Pointing and grunting getting a bit old? You're in exactly the right place. Join us in this lesson as we learn useful words like this and that (trust us, these never get old). This is some of the most basic and useful Chinese to know, because it's a small step from learning how to ask for something to learning how to order 500,000 of them shipped to Pittsburg at pennies on the dollar.
 said on
September 9, 2008
A bit easy for anyone but a complete beginner, but I like the way you've done the quiz on this one. Question 5 made me laugh.
 said on
September 9, 2008
@marco64,

Yeah, 知道 is a very interesting word. You can use several 知道 in one sentence and make some interesting combinations.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
September 9, 2008
This is a good lesson for complete beginners. The atmosphere of the podcast is inviting and non-threatening, gradually covers the bases, and anticipates a lesson on measure words. I thought it was also good that you mentioned the "nei4 versus na4" and the "zhei4 versus zhe4" pronunciations at this stage, as it caused me some confusion early on.

Just a note on question 3 of the quiz:

" nei sì is shorthand for nà yī "

Maybe the question should read "na4ge / nei4ge is shorthand for na4 yi1 ge / nei4 yi1 ge" ?

 said on
September 10, 2008
I just had a chance to look at the pdf, which has question 3 a little differently (without the "si" typo in the online quiz), and the question makes more sense there.

So that it wasn't a wasted post, may I confirm something?

那一 doesn't exist on it own. That is, no one would actually say 那一 to say "that one" as it needs a measure word. They would either say 那一个 or more likely, 那个 for short. In other words, 那个 is short for 那一个.

Or am I confused?

 said on
September 10, 2008
@quatroclik - I think I see what you mean now... and I guess you'd be right under those assumptions. #4 would be an equally correct answer if you take for granted that 那一 is properly 那一个 which should contract to 那个.

The question as is isn't trying to be that tricky, and 那一 could equally be part of 那一只 or 那一些, the latter of which is a tremendously strange thing to say, if you think about it. The important thing for beginners to know is really that there's some logic behind the change in pronunciation, and they shouldn't be confused hearing the word morph slightly in conversation.

I think Echo was puzzled by your earlier post, since our recording philosophy is generally to encourage our Chinese staff to speak naturally. We sometimes ask them to record slower versions as well. When preparing this lesson I noticed they tended to use nei4 at speed, and revert to na4 whenever they were reading the character in isolation or if they were asked to slow down.
 said on
September 10, 2008
That's very interesting. Thanks!
 said on
October 11, 2009
I just found your postcast a couple weeks ago. Its acceptable. Your membership fee is reasonable. Im thinking of subscribing, however, I would like to see a sample of A text-only copy of our PDF.

I am a member of a Canada/Chinese podcast which I think is the best. They have a sample of their PDF on line.

Aloha,

Yupin in Hawaii
 said on
October 11, 2009
Hi Syrop,

If you've just created an account, you'll have a week of free premium access (write us at service@popupchinese.com if you can't access the premium features for any reason). The pdfs and text transcripts can be downloaded from any lesson page. You may also want to customize your account to configure your downloads and display preferences, since the transcripts are all customized depending on user preferences.

All that said, we should put a sample PDF online and make it clearer we give away a week of free premium access on signup - you're not the first person to ask about this so it clearly isn't communicated well. Thanks for the positive thoughts on the site otherwise, and let us know if you have any suggestions on improvements we can make.

Best,

--david

 said on
December 17, 2009
Hi Echo and Brendan,

Thanks for your hard work. I am absolute beginner but am finding your lessons easy to follow.

Just a quick question:

When I hear 那个 in the dialogue, its sounds more like nei4ge, rather than na4ge.

I noticed above that quatroclik mentioned that you explained it in the lesson, but I didn't hear it?? travelyan then explains that sometimes that 那 is sometimes pronounced nei4 when spoken quickly?

I'm a little confused, so any clarification would be great.

Thanks!
 said on
December 17, 2009
@uberbabsen,

Welcome to the site! 欢迎你! Thank you for your kind words about the site. 谢谢 :)

In spoken speech, people usually pronounce 这,那,哪 as zhei4, nei4 and nei3 instead of zhe4, na4 and na3. However, if you use zhe4, na4 and na3, there is not a problem either. This is just a habit, not a mistake.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
March 11, 2010
Hello,

I am a newbie. I am following your lessons and am enjoying them.


The answer choices for question 4 are very confusing:


-nei4 is shorthand for 那一


-nei4 is shorthand for 那个

Can someone explain? I thought that 那 (na4/nei4) means 'that', and 那 is often used with the measure word 个 (ge), so the answer choices don't make sense to me, because nei4 (那) is not IMO shorthand for 那个 or 那一.
 said on
March 12, 2010
@rscal1,

Chinese speakers often say 那一 (nei4) instead of 那一 (na4 yi1). To my knowledge, they only really do this when the phrase is followed by a measure word. So you'll hear 那一个 (nei4 ge) and 这一个 (zhei4 ge) all the time. The meaning of the phrase doesn't change - it's just a lazier way of speaking that has beat out the proper way in most places.
 said on
March 12, 2010
@orbital,

Thanks for the reply.

I understand that 那 has 2 pronunciations (na4 and nei4).

What I don't understand is this:

** is na4 or nei4 supposed to be shorthand for na4 yi1 那一? **

I don't think that the lessons explained it, so I am puzzled by it.

I thought that 那 was a real word, same as 这.
 said on
March 12, 2010
@rsalc1,

Originally, nei4 came from na4 + yi1, so you can say nei4 is the shorthand for na4 yi1(but not na4 yi2 "ge4"). However, people on street say nei4 yi2 ge4 as well. Therefore, na4 and nei4 are interchangeable in spoken language.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
March 12, 2010
@echo,

Thanks for your reply. You said that nei4 is shorthand for na4yi1. Is nei4ge shorthand for na4yi1ge? Is na4 shorthand for anything? And finally, is na4ge shorthand for anything? Please excuse so many questions, but I am a newbie and I don't know the word origins :)
 said on
July 9, 2013
Is there a reason I can't play the audio of the quiz? I'm using safari.
 said on
November 18, 2017
Not easy at all for a completebeginner like me!