Read Online Chinese For Dummies by Wendy Abraham - Free Book Online

show.) ( You need to wash your hands. )
    Adverbs
    Adverbs serve to modify verbs or adjectives and always appear in front of them in Chinese. The most common adverbs you find in Chinese are hěn 很 (hun) ( very ) and yě 也 (yeah) ( also ).
    If you want to say that something isn’t just hǎo 好 (how) ( good ) but rather that it’s very good, you say it’s hěn hǎo 很好 (hun how) ( very good ). If your friend wants to put his two cents in and say that something else is also really good, he says Zhèige yě hěn hǎo. 这个也很好 ( 這個也很好 ) (jay guh yeah hun how.) ( This is also very good. ) because yě always comes before hěn (as well as before the negative prefix bù; refer to the following section.)
    Bù and méiyǒu: Total negation
    Boo! Scare you? Don’t worry. I’m just being negative in Chinese. That’s right: The word bù is pronounced the same way a ghost would say it (boo) and is often spoken with the same intensity.
    Bù can negate something you’ve done in the past or the present (or at least indicate you don’t generally do it these days), and it can also help negate something in the future:
    Diànyǐngyuàn xÄ«ngqÄ«liù bù kāimén. 电影院星期六不开门 . ( 電影院星期六不開門 .) (dyan-yeeng-ywan sheeng-chee-lyo boo kye-mun.) ( The movie theatre won’t be open on Saturday. )
    Tā xiǎo de shíhòu bù xǐhuān chÄ« shÅ«cài. 他小的时候不喜欢吃蔬菜 . ( 他小的時候不喜歡吃蔬菜 .) (tah shyaow duh shir-ho boo she-hwahn chir shoo-tsye.) ( When he was young, he didn’t like to eat vegetables. )
    Wǒ bú huà huàr. 我不画画儿 . ( 我不畫畫兒 .) (waw boo hwah hwar.) ( I don’t paint. )
    Wǒ búyào chàng gē. 我不要唱歌 . (waw boo-yaow chahng guh.) ( I don’t want to sing. )
    The negative prefix bù is usually spoken with a fourth (falling) tone. However, when it precedes a syllable with another fourth tone, bù becomes a second (rising) tone instead, as in such words as búqù 不去 (boo-chew) ( won’t/didn’t/doesn’t go ) and búyào 不要 (boo-yaow) ( don’t/didn’t/won’t want ). For more about tones, head to Chapter 1 .
    In addition to being part of the question yǒu méiyǒu ( do you have/did it ), méiyǒu is another negative prefix that also goes before a verb. It refers only to the past, though, and means either something didn’t happen, or at least didn’t happen on a particular occasion:
    Wǒ méiyǒu kàn nèi bù diànyǐng. 我没有看那部电影 . ( 我沒有看那部電影 .) (waw mayo kahn nay boo dyan-yeeng.) ( I didn’t see that movie. )
    Zuótiān méiyǒu xiàyǔ. 昨天没有下雨 . ( 昨天沒有下雨 .) (dzwaw-tyan mayo shyah-yew.) ( It didn’t rain yesterday. )
    If the aspect marker guò is at the end of the verb méiyǒu, it means the action never happened (up until now) in the past. By the way, you’ll sometimes find that méiyǒu is shortened just to méi:
    Wǒ méi qù guò Fǎguó. 我没去过法国 . ( 我沒去過法國 .) (waw may chyew gwaw fah-gwaw.) ( I’ve never been to France. )
    Wǒ méi chÄ« guò Yìndù cài. 我没吃过印度菜 . ( 我沒吃過印度菜 .) (wo may chir gwaw een-doo tsye.) ( I’ve never eaten Indian food. )
    Talkin’ the Talk
    Harvey, Stella, and Laurie discuss where to go for dinner. (Track 4)
    Harvey:
    Nǐmen jÄ«ntiān