HSK 3 · Lesson 13欢迎来我家做客 Welcome to our home

People and guests: 老王 and 小李; words in -家, -员 (画家, 运动员); 请 / 叫 + someone + do something; 结婚 “marry”; 像 “look like”; 咱们 “you and I”; the order of several modifiers.

Speed:Male voice:

Dialogues

Visiting

A
欢迎欢迎！快请进！
Huānyíng huānyíng! Kuài qǐng jìn!
Welcome! Come on in!
B
阿姨好！这是给您的礼物。
Āyí hǎo! Zhè shì gěi nín de lǐwù.
Hello! This is a present for you.
A
你太客气了。来，坐吧。我爱人一会儿就回来。
Nǐ tài kèqi le. Lái, zuò ba. Wǒ àiren yíhuìr jiù huílai.
You shouldn’t have. Come, sit down. My husband will be back soon.
B
叔叔在哪儿工作？
Shūshu zài nǎr gōngzuò?
Where does your husband work?
A
他是画家。你们年轻人聊吧，我去做饭。
Tā shì huàjiā. Nǐmen niánqīng rén liáo ba, wǒ qù zuò fàn.
He’s an artist. You young people chat — I’ll go and cook.

Old Wang

A
老王，听说你女儿结婚了？
Lǎo Wáng, tīngshuō nǐ nǚ’ér jiéhūn le?
Old Wang, I hear your daughter got married?
B
是啊，上个月结的婚。她跟大学同学结婚了。
Shì a, shàng ge yuè jié de hūn. Tā gēn dàxué tóngxué jiéhūn le.
Yes, last month. She married a university classmate.
A
你女儿又聪明又热情，她爱人一定也很好。
Nǐ nǚ’ér yòu cōngming yòu rèqíng, tā àiren yídìng yě hěn hǎo.
Your daughter is clever and warm — her husband must be nice too.
B
对，他人很好，长得有点儿像我年轻的时候。
Duì, tā rén hěn hǎo, zhǎng de yǒudiǎnr xiàng wǒ niánqīng de shíhou.
Yes, he’s a good man — and looks a bit like me when I was young.
A
真好！咱们哪天一起吃饭吧。
Zhēn hǎo! Zánmen nǎ tiān yìqǐ chīfàn ba.
Great! Let’s have a meal together some day.
B
好，我请客！
Hǎo, wǒ qǐngkè!
Sure — my treat!

New words

📝 Worksheet for this lesson

Grammar

1. 老王, 小李; 画家, 运动员

Acquaintances are called by surname with 老 (older) or 小 (younger): 老王 “old Wang”, 小李 “young Li”. Suffixes: -家 marks an expert (画家 “artist”, 作家 “writer”), -员 a worker or member (运动员 “athlete”, 服务员 “waiter”), -子 is just part of the word (桌子, 椅子, 孩子).

老王是我的同事。
Lǎo Wáng shì wǒ de tóngshì.
Old Wang is my colleague.
他是一个有名的运动员。
Tā shì yí ge yǒumíng de yùndòngyuán.
He is a famous athlete.

2. 请 / 叫 + someone + do something

请 politely means “invite, ask”: 我请你来我家做客 “I invite you to visit us”, 请客 “treat (someone)”. 叫 means “tell, call”: 老师叫我们回答问题. The person asked is also the one who acts: 请 + 你 + 来.

我请你来我家做客。
Wǒ qǐng nǐ lái wǒ jiā zuòkè.
I’d like to invite you to our home.
老师叫我们回答问题。
Lǎoshī jiào wǒmen huídá wèntí.
The teacher tells us to answer the questions.

3. 结婚, 像, 咱们

结婚 is separable: “marry someone” is 跟 + person + 结婚 (not “结婚他”), 结过婚, 结了婚; in the past — 上个月结的婚. 像 means “resemble”: 他像他爸爸, 长得像 “looks like”. 咱们 is “we” including the listener: 咱们走吧 “let’s go (you and I)”; 我们 may exclude the listener.

她跟大学同学结婚了。
Tā gēn dàxué tóngxué jiéhūn le.
She married a university classmate.
你长得很像你妈妈。
Nǐ zhǎng de hěn xiàng nǐ māma.
You look a lot like your mum.

4. Several modifiers in a row

The order before a noun is: whose → this / that → how many → what kind → the noun. 我妈妈的那两个年轻的同事 “those two young colleagues of my mum’s”. 的 follows “whose” and longer descriptions; one-syllable adjectives take no 的 and stand closest to the noun: 一个新朋友.

这是我姐姐的一个好朋友。
Zhè shì wǒ jiějie de yí ge hǎo péngyou.
This is a good friend of my sister’s.

Exercises

1. Listen and choose the translation

  1. Answer
    我请你来我家做客。 Wǒ qǐng nǐ lái wǒ jiā zuòkè. — I’d like to invite you to our home.

  2. Answer
    她跟大学同学结婚了。 Tā gēn dàxué tóngxué jiéhūn le. — She married a university classmate.

  3. Answer
    你长得很像你妈妈。 Nǐ zhǎng de hěn xiàng nǐ māma. — You look a lot like your mum.

  4. Answer
    咱们走吧。 Zánmen zǒu ba. — Let’s go.

2. Choose the correct option

  1. “He married her”

    Answer
    他跟她结婚了。
  2. “Waiter”

    Answer
    服务员
  3. 老师___我们回答问题。

    Answer
    叫
  4. “Those two young colleagues of my mum’s”

    Answer
    我妈妈的那两个年轻的同事

3. Build the sentence

  1. Welcome to our home.

    Answer
    欢迎你来我家做客。 Huānyíng nǐ lái wǒ jiā zuòkè.
  2. He is a famous artist.

    Answer
    他是一个有名的画家。 Tā shì yí ge yǒumíng de huàjiā.
  3. It’s my treat today.

    Answer
    今天我请客。 Jīntiān wǒ qǐngkè.
  4. You look a lot like your dad.

    Answer
    你长得很像你爸爸。 Nǐ zhǎng de hěn xiàng nǐ bàba.

4. Dialogue: you are the guest

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

A
欢迎欢迎！快请进！
Huānyíng huānyíng! Kuài qǐng jìn!
Welcome! Come in!
B
阿姨好！这是给您的礼物。
Āyí hǎo! Zhè shì gěi nín de lǐwù.
Hello! This is a present for you.
A
谢谢！你喝茶还是喝咖啡？
Xièxie! Nǐ hē chá háishi hē kāfēi?
Thank you! Tea or coffee?
B
喝茶吧，谢谢阿姨。
Hē chá ba, xièxie āyí.
Tea, please, thank you.
A
你跟我女儿是同学吧？
Nǐ gēn wǒ nǚ’ér shì tóngxué ba?
You’re my daughter’s classmate, right?
B
对，我们是大学同学。
Duì, wǒmen shì dàxué tóngxué.
Yes, we’re at university together.

5. Translate into Chinese

  1. Let me treat you to dinner.
    Answer
    我请你吃晚饭。
  2. She looks very like her mum.
    Answer
    她长得很像她妈妈。/ 她很像她妈妈。
  3. They got married last year.
    Answer
    他们去年结婚了。/ 他们是去年结的婚。

💡 Did you know?: “Auntie” and “uncle” for everyone

Children and young people in China call their friends’ parents, and any adults of their parents’ generation, 叔叔 “uncle” and 阿姨 “auntie”, even if they aren’t related. Elderly people are 爷爷 and 奶奶. It’s customary to bring a gift when visiting — fruit, tea or sweets.

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