M: Dàjiāhǎo. Huānyíng nǐmen dào Xiànzài Xué Hànyǔ. Wǒ shì ML.
S: Wǒ shì Stuart. We’re still looking for my wallet. 我们还在找我的钱包 wǒmen háizài zhǎo wǒde qiánbāo.
M: We’ve been searching for ages, 我们找了半天，but can’t find it 但是,找不到. wǒmen zhǎole bàntiān, dànshì, zhǎo bú dào. 啊! found it 找到了 zhǎodào le.
S: 找到了，那太好了！Zhǎodào le, nà tài hǎo le.
M: See, your wallet is in your bag 看，你的钱包在你的包里面 nǐde qiánbāo zài nǐ de bāolǐmian.
S: But where’s my bag? 但是，我的包在哪儿 dàn shì, wǒde bāo zài nǎr?
M: In the car 在汽车里面 zài qìchē lǐmian.
M: Wallet’s found, so we can look at some of the new stuff.
S: 我们还在找我的钱包。
M: Wǒmen háizài zhǎo wǒde qiánbāo. Remember, the hái in front of a verb means ‘still’ or ‘continuing to’. So, 我们还在找他的钱包 we’re still looking for his wallet wǒmen háizài zhǎo tāde qiánbāo.
S: 我们找了半天.
M: Wǒmen zhǎole bàntiān. 半 BAN bàn, means ‘half’. Bàntiān, ‘half a day’, and it means ‘for a long time’, ‘for ages’.
S: Wǒmen zhǎole bàntiān. We’ve searched for ages. Wǒmen zhǎole bàntiān.
M: Now, remember the word for ‘wait’? Duìle. 等DENG děng. So can you say, ‘we’ve been waiting for ages’?
S: Hěnhǎo. 我们等了半天wǒmen děngle bàntiān.
M: And back to our text. I said, 找到了 found it. Zhǎodàole! The word ‘dào’ here literally means ‘arrive’, and the ‘le’ signifies completion. So dàole means ‘arrived. Dàole is often used after a verb to express successful completion. A few examples, and you’ll get the idea. Ready? here in 找到了, ‘zhǎo’ means look for, zhǎodàole, ‘found it’, zhǎodàole. Note that we don’t have to put in the ‘it’.
S: Now, how do we say ‘buy’, or ‘purchase’? Méicuò. 买MAI mǎi. So now say, ‘I’ve bought it’. Fēicháng hǎo. 买到了 mǎidàole. If you want, you can add the ‘I”, so it becomes wǒ mǎidàole, wǒ mǎidàole. Same with he, she, they or we. For example, tā mǎidàole, tā mǎidàole.
M: Now, can you guess what 找不到 zhǎobúdào, means? Duìle. ‘not found’, or ‘can’t find it’. Zhǎobúdào.
S: And how do you say ‘can’t buy it’? Hěn hǎo. 买不到 mǎi bú dào.
M: Ok, back to our text. And then, I found it 找到了 zhǎodào le. 你的钱包在你的包里面.
S: zài nǐde bāolǐmian literally, ‘at your bag in.’ 包BAO bāo here means ‘bag’.
M: It’s the same bāo as in qiánbāo. And 里面 LI MIAN lǐmian, means ‘in’, ‘inside’.
S: But, where’s my bag？但是，我的包在哪儿？Dàn shì, wǒde bāo zài nǎr?
M: In the ‘qìchē’ – car. 在汽车里面 zài qìchē lǐmian.
S: What a memory I have! Xiànzài wǒmen xiàke. Zàijiàn.
M: Zàijiàn!
(Source:english.cri.cn)
