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Elementary - Whatever...

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Lesson Information
Hosts: Jenny ,  Ken
ID: 0782
Difficulty: Elementary
Published: February 5, 2008
Topics: preferences, people, entertainment
Functions: choosing
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Discussion

Coined phrase of sulky teenagers and pet phrase of indecisive girlfriends. When you know what you don't want but not what you do want, turn to this lesson to learn how to non-commit, in Mandarin Chinese. In this podcast, a motley assortment of ambiguous phrases for the indecisive amongst us.

Comments (99) RSS

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ricegrass says
I know what they can do - get out there and clear that snow away!
February 4, 2008 from the Web.
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xiaohu says
ricegrass 他们可以穿上大衣和手套到外边去用铲子开条小路， 对不对？
February 4, 2008 from the Web.
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sushan says
Another meaning for 随便 sui2bian4 in a previous lesson: http://chinesepod.com/lessons/shes-easy/discussion Wonder if there are more ways to use it?
February 4, 2008 from the Web.
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chillosk says
Hahaha, a classic dialogue between a couple. Great lesson once again. "What you want to do?" "any." "you choose." "no, YOU choose..." It can go on forever, or until a fight breaks out. 随便。
February 4, 2008 from the Web.
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sparechange says
This is the second time I've heard Jenny spontaneously break into song lately. I'm picturing a little mini-fridge in the recording studio, stocked with 啤酒 or something.
February 4, 2008 from the Web.
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chubbeecheeks23 says
yup, typical for couples haha.
February 4, 2008 from the Web.
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crazykitty says
In the dialogue he says 我也不知道。 this means (i think) i also don't know. right? lovely singing jenny and ken by the way!
February 4, 2008 from the Web.
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hobo says
Right
February 5, 2008 from the Web.
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birfday says
Jenny mentions that 到底 is “first tone, third tone" but I believe it is fourth - third. I always tell my kids that 到底 is similar to the "just...anyway?" phrasing in (American?) English. EX: " Just what is it that you want to do anyway?"
February 5, 2008 from the Web.
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lester says
我到底爱不爱你们吗？让我考虑一下。 开玩笑。 Dao4di3 is a great word. I'd like to understand it better. Can I use it with wo3? For example, Wo3 dao4di3 xiang3 zhege bu hao3 kan4. 我到底想这个不好看。 (trying to say) "Actually, I think it looks bad."
February 5, 2008 from the Web.
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mabuse says
This lesson reminds my of the sketch "Was machst du" (what are you doing) of the very famous german comedian Loriot. For those able to understand german (Ken!) here it is: http://www.myvideo.de/watch/85258 Looking forward to hear Ken and Jenny in a chinese version of it...
February 5, 2008 from the Web.
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everett says
Lessons like this are worth their weight in gold, and are why I keep coming back.
February 5, 2008 from the Web.
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echiang says
到底=really
February 5, 2008 from the Web.
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darylk says
Jenny, kudos to you for an extremely imaginative lesson. I never would have thought of doing a non-conversation. The pop song was great as well. I've been listening to a lot of Chinese pop and generally find it impenetrable. At the same time, I know that there is a lot of repetition in the pop lyrics. Maybe you could do a lesson (elementary or intermediate) on the top 10 phrases heard in Chinese pop songs!
February 5, 2008 from the Web.
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nelfie says
I agree with Darylk, I loved the pop song moment ( and the rest of the lesson of course). Can we have a lesson based on a pop song please?
February 5, 2008 from the Web.
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jennyzhu says
birfday and all poddies, Sincere apologies for saying 到 in 到底 is 'first tone'. It is certainly not. It is the fourth tone. My verbal slip and we didn't pick it up in post production. Our apologies. For me, this lesson is the archtypal chinesepod lesson: super useful, engaging, creative and energetic. We want this kind of quality in all of the lessons. But it's easy to become stale, and lose the learning magic. That's why the song is such a powerful symbol as well as a conrete learning supplement. It revitalises our brains and the lesson. It was inspired by how John came to master the word 到底。
February 5, 2008 from the Web.
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John says
birfday, You're right. Jenny meant to say "fourth and third tone." We'll have to fix that after Chinese New Year.
February 5, 2008 from the Web.
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jennyzhu says
Ricegrass and Xiaohu, Speaking of the snow, China is struck by the worst ice storm in decades. The Southern parts including Hunan and Guizhou are the hardest hit. I havn't felt this much unified resolve in a long time, where people are doing their bit to fight the cold. Taking an example, there are advertisements everywhere urging people to use less electricty so as to save energy for the struggling people, since many cities lost electricity and water supply. And to a great effect too, I noticed many and myself become a lot more careful with energy.
February 5, 2008 from the Web.
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xiaohu says
Jenny, Here in California we've been hit by the worst drought in many years. Recent rainstorms have given hope that the worst is behind us, but we still need to be aware of how much water we're using and be careful. Just like in China there are advertisments everywhere about saving water, some people have heeded the call but so many people just don't care and don't do anything to try and conserve water, let alone the little things they should, like not letting the water run while brushing their teeth, running sprinklers for a short time at night, etc. I wish we could be more like the Chinese in this way and heed the call to band together and make a difference. I wish more people would realize, as a society we all live together in one space, on one globe, sharing the same air, water and land. All human beings are connected and we all need to look out for each other. I'm happy to see the Chinese are doing just that! Doing the little things to help out those who are struggling. I know about how bad these storms have hit China from watching the news, however it's nothing compared to being there and having to live through it. My heart is definately with those who are struggling. I wonder if there is anything we can do from here?
February 5, 2008 from the Web.
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thebigpicture says
So what song is that?
February 5, 2008 from the Web.
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ivy0 says
for me, this lesson plays at super fast speed. anyone else getting chipmunk chinesepod?
February 5, 2008 from the Web.
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rusotexano says
I have empathy for the guy. He must be in a post-super bowl funk. 模棱两可? What, is it like 150 shopping days until the start of pre-season?
February 5, 2008 from the Web.
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damon says
Off topic, I know, but I'm looking for the traditional hanzi plug in page. I stumbled across it a couple of weeks back and haven't been able to find it again. Thanks.
February 5, 2008 from the Web.
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changye says
With 春节 coming up soon, it is getting a little difficult for me to listen to a lesson everyday, because I have to spare more time to eat and DRINK. I almost missed this lesson. 最近我的生活太随便了.
February 5, 2008 from the Web.
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boran says
Very good lesson. Can you leave "去” (qù) out of first line and just have: 我们看电影吧! (wǒmen kàn diànyǐng ba!) Does it have the same meaning or does it imply that you want to stay home and watch a movie on 电视。
February 5, 2008 from the Web.
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mlamer says
I really like that you introduce: "dao di" = what are you thinking about. Now suibian & daodi is burned in my head. Here we go with the next lesson :-)
February 6, 2008 from the Web.
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user21826 says
Okay I'm a geek but I really liked the pop song anyone know the name? I wanna see if I can find it :-) PS. GREAT lesson!
February 6, 2008 from the Web.
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xiaohu says
user21826: The pop song is called "Ni3 Dao4 Di3 Ai4 Bu4 Ai4 Wo3" 你到底爱不爱我 www.51flash.com/music_detail_10606.html
February 6, 2008 from the Web.
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chillosk says
What are other good Chinese songs? Pop or whatever.. :)
February 6, 2008 from the Web.
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misterjess says
How about de-constructing " dui mian de nu hai kan guo lai"? I think that would make a great lesson because it's such a fun song.
February 6, 2008 from the Web.
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nicolas says
My mnemonics for 5 ying: 英 [yīng] : a brave man, a hero goes first to the battle. 迎 [yíng] : to greet my guests, I lift my two arms 嬴 [yíng] : I just won and I lift my arm(s) in sign of victory. 影 [yǐng] : looking at my shadow, I first lower my head to see it starting from my feet, then lift it a little to see where it ends. 硬 [yìng] : I lift my arm and knock my skull to feel how hard it is. It hurts me but now I remember that 硬 is fourth tone.
February 7, 2008 from the Web.
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chillosk says
good job with the mnemonics nicolas!
February 7, 2008 from the Web.
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urbandweller says
你好Jenny! 我爱您唱歌!
February 7, 2008 from the Web.
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dogeatsrat says
Hey Jenny 到底 making a mistake - you are still more than worthy of your super-hero avatar. Loved the singing.
February 7, 2008 from the Web.
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xiaohu says
unbandeweller: Just to keep things consistant you might want to use 您 both times. Also I think you want to say 您好Jenny! 我爱聼您唱歌 Don't forget the 聼 (I love to hear you sing). 我們都想聼 Jenny 唱歌吧！
February 7, 2008 from the Web.
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cassielin says
Hi Urbandweller and xiaohu, I think both“我喜欢听你唱歌”and“我爱听你唱歌” are ok, They all mean I like/love to hear you sing.
February 7, 2008 from the Web.
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cassielin says
since you guys know that south of China faces the worst ice storm recently, i m going to introduce you a pop song named爱的奉献ai de feng xian(the literaly meaning is dedication of love / love dedication) the most impressive lyric is “只要人人都献出一点爱，世界将变成美好的人间。”zhi yao ren ren dou xian chu yi dian ai, shi jie jiang bian cheng mei hao de ren jian. it means that the world will be wonderful and nice if only everyone can give his or hers love, no matter how much it is.
February 7, 2008 from the Web.
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downunder says
Hi everybody. I'm a newbie and I'm wondering if anyone can give me some clues as to when to use "bu" or "mei" when negating a sentence?
February 7, 2008 from the Web.
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boran says
downunder, Welcome. The general rule is that you only use "méi" to negate the verb "yǒu" (to have). In all other cases you use "bù" for negation.
February 7, 2008 from the Web.
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auntie68 says
Hi downunder. CPOD actually has a whole podcast on the question you asked: http://chinesepod.com/extra/negating-verbs-when-to-use-没有-meiyǒu-when-to-use-不-bu/discussion Good luck!
February 8, 2008 from the Web.
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auntie68 says
Oops, sorry downunder, I don't know what happened when I tried to post the link, but it is the "Qing Wen" lesson dated 20 July 2007 that you want.
February 8, 2008 from the Web.
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xiaohu says
downunder: As a general rule of thumb, use Mei2 to negate either: 1- Situations that occured in the past, IE: wo3 mei2 qu4 guo4 bei3 jing1 我没去过北京 I haven't been to Beijing. or to negate the word for have 有 (you3). Wo3 mei2 you3 dian4 nao3 我没有电脑。 I don't have a computer. In other cases, use the word Bu4 不 for the negative. Wo3 bu4 yao4 qu4 我不要去 I don't want to go. wo3 ting1 bu4 dong3 我听不懂 I don't understand wo3 kan4 bu4 dao4 lu4 le. 我看不到路了 I can't see the road. (just so you're clear, for the situations where the word Bu4 不 appears between two verbs, use the word "de2" 得，for the positive aspect, IE: 看得到，kan4 de2 dong3 听得懂 ting1 de2 dong3, etc. Also mainland Chinese pronounce the word 得 as neutral tone.) Hope that helps.
February 8, 2008 from the Web.
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georgeconk says
The band is 零点 The song is 乐队爱不爱我 Reminds me of: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/w/wilson_pickett/in_the_midnight_hour.html
February 8, 2008 from the Web.
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urbandweller says
LESSON SUGGESTION! MORE JENNY AND CONNEE SINGING!!
February 8, 2008 from the Web.
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urbandweller says
This lesson again confirms the great chemistry between Jenny and Ken. It's always fun to listen to them.
February 8, 2008 from the Web.
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brooke says
Hi lester - I don't know about your sentence, but since no one has answered yet, here's how I would say that phrase: 其实，我想这个不好看。 (qi2 shi2, wo3 xiang3 zhege bu4 hao3 kan4). Not sure if a 是 (shi4) is needed before 不 (bu4) tho. I'm sure there are other ways to say this, but from my own experience, I hear "其实" a lot to mean "actually" at the beginning of a sentence. Hope this helps!
February 9, 2008 from the Web.
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hobofat says
Great lesson! I really could've used that phrase 你到底想干什么 back when I was teaching English in Xi'an and had a brand new class of 100+ apathetic provincial college students...
February 13, 2008 from the Web.
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msikora224 says
Can anyone explain the difference between 做 (zuo4) and 干 (gan4)?
February 14, 2008 from the Web.
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amber says
hi msikora224, 做 (zuò) 'to make, to do' and 干 (gàn) 'to do' are sometimes interchangeable, but sometimes not. The following examples illustrate: 做饭 (zuòfàn) to make food 做衣服 (zuò yīfu) to make clothing. In these cases you cannot use 干 (gàn) 干 (gàn) to do 你在干吗？ (Nǐ zài gànmá?) = 你在做什么？ (Nǐ zài zuò shénme?) What are you doing? Here you can use either 做 (zuò) or 干 (gàn) 你周末常常做什么？ Nǐ zhōumò chángcháng zuò shénme? = (你周末常常干什么?) (nǐ zhōumò chángcháng gàn shénme?) Here you can use either 做 (zuò) or 干 (gàn)
February 14, 2008 from the Web.
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jendeon says
great!!!!! this lesson is wonderful!!!!
February 18, 2008 from the Web.
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ramana says
there's a cinema in my hometown called "electric shadows" =)
February 20, 2008 from the Web.
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msikora224 says
Dear Amber... 谢谢你 for the expert run down on 干 and 做.
February 27, 2008 from the Web.
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jweissgerber says
If 你们随便吃 means "Eat whatever you like!" (imperative), how would I say: "You eat anything!"? 你们吃随便！ Perhaps? Thank you.
March 1, 2008 from the Web.
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niajhabenson says
in china a lot of times i just heard them say 随便你. weither it was in a nice way or a rude way.
March 11, 2008 from the Web.
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amber says
hi jweissgerber, He eats anything!: 他什么都吃。 Tā shénme dōu chī. 他随便什么都吃。 Tā suíbiàn shénme dōu chī.
March 11, 2008 from the Web.
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amber says
hi niajhabenson, Yes, that's right, 随便你 (suíbiàn nǐ) can be used in a rude way, or just a neutral way. Depends on the context and the tone of voice.
March 11, 2008 from the Web.
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depredadora says
Is it possible to express the notion "He can't make up his mind" with the saying 思前想后 or would that sound, umm, posh/weird?
March 13, 2008 from the Web.
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amber says
hi depredadora, The meaning for 思前想后 (sīqiánxiǎnghòu) is more like 'to deliberate' or 'to ponder over'. Here it is in a sentence: 他思前想后，下不了决心。 Tā sīqiánxiǎnghòu, xiàbuliǎo juéxīn. He pondered over it, but couldn't come to a resolution. To say 'can't make up one's mind', you can use: 拿不定主意 (Nábudìng zhǔyi)
March 13, 2008 from the Web.
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user1196 says

wow that song is leet. gotta love the chinese pop music, I totally got that phrase and tune in my head now

August 14, 2008 from the Web.
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penhui says

Maybe you could do a lesson (elementary or intermediate) on the top 10 phrases heard in Chinese pop songs!

For future generations who visit this lesson, here are the first three phrases I learned from my Mandarin pop experiences:

我爱你

骄傲

眼泪

I haven't found a song yet where someone's crying over how much he or she loves his/her arrogant sig o, but I'm sure there's got to be at least one out there.

ETA: two more:

知道

明白

October 13, 2008 from the Web.
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stanimal says

is there any difference b/w 随便 and 无所谓 ? thanks!

January 17, 2009 from the Web.
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pearltowerpete says

Hi stanimal

Thanks for a good question. Jiaojie helped to clarify:　In this context, 随便 really means 随你的便，in other words, "as you wish." Whereas 无所谓 means "I don't care." So they can be used together, as in 随你的便，我无所谓。

随便 can also mean "casual" or "loose (in a dating sense.)"　无所谓 does not have these associations.

January 18, 2009 from the Web.
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rubielyn_tenidor says

Should the second last expansion sentence end with a question mark? It appears to me to be a statement.

August 11, 2009 from the Web.
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helenshen_counselor says

@desluo929, exactly, it should be a period. Thanks, we'll fix the ASAP. "他也不知道那個人是誰。”

August 11, 2009 from the Web.
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hebertinchina says

Does this question make grammatical sense?  (Not that I'm dating or anything)

I'll plan our date.=wǒ huì dǎsuàn wǒmen de yuēhuì.

July 5, 2010 from the Web.
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go_manly in reply to tal_

Wow, looks like my printer is going to get a workout tomorrow.

July 11, 2010 from the Web.
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tal_ in reply to go_manly

呵呵，you'd be better off buying the book mate, much kinder to the planet! (There's a lot missing from that preview anyway.)

July 11, 2010 from the Web.
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hebertinchina in reply to chanelle77

chanelle77,

Thanks for the http://www.nciku.com/ website. Its easy to find words. You can straight up type in pinyin, and some of the sentence examples also show pinyin, but not all of them.

If there are any other sentence example websites anyone knows that has all of the sentence examples in pinyin, let me know.

I'm finding that the http://www.chinesetopinyin.com/ is a bit hard to use because they give you several different options for pinyin answers, but I'd imagine it would be impossible for a program to interpret context. It's still useful. Thanks guys for the suggestions.

July 11, 2010 from the Web.
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xiaophil in reply to hebertinchina

You can go to dict.cn as well, but actually, I consider it my second choice next to nciku.

July 11, 2010 from the Web.
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chanelle77 in reply to hebertinchina

Most welcome! Happy I could be of any help :-)

July 12, 2010 from the Web.
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xiaophil says

Is there anyway to approximate this expression in Chinese:

"Oh whatev!"  (Roll of eyes.)

Perhaps just say 胡扯 or something of the sort?

July 5, 2010 from the Web.
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John in reply to xiaophil

It's a little long, but I have heard 随便你怎么说！ (suíbiàn nǐ zěnme shuō!)

July 5, 2010 from the Web.
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xiaophil in reply to John

Oh, okay. That makes sense. Thanks!

July 6, 2010 from the Web.
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darkstar94 says

can someone give me a explanation of the differences between 无所谓 and 随便, I can kind of understand the difference, but if someone could give me a better explanation that would be great.

July 18, 2010 from the Web.
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jennyzhu in reply to darkstar94

They mean the same thing "whatever", "anything will do". But 随便 can be used with verbs, e.g. 随便看看/suíbiàn kànkan/look casually, browsing. 无所谓 can't be used in such ways.

July 19, 2010 from the Web.
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darkstar94 in reply to jennyzhu

Thank you Jenny!

July 19, 2010 from the Web.

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