租房子 Renting an Apartment zū fáng zi 吵 chǎo to quarrel; noisy 王朋觉得宿舍太吵，睡不好觉。 wáng péng jué de sù shè tài chǎo, shuì bu hǎo jiào. Wang Peng thinks that the dorm is too noisy, and he can`t sleep well. 连 lián even 房间太小，连电脑都放不下。 fáng jiān tài xiǎo, lián diàn nǎo dōu fàng bu xi The room is too small to fit even the computer. 我连你是谁都不知道。 wǒ lián nǐ shì shéi dōu bù zhī dào I don't even know who you are. 做饭 zuò fàn to cook; to prepare a meal 小白不会做饭。 xiǎo bái bú huì zuò fàn. Little bai can't cook. 报纸 bào zhǐ newspaper 广告 guǎng gào advertisement 刚才他在报纸上看到了一个广告。 gāng cái tā zài bào zhǐ shang kàn dào le yí ge guǎng gào. He saw an advertisement in the newspaper just now. 附近 fù jìn vicinity; neighborhood; nearby area 学校附近有一个公园。 xué xiào fù jìn yǒu yí ge gōng yuán. There is a park near the school. 公寓 gōng yù apartment 套 tào (measure word for suite or set) 王朋觉得这套公寓很适合他。 Wáng péng jué de zhè tào gōng yù hěn shì hé tā. Wang Peng thinks this apartment is suitable for him. 我有三套衣服。 Wǒ yǒu sān tào yī fu. I have three sets of clothes. 出租 chū zū to rent out 学校附近有一套公寓出租。 xué xiào fù jìn yǒu yí tào gōng yù chū zū. There is an apartment for rent near the school 走路 zǒu lù to walk 离学校很近，走路只要五分钟。 lí xué xiào hěn jìn, zǒu lù zhǐ yào wǔ fēn zhōng. It's very close to the school and only a five-minute walk. 分钟 fēn zhōng minute 他做饭很快，只要10分钟。 tā zuò fàn hěn kuài, zhǐ yào shí fēn zhōng. He cooks quickly, as long as 10 minutes. 他迟到了20分钟。 tā chí dào le èr shí fēn zhōng. He was late for 20 minutes 卧室 wò shì bedroom 厨房 chú fáng kitchen 卫生间 wèi shēng jiān bathroom;restroom; toilet Taiwan 洗澡间(xǐ zǎo jiān) : bathroom (with a toilet and shower or bathtub) 化妆室(huà zhuāng shì) : restroom In mainland China. 卫生间(wèi shēng jiān) : restroom 浴室(yù shì), bathroom for bathing(usually without a toilet) 厕所(cè suǒ), public restroom with no bathing facilities 洗手间(xǐ shǒu jiān), restroom or bathroom Occasionally, some Chinese speakers refer to the restroom euphemistically as 一号(yī hào), literally, number one. 客厅 kè tīng living room 家具 jiā jù furniture 公寓有一个卧室，一个厨房，一个卫生间，一个客厅，还带家具。 gōng yù yǒu yí ge wò shì, yí gè chú fáng, yí gè wèi shēng jiān, yí gè kè tīng, hái dài jiā jù. The apartment includes a bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a living room, and it is furnished. 可能 kě néng maybe; possible 这个工作可能很适合他。 zhè ge gōng zuò kě néng hěn shì hé tā. This job may be suitable for him. 他可能已经死了。 tā kě néng yǐ jīng sǐ le. He may be dead. 1. Verb+了+Number+Measure Word+Noun+了 On its own, the sentence usually implies that the action has been continuing for some time and is expected to last into the future 王朋在学校的宿舍住了两个学期了。 Wáng péng zài xué xiào de sù shè zhù le liǎng ge xué qī le. Wang Peng has been living on campus for two semesters up to this moment 1. Verb+了+Number+Measure Word+Noun+了 On its own, the sentence usually implies that the action has been continuing for some time and is expected to last into the future 1. A: 你开出租汽车开了几年了？ nǐ kāi chū zū qì chē kāi le jǐ nián le？ How many years have you been driving a cab ? B: 一年半了。 yì nián bàn le. Fot a year and a half now. 1. Verb+了+Number+Measure Word+Noun+了 On its own, the sentence usually implies that the action has been continuing for some time and is expected to last into the future 2.弟弟写电子邮件写了半个钟头了，不知道还要写多长时间。 dì di xiě diàn zǐ yóu jiàn xiě le bàn ge zhōng tóu le, bù zhī dào hái yào xiě duō cháng shí jiān. My younger brother has been writing e-mails for half an hour. Who knows how much longer he will be. 1. Verb+了+Number+Measure Word+Noun+了 The following two sentences are different in meaning: 3. 他病了三天了。 tā bìng le sān tiān le. He has been sick for three days. [The illness has continued for three days and he currently remains sick.] 4. 他病了三天。 tā bìng le sān tiān. He was sick for three days. [He recovered from the illness on the fourth day.] 1. Verb+了+Number+Measure Word+Noun+了 If, however, a clause in this pattern is followed by another clause, it may suggest that the action may come to an end. 5. 我打扫房子打扫了一上午了，想休息一下。 wǒ dǎ sǎo fáng zi dǎ sǎo le yí shàng wǔ le, xiǎng xiū xi yí xià. I`ve been cleaning the house all morning. I`d like to take a break. 1. Verb+了+Number+Measure Word+Noun+了 This structure is not limited to temporal expressions. It can also be used to indicate quantity: 6. 衣服我已经买了三件了，够了。 yī fu wǒ yǐ jīng mǎi le sān jiàn le, gòu le. I have already bought three pieces of clothing. That`s plenty. 7. 这封信我已经看了两遍了，不想再看了。 zhè fēng xìn wǒ yǐ jīng kàn le liǎng biàn le, bù xiǎng zài kàn le. I`ve read this letter twice already and don`t want to read it again. 2. 连...都/也(lián ...dōu /yě) 连(lián) is an intensifier which is always used in conjunction with 都/也(dōu /yě). 1. 我姐姐的孩子很聪明，连日本话都会说。 wǒ jiě jie de hái zi hěn cōng ming, lián rì běn huà dōu huì shuō. My sister`s child is really smart. She can even speak Japanese. What follows 连(lián) usually represents an extreme case: the biggest or smallest, the best or worst, the most difficult or easiest, etc. (1), for instance, implies that Japanese is very difficult. If a child can speak such a difficult language as Japanese, then the child must be very intelligent. 2. 连...都/也(lián ...dōu /yě) 连(lián) is an intensifier which is always used in conjunction with 都/也(dōu /yě). 2.我弟弟学中文学了一年了，可是连“天”字都不会写。 wǒ dì di xué zhōng wén xué le yì nián le, kě shì lián “tiān” zì dōu bú huì xiě. My younger brother has been studying Chinese for a year now, but can`t even write the character 天. Similarly, 天(tiān) is considered one of the easiest Chinese characters. If the younger brother in (2) does not know how to write 天(tiān), it goes without saying that he can`t write other more difficult characters 2. 连...都/也(lián ...dōu /yě) 连(lián) is an intensifier which is always used in conjunction with 都/也(dōu /yě). 3. 你怎么连药都忘了吃？ nǐ zěn me lián yào dōu wàng le chī ? How could you forget even to take your medicine ? 4. 昨天学的生词我连一个也不记得了。 zuó tiān xué de shēng cí wǒ lián yí ge yě bú jì de le. I can`t recall even a single word we learned yesterday. 3. Potential complements with Verb + 不下 (bu xià) The V+不下(bu xià) structure suggests that a location or container in question does not have the capacity to hold something. 1. 这个客厅大是大，不过坐不下二十个人。 zhè ge kè tīng dà shì dà, bú guò zuò bu xià èr shí ge rén. This living room is pretty spacious, but still not large enough to seat twenty people. 3. Potential complements with Verb + 不下 (bu xià) The V+不下(bu xià) structure suggests that a location or container in question does not have the capacity to hold something. 2. 这张纸写不下八百个字。 zhè zhāng zhǐ xiě bu xià bā bǎi ge zì. This piece of paper isn`t big enough to write 800 characters on. 3. 这个冰箱放不下两个西瓜。 zhè ge bīng xiāng fàng bu xià liǎng ge xī gua. This refrigerator won`t fit two watermelons. 4. 多(duō) indicating an Approximate Number 4. 多(duō) indicating an Approximate Number If the concept represented by the noun is not divisible into smaller units, and the number is ten or a multiple of ten, 多(duō) precedes the measure word. 二十多个人 三十多个学生 èr shí duō ge rén sān shí duō ge xué sheng more than twenty people more than thirty students 一百多张纸 Number+多+Measure word+Object yì bǎi duō zhāng zhǐ over one hundred sheets pf paper 4. 多(duō) indicating an Approximate Number If the concept represented by the noun can be divided into smaller units, (一块钱=十毛，一星期=七天), there are two possibilities. If the number is not ten or a multiple of ten, 多(duō) should be used after the measure word. Number+Measure word+多+Object 七块多钱 qī kuài duō qián more than seven dollars but less than eight. 一个多星期 yí ge duō xīng qī more than one week but less than two 4. 多(duō) indicating an Approximate Number If the concept represented by the noun can be divided into smaller units, (一块钱=十毛，一星期=七天), there are two possibilities. If the number is ten or a multiple of ten, 多(duō) can be used either before the measure word, but these two options represent different numeric ranges. 十多块钱 10块钱<十多块钱<20块钱 shí duō kuài qián more than ten dollars but less than twenty. 十块多钱 10块钱<十块多钱<11块钱 shí kuài duō qián more than ten dollars but less than eleven. 4. 多(duō) indicating an Approximate Number EXAMPLE: 10