5.2 My Family — Epoché
What you will be able to do Read a description of four people and hold them apart while you read. Recognise the particle of 2.9 linking a person to what is theirs, and notice where it is left out. Read ages, hours and durations, and tell a duration from a time. Recognise the verb of 2.4, and its negative used in a comparison. Prerequisites : 3.2, which gives the family words, and the patterns of 2.4, 2.8 and 2.9. The first text told a sequence: one thing after another, held together by times of day. This one does something harder to follow in a foreign language — it describes four different people, and you have to keep them apart while you read. Chinese helps here in one way and hinders in another. It helps because the pronouns for he and she sound identical and are written differently, so the page tells you what the ear could not. It hinders because there is no article and no verb agreement, so nothing but the noun itself marks who is being talked about. Read slowly enough to notice when the subject changes. As before, the text is a separate document. Read it there straight through first, then come back. Word by word The text is 217 characters long in 6 paragraphs. Each paragraph is given whole, then broken into the units it is made of, with the pinyin and a plain English gloss. Read the paragraph first and only then the table: the point of the table is to confirm what you worked out, not to do the work for you. Paragraph 1 我家有四个人：爸爸，妈妈，姐姐和我。我们的家不大，可是很好。 Chinese English 我家 wǒ jiā my family 有 yǒu has 四个人 sì gè rén four people 爸爸 bàba father 妈妈 māma mother 姐姐 jiějie elder sister 和 hé and 我 wǒ me 我们 wǒ men our 的 de (possessive) 家 jiā home 不 bù not 大 dà big 可是 kě shì but 很 hěn (the support word of lesson 2.3; not "very" here) 好 hǎo good The family is counted before it is listed: four people, then the four. This is the ordinary Chinese order and it is worth copying. Notice too that the possessive in our home is built with the particle of 2.9, while my family in the first two characters has no particle at all — with family words and close relations the particle is often dropped. Paragraph 2 我爸爸五十岁。他是医生，在一个大医院工作。他每天早上七点去医院，晚上七点回家。他很忙，可是他喜欢他的工作。 Chinese English 我 wǒ my 爸爸 bàba father 五十岁 wǔ shí suì is fifty 他 tā he 是 shì is 医生 yīshēng a doctor 在 zài at 一个 yī gè a 大 dà big 医院 yī yuàn hospital 工作 gōngzuò works 他 tā he 每天 měi tiān every day 早上 zǎo shang in the morning 七点 qī diǎn at seven 去 qù goes to 医院 yī yuàn the hospital 晚上 wǎn shang in the evening 七点 qī diǎn at seven 回家 huí jiā comes home 他 tā he 很 hěn (the support word of lesson 2.3; not "very" here) 忙 máng busy 可是 kě shì but 他 tā he 喜欢 xǐ huan likes 他 tā his 的 de (possessive) 工作 gōngzuò work The father. Age first, then the job, then where the job is done, then the hours. The mother's paragraph keeps the same order, so you can use it as a template and describe somebody you know by filling the same slots. Notice that the two sevens are different times — one in the morning, one in the evening — and that Chinese marks this by putting the part of the day in front of the hour, where English puts it after. Paragraph 3 我妈妈四十五岁。她是老师，在一个中学教中文。她的学生很多。她也喜欢音乐，星期六她在家听音乐。 Chinese English 我 wǒ my 妈妈 māma mother 四十五岁 sìshíwǔ suì is forty-five 她 tā she 是 shì is 老师 lǎo shī a teacher 在 zài at 一个 yī gè a 中学 zhōng xué secondary school 教 jiāo teaches 中文 zhōng wén Chinese 她 tā her 的 de (possessive) 学生 xué sheng pupils 很 hěn (the support word of lesson 2.3; not "very" here) 多 duō many 她 tā she 也 yě also 喜欢 xǐ huan likes 音乐 yīn yuè music 星期六 xīng qī liù on Saturday 她 tā she 在家 zài jiā at home 听 tīng listens to 音乐 yīn yuè music The mother, in the same slots. The pupils are her pupils , with the particle, because a teacher and her pupils are not family. Compare this with the first paragraph and you have the main contrast in two examples. Paragraph 4 我姐姐二十四岁。她在一个大公司工作。她的公司很远，开车要半个小时。她有一个男朋友。他是律师。 Chinese English 我 wǒ my 姐姐 jiějie elder sister 二十四岁 èrshísì suì is twenty-four 她 tā she 在 zài at 一个 yī gè a 大 dà big 公司 gōng sī company 工作 gōngzuò works 她 tā her 的 de (possessive) 公司 gōng sī company 很 hěn (the support word of lesson 2.3; not "very" here) 远 yuǎn far 开车 kāi chē driving 要 yào takes 半个小时 bàn gè xiǎoshí half an hour 她 tā she 有 yǒu has 一个 yī gè a 男朋友 nán péng you boyfriend 他 tā he 是 shì is 律师 lǜ shī a lawyer The elder sister, and a duration. Half an hour and half past share a character with a different frame around it: 半个小时 is a length of time, built on 小时 with the measure word 个 ; 七点半 is a clock time, built on 点 . If you can read this paragraph and the third sentence of the fifth one without hesitating, you have the distinction. Paragraph 5 我是学生，二十岁。我在大学学习汉语和英语。我每天在图书馆看两个小时书。我没有姐姐那么忙。 Chinese English 我 wǒ I 是 shì am 学生 xué sheng a student 二十岁 èr shí suì twenty years old 我 wǒ I 在 zài at 大学 dà xué university 学习 xuéxí study 汉语 Hàn yǔ Chinese 和 hé and 英语 Yīng yǔ English 我 wǒ I 每天 měi tiān every day 在 zài in 图书馆 tú shū guǎn the library 看 kàn read for 两个小时 liǎng gè xiǎoshí two hours 书 shū (books) 我 wǒ I 没有 méi yǒu am not 姐姐 jiějie my sister 那么 nà me as 忙 máng busy The writer. The last sentence is a comparison built on the negative of 2.4: literally I not have elder-sister that-much busy . English puts the adjective in the middle — I am not as busy as my sister — where Chinese puts it last. Read the Chinese order until it stops feeling backwards. Paragraph 6 我们家还有一只猫。星期天我们一起吃饭，说话，看电影。我很爱我的家。 Chinese English 我们家 wǒ men jiā our home 还 hái also 有 yǒu has 一只 yī zhī one 猫 māo cat 星期天 xīng qī tiān on Sunday 我们 wǒ men we 一起 yīqǐ together 吃饭 chī fàn eat 说话 shuō huà talk 看 kàn watch 电影 diànyǐng films 我 wǒ I 很 hěn very much 爱 ài love 我 wǒ my 的 de (possessive) 家 jiā family The cat and the Sunday. The last sentence ends with the same words that open the first paragraph — my family — but here the particle is there. It is not a mistake in either place: with the word for home, both forms are ordinary. Translation A translation into natural English, one paragraph for each Chinese one. The