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Elementary: The Road Trip, Part II

You may have been on a vacation like this. The radiator is overheating, the air conditioner is broken, and what began as a nice weekend jaunt into the countryside has morphed into something much, much uglier. Join us in this Elementary Chinese lesson as we explore the heart of darkness you'll only see in your family after spending eight hours in a car with them totally and utterly lost.

In addition to a nice dialogue with plenty of useful vocabulary and phrases (especially for drivers), our lesson today covers the 再不... 就 construction and goes over how to use it to make vaguely threatening demands on those you love. So listen up and let us know what you think. And if you find the Chinese a bit above your level relax. Click through to the text page to consult our annotated popup version of the text for instant illumination. You'll be at the Intermediate level in no time.

paglino9

said on

December 4, 2009

If anyone is in Eastern Henan with time to kill, I suggest checking out this Tourist Destination 八里沟。 Now that is a ditch with an impressive waterfall.

Echo

said on

December 4, 2009

@paglino9,

Can people ever get their way back after seeing the waterfall? :P

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com

paglino9

said on

December 4, 2009

@ Echo

Why because all patrons upon staring at the waterfall will be seized by Henan bandits?

I incidentally took this trip during a Chinese national holiday, and not so much the bandits but the crowds were posing more of a threat. Furthermore I was in one of those tour groups that assigns everyone a flimsy red hat with the name of the tour company on it. A lot of unexpected fun though. Henan is crazy like that.

Echo

said on

December 4, 2009

@paglino9,

No, I mean those tourists could have a 糊涂 father too.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com

paglino9

said on

December 4, 2009

@ Echo

Well on the tour bus going there at 8 a.m. with a hangover I was more like the father. I guess the word I would use to describe my sentiments is 烦躁-agitate. Does that word work?

Echo

said on

December 6, 2009

@paglino9,

Yes, you can say 烦躁. 没问题！

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com

etbaccata

said on

May 7, 2013

In the dialog: 再不闭嘴我就把车开沟里去。

In the examples: 你再不回家我就锁门了。

你再不快点儿就迟到了。

What difference does the 了 at the end of the two last sentences make? Could 了 also be added to the first sentence?

achim_boers

said on

June 2, 2013

Just doing this lesson also in 2013....

Actually I had the samen doubt.

Why do all the example have 了, which actually makes sense.

But the last sentence of the leson does not use 了. (neither the second by the way...)

In that frase however I don't really understand the word 把

Is it just emphasising 车 or does it have more meaning to it.

As well as the word (part) 里

Thanks,

Achim

Echo

said on

June 3, 2013

@achim_boers,

This sentence is a threat. Adding 了 is to change the state of the sentence, and without the 了 is just an action. For example: 再不闭嘴我就把车开沟里去 If you don't shut up, I'll drive the car into a ditch. This is an action that the guy uses to threaten his family. If you don't do this, I will do that. 再不闭嘴我就把车开沟里去了 If you don't shut up, I'm driving this car into a ditch right now. This is a state that will be changed in the near future, and the guy is using it to threaten people. If you don't do this, this state will be changed. This is the difference.

把 is a special word in Chinese. You can see it as "to take" in English. With a lot of verbs like 开(车), you have to use 把 + object + verb structure. This is just sth you need to remember. If you say 我开车到沟里去, this is grammatically wrong.