Lesson 5, First Dialogue

For those who did not come to the class: today we have received new text with 2 dialogues, one of which we read aloud:

马大为： 请问 这是 王小云 的 宿舍 吗？

Literally "Excuse me, may I ask if this is 王小云's dormitory?". Here the new word is 王小云, which is a name, a name of a girl. Character 小 is frequently used in girls' names. Another new word is 宿舍, which means "dormitory".

女生：　是，　请进。　请坐。

Literally "Yes, please come in. Please sit (down).".

马大为：　谢谢！　王小云　在吗？

Literally "Thank you! Is (there) 王小云?". Here the new word is 在, which means "to be" or "is".

女生：　她 不在。

Literally "She is not here." ("Jos nėra")

马大为： 她 在哪儿？

Literally "She is where?". Here the new word is 哪儿, meaning "where". It is used by adding it together with the word 在 to the right side of something. For example, the question "Where is mr. Ding?" would perhaps be formed as 丁先生在哪儿？

女生：　对不起，我不知道。

Literally "Excuse me, I don't know.". Here the new word is 对不起, meaning "excuse me". Could anyone explain what the characters in this word mean?

马大为： 没关系。好，再见。

Literally "It doesn't matter. Well, good bye/see you.". Here the new word is 没关系, literally meaning "it doesn't matter", used in similar cases like the words "It's okay, never mind."

女生： 再见。

Literally "Good bye/see you."

New characters:

水 - water
月 - moon
手 - hand (the palm)
田 - field (i.e., rice field)
白 - white
只 - ! if this is pronunced as zhi3, it means "nearly"/"almost", whereas as we have learned, if it is pronunced as zhi2, it is a measure word for animals
言 - words or speach

喂 - ! if this is pronunced as wei1, it means a responce over the phone ("alio"); otherwise if pronunced as wei4, it is used as "hey", to attract someone's attention (i.e., when you want to speak with somone in the same room).

That's about all. Take care.