Intermediate - A wasteful Husband

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Jenny: 【情爱】的ChinesePod中级听众大家好， 我是 Jenny

John: Hi Guys, I’m John

Jenny: John, 今天我们的课呢， 是更浪费有关的

John: 浪费， so referring to waste

Jenny: 嗯

John: Wasting stuff

Jenny: 对

John: OK

Jenny: 那么浪费两个第四声

John: OK

Jenny: 那我们浪费什么东西呢

John: Yeah, I think we have a domestic thing here, right?

Jenny: 对

John: So you can guess what is being wasted,um, but anyway you’re going to hear it in the dialogue; it’s a dialogue between husband and wife

Jenny: 是一个有点奇怪的对话

John: Yeah the guy is a little weird, isn’t he?

Jenny: 对， 我们先听听看吧

John: All right, here we go

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John: Yeah, doing what? What are you doing?

Jenny: 是的， 你不能说你在干吗， 干吗

John: Yeah, it sounds weird 干吗

Jenny: 对， 干吗

John: All right, and then the answer…

Jenny: 没干吗, 没干吗

John: So I haven’t been doing anything

Jenny: 对

John: Nothing is special, nothing is up

Jenny: 埃， 这个phrase这个说法也很好， 没干吗 【chi 其实？】很随便很casual的一个说法

John: Yeah, it reminds me of American English we’re always saying what’s up? Nothing

Jenny: Nothing

John: That’s always the answer, right?

Jenny: 对， 中文可以说没干吗， 没干吗

John: OK, but he was up to something earlier, because the water’s running, right?

Jenny: 对， 那这里有一个把字句。老婆问：‘你怎么把水龙头都打开了?’，你怎么把水龙头都打开了？

John: All right, so after 把 there’s some thing that was manipulated, right?

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Jenny: 这个东西是水龙头， 水龙头

John: So ‘Water-Dragon-Head’

Jenny: 多【苦】啊 这个东西

John: Yeah, it’s a very poetic Chinese word for a water faucet

Jenny: 你看，怎么domestic的东西在中文那么性感那么的sexy的名字

John: Yeah， the Chinese plumbing is run by dragons

Jenny: 水龙头， 水龙头

John: OK, so you 把 the faucet and then you do what with it?

Jenny: 都打开了， 都打开了

John: So this 都 meaning he turned on all the faucets?

Jenny: 对， 那应该家里都有这【少】有两个水龙头, 对吧. 有一个在厨房，然后一个在厕所,在洗手间

John: OK, so there’s at least two facets in the home. So 把 something 打开

Jenny: 恩

John: 把 something 打开了. That’s a pattern

Jenny: 对

John: all right, in this case 都打开了

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John: Yeah, that’s true, you rarely see the word 忘 all by itself. It’s either 忘了 or 忘记 or something like that, right?

Jenny: 对， 不如说。。。发生在以前的 I forgot to bring money, 就是我忘了带钱了或者我忘记带钱了

John: OK,

Jenny: 但是如果有一些还没有发生在future的【事情】你是也要用忘了或者忘记

John: Like 不饿忘了 right?

Jenny: 对， 不能说别忘

John: OK, so you can just think of this 忘了 as almost like a set phrase

Jenny: 对， 对

John: OK, got it. So both of those 了s are taken care of

Jenny: 嗯

John: Let’s now move onto another particle which gives us headaches

Jenny: 是什么？

John: 着

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Jenny: 哦， 着， 就是怎么每个房间的等都亮着， 都亮着

John: Right, so we have 每个房间 － every room so then we use 都

Jenny; 对

John: Which seems unnecessary to English speakers but in Chinese you will usually do that

Jenny: 对

John: To emphasise that it’s all of them

Jenny: 是

John: OK, but all the lights – what are they doing?

Jenny: 亮着， 亮着

John: They’re shining, right?

Jenny: 好像fairytale都shining, shining

John: So anyway, they’re all on, right?

Jenny: 对其实就是on的意思

John: So 亮 means to emit light

Jenny: 对， 对

John: And if they’ve been continually on then you use this 着 to indicate that it’s a continuing state, right?

Jenny: 没错。所以我觉得就是一个非常poetic【这词】因为【它】就可以就是【？？？】嗯。。。怎么说it’s a state

John: Like suspended animation

Jenny; 对， 都亮着. 那这里如果我们不用着 － 每个房间的灯都亮 － 不可以

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John: It’s weird

Jenny: 对

John: Yeah, so another word that you frequently see with this 着 is like 开着 － it’s on

Jenny: 没错

John: Right, okay

Jenny: 嗯， 活着 yeah, a life

John: Yeah, but you’re not actively doing something to maintain the state, it’s just a persistent state

Jenny: 对对对

John: OK, so why does he have all the lights on?

Jenny: 因为他怕黑 － 怕黑

John: So afraid of the dark in Chinese is ‘afraid of blackness’

Jenny: 怕黑

John: OK, strange. So the wife responds with…

Jenny: 去你的 － 去你的

John: So ‘go to yours’. What does that mean?

Jenny: 这个去你的呢， 其实就是nonsense, 有点这个意思

John: Is it kind of like a swear word?

Jenny: 非常非常 mild. 其实也不算一个骂人的话

John: So is it kind of like girlie?

Jenny: 有一点儿。就是基本上女人用比男人用多

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John: Is it sort of like ‘whatever’? Like that?

Jenny: 对， whatever, nonsense, 或者 pfft

John: Get out of here

Jenny: 对， 有点这个意思 － 去你的

John: OK, so then she asks again, she reiterates

Jenny: 你到底怎么了？到底怎么了？

John: So what’s the matter – 你怎么了 － but we added in an extra word…

Jenny: 到底， 到底你怎么了？

John: OK, so that’s 4th tone, 3rd tone

Jenny: 对

John: And that adds this sense of urgency, of really trying to get to the bottom of things

Jenny: 对， 就是我很想知道。因为什么那么奇怪，你怎么了？

John: What the heck is the matter with you?

Jenny: 对， 你到底怎么了？

John: What’s really the matter?

Jenny: 对， 所以如果你真的很想，让一个人告诉你怎么回事你就可以加这个到底

John: And then they have to tell you, right?

Jenny: 没错

John: It’s like double-dog daring them

Jenny/John: 嗯 , OK

Jenny: 那到底怎么了呢， 它的老公心情不好 – 心情不好

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Jenny: 埃，怎么把水龙头都打开了。 【一般】老婆就是非常observant

John: So this is pretty weird, he’s evidently surfing online while two of the faucets are running

Jenny: 然后他说噢我忘了关了， 我忘了关了

John: OK, so I forgot to turn them off

Jenny: 对

John: There’s nothing hard in terms of vocabulary, but I have to ask, why are there two 了s here, what are they doing?

Jenny: John, 很爱问这个了

John: All learners will hope that some day will understand 了 or at least come closer to this epiphany

Jenny: 好那我们先来看这第二个了就是忘了关了， 关了

John: So this second 了 What is it doing?

Jenny: 这个了就是一个已经【发生】已经完全的

John: OK, so something has completed,

Jenny: 对

John: something has happened, in this case it happened in the past

Jenny: 对

John: OK, then the first 了？

Jenny:那这个忘了， 这个了比较特别， 其实它是和忘在一起的。忘那是特别动词就是我们不太管用忘这个字我们【一半】在它后面都【会】加外一个字