14 Lesson 5 Dialogue 2: What did you do?
Narration:
小常在中国的一个大学图书馆工作。昨天是他的生日，所以他请了八个同事去他家玩儿。
小张没去，因为他昨天跟女朋友去约会了。可是我不忙，所以我去了。
小常为我们准备了很多好吃的菜，有披萨、寿司，还有很多中国菜。他还为我们准备了很多饮料，有白酒、红酒、可乐和水，还有别的。我不渴，只喝了两听啤酒。
我们在一起聊天、K歌、玩游戏，很好玩儿。我玩到晚上十二点才回家。那(个)时候，我的爸妈都睡觉了。
Vocabulary:
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
| 昨天 | zuó tiān | time word, yesterday |
| 约会 | yuē huì | n., dating; v., to date |
| 准备 | zhǔn bèi | v., to prepare; n., preparation |
| 披萨 | pī sà | n., pizza |
| 寿司 | shòu sī | n., sushi |
| 饮料 | yǐn liào | n., beverage |
| 水 | shuǐ | n., water |
| 渴 | kě | adj., thirsty |
| 可乐 | kě lè | n., cola |
| K歌 | kēi gē | v., to sing karaoke songs |
| 玩 | wán | v., to play, to have fun |
| 好玩 | hǎo wán | adj., fun, interesting |
| 别的 | bié de | adj., other |
| 到 | dào | prep., to, till |
| 回 | huí | v., to go/come back, to return |
| 回家 | huí jiā | verb phrase, to go home |
| 吧 | ba | particle, used at the end of a sentence to communicate some level of uncertainty, or to make an educated guess about something. |
| 才 | cái | adv., as late as, not…until |
| 白酒 | bái jiǔ | n., a strong Chinese liquor (around 40-60% alcohol) |
| 红 | hóng | adj., red |
| 红酒 | hóng jiǔ | n., red wine |
| 图书馆 | tú shū guǎn | n., library |
| 听 | tīng | measure word for an airtight container made of tinplate or aluminium |
Grammar Notes：
- The word 好玩:
The adjective 好玩 is formed by putting the adverb 好 before the verb 玩, meaning “nice/pleasant to play with”. This is a way to form adjectives in Chinese, i.e., “好 + verb”. For example, we have learned 好吃、好喝. - The particle 了：
了 is a particle, used after a verb to indicate its completion. In the example 我去了, 了 is used after the verb 去, meaning the action 去 was completed. Note: It is not equal to the past tense in English because the particle 了 can also be used with future tense to indicate an action completed in the future. For example, 明天你去了北京以后回家。 - The adverb 才:
It is always used before verbs to indicate “as late as…”, “not… until”. For example, we have this sentence from the dialogue: 我两点才回家。This sentence means “I didn’t come home until 2:00 a.m.”. In this sentence, the word 才 is an adverb, used before the verb phrase 回家 to indicate “as late as”. - The preposition 到
到 can be used in the prepositional phrase to introduce the time of the action, indicating the status of the action to this time. The structure is “verb + 到 + time”. For example:
他昨天学到了十一点。(He studied till/to 11:00 PM yesterday.)
我玩到晚上十点才回家。(I didn’t go back home until I played till 10:00 PM.) - The word 别的:
This is an adjective, often used before a noun. For example, 别的人 (other people). In the dialogue, there is a sentence containing this word: 没有问我喝了别的酒没有。([You] didn’t ask me whether I had drunken other wine or not.) Here 别的 is an adjective, used before the noun 酒 to modify it.
Culture Notes:
In China, partying is normally done on weekends when people are not busy. If you are invited to a Chinese friend’s party, here are a few things to observe:
- Prepare a small gift. Your Chinese host may tell you not to bring anything. Actually, they’re just being polite. In the Chinese culture, visiting a friend empty-handed is considered impolite. Bringing fruit, chocolates, or souvenir products from your home country would be welcomed.
- Be on time. In China, showing up on time is a way to show your appreciation and respect to the host.
- Greet all people in the house. Start from the most senior, proceeding down the social scale, or as many as you can see from where you are. A simple “ni hao” or “hello” would be okay.
- Take your shoes off and change into a pair of home slippers your host provides. Your host would probably tell you it’s okay to wear your shoes, but it is more polite to take them off.
- Your Chinese friend might offer to show you around. Don’t look around without informing your friend.
