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 M: Pengyoumen, huanying dao Xianzai Xue Hanyu. Wo shi ML
S: Wo shi Stuart. Repeat everything. Women mashang, immediately, mashang kaishi, start. Women bu yao langfei shijian.
M: 为什么，wei shenme?
S: 因为我饿了, yinwei wo e le.
M: 哦, 你饿了，ni e le!
S: 是的，非常饿, feichang e.
M: 好，我们吃饭去, women chi fan qu.
S: Hao zhuyi.
M: And what did that all mean?
S: Let’s dissect what we said. 我们马上开始。
M: Women mashang kaishi. Women kaishi, we know means ‘we start’. Mashang MA SHANG mashang. Hear the tones? Dui le, mashang, 3rd, 4th. Mashang means ‘immediately’, ‘at once’.
S: It literally means, ‘horse’, ma, the type you ride, and ‘on’, shang. If you jump on a nervous horse, it immediately gallops off, maybe that’s the origin of ma shang. Ok, now try to say, ‘we start immediately’.
M: Dui le, Women mashang kaishi. Women mashang kaishi.
S: Now try, ‘we go at once’.
M: Hen hao. 我们马上去, women mashang qu.
S: Did any of you say, ‘我们马上走, women mashang zou’? Both are ok.
M: But zou and qu, remember, have slightly different meanings. If you say, Wo zou, it means you might or might not have a specific place or purpose in mind. But if you say, wo qu, then you do have a specific place or purpose in mind.
S: For example, if you’re angry, and just want to get away, you might say, Hao ba, wo zou!
M: But if someone asks, ‘who’ll go to rescue Mother from those dangerous criminals?’ you could say,