{"id":10737,"date":"2019-11-16T09:38:23","date_gmt":"2019-11-16T09:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/spoken-chinese\/lesson-049-asking-questions-1\/"},"modified":"2019-11-16T09:38:23","modified_gmt":"2019-11-16T09:38:23","slug":"lesson-049-asking-questions-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/th\/lesson-049-asking-questions-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Lesson 049 Asking Questions (1)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Yajie: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the first Chinese Studio of the new week \u6b22\u4e50\u6c49\u8bed. I’m Yajie.
Allen: And I’m Allen. This week, we’ll be learning useful sentence structures for asking questions. For example, today we’ll be learning how to ask if someone has a certain profession.
Y: Yes. Remember, Allen, when you saw my friend and started asking me all these questions a<\/em>bout her? You asked, “Is she a teacher?” because you thought she was so warm and kind? Well, today we’ll learn how to ask that question in Chinese. If you learn, maybe I’ll tell you the answer.
A: Really, then I’ll try my best. Let’s get started with the key words of the day.<\/p>\n

***************Key Words of the Day
<\/strong>Today, we’ll learn how to deliver a question in Chinese. \u5979\u662f\u8001\u5e08\u5417\uff1fIs she a teacher? \u60a8\u662f\u533b\u751f\u5417\uff1fAre you a doctor? \u4ed6\u662f\u62a4\u58eb\u5417\uff1fIs he a nurse?  All in today’s Chinese Studio.
****************<\/p>\n

Y: \u5979\u662f\u8001\u5e08\u5417? Is she a teacher?
A: \u5979\u662f\u8001\u5e08\u5417? (Ta shi laoshi ma?)
Y: T-a, first tone, \u5979, means she.
A: \u5979 (ta). Interestingly, I found that he in Chinese is also pro<\/em>nounced “ta”, right?
Y: Exactly. They are homonyms. “Ta”, she, and “ta”, he, both sound the same, but the characters are written differently.
A: Oh, I see. No wo<\/em>nder so many Chinese co<\/em>nfuse he and she when speaking English. In Chinese, they o<\/em>nly have to remember  one word, “ta”.
Y: Right. Now, let’s move to the next word, sh-i, fourth tone, \u662f, which means is.
A: \u662f, sh-i, is.
Y: Next, \u8001\u5e08, which means teacher. \u8001\u5e08 (laoshi).
A: \u8001\u5e08 (laoshi), teacher.
Y: \u5979\u662f\u8001\u5e08\u5417? Is she a teacher?
A: \u5979\u662f\u8001\u5e08\u5417? (Ta shi laoshi ma?)
Y: Then, if she is a teacher, the person you’re asking the question to would reply \u5979\u662f\u8001\u5e08 (ta shi laoshi), She is a teacher.
A: \u5979\u662f\u8001\u5e08\u5417? (Ta shi laoshi ma?) \u5979\u662f\u8001\u5e08 (ta shi laoshi). Oh, the o<\/em>nly difference between question and statement, besides tone,  is that with the question you have a \u5417 (ma) at the end.
Y: Very observant, Allen. \u5417 (ma) is very often the o<\/em>nly difference between asking a question and making a statement in Chinese. Putting  \u5417 (ma) at the end of a statement changes it into a question.
A: \u5979\u662f\u8001\u5e08 (ta shi laoshi) She is a teacher. \u5979\u662f\u8001\u5e08\u5417? (Ta shi laoshi ma?) Is she a teacher?<\/p>\n

Co<\/em>nversations(1):<\/p>\n

A: Yajie, could you please tell me what the Chinese is for doctor?
Y: It’s \u533b\u751f (yisheng). Yi, \u533b; sh-eng, \u751f. Both are in the first tone.
A: \u533b\u751f (yisheng).
Y: \u6211\u662f\u533b\u751f (wo shi yisheng), I am a doctor.
A: \u6211\u662f\u533b\u751f (wo shi yisheng).
Y: And nurse in Chinese is \u62a4\u58eb (hushi).
A: \u62a4\u58eb (hushi).
Y: H-u, fourth tone, \u62a4, and sh-i, \u58eb.. But here\u58eb is in the light tone. So it’s\u62a4\u58eb (hushi).
A: \u62a4\u58eb (hushi).
Y: How do you say, “He is a nurse,” Allen?
A: \u4ed6\u662f\u62a4\u58eb (ta shi hushi).
Y: How a<\/em>bout, “She is a nurse?”
A: Also \u5979\u662f\u62a4\u58eb (ta shi hushi). Come on Yajie, he and she in Chinese are o<\/em>nly written differently.<\/p>\n

Co<\/em>nversations(2):<\/p>\n

***************Key Words Reminder
\u5979\u662f\u8001\u5e08\u5417\uff1fIs she a teacher? \u60a8\u662f\u533b\u751f\u5417\uff1fAre you a doctor? \u4ed6\u662f\u62a4\u58eb\u5417\uff1fIs he a nurse?<\/div>\n