Chinese For Dummies (121 page)

Consider the phrase n
ǐ kànjiàn
你看见
(
你看見
) (nee kahn-jyan) (
you see
). If you say
Nǐ kàn de jiàn ma?
你看得见
吗
? (
你看得見嗎
?) (nee kahn duh jyan ma?), you mean
Can you see?
If replace the positive
de
with the negative
bù
to ask
Nǐ kàn bú jiàn ma?
你看不见
吗
? (
你看不見嗎
?) (nee kahn boo jyan ma?), you mean
You can't see?
Finally, if you use both positive and negative potential forms in the same sentence by asking
Nǐ kàn de jiàn, kàn bú jiàn?
你看得见
,
看不见
? (
你看得見
,
看不見
?) (nee kahn duh jyan, kahn boo jyan?), you mean
Can you see [or not]?

So in the earlier example
Zǒu de dào, zǒu bú dào?,
what you're really saying is
Can one can walk there [or not]?
Similarly,
Wǒmen lái de jí, lái bù jí?
我们来得及
,
来不及
? (
我們來得及來不及
?)
(waw-mun lye duh jee, lye boo jee?) means
Will we make it on time [or not]?

Here are some other examples of this pattern:

xǐ gānjìng
洗干净
(
洗乾淨
) (she gahn-jeeng) (
to wash [and make clean]
)

xǐ de gānjìng
洗得干净
(
洗得乾淨
) (she duh gahn-jeeng) (
can be washed
)

xǐ bù gānjìng
洗不干净
(
洗不乾淨
) (she boo gahn-jeeng) (
can't be washed
)

Xǐ de gānjìng, xǐ bù gānjìng?
洗得干净
,
洗不干净
? (
洗得不乾淨
,
洗不乾淨
?) (she duh gahn-jeeng, she boo gahn-jeeng?) (
Can you wash it?/Can it be washed?
)

zuò wán
做完
(dzwaw wahn) (
to finish [doing something]
)

zuò de wán
做得完
(dzwaw duh wahn) (
can finish
)

zuò bù wán
做不完
(dzwaw boo wahn) (
can't finish
)

Zuò de wán, zuò bù wán?
做得完
,
做不完
? (dzwaw duh wahn, dzwaw boo wahn?) (
Can you finish it?/Can it be finished?
)

Using Ordinal Numbers to Clarify Points of Reference

If someone has ever told you to make a right at the second
jiāotōng dēng
交通灯
(
交通燈
) (jyaow-toong dung) (
traffic light
) or that her house is the third one on the left, she's used ordinal numbers. (You can find a list of ordinal numbers in
Chapter 5
; in this section, I just show you how they're used in giving Chinese directions.)

Simply using a numeral plus a classifier doesn't work in Chinese, such as when you say
sān ge
三个
(
三個
)
(sahn guh) (
three
)
of something. If someone giving you directions says
sān ge jiāotōng dēng
三个交通灯
(
三個交通燈
)
(sahn guh jyaow-toong dung), you hear
three traffic lights.
To accurately express
the third traffic light,
your helper has to add the word
dì
第
(dee) before the numeral to create
dì sān ge jiāotōng dēng
第三个交通灯
(
第三個交通燈
) (dee sahn guh jyaow-toong dung).

As I note in
Chapter 5
, if you use an ordinal number followed by a noun, you must always have a classifier between them. You can't combine
dì sān
第三
(dee sahn) (
the third
) with
qìchē
汽车
(
汽車
) (chee-chuh) (
car
). You have to put the classifier
ge
between the number and the noun to say
dì sān ge qìchē
第三个汽车
(
第三個汽車
) (dee sahn guh chee-chuh) (
the third car
).

Following are some examples of ways you may hear ordinal numbers in ­directions:

dì èr ge fángzi
第二个房子
(
第二個房子
) (dee are guh fahng-dzuh) (
the second house
)

dì yī tiáo lù
第一条路
(
第一條路
) (dee ee tyaow loo) (
the first street
)

zuǒ biān dì bā ge fángzi
左边第八个房子
(
左邊第八個房子
) (dzwaw byan dee bah guh fahng-dzuh) (
the eighth house on the left
)

Specifying Cardinal Points

Your direction-givers can tell you to go right or left until they're blue in the face, but sometimes the best way to give you directions is to point you the right way with the cardinal points: north, south, east, or west.

In Chinese, however, you say them in this order:

dōng
东
(
東
) (doong) (
east
)

nán
南
(nahn) (
south
)

xī
西
(she) (
west
)

běi
北
(bay) (
north
)

Not precise enough? Try the following (also in the correct Chinese order):

dōng běi
东北
(
東北
) (doong bay) (
northeast
)

xī běi
西北
(she bay) (
northwest
)

dōng nán
东南
(
東南
) (doong nahn) (
southeast
)