HSK 2 · Lesson 7咖啡还是茶？ Coffee or tea?
At a restaurant and buying a present: 还是 “or” in questions and “had better”, 让 “to let, to tell”, 送 “to give as a gift”, 跟…一起, 花 “to spend”, 妈妈做的饭 “the food Mum cooks”.
Dialogues
At a restaurant
A present for Mum
New words
- 还是háishistill (as before); had better; unexpectedly
- 咖啡kāfēi(loanword) coffee
- 奶茶nǎichámilk tea
- 红茶hóngcháblack tea
- 绿茶lǜchágreen tea
- 肉ròumeat; flesh; pulp (of a fruit)
- 鱼yúfish (CL:條,尾)
- 饭馆fànguǎnrestaurant
- 不错búcuòcorrect; right; not bad
- 位wèiposition; location; place
- 送sòngto send; to deliver; to transmit
- 让ràngto yield; to permit; to let sb do sth
- 跟gēnheel; to follow closely; to go with
- 介绍jièshàoto introduce (sb to sb); to give a presentation
- 花huāflower; blossom; fancy pattern
- 快乐kuàilèhappy; joyful
Grammar
1. …还是…？ — “or” in questions
A + 还是 + B？
When you offer a choice, “or” is 还是, and there is no 吗 at the end: 你喝咖啡还是喝茶？ “will you have coffee or tea?”, 你是男孩儿还是女孩儿？ Answer with one of the options.
2. 还是…吧 — “I’d better…”
还是 before the verb with 吧 at the end means “I’d rather…, better…” — a choice after some thought: 还是吃肉吧 “let’s have meat instead”, 我还是打车吧 “I’d better take a taxi”.
3. 让 — “to let, to ask, to tell”
A + 让 + B + verb
让 means “to have someone do something”: 爸爸让我买手表 “Dad told me to buy a watch”, 妈妈让我早点儿睡 “Mum makes me go to bed early”, 老师让我们说汉语. B is both the one told and the one who acts.
4. 送, 给, 跟: to whom and with whom
送 “to give as a present” takes two objects, like 给: 我送她一个手表 “I give her a watch”. 给 before a verb means “for, to”: 我给你介绍 “I’ll introduce / recommend to you”, 给妈妈打电话 “call Mum”. 跟 means “with”: 跟我一起去 “come with me”.
5. 妈妈做的饭 — “the food Mum cooks”
(who) + verb + 的 + noun
English “which / who” clauses become a description with 的 before the noun: 妈妈做的饭 “the food Mum cooks”, 我买的书 “the book I bought”, 来中国的人 “people who come to China”.
6. 花 — “to spend” and “flower”; 位
花 is two words: “flower” (送花 “give flowers”) and “to spend” (花钱 “spend money”, 花了一千块 “spent a thousand”). 位 is a polite measure word for people: 一位老师, 几位？ “how many of you?” (asked in restaurants).
Exercises
1. Listen and choose the translation
- 你喝咖啡还是喝茶？ Nǐ hē kāfēi háishi hē chá?
Answer
你喝咖啡还是喝茶？ Nǐ hē kāfēi háishi hē chá? — Will you have coffee or tea? - 妈妈让我早点儿睡觉。 Māma ràng wǒ zǎo diǎnr shuìjiào.
Answer
妈妈让我早点儿睡觉。 Māma ràng wǒ zǎo diǎnr shuìjiào. — Mum tells me to go to bed early. - 我送她一个手表。 Wǒ sòng tā yí ge shǒubiǎo.
Answer
我送她一个手表。 Wǒ sòng tā yí ge shǒubiǎo. — I’m giving her a watch. - 这是我昨天买的书。 Zhè shì wǒ zuótiān mǎi de shū.
Answer
这是我昨天买的书。 Zhè shì wǒ zuótiān mǎi de shū. — This is the book I bought yesterday.
2. Choose the correct option
- “Coffee or tea?”
Answer
咖啡还是茶？ - 老师___我们说汉语。
Answer
让 - “The food Mum cooks is very tasty”
Answer
妈妈做的饭很好吃。 - 你___我一起去吧。
Answer
跟
3. Build the sentence
- Will you have coffee or tea?你喝咖啡还是喝茶？ Nǐ hē kāfēi háishi hē chá?
Answer
你喝咖啡还是喝茶？ Nǐ hē kāfēi háishi hē chá? - Dad told me to buy a watch.爸爸让我买一个手表。 Bàba ràng wǒ mǎi yí ge shǒubiǎo.
Answer
爸爸让我买一个手表。 Bàba ràng wǒ mǎi yí ge shǒubiǎo. - Let’s take a taxi instead.我们还是打车吧。 Wǒmen háishi dǎchē ba.
Answer
我们还是打车吧。 Wǒmen háishi dǎchē ba. - The food Mum cooks is really tasty.妈妈做的饭真好吃。 Māma zuò de fàn zhēn hǎochī.
Answer
妈妈做的饭真好吃。 Māma zuò de fàn zhēn hǎochī.
4. Dialogue: you are the guest
You are speaker A. Pick the right reply and the conversation goes on.
5. Translate into Chinese
- Are you going today or tomorrow?
Answer
你今天去还是明天去？Nǐ jīntiān qù háishi míngtiān qù? - Mum tells me to drink more water.
Answer
妈妈让我多喝水。Māma ràng wǒ duō hē shuǐ. - Happy birthday!
Answer
生日快乐！Shēngrì kuàilè!
💡 Did you know?: Longevity noodles
On birthdays people in China eat 长寿面 chángshòumiàn, “longevity noodles”: long noodles wish a long life, so you shouldn’t break them. Today there is often a cake as well. The greeting is the same as in this lesson: 生日快乐！
Phrase audio — Microsoft speech synthesis (voices Xiaoxiao, Yunyang, Yunxi); syllables and some words — native recordings (audio-cmn, CC BY-SA).