- (1) Do you like to eat this?
- (2) In the day time men work, in the night time they sleep.
- (3) The cat came in by the window and the rat ran out by the door.
- (4) I conversed with him, and he taught me many words in Chinese.
- (5) I want you to wipe the windows.
- (6) Last night I only slept four hours.
- (7) I not only bought a washstand, I also bought a stove and three chairs.
- (8) Children like to play, men like to study.
- (9) Why do you go to the tea shop? Because there I can hear many men conversing, and so learn many Chinese words.
- (10) Are you willing to go with me to see the temple?
- (11) To-day I am very happy, because I have finished the book.
- (12) The child jumped down from the table.
- (13) Please write on down.
- (14), When will you go up the hill with me to take a look?
- (15) The teacher first hears the scholars back the book, and then gives them an advanced lesson.
- (一) 第樣物事儂歡喜吃否?
- (二) 日裏個辰光人做工夫拉夜裏末睏.
- (三) 貓是從窗裏進來老鼠從門裏跑出去.
- (四) 我對伊白話佬伊教我多化中國話.
- (五) 要儂去揩揩窗.
- (六) 昨夜頭我必過睏之四點鐘工夫.
- (七) 我勿但買之一隻楷面檯子也買之一隻火爐佬三把椅子.
- (八) 小囝歡喜勃相大人歡喜讀書.
- (九) 儂爲啥佬到茶館裏去? 因爲伊頭我可以聽得多化人白話佬學中國話.
- (十) 儂肯搭我一淘到廟裏去看看否?
- (十一) 今朝我蠻快活因爲一本書讀完哉.
- (十二) 小囝從檯子上跳下來.
- (十三) 請寫下去.
- (十四) 儂幾時搭我一淘上山去看看?
- (十五) 先生先聽學生子背書難末對伊拉上書.
Notes.
- （1) Note that siang-sing° means “to like” as well as to believe. °Ngoo siang-sing° ih kuh nyung (我相信一個人) means, “I like him.”
- （2) The expression “to back the book” arises from the old Chinese custom of the pupil turning his back upon the teacher when he recites his lesson.
- （3) Notice the order of the words in the eleventh sentence of the First Exercise. The verb °Yeu comes first in the sentence.
- （4) The word la° is added at the end of the sixteenth sentence of the First Exercise merely for euphony.
- （5) In the twentieth sentence of the First Exercise we have another polite way of asking a person to take a higher seat in the guest room.
- （6) In sentences twenty-two and twenty-three of the First Exercise we have the use of lauh and tih for “fall”. It is difficult to distinguish between the two, but tih is used always when we speak of a person falling down.
- （7) The correct way of translating the first sentence of the Second Exercise is Di°-yang meh-z° nong° hwen°-hyi chuh va°? Di°-yang means “this sort.”
- （8) The thirteenth sentence of the Second Exercise of course refers to the fact that the Chinese write from the top down and not across the page.
- （9) The last clause of the fifteenth sentence of the Second Exercise should be nan-meh theh yi-la °zaung su. “Then for them, advances in the book.”
LESSON XIV
Causality, and Necessity
The idea of causality, in the sense of causing a person to do a thing, is expressed in Chinese by the use of the auxiliary verbs kau (敎) and tsha (差). Thus “I caused him to do it,” would be °ngoo kao yi tsoo° (我敎伊做). “I caused him to go,” would be °ngoo tsha yi chi (我差伊去). The word tsha literally means “to send.” The word kau is the same as kyau°, but used with different pronunciation and different tone. When one of higher rank causes a person of lower rank to do a thing the word s° (使) is used. Thus S° °ngoo ieu-mung, “Caused me to sorrow.”
“Must” is expressed by the expressions tsoong-iau° (總要), pih-ding° iau° (必定要), ih-ding° iau° (一定要).
“It must be” is tsoong °z (總是). Thus “It must be so” is tsoong-°z zeh-ke° (總是實蓋).
“Ought” implying obligation, is expressed by iung-ke (應該). Thus “You ought to do it” is noong° iung-ke tsoo° kuh (儂應該做個).