, Chinese doesn’t really have words for “yes” and “no” Monday, 5 November 12
6. That might seem like a bit of a key omission Monday, 5 November 12
7. but actually it is a pretty neat simplification Monday, 5 November 12
8. The usual way to say yes is actually more logical and elegant. Monday, 5 November 12
9. Let me give you an example Monday, 5 November 12
10. If someone asks you, “are you?” Monday, 5 November 12
11. to answer “YES” you just say “AM.” Monday, 5 November 12
12. Or to say “NO” you say “AM NOT” Monday, 5 November 12
13. If they ask, “do you like?” Monday, 5 November 12
14. Then can you guess how you say “yes”? Monday, 5 November 12
15. you say, “LIKE!” Monday, 5 November 12
16. This works for any verb that is used in asking the question: just repeat it in the answer to say “yes” Monday, 5 November 12
17. The most common way of making a statement into a question in Chinese is to add the “question word” to the end of the sentence. Monday, 5 November 12
18. MA is the question word Monday, 5 November 12
19. So, “YOU ARE” is a statement, while “YOU ARE MA?” becomes a question; “are you?” Monday, 5 November 12
20. In the next level we will see some questions and some answers to get you used to this pattern. Monday, 5 November 12