(Translate into Chinese)
- (1) I told you a little while ago that I did not want you to open the window; why do you not listen to me?
- (2) Light the lamp and put it on the table in the study.
- (3) If a guest comes, I want you to light the fire in the reception room.
- (4) Do not strike the dog; perhaps you will kill him.
- (5) You must study diligently, and then you can learn to speak Chinese.
- (6) How many hours a day ought I to study? I think you should study at least four hours a day: two in the morning and two is the afternoon.
- (7) If your letter has been written, I will send the servant to take it.
- (8) Early in the morning I want you to sweep the floor and wipe the table and chairs.
- (9) Although the carpenter works quickly, he cannot finish it in a week.
- (10) When you have finished this do not think there is nothing more to do, but come and tell me.
- (11) I did not tell you to take it away, but on the contrary told you to put it in the office.
- (12) If the doctor does not come immediately, this man cannot live.
- (13) Who caused you to do it? He caused me to do it.
- (一) 纔纔我叫儂勿要開窗儂爲啥勿聽說話?
- (二) 要點燈拉書房裏擺拉檯子上.
- (三) 客人來末拉客堂間裏要儂生火.
- (四) 勿要打狗恐怕要打殺哉.
- (五) 儂總要用心讀書難末可以學讀中國話.
- (六) 一日我應該讀幾點鐘工夫? 我想頂少要讀四點鐘工夫拉上半日兩點鐘佬下半日兩點鐘.
- (七) 信寫好之末我差用人担去個.
- (八) 早晨頭要儂掃掃地揩揩檯子佬椅子.
- (九) 木匠雖然做來快一禮拜工夫勿能做好.
- (十) 第個做好之來告訴我勿要想無啥做.
- (十一) 我勿曾叫儂帶出去倒叫儂放拉寫字間裏.
- (十二) 醫生勿就來末第個人勿能彀活.
- (十三) 啥人教儂做個? 伊教我做個.
Notes.
- (1) Wan is sometimes used to qualify adjectives. Thus Wan °hau (還好) means “fairly good” or “pretty good.”
- (2) Soe-zen and Zen-r are generally used together; the first introducing the first clause, and the second, the second clause.
- (3) In the first sentence of the First Exercise notice the formation of the verbal noun, “the things which we ought to do.”
- (4) In the ninth sentence of the First Exercise notice that kwha° °tien does not mean “faster,” but is used for “quickly.”
- (5) In the eleventh sentence of the First Exercise °Tung yi ’veh tuh means lit., “Wait him not get;” that is, “I cannot wait for him.”
- (6) In the fourteenth sentence of the First Exercise notice the use of le. Le and chi are frequently used with other verbs to make the direction of the action clear. Thus °Sia le is, “Write come to me”; °Sia chi° is, “Write send away,” or “Write go.”
- (7) In the fifth sentence of the Second Exercise, Diligently can be expressed by Yoong° sing, “Use heart or mind.”
- (8) In this lesson frequent use has been made of the verb °Si (死). In speaking of a person dying the more euphonious expression is Koo°-s° 故世.
LESSON XV
Further Remarks on Numerals, the Relative Pronoun
Numbers above one hundred are expressed as follows: One hundred and one, is ih pak ling ih, and so on to ih pak ling °kyeu; then the ling is dropped, and we have ih pah zeh (一百十), ih pak zeh ih, ih pak zeh nyi°, ih pak zeh san, etc. Ling really means “in addition.”
The hundreds are expressed simply by nyi pak (二百), “two hundred,” san pak (三百), “three hundred,” etc. “One thousand” is ih tshien (一千). In expressing “one hundred and one,” we say ih pak ling ih (一百零一). In expressing “one thousand and one,” we say ih tshien ling ling ih.
“Ten thousand” is ih man° (一萬). “One million” is ih pak man° (一百萬). The ordinal numerals are expressed in Chinese by prefixing di° (第) before the cardinal. Thus “the first” is di° ih (第一) or deu-ih (頭一), “the second” di° nyi° (第二), and so forth.