HSK 1 · Lesson 20下雪了！ It’s snowing!

了 at the end of a sentence — “now it’s so”. Prohibition with 不要. Yes/no questions without 吗: 忙不忙? Ordinals with 第. Verb + 一下. HSK 1 wrap-up.

Speed:Male voice:

Dialogues

Snow

A
你看，下雪了！
Nǐ kàn, xià xuě le!
Look, it’s snowing!
B
太好了！我们去外边玩儿吧！
Tài hǎo le! Wǒmen qù wàibian wánr ba!
Great! Let’s go and play outside!
A
不要去，外边太冷了。
Bú yào qù, wàibian tài lěng le.
Let’s not, it’s too cold outside.
B
你冷不冷？我不冷。
Nǐ lěng bu lěng? Wǒ bù lěng.
Are you cold? I’m not.
A
我有点儿冷。现在几点了？
Wǒ yǒudiǎnr lěng. Xiànzài jǐ diǎn le?
I’m a bit cold. What time is it now?
B
十一点了。
Shíyī diǎn le.
It’s eleven already.
A
太晚了，我们睡觉吧。
Tài wǎn le, wǒmen shuìjiào ba.
It’s late, let’s go to bed.
B
还早呢！
Hái zǎo ne!
It’s still early!
A
不早了，睡吧！
Bù zǎo le, shuì ba!
It’s not early any more — go to sleep!

A phone call

A
喂，你好！王明在吗？
Wéi, nǐ hǎo! Wáng Míng zài ma?
Hello! Is Wang Ming there?
B
我是王明。你是安娜吗？
Wǒ shì Wáng Míng. Nǐ shì Ānnà ma?
Speaking. Is that Anna?
A
对。你今天怎么没来上课？
Duì. Nǐ jīntiān zěnme méi lái shàngkè?
Yes. Why didn’t you come to class today?
B
我病了，去医院看病了。
Wǒ bìng le, qù yīyuàn kànbìng le.
I got ill and went to see a doctor.
A
现在怎么样？
Xiànzài zěnmeyàng?
How are you now?
B
没事了。明天我去上课。
Méishì le. Míngtiān wǒ qù shàngkè.
I’m fine now. I’ll come to class tomorrow.
A
你多休息，不要看电脑了！
Nǐ duō xiūxi, bú yào kàn diànnǎo le!
Get plenty of rest and stop looking at the computer!

In class

A
今天我们学第二十课。请大家看一下书。
Jīntiān wǒmen xué dì-èrshí kè. Qǐng dàjiā kàn yíxià shū.
Today we’re studying lesson twenty. Everyone, please have a look at your books.
B
老师，我没听见。第几课？
Lǎoshī, wǒ méi tīngjiàn. Dì jǐ kè?
Teacher, I didn’t catch that. Which lesson?
A
第二十课。上课了，不要说话。
Dì-èrshí kè. Shàngkè le, bú yào shuōhuà.
Lesson twenty. Class has started — no talking.
B
对不起！
Duìbuqǐ!
Sorry!

New words

📝 Worksheet for this lesson

Grammar

1. 了 at the end — “now it’s so”

New situation + 了

了 at the very end of a sentence reports a change, a new state of affairs: 下雪了 “it’s started snowing”, 十一点了 “it’s eleven now”, 我不忙了 “I’m not busy any more”, 没事了 “it’s all fine now”. With a negative: 我不去了 “I’m not going after all”. And 不要…了 means “stop doing…”: 不要看电脑了.

外边下雪了。
Wàibian xià xuě le.
It’s started snowing outside.
我不忙了。
Wǒ bù máng le.
I’m not busy any more.
十一点了，睡觉吧。
Shíyī diǎn le, shuìjiào ba.
It’s eleven, time for bed.

2. 不要 + verb — “don’t…”

不要 + verb

To tell someone not to do something use 不要 + verb: 不要说话！ “don’t talk!”, 不要去 “don’t go”. It is read bú yào. In HSK 2 you’ll meet the short synonym 别.

上课了，不要说话。
Shàngkè le, bú yào shuōhuà.
Class has started — no talking.
不要看电脑了！
Bú yào kàn diànnǎo le!
Stop looking at the computer!

3. Yes/no questions without 吗: 忙不忙?

verb / adj. + 不 + verb / adj.？

Instead of 吗 you can put “yes” and “no” side by side: 你忙不忙？ “are you busy?”, 你去不去？ “are you going?”, 是不是？ “right?”, 对不对？ “correct?”. For 有 use 有没有: 你有没有手机？ Then there is no 吗 at the end. The 不 in the middle is light, without a tone.

你今天忙不忙？
Nǐ jīntiān máng bu máng?
Are you busy today?
他是不是你哥哥？
Tā shì bu shì nǐ gēge?
Is he your older brother?
你有没有他的电话？
Nǐ yǒu méiyǒu tā de diànhuà?
Do you have his phone number?

4. Verb + 一下 — “a quick…”

一下 after a verb makes the action brief and the request softer: 看一下 “have a look”, 休息一下 “take a short break”, 请大家看一下书 “everyone, please have a look at your books”. It is read yíxià.

我们休息一下吧。
Wǒmen xiūxi yíxià ba.
Let’s take a short break.

5. 第 + number — “first, second…”

Ordinals put 第 before the number: 第一 “first”, 第二天 “the second day”, 第二十课 “lesson twenty”. The question is 第几？ “which one (in order)?”. In 第一 the 一 keeps its first tone: dì-yī.

这是我第一天上班。
Zhè shì wǒ dì-yī tiān shàngbān.
This is my first day at work.
第几课？
Dì jǐ kè?
Which lesson?

6. 听 vs 听见, 看 vs 看见

听 “listen” and 看 “look” are the process. 听见 “hear” and 看见 “see” are the result (it reached your ears or eyes). 我没听见 — “I didn’t catch it”. The result is denied with 没.

你听见了吗？
Nǐ tīngjiàn le ma?
Did you hear it?
我没听见。
Wǒ méi tīngjiàn.
I didn’t hear it.

Exercises

1. Listen and choose the translation

  1. Answer
    下雪了！ Xià xuě le! — It’s snowing!

  2. Answer
    你忙不忙？ Nǐ máng bu máng? — Are you busy?

  3. Answer
    不要说话！ Bú yào shuōhuà! — No talking!

  4. Answer
    我没听见。 Wǒ méi tīngjiàn. — I didn’t hear it.

  5. Answer
    还有五分钟。 Hái yǒu wǔ fēnzhōng. — Five minutes left.

2. Choose the missing word

  1. “It’s ten o’clock now”: 十点___。

    Answer
    了
  2. 你去___去？

    Answer
    不
  3. “Lesson one”: ___一课

    Answer
    第
  4. “Please have a look”: 请看___。

    Answer
    一下
  5. “Stop watching TV”: ___看电视了。

    Answer
    不要

3. Build the sentence

  1. It’s started snowing outside.

    Answer
    外边下雪了。 Wàibian xià xuě le.
  2. Are you busy today?

    Answer
    你今天忙不忙？ Nǐ jīntiān máng bu máng?
  3. Everyone, please have a look at lesson five.

    Answer
    请大家看一下第五课。 Qǐng dàjiā kàn yíxià dì-wǔ kè.
  4. Stop looking at the computer!

    Answer
    不要看电脑了！ Bú yào kàn diànnǎo le!

4. Dialogue: answer as the speaker

You are speaker B. Pick the right reply and the conversation goes on.

A
喂，你好！
Wéi, nǐ hǎo!
Hello!
B
你好！请问你是谁？
Nǐ hǎo! Qǐngwèn nǐ shì shéi?
Hello! Who’s calling, please?
A
我是安娜。你今天怎么没来上课？
Wǒ shì Ānnà. Nǐ jīntiān zěnme méi lái shàngkè?
It’s Anna. Why didn’t you come to class today?
B
我病了，去医院看病了。
Wǒ bìng le, qù yīyuàn kànbìng le.
I got ill and went to see a doctor.
A
现在好了吗？
Xiànzài hǎo le ma?
Are you better now?
B
没事了，谢谢你！
Méishì le, xièxie nǐ!
I’m fine now, thank you!
A
多休息，明天见！
Duō xiūxi, míngtiān jiàn!
Get plenty of rest, see you tomorrow!

5. Translate into Chinese

  1. It’s late, let’s go to bed.
    Answer
    太晚了，我们睡觉吧。Tài wǎn le, wǒmen shuìjiào ba.
  2. I’m not cold any more.
    Answer
    我不冷了。Wǒ bù lěng le.
  3. No talking in class!
    Answer
    上课不要说话！Shàngkè bú yào shuōhuà!
  4. He is on the phone.
    Answer
    他在打电话。Tā zài dǎ diànhuà.
  5. My older brother studies at university.
    Answer
    我哥哥在大学读书。Wǒ gēge zài dàxué dúshū.

💡 Did you know?: HSK 1 done. What next

Congratulations: lessons 1–20 cover all 300 words of level 1 in the HSK exam syllabus (HSK 考试大纲, 2025) and all the grammar of the level. Check yourself on the HSK 1 characters — do you know each one’s reading and meaning? — and make worksheets for the hard ones. The next part of the textbook is HSK 2.

Phrase audio — Microsoft speech synthesis (voices Xiaoxiao, Yunyang, Yunxi); syllables and some words — native recordings (audio-cmn, CC BY-SA).