This is part 3 of a series on common Chinese words that can easily get mixed up.
These words are made up of the exact same sounds... but they have different tones.
Press play to see what I mean 🙂
Want to Master Chinese Tones?
Summary of this video lesson
lǎo bàn 老伴: husband or wife (of an elderly couple)
lǎo bǎn 老板: boss
Dialogue 1: “Boss, I’ll have a cup of coffee”
Customer:
lǎo bàn， lái yī bēi kā fēi！
老伴，来一杯咖啡！
Wife (of an elderly couple), I’ll have a cup of coffee.
Waitress:
a? wǒ bù shì nǐ lǎo bàn.
啊？我不是你老伴。
Huh? I'm not your wife.
Customer:
lǎo bàn， lái yī bēi kā fēi！
老伴，来一杯咖啡！
Wife, I’ll have a cup of coffee.
Waitress:
āi... tā yǒu bìng!
唉...他有病!
Sign... He's mental!
The Correct Tones
Customer:
lǎo bǎn， lái yī bēi kā fēi！
老板，来一杯咖啡！
Boss, I’ll have a cup of coffee.
Waitress:
hǎo de.
好的。
Ok.
nǐ de kā fēi.
你的咖啡。
Here's your coffee.
Customer:
xiè xie！
谢谢！
Thank you!
Waitress:
bù kè qi！
不客气！
You're welcome!
bèi zi 被子: quilt
bēi zi 杯子: cup
Dialogue 2: “Please give me a cup"
Customer:
qǐng gěi wǒ bèi zi.
请给我被子。
Please give me a quilt.
Waitress:
bù hǎo yì si，wǒ men méi yǒu bèi zi.
不好意思，我们没有被子。
Sorry, we don't have quilts.
xià yī gè！
下一个！
Next!
The Correct Tones
Customer:
qǐng gěi wǒ bēi zi.
请给我杯子。
Please give me a cup.
Waitress:
hǎo de， méi wèn tí.
好的，没问题。
Ok, no problem.
shào zi 哨子: whistle
sháo zi 勺子: spoon
Dialogue 3: “Please give me a spoon”
Customer:
qǐng gěi wǒ yī gè shào zi.
请给我一个哨子。
Please give me a whistle.
Waitress:
duì bu qǐ， wǒ men méi yǒu shào zi.
对不起，我们没有哨子。
Sorry, we don't have whistles.
Customer:
a？ nǐ men yǒu shào zi.
啊？ 你们有哨子。
Uh? You do have whistles.
Waitress:
wǒ yào jiā xīn.
要加薪。
I need a raise!
The Correct Tones
Customer:
qǐng gěi wǒ yī gè sháo zi.
请给我一个勺子。
Please give me a spoon.
Waitress:
hǎo de， nǐ de sháo zi.
好的，你的勺子。
Ok, here's your spoon.
Customer:
xiè xie！
谢谢！
Thank you!
tāng 汤: soup
táng 糖: sugar
Dialogue 4: “Do you have sugar?”
Customer:
hēi！ yǒu tāng ma？
嘿！有汤吗？
Hey! Do you have soup?
Waitress:
bù hǎo yì si， wǒ men méi yǒu tāng.
不好意思，我们没有汤。
Sorry, we don't have soup.
Customer:
a!？
啊!？
Huh!?
kā fēi guǎn méi yǒu tāng!?
咖啡馆没有汤!?
A café that doesn't have soup!?
bù shì ba!？
不是吧!?
Really!?
Waitress:
shì a！ wǒ men méi yǒu tāng.
是啊！我们没有汤。
Right! We don't have soup.
Customer:
zhēn de méi yǒu tāng ma？
真的没有汤吗？
You really don't have soup?
Waitress:
wǒ men zhēn de méi yǒu tāng.
我们真的没有汤。
We really don't have soup.
wǒ yào xiū xi！
我要休息！
I need a break from this!
The Correct Tones
Customer:
hēi！yǒu táng ma？
嘿！有糖吗？
Hey! Do you have sugar?
Waitress:
dāng rán yǒu， gěi nǐ.
当然有，给你。
Sure. Here you are.
Customer:
xiè xie！
谢谢！
Thank you!
Waitress:
bù kè qi！
不客气！
You're welcome!
nǎ ge shā lā 哪个沙拉 : which salad
nà ge shā lā 那个沙拉: that salad
Dialogue 5: “I want that salad”
Customer:
wǒ yào nǎ ge shā lā (?)
我要哪个沙拉 (?)
Which salad do I want? (lit. "I want which salad (?)")
Waitress:
nǎ ge shā lā?
哪个沙拉?
Which salad?
Customer:
nǎ ge shā lā?
哪个沙拉?
Which salad?
Waitress:
nǎ ge shā lā?
哪个沙拉?
Which salad?
Customer:
nǎ ge shā lā?
哪个沙拉?
Which salad?
Waitress:
āi... wǒ de tóu dōu dà le.
唉... 我的头都大了。
Sigh...My head hurts.
The Correct Tones
Customer:
wǒ yào nà ge shā lā.
我要那个沙拉。
I want that salad.
Waitress:
hǎo de.
好的。
Sure.
qǐng màn yòng.
请慢用。
Enjoy your meal.
Want to Master Chinese Tones?