Hi there awesome learners,大家好!
This post comes with a recap of Poll Quizzes, week 9 (May 28 – June 3, 2018).
For your convenience, correct answers are marked as ✅, and wrong as ❌.
1. Subway Madness
这应该是…时段
Zhè yīnggāi shì… shíduàn
✅ 早高峰 zǎo gāofēng – morning rush hour
❌ 没人 méi rén – “no people” (off-peak hour)
“这应该是.早高峰时段 Zhè yīnggāi shì zǎo gāofēng shíduàn” (“This must be morning rush hour”) was the right answer to this Monday’s story. Well done, 87% (1324👤) who chose 早高峰 zǎo gāofēng (“morning-high-peak”)!
The rush hours in Shanghai are usually 7-10am and 3-8pm (早高峰是7-10点,晚高峰是15-20点). At that time, central subway lines – like Line 2 in the video – get really crowded, because people travel to and back from work.
2. Screen or Paper?
他们看着…上的字唱歌
Tāmen kànzhe… shàng de zì chàng gē
❌ 屏幕 píngmù – screen
✅ 纸 zhǐ – paper
“他们看着纸上的字唱歌 Tāmen kànzhe zhǐ shàng de zì chàng gē” (They are singing a song looking at the words on the paper) was the correct answer to this one, and 62% of you (679👤) have guessed it right.
It wasn’t an easy question to answer on the spot, but phrases like “on the screen” (屏幕上 píngmù shàng) and “on paper” (纸上 zhǐ shàng) can come in handy in your daily conversations. Also, events like this happen in the parks every weekend – so next time you see it, you will be able to describe it😉
(Notice the structure of this sentence: “They-looking-at-words-sing-a song”. By using 着, you can put in one sentence two actions happening at the same time.)
3. Same or Different?
这两个男孩长得…
Zhè liǎng gè nánhái zhǎng dé…
✅ 一模一样 yīmóyīyàng – exactly the same
❌ 完全不一样 wánquán bù yīyàng – totally different
“这两个男孩长得一模一样 Zhè liǎng gè nánhái zhǎng dé yīmóyīyàng” (These two boys look exactly the same) was the correct answer to this poll, and 71% (664👤) of you nailed it!
This picture was sent by @savvamarina_sova, who noticed these twins in the street – and we decided to use it to practice two useful phrases. One is an idiom, 一模一样 yīmóyīyàng (“exactly the same”). It’s a set phrase, so remember it as it is and don’t try to break it apart. The second phrase is 完全不… wánquán bù… (absolutely/totally not…), and it’s not a set phrase, which means you can add ANY adjectives after it. In this case, when you add an adjective 一样 yīyàng (the same), it becomes 完全不一样 wánquán bù yīyàng – “totally not the same” or “totally different”.
4. Is It Raining Hard?
现在在下…
Xiànzài zàixià…
✅ 毛毛雨 máomaoyǔ – drizzle
❌ 暴雨 bàoyǔ – rainstorm
“现在在下毛毛雨 Xiànzài zàixià máomaoyǔ” (It’s drizzling now) was the right answer to this poll, as 72% (813👤) have voted for. If you have no idea what this is – it’s from an earlier post this week about two different kinds of summer rain – drizzles and rainstorms. That day it was raining just a little – so it qualified for 毛毛雨 máomaoyǔ 😉
5. How About Now?
那天晚上下了…
Nèitiān wǎnshàng xià le…
❌ 毛毛雨 máomaoyǔ – drizzle
✅ 暴雨 bàoyǔ – rainstorm
“那天晚上下了暴雨 Nèitiān wǎnshàng xià le bàoyǔ” (There was a rainstorm that night) was the answer to this poll – and 86% (933👤) nailed it!
This quiz was meant to test you on two different kinds of summer rain – drizzles and rainstorms – again. And this one certainly qualified for a 暴雨 bàoyǔ ⛈️
5. How much water is there LEFT in the bottle?
这个瓶子里面有…水
Zhège píngzi lǐmiàn yǒu … shuǐ
❌ 一升 yī shēng – one liter
✅ 500毫升 wǔbǎi háoshēng – 500 milliliters
“这个瓶子里面有500毫升(的)水 Zhège píngzi lǐmiàn yǒu wǔbǎi háoshēng shuǐ” was the answer to this poll – and only 22% (243👤) of you got it right!
It’s because the question was about how much water WAS in the bottle. It’s capacity is 1L, as written on it – but you can see that the bottle is only half full.
The second round of this poll got slightly better results:
With 55% (721👤) of you getting it right this time. Sorry, it was my bad – thought this liter/milliliter topic was a bit boring, and wanted to make it more tricky😝
I hope you’re enjoiying taking part in these stories as much as my friends and I enjoy producing them!
You can still watch all the quizzes on @YourMandarin account page from your mobile devices – just click on the Highlight called #Quizzes.
If you have any questions, feedback or ideas – feel free to leave them in comments below.
See you next week on Instagram😉
