Monday, October 6, 2014

Chinese Language Learning Program Lesson 144 – Interjections in Chinese

Chinese Language Learning Program
Lesson 144 – Interjections in Chinese


Hello, everyone. Welcome back. This is Baixue’s Chinese Language Learning Program. Last time we had a tongue twister to practice how to pronounce simple vowel - ü. Today, we will talk about  interjections in Chinese.

tàn cí
  (interjections)

An interjection is a word that can express an exclamation, a response or a call. For example:

wèi,   én,   a,    āi  yā,    ó,    ō.
                       


1.   Grammatical features;

These Interjections have no concrete meaning. They only indicate sounds to draw attention, surprise, admiration or some kinds of feeling and they can not be used as a sentence element.

Interjections are quite independent and have no grammatical relationship with other parts of the sentence.

Interjections usually are at the beginning of the sentences.

2.   Functions

·        is used when answering a phone call. For example:

wèi, qǐng wèn nǐ zhǎo shuí?
  ,                   谁?
(Hello, could you please tell me who you are looking for?)

wèi, qǐng wèn nǐ shì shuí?
 ,                 谁?
(Hello, who is speaking?)

wèi, qǐng wèn nǐ shì bái xuě ma?
 ,                     吗?
(Hello, are you Bai Xue? )

·             哎呀 or indicates surprise. For example:

āi yā, nǐ méi shì ba.
哎呀       !
(Oops, are you ok?)

āi yā, zěn me huì zhè yàng?
哎呀,                样?
(Oh, how could this happen?)

a,  wǒ de shǒu.
,       手。(Oh, my hand.)

·     indicates admiration. For example:

à, zhè fú huà zhēn piào liang a!
,                       !
(Wow, this painting is so beautiful!)

· 哦,噢indicates realization and understanding. For example:

 ó, wǒ míng bái le. 
,          了。(Oh, I see.)

ó, yuán lái shì nǐ a.
      啊。(Oh, it’s you.)

Ō,  yuán lái shì zhè yàng!
噢,原              样。(Oh, that is what [how] it is.)

·  is used to say hello when friends meet each other. For example:

 āi, nǐ hǎo. nǐ qù nǎ'er?
,      哪儿?
(hi, how are you? Where are you going?)

·     嗯,唉indicates response. For example:

nǐ zhī dào le ma?
       吗? (Do you get it?)     

én, wǒ zhī dào le.
        了。(Yes, I get it.)

nǐ kuài diǎn huí lái.
             来。
(Please come back as soon as possible.)

āi, wǒ mǎ shàng jiù dào le.
,                 了。
(Well, I will be back soon.)

āi, zhè ge rén zhēn kě lián.
              怜。
(What a pity, this person is really poor.)

3.   Some times, the same interjection can express different feelings when it is with different tones. For example:

(1).  When with the first tone, ā, indicates astonishment or admiration. For example,

 ā, tiān qíng le.
,         了。(Ah, it is sunny.)

(2). When with the second tone or third tone, á or ǎ, indicates a further inquiry. For example:

 á,  nǐ shuō shén me?
,               么?(Ah?What did you say?)

ǎ,  zhè shì zěn me huí shì?
              事?
(Ah? What’s going one?)

(3). When with the fouth tone, à, indicates a response or admiration. For example:

 à, hǎo ba.
  吧。(Ah, all right.) (a response)

 à, tài piào liang le.
,            了。(Ah, it is so pretty.) (admiration)

Ok, that is all for today.

xiè  xiè!
    ! (Thanks!)

xià  cì  jiàn
     !  (See you next time!)

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