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Key Words of the Day

office.办公室。(ban4gong1shi4) computer. 电脑。(dian4nao3) desk. 办公桌(ban4gong1zhuo1)。pen笔 (bi3). pencil. 铅笔(qian1bi3)。paper. 纸 (zhi3) My computer isn’t working. 我的电脑坏了。(wo3 de dian4nao3 huai4 le.) All in today’s Chinese Studio.

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Cam: The first word I want to learn is how to say office in Chinese.

YJ: Ok. It’s办公室。(ban4gong1shi4)

Cam: 办公室。(ban4gong1shi4)

YJ: 办公(ban4gong1) means to work

Cam: 办公(ban4gong1)

YJ: 办公室。(ban4gong1shi4), office.

Cam: 办公室。(ban4gong1shi4)

YJ: Now let’s get to the appliances in 办公室。(ban4gong1shi4). I have to say the most commonly used one is computer. In Chinese you can say电脑。(dian4nao3)

Cam: 电脑。(dian4nao3),

YJ: which literally means “electronic brain”. 电脑。(dian4nao3)

Cam: that’s interesting to know. 电脑。(dian4nao3) Yajie, how do the Chinese say desk?

YJ: It’s 办公桌(ban4gong1zhuo1)。

Cam: 办公桌(ban4gong1zhuo1)。

YJ: 桌(zhuo1) alone means desk. But since here we are talking about the office, so we put 办公(ban4gong1) in front. 办公桌(ban4gong1zhuo1)。

Cam: I see. 办公桌(ban4gong1zhuo1), desk.

Conversation 1:

(1) A:这是我的办公室。

B:嗯, 挺不错的!

(2) A:电脑放哪?

B:就放在那张办公桌上吧。

(3) A:你的手提电脑在哪呢?

B:哎呀,我忘在办公室了。

Cam: Sometimes I can’t find my pen, and need to borrow one from my fellow colleagues. Could you please tell me how to say that in Chinese?

YJ: you can just say 笔 (bi3), the third tone, it’s also a generic name.

Cam: That’s easy, 笔 (bi3). Then what if I need to borrow a pencil?

YJ: It’s 铅笔(qian1bi3), 铅 (qian1)means lead in Chinese. I guess because it used to be made of lead.

Cam: could be. 铅笔(qian1bi3), pencil. And also I need to borrow some “paper”…hehe?

YJ: Cam, it’s 纸 (zhi3), z-h-i, the third tone.

Cam: 纸 (zhi3). Easy.

Conversation 2:

(1) A: 你好,能借一支铅笔和一张纸吗?

B: 没问题。给你。

A:谢谢。

Cam: Yajie, unfortunately my computer isn’t working. And I need help from the technical guys. But first I need to tell them that in Chinese.

YJ: ok, you can say我的电脑坏了。(wo3 de dian4nao3 huai4 le.)

Cam: 我的电脑坏了。(wo3 de dian4nao3 huai4 le.)

YJ: 我的(wo3 de), my.

Cam: 我的(wo3 de

YJ: 电脑(dian4nao3), as we mentioned just now, it means computer.

Cam: 电脑(dian4nao3), “electronic brain”, I remember.

YJ: hehe, 坏了(huai4 le) here it means the machine can’t work.

Cam: 坏了(huai4 le)

YJ: 我的电脑坏了。(wo3 de dian4nao3 huai4 le.)

Cam: 我的电脑坏了。(wo3 de dian4nao3 huai4 le.) My computer isn’t working.

Conversation 3:

(1)A: 我的电脑坏了。能帮我修一下吗?

B: 没问题。

Cam: Well Yajie, this was a good starter lesson. I’m looking forward to learning more about working in an office.

YJ: Congratulations, Mr. Mc Loures! Now for today’s question of the day. How do you say “My computer isn’t working” in Chinese

Cam: See ya tomorrow!

YJ: Ming tian jian.