Chinese For Dummies (76 page)

Qǐng gàosù tā wǒ gěi tā dǎ diànhuà le.
请告诉她我给她打电话了
. (
請告訴她我給她打電話了
.)
(cheeng gaow-soo tah waw gay tah dah dyan-hwah luh.) (
Please tell her I called.
)

Qǐng gàosù tā wǒ huì wǎn yìdiǎr lái.
请告诉他我会晚一点儿来
. (
請告訴他我會晚一點兒來
.) (cheeng gaow-soo tah waw hway wahn ee-dyar lye.) (
Please let him know I'll be a little late.
)

Qǐng gěi wǒ zhuǎn tāde liúyánjī?
请给我转他的留言机
? (
請給我轉他的留言機
?)
(cheeng gay waw jwan tah-duh lyo-yan-jee?) (
Could you please transfer me to his voicemail?
)

Talkin' the Talk

Ruben calls Betty and discovers she's not home. He has to leave a message with Betty's mother.

Betty's mom:

Wéi?

way?

Hello?

Ruben:

Qǐngwèn, Betty zài ma?

cheeng-one, Betty dzye mah?

Hello, is Betty there?

Betty's mom:

Tā búzài. Tā qù yóujú le. Qǐngwèn, nín shì nǎ yí wèi?

tah boo-dzye. tah chyew yo-jyew luh. cheeng-one, neen shir nah ee way?

She's not home. She went to the post office. May I ask who this is?

Ruben:

Wǒ shì Ruben, tāde tóngbān tóngxué. Máfan nǐ qǐng gàosù tā wǒ gěi tā dǎ diànhuà le.

waw shir Ruben, tah-duh toong-bahn toong-shweh. mah-fahn nee cheeng gaow-soo tah waw gay tah dah dyan-hwah luh.

I'm Ruben, her classmate. May I trouble you to please tell her I called?

Betty's mom:

Yídìng huì.

ee-deeng hway.

Certainly.

Using the Internet

These days you can reach your business partner in Beijing in a matter of seconds through
diànzǐ kōngjiān
电子空间
(
電子空間
) (dyan-dzuh koong-jyan) (
cyberspace
). With
shǒutí shì
手提式
(show-tee shir) (
portable
) computers and multiple
jiǎnsuǒ yǐnqíng
检索引擎
(
檢索引擎
) (jyan-swaw yeen-cheeng) (
search engines
), you can find just about anything you're looking for. Not sure what you're doing with computers? Forget your
mìmǎ
密码
(
密碼
)
(mee-mah) (
password
)?
Jìshù fúwù
技术服务
(
技術服務
) (jee-shoo foo-woo) (
technical support
) is only a phone call away. Here are some things you can do nowadays with computers and through the Internet:

ānzhuāng tiáozhì jiětiáoqì
安装调制解调器
(
安裝調製解調器
)
(ahn-jwahng tyaow-jir jyeh-tyaow-chee) (
install a modem
)

chóngxīn kāijī
重新开机
(
重新開機
)
(choong-sheen kye-jee) (
reboot
)

dǎkāi diànnǎo
打开电脑
(
打開電腦
) (dah-kye dyan-now) (
turn on the ­computer
)

guāndiào diànnǎo
关掉电话
(
關掉電腦
) (gwahn-dyaow dyan-now) (
turn off the ­computer
)

jìn rù
进入
(
進入
) (gin roo) (
log on
)

jiànlì yíge zhànghù
建立一个账户
(
建立一個賬戶
) (jyan-lee ee-guh jahng-hoo) (
set up an account
)

jiǎnsuǒ guójì yīntè wăng
檢索因特网
(
檢索因特網
)
(jyan-swaw gwaw-jee een tuh wahng) (
search the Internet
)