Newbie - Hold the Elevator

In China the elevators have a weight limit, just like the rest of the world. However I'm constantly amazed by the number of people that can fit into an elevator.

I used to count how many people would come out during rush hour, 4-6 O'clock.

I think 15 is the most I've seen.

Jenny,

In the audio discussion you said yi 一 was 2nd tone in yi xia.On it's own it's usually 1st tone ,right?,so is this one of those tone change rules? I love the admission to giggling in the 电梯 btw.A sign of a delightful personality.

While 等一下,will obviously do the trick,I'm wondering if this would be the most common thing to say when you want someone to hold the lift,and also wondering if there is a more specific request when you want someone to hold the lift.

It's comforting to learn 坐电题.With so many skyscrapers including Taipei 101 [?still {dubai caught up yet} the tallest building in the world] it's nice to know it's ok to sit down in these long lift rides.The Chinese are so hospitable.

Newbies,

The natural progression from this lesson is to the Ellie lesson "Don't push that button" which is here,so you can tell that 孩子 to 别按都 the buttons and to 千万别按 the emergency stop [?停] button.

Maybe it's never too late to call out 等一下：

bababardwan,

When 一 is followed by a forth tone, it becomes second tone. For example, 一下/yi2 xia4, 一次/yi2 ci4, 一句/yi2 ju4.  You can also refer to our pinyin chart for an overview of pronunciation.

Jenny,

I thought it must have been that.I knew bu4 changes to bu2 when followed by a fourth [I think].Thanks for confirming that.Is this the case every single time? Are we never to see a first followed by a fouth without change?

I just downloaded the pinyin chart you linked to.Very neat.I like the 1st-4th option so you can hear the difference at once.

Hi bababardwan

You can find a lot of 一 (first tone) followed by fourth tone. The tone of 一 remains unchanged when it's used as an ordinal number, such as 一月 (yi1yue4)，第一次 (di4yi1ci4)，一号 (yi1hao4)，and 一二九七年.

Additionally, you need to pronounce it "yi1" when you read a "naked" number such as 31791. That said, native people usually read it this way, san1 yao1 qi1 jiu3 yao1, so as not to mistake 一 (yi) for 七 (qi1).

The sad truth is many people don't hold elevators for you. Chivalry is dead.

changye,

Yeah,I could have sworn I'd seen plenty of first tones remain first when followed by fourth.Thanks for your examples.Apart from those,how do you know when it applies? Yeah,I knew about the yao1 thing but good point.

Jenny,

Have you seen "Kate and Leopold" which may enhance your point here ?

Chivalry may be dead, but you should have seen the other guy!

Westerners must come across as a mixture of way too polite ( I say 'sorry' and 'thanks' and excuse myself constantly ) and like complete neanderthals ( I just never seem to get a hangover! ). 

A:   等一下！

B:  不要等你。木哈哈哈哈～

From what I have read/heard, you will only find elevators in buildings that have more then 7 storeys as there is no requirement for elevators in buildings that are less than 8 storeys high.. so why install one if you don't need to? :)

I have heard 等一下 děngyíxià used in many contexts.. like when I went to pick up my L-visa this morning at the Consulate of China, it was used quite a bit as the clerks sorted through the paperwork and so on.

With floor number.. I notice that there is: 1. no use of 第 dì that prefixes the number to denote it as being an "ordinal" number like 1st, 2nd, 3rd; and also 2. there is no measure word to say that it is floor number 10 of the total number of floors. I assume this is one of those exceptions to the rule.

With the use of 几 jī I have learned that this is used when you are asking about an amount less than 10 but 多少 duōshǎo is used for amounts greater than 10.. so if I was in the lift of Jin Mao tower where there are 88 floors, would I still use 几 in this case? or 多少?

Chivalry is dead? Maybe, but then, who would want to share a lift with the unchivalrous?

Small correction in expansion exercises with the translation of "他住几楼？" which should read "Which floor does he live on?"

Will

Light,

whats odd is you will find that most buildings designate the floors by using 1F  2F  3F etc.

When is your trip?

matthewfelgate,

Am I right in presuming that in your joke above ,you used 木 [the character for tree or wood] as a transliteration for move? If so,did you make this up or is this a standard transliteration?

light487,

恭喜 on getting your visa mate.好运 with your trip.

lotsofwordsandnospaces,

lol.Touche.:)

From the expansion we have the word 位 as a measure word for people.I have seen 人 so many times now,and while 位 looks somewhat familiar[but I can't recall where now],I don't specifically recall it being used with ren.I would say ,at least,that there have been heaps of times that I have seen 人 used without 位.What's the story here? Are there any examples?

Hi light487

Your trip to China is just around the corner, isn't it?

You have to say "你去几楼？" even at the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai. Don't ask me why, haha.

Maybe "几楼？" is the abbreviation of "第几楼?", but you can't say "第多少～", cause it's grammatically incorrect, so "几楼?" is exclusively used regardless of the hight of a building, perhaps.

Incidentally, "多少楼?" means "how many buildings?", but not "which floor/what floor".

When you would like to ask how many stories the Oriental Pearl Tower is, you say "东方明珠塔有多少层(ceng2)？, however in the case of the White House, "白宫有几层？" Haha, it's a bit confusing.

Another example : "你几岁" is used when asking a child his/her age, and "你多少岁" is for adults.

P/S 1

I've just come up with another "etymology" of "几楼". When there were only low-rise buildings in China, the phrase "几楼" deeply rooted in Chinese. And people still use it even when asking about high-rise buildings.

P/S 2

there is no requirement for elevators in buildings that are less than 8 storeys high.

You are right. The same goes for my small city here in northeast China. And this is the reason why there is the word "电梯楼" in Chinese, which indicates a building equipped with elevators. Unfortunately, my apartment building is not a 电梯楼！

Hehe.. cool :)

I am flying direct from Sydney to Shanghai on March 18.. and I will be in China for 30 days :) Going to Shanghai, Wuhan, Chengdu, Xi'an, Beijing, Suzhou, Hangzhou and back to Shanghai.. well actually I'm going back to Shanghai and then to Hangzhou on a day trip.. but I might stay extra in Hangzhou.. still working out the last week of my stay.

Hi light487,

Wow, it's not a trip, but a tour (or a travel/journey?)! 兵马俑 are waiting for you in Xi'an.

Hello Changye,

In the discussion you refer to 层 (ceng2) as a floor.

If you want to say that your appartement is on the 10th floor, should one use 层 or 楼? 

Hi beaver

You can say both "我住在十层" and "我住在十楼".

What is the difference

楼 and 地板

Thanks for your help.........Tom

One time I used 地板 in a elavator and the chinese couple looked at me like I was nuts......Thanks Tom

我是中国人，“一”在汉语中是非常常见的，就像英语中的“a”一样，但词性不一样，英语的a不能放在句子中间，“一”可以放在边也可以放在中间，像“一天，一月，一年，等一等，坐一下，呆一会等”

Xuchen wrote:

"I'm constantly amazed by the number of people that can fit into an elevator." 
 

When we were in China to adopt our daughter in 2005, I was always astonished to see more people cram into what I thought was an already full elevator. In the US, people seem to shy away from any situation in which they will maybe be forced to (!) touch a stranger for a millisecond.

BTW, none of our adoption group could speak Chinese (except our guide, of course). So when we had to make it to an elevator that was ready to leave, we found that running toward the elevator and waving a hand like a crazy person was usually enough to get someone to hold the elevator for us! (Maybe carrying a cute one year old baby also helped.)

But it's always nice to know the right way to do it.

When I was in Taiwan, I never felt comfortable because everywhere I went the Chinese would giggle for no reason.  For a long, long, long time I assumed they were giggling because I look a lot different from them.  Finally, I read in a book (and the reading was confirmed by a Chinese co-worker) that when the Chinese get nervous, they giggle.  The more nervous they are, the harder they laugh.

So, when I would be alone in an elevator and then hear someone giggle, I would just tell myself, "S/He is just nervous.  S/he is just nervous.  S/he is just nervous...

For this and other reasons, I was thrilled when my assignment ended and I could leave Taiwan.

Hi bababardwan

位 is a measure word for people that shows respect. So, for example, you might refer to 这位老师 （this teacher). Restaurants often ask you  "你们几位”-- how many are in your party.

But you would not use 位 to refer to yourself-- for example "我是一位非常聪明的学生 ；-) Chinese care a lot about modesty (谦虚）.

Hi tmod5862

Your question shows how "risky" it is to directly translate. 地板 refers to the floor beneath your feet, the part of the building. But 楼 is for the phrase "which floor do you live on" and so on. Please note, it can also refer to the whole building.

During lunchtime, when there is a crowd getting in the elevator, many a times in a crowded elevator we may not get to push the button to a floor. Here in the West, we'll say "12 please" and normally the person acessible to the elevator buttons will push it for us. 

When in such a situation in China, can I just say "不好意思，十二楼“ and someone will understand to press the button for me?   

I  frequently hear 等等, which is the usual repetition but I'm wondering if it's common in the north as well?

Once the 89 year old lady starts her sprint to the door, what would be an acceptable thing to say so she could take her time?

慢走

慢来

我会等你

你超快阿姨！

我很想小便快点

等等 （etc.)

This 一下 thing.. is it similar to

一点 yīdiǎn

看一看 kànyīkàn

From a etymology point of view?

.

Hi light487

The "一" in "一下" is grammatically different from that in "看一看". Actually, 下 is a measure word (量词) that indicates the number of actions. And of course, 点 is a measure word too, so 一下 is grammatically the same as 一点, as you expected.

Ahh.. right.. thanks! :) Glad you understood what I was asking.. sometimes I can be a bit cryptic, especially with asking about things I don't understand fully :)

In 一下 is it first and fourth tone or second and fourth tone?  On the lesson, they said it was second and fourth but when it was written in the dialogue it was first and fourth.

Thanks!

-china4me

missworldtraveler,

Maybe people giggled because they had seen the picture in your avatar!!!!

Hi china4me,

have a look at this (scroll down). It is about the tone changes for yī and bù.

if there is not going to be a chat option within a short time, then chinesepod will soon be dead...

sex sells :) even if its just words from men to women :)

I love the irony here.The lesson picture shows the doors being held open....

Jenny, I'd hold the elevator for you any time ;)

I've heard bu4ke4qi3 be used more for saying something along the lines of "No problem" when someone says "Thank you", even though it means basically "No need to be so polite."

So I was wondering, could bu4ke4qi3 also be used if someone is just plain being too polite in normal conversation, like telling them (politely) to stop being so gracious?

Hi triphazard

In that case, you would use the phrase 别客气 (bie2 ke4 qi) instead of 不客气 (bu4ke4qi), like 别客气，别客气了(le)，你(ni3)别客气了, 你别那么(na4me)客气 etc.

Just for your information, 见外 (jian4wai4) is used to mean "Don't be such a stranger." So you often hear the following sentences in China.

哎呀(ai1ya1, interjection)，别那么客气，太(tai4, very)见外了！

P/S "你不要(bu2yao4)客气" is also OK.

The expansion section has the sentence 我住三樓  (wo zhu san lou) - could someone explain why is it not necessary to use 在 (zai) in this sentence?

Thanks