HSK 4 · Lesson 19房子要出租 Flat for rent

Home: renting, furniture, cleaning. 一屋子人 “a roomful of people”, 一脸汗 “a face covered in sweat”, 怎么也找不到 “can’t find it anywhere” and the homographs 干 gān / gàn, 空 kōng / kòng.

Speed:Male voice:

Dialogues

Viewing a flat

A
这个房子要出租，有两个房间、一个客厅，还有一个小院子。
Zhège fángzi yào chūzū, yǒu liǎng ge fángjiān, yí ge kètīng, hái yǒu yí ge xiǎo yuànzi.
This place is for rent: two bedrooms, a living room and a little courtyard.
B
房租一个月多少钱？
Fángzū yí ge yuè duōshao qián?
How much is the rent a month?
A
三千。家具都有，空调也装好了。
Sānqiān. Jiājù dōu yǒu, kōngtiáo yě zhuānghǎo le.
Three thousand. It’s fully furnished, and the air conditioning is installed.
B
窗户很大，阳光很好。我想租。
Chuānghu hěn dà, yángguāng hěn hǎo. Wǒ xiǎng zū.
The windows are big and it’s sunny. I’d like to rent it.
A
好，这是钥匙。我是房东，有什么问题就给我打电话。
Hǎo, zhè shì yàoshi. Wǒ shì fángdōng, yǒu shénme wèntí jiù gěi wǒ dǎ diànhuà.
Fine, here are the keys. I’m the landlady — call me if there’s any problem.

Guests are coming

A
一会儿有一屋子客人要来，房间怎么还这么乱？
Yíhuìr yǒu yì wūzi kèrén yào lái, fángjiān zěnme hái zhème luàn?
A houseful of guests is coming soon — why is the room still such a mess?
B
别急，我马上收拾。你帮我把桌子抬到客厅去。
Bié jí, wǒ mǎshàng shōushi. Nǐ bāng wǒ bǎ zhuōzi tái dào kètīng qu.
Don’t panic, I’ll tidy up now. Help me carry the table into the living room.
A
垃圾桶满了，我去扔垃圾。你把窗户擦擦吧。
Lājītǒng mǎn le, wǒ qù rēng lājī. Nǐ bǎ chuānghu cāca ba.
The bin’s full — I’ll take the rubbish out. You give the windows a wipe.
B
好。……我的钥匙怎么也找不到了！
Hǎo. …… Wǒ de yàoshi zěnme yě zhǎo bu dào le!
OK. … I can’t find my keys anywhere!
A
在箱子底呢。你看你，干活儿干得一脸汗。
Zài xiāngzi dǐ ne. Nǐ kàn nǐ, gàn huór gàn de yì liǎn hàn.
At the bottom of the box. Look at you — you’ve worked so hard your face is all sweaty.
B
没事。有人敲门，客人来了！
Méi shì. Yǒu rén qiāo mén, kèrén lái le!
It’s fine. Someone’s knocking — the guests are here!

New words

📝 Worksheet for this lesson

Grammar

1. 一屋子人, 一桌子菜, 一脸汗: “a…ful”

A “container” word can serve as a measure word, and with 一 it means “full of, covered in”: 一屋子人 “a roomful of people”, 一桌子菜 “a table full of food”, 一脸汗 “a face covered in sweat”, 一手油 “hands covered in oil”, 一盒饼干 “a box of biscuits”. The number is almost always 一.

妈妈做了一桌子菜。
Māma zuòle yì zhuōzi cài.
Mum cooked a whole tableful of food.
他修车修得一手油。
Tā xiū chē xiū de yì shǒu yóu.
He fixed the car and got his hands covered in oil.

2. 怎么也 / 怎么都 + 不 / 没 “no matter how, still not”

“However hard you try, it doesn’t work”: 钥匙怎么也找不到 “I can’t find the keys anywhere”, 门怎么都打不开 “the door just won’t open”, 这个字我怎么也记不住 “I just can’t remember this character”. Often with verb + 不 + result.

门怎么都打不开。
Mén zěnme dōu dǎ bu kāi.
The door just won’t open.
这个字我怎么也记不住。
Zhège zì wǒ zěnme yě jì bu zhù.
I just can’t remember this character.

3. Homographs 干 gān / gàn and 空 kōng / kòng

干 gān is “dry”: 衣服干了 “the washing is dry”; 干 gàn is “to do”: 干活儿 gàn huór “to do (manual) work”, 你在干什么？ 空 kōng is “empty”: 冰箱是空的 “the fridge is empty”; 空 kòng is “free time”: 你有空吗？ (lesson 7). 空调 is kōngtiáo.

衣服干了，你收一下吧。
Yīfu gān le, nǐ shōu yíxià ba.
The washing is dry — take it in.
冰箱是空的，我们去买点儿东西吧。
Bīngxiāng shì kōng de, wǒmen qù mǎi diǎnr dōngxi ba.
The fridge is empty — let’s go and buy something.

4. Home words

租 is “to rent (from someone)”, 出租 “to let”, 房东 “landlord”, 房租 “rent”. 收拾 is “to tidy up”, 整理 “to sort out” (papers, things), 擦 “to wipe”, 扔 “to throw away”, 挂 “to hang”, 抬 “to lift, to carry together”, 装 “to install; to put in”, 敲 “to knock”. 卫生 is “hygiene, cleanliness”.

请把衣服挂起来。
Qǐng bǎ yīfu guà qilai.
Please hang up your clothes.
我得整理一下书桌。
Wǒ děi zhěnglǐ yíxià shūzhuō.
I need to sort out my desk.

Exercises

1. Listen and choose the translation

  1. Answer
    请把窗关上。 Qǐng bǎ chuāng guānshang. — Please close the window.

  2. Answer
    卫生间要每天打扫。 Wèishēngjiān yào měi tiān dǎsǎo. — The bathroom needs cleaning every day.

  3. Answer
    妈妈做了一桌子菜。 Māma zuòle yì zhuōzi cài. — Mum cooked a whole tableful of food.

  4. Answer
    冰箱是空的。 Bīngxiāng shì kōng de. — The fridge is empty.

2. Choose the correct option

  1. “A roomful of people”

    Answer
    一屋子人
  2. “I can’t find the keys anywhere”

    Answer
    钥匙怎么也找不到。
  3. How is 干 read in 干活儿?

    Answer
    gàn
  4. 房间太___了，快收拾一下！

    Answer
    乱

3. Build the sentence

  1. This place is for rent.

    Answer
    这个房子要出租。 Zhège fángzi yào chūzū.
  2. I’ll take the rubbish out.

    Answer
    我去扔垃圾。 Wǒ qù rēng lājī.
  3. Give the windows a wipe.

    Answer
    你把窗户擦擦吧。 Nǐ bǎ chuānghu cāca ba.
  4. Someone’s knocking at the door.

    Answer
    有人敲门。 Yǒu rén qiāo mén.

4. Dialogue: answer as the speaker

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

A
你找到房子了吗？
Nǐ zhǎodào fángzi le ma?
Have you found a place?
B
找到了，离公司很近。
Zhǎodào le, lí gōngsī hěn jìn.
Yes, close to work.
A
房租贵不贵？
Fángzū guì bu guì?
Is the rent expensive?
B
一个月两千五，不算贵。
Yí ge yuè liǎngqiān wǔ, bú suàn guì.
Two and a half thousand a month — not too bad.
A
有家具吗？
Yǒu jiājù ma?
Is it furnished?
B
有，房东都准备好了，我只要带衣服去就行。
Yǒu, fángdōng dōu zhǔnbèi hǎo le, wǒ zhǐyào dài yīfu qù jiù xíng.
Yes, the landlord has got everything ready — I just need to bring my clothes.

5. Translate into Chinese

  1. The door just won’t open.
    Answer
    门怎么也打不开。
  2. Mum cooked a whole tableful of food.
    Answer
    妈妈做了一桌子菜。
  3. Help me carry this table.
    Answer
    你帮我抬一下这张桌子。

💡 Did you know?: The big clean before New Year

Before the Spring Festival Chinese families do a 大扫除 dàsǎochú, a big clean: they wash windows, throw out old things and 收拾 the whole home. It’s believed that the old year’s bad luck is swept out with the dust. On New Year’s Day itself, by contrast, people avoid sweeping so as not to sweep the good luck away.

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