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Lesson Introduction
You’ve had the Beijing Duck not to mention an ill-advised attempt at eating “chao mian” with chopsticks, and now it’s time to pay. Who gets the bill? The bigger man, that’s who. Save face by expensing it out. In this podcast you will learn how to request the bill in a Chinese restaurant, as well as how to fight over the bill in Mandarin Chinese. We’ll even throw in a bonus “Ai yo”!!! (most versatile word in the Mandarin language).
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Peter RennerOctober 28, 2005
Hello Jenny and Ken . I´m from Germany and i really enjoy your genius podcast. One time i will visit China !!!! You really cant imagine what do you do for non chinese speakers. !!!XIEXIE very much and ZAIJIAN !!! Yours Peter
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SteveOctober 28, 2005
Excellent work Ken and Jenny. I've be studying Mandarin on and off for about a year now. This is the first time I am having lot's of fun! Jenny ni shuo de hen hoa! Ken ye bucuo. Wo shi jianada ren keshi wo xianzai zhu zai Audalia. Wo hen xihuan nimen de jiemu. Wo meitian ting ting nimen. Xie Xie! Steve
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KenOctober 28, 2005
Wow. It's great to hear these comments. They inspire us to do better and better. So far, we are limited by the amount of language we can out into a lesson. This makes it hard to do anything humorous or dramatic, for example. I do see some possibilities for the future, however - simple dramas, funny stories, etc. We'll be able to do this as the level gets higher. Chinese have ther own sense of humor and I'm really looking forward to trying to get some of that across in future lessons. There's no reason why learning can't be fun. In the meantime, we'll continue to provide input as best we can. Keep studying and we'll get there together. Ken
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JAALAOctober 29, 2005
a malaysian banana! -g- trying to learn to speak, can understand...speak...well lets just say a tourist mat salleh sounds better than me..muhahahahahaha! with luck i'd be able to speak mandrin to my grandma in time for CYN
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JAALAOctober 29, 2005
a malaysian banana! -g- trying to learn to speak, can understand...speak...well lets just say a tourist mat salleh sounds better than me..muhahahahahaha! with luck i'd be able to speak mandrin to my grandma in time for CYN. i love the site!
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BazzaOctober 29, 2005
I'm also like to say, this is a brilliant podcast, I'm very glad I discovered it. I'd always fancied learning Chinese, but always it would be too difficult, but only about week after discovering this podcast it's starting to make a lot of sense. 谢谢 Bazza.
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martinNovember 3, 2005
Hy Jenny and Ken Thank you for the great Chinese pod. I'm so happy to have it. My wife is from Taipei (her name is jenny too!!) and we only speak English because my Chinese is too poor. I never find enough Time to study. But since I join the Chinese pod. I learn every day. And my wife is really happy too. Thanks again and go on. Martin
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JohnNovember 8, 2005
ai yo!
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A beeFebruary 23, 2006
I had posted the following under the wrong pod. So here is the comment again, with apologies. Jenny seems to pronounce ‘mai?’ of 'mai? dan1' in the 3rd tone and Ken appears to confirm this by translating ‘mai’ to mean ‘to buy’ (to buy the bill). I spent considerable time trying to find the phrase ‘mai dan’ in several dictionaries under mai4 (to sell) and mai3 (to buy) but my search came to nothing. My Chinese colleagues tell me that mai(?) here has nothing to do with either buying or selling the bill. I am told that ‘mai’ in this very common phrase is a different character and it means ‘to bury’ (to bury the bill, so to speak). If that is the case, then ‘mai’ should have the second tone according to the dictionary. Also I am told that the expression ‘mai2(?) dan1’ appears to be used only in colloquial speech, never in writing. Could Jenny or Ken or any fellow poddies kindly throw a little light on this? Comment by A bee — February 23, 2006 @ 2:23 pm
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AdamMarch 5, 2006
At the online Chinese dictionary www.zhongwen.com they have mai3dan1 as 'pay the check'. They have the characters written as 买单, so it seems ok.
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TomJune 2, 2006
Ken-Jen, You use the expression 哎哟 (ài yo) in the dialog as a sort of expression of frustration. I hadn't heard that one before but have heard 哎呀 (āiyā) many times. Is there a difference between the two? If so, when would I use the one vs. the other? Thanks and Cheers, Tom
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BryanAugust 31, 2006
I noticed that you used "bu4 ke3 yi3" in this conversation. I remember reading (I believe it was in my Oxford Starter Chinese dictionary, but can't confirm because I don't have it with me) that you can't use bu4 with ke3yi3 to but rather need to use bu4 with something else like hui4 or neng2 for the negative. Can you clarify whether this is true or if it depends on the context? Perhaps this is a rule that is knowingly broken? Thanks.
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ChinesePodSeptember 2, 2006
Tom, 哎哟 (ài yo) and 哎呀 (āiyā) are interchangeable to some degree, but 哎哟 is more often used in annoyance and frustration, whereas 哎呀 is often used in exclamations of surprise, pain, or suddenly remembering. Bryan, 不 (bù) can definitely be used with 可以 (kěyǐ), no quesiton. Are you talking about the difference between 能, 会, and 可以? (Follow that link for some clarification on that issue.) -John
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BryanSeptember 3, 2006
John, Thanks for replying about 不 with 可以 . I just found where I had read that. It is on page 196 of the Oxford Starter Chinese Dictionary from 2000 edited by Boping Yuan and Sally K. Church. On that page, marked off between blue lines under the entry English entry "can" it states: "! Note that to negate, you have to use bù néng 不能 rather than bù kěyǐ 不可以." I'm not trying to question your knowledge, I just wanted to let you know where I had read it. Thanks for the link. It was very helpful in clarifying the differences. I guess I had missed the whole Grammar tab before this. Very helpful stuff there. By the way, I just signed up for a premium membership. Thanks again.
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Ken MDecember 21, 2006
I haven't seen an answer to "A Bee"'s question about mai? dan ... I had an ancient teacher at the University of Toronto who insisted that the literal translation of mai2 dan1 was "bury the bill" ... is it possible that this is the original usage, but it has been replaced over time by the easier to understand mai3 dan1 (buy the bill)?
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ChinesePodDecember 21, 2006
Hi Ken M, and A Bee, Connie says that since the expression 买单 (mǎidān) originally comes from Cantonese, the original character was 埋 mái (english: bury), not 买 mǎi. However, Connie said that when they started using this expression in Mandarin Chinese, they converted it to: 买单 (mǎidān), meaning to buy or pay for the restaurant bill. Hope that clarifies things a bit! amber :)
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LorenzoDecember 28, 2006
Great lesson! Loved it :) I was wondering something though, you guys didnt explain the function of "过了" in "上次你已经付过了" I searched it up but don't really understand. Does it have an actual meaning in here or is it just an action marker? Could you leave it away here or is it needed in such context? Could someone maybe give some other examples on how to use it (Pinyin please if you can, don't know much characters yet =D) Hmm asked a bit much lol, thanks in advance! Lorenzo
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ChinesePodDecember 28, 2006
Hi Lorenzo, In this sentence: “上次你已经付过了” (Shàngcì nǐ yǐjing fù guò le.) The 过 (guò) particle is used after the verb to indicate a past action or experience. The 了 (le) in this case goes together with the 已经 (yǐjing), which is another grammar pattern 已经.....了 (yǐjing...le). This pattern is also used to express an action that has already happened. Hope that helps! This is a really common pattern in Chinese, so good for you for wrapping your brain around it ;). ~amber
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LorenzoDecember 29, 2006
Ah ok, thanks alot for the explanation Amber! :) I think I understand, but my vocab is still limited hehe, so I can't make up a sentence so quick where I could use this structure. I couldn't find a lesson that explains this structure (if there is one, sorry for not looking good hehe), so maybe it's an idea to make an (newbie) lesson about this if it's pretty commenly used? Lorenzo
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MatiasJanuary 29, 2007
Hi !! I've been hearing the previous podcasts in order, since Intro #1. This podcast adds a lot of new words !! I still have one question...I don't understand the use of "lái" in "Wo lái fu"...it is the same character as in "...na li lái" where its meaning is "to come"..that type of expression is "wo lai fu"? "I come to pay" ?? do you have more examples of "lái" that doesn't have to do with location ? Thanks. Matias.
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ChinesePodJanuary 30, 2007
Hi Matias, In this case, the 来 (lái) doesn't mean "to come", rather, it is a marker indicating that an action is to be done by the subject that comes immediately before the 来 (lái). For example: 你来回答这个问题。(Nǐ lái huídá zhège wèntí.) You answer this question. 她来唱这首歌。(Tā lái chàng zhè shǒu gē.) She'll sing this song. 我来付。(Wǒ lái fù.) I'll pay. Hope that helps you to understand it a bit clearer! Good question! ~amber :)
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AndrewFebruary 19, 2007
I noticed that most of the character tags do not work. When I point the mouse over them they should give me the pinyin and english meaning, but they aren't working.
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DarrenFebruary 25, 2007
As Andrew said, mouseover only works on some of the words (it happens in most lessons, but this one seemed to have a higher percentage). In particular, what is "没人" in 没人想买单?
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ChinesePodFebruary 25, 2007
Darren, Sorry about this, but the problem will be rectified soon. 没人 (méi rén) here basically means "nobody." So that gives us: 没人想买单 (méi rén xiǎng mǎidān) - "nobody wants to pay the bill." -John
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JackMarch 24, 2007
Hallo, Mǎi dān (the bill) can also be replaced with qǐng jié zhàng. I would like if the radial for zhàng is jīn (50) or bèi (154). Thanks Jack from Belgium
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ChinesePodMarch 25, 2007
Hi Jack from Belgium, The zhàng in 结账 jiézhàng can be written either of two ways: 帐 or 账 Therefore, the radical for the first one (帐), is, as you say "jīn", and the radical for the second one (账) is, as you mentioned "bèi". So either or is fine! ~amber :D
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Jinny in JadeMarch 28, 2007
Quick question, where's the extended vocab for this lesson? (If Connie is on holiday, I apologize in advance:))
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ChinesePodMarch 29, 2007
Jinny in Jade, Supplementary vocab is something we just started adding last year. This lesson was published in 2005. We are currently working on adding supplementary vocab for the older lessons. Just hang in there a little longer! :) -John
gmulliga says
I am working through the exercises and noticed that the first exercise (grammatically correct / incorrect phrases) is out of alignment on my browser (OSX).May 27, 2007
amber says
hi gmulliga, That was a problem before but it has been fixed. Try clearing your cache, then reloading. It should be OK now.May 27, 2007
rustblue says
In the explanation for 给 我 面子 (give me face), the term 面子 is referred to as the metaphysical face, not the body part. I was wondering where the expression for a metaphysical face comes from. Is there in Chinese culture a division between the physical Self and the metaphysical Self? Are there other metaphysical body parts, or is face the only one?January 6, 2008
babybaby says
VERY NICE LESSON!!March 18, 2008
bennyboyk says
Ai yooooooo!!!April 10, 2008
user6069 says
September 30, 2008
i don't think wheather mai dan is orginally to bury or replaced to buy is a big deal . it's only to express to pay the bill.that's the point. what do u say?
dunderklumpen says
December 22, 2008
I noticed that in give face and loose face chinese uses different words for face:
Give...face 给...面子 gei3...mian4 zi5
Loose face 丢脸 diu1lian3
Is there a logical explanation for this difference?
pearltowerpete says
December 22, 2008
Hi dunderklumpen
No real reason for the different versions of face.
On a funny side note, I had a professor once who said that the reason that 面容的容 mian4rong2 also means "face" is that it is a roof radical over 谷 gu3, grain. Being rich enough to have grain in your house gives you a lot of---- face! I doubt if that's the real etymology but it is cute.
Back to sleep now. Jetlag is no fun.
dunderklumpen says
December 22, 2008
Thanks pete,
you always give interesting answers :)
janmusi says
May 27, 2009
Thanks this is exactly what I needed. It certainly takes a bit of getting used to the paying the bill situation in China.
One more thing. How would one say "You always pay, I'll pay this time"
I guessed "Ni3 Chang2 Fu4" and I was going to say "jintian1, wo3 lie2 fu4" ?
I doubt that's correct though. Or there is probably a better way to say it at least.
Xiexie
calkins says
May 27, 2009
janmusi, you could say:
今天我买单。
jīntiān wǒ mǎidān。
Today I'll pay the bill.
Check out this lesson:
Going Dutch