6.2: Lesson 5 Dialogue 2- What did you do?

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Narration:

小常在中国的一个大学图书馆工作。昨天是他的生日，所以他请了八个同事去他家玩儿。
小张没去，因为他昨天跟女朋友去约会了。可是我不忙，所以我去了。
小常为我们准备了很多好吃的菜，有披萨、寿司，还有很多中国菜。他还为我们准备了很多饮料，有白酒、红酒、可乐和水，还有别的。我不渴，只喝了两听啤酒。
我们在一起聊天、K歌、玩游戏，很好玩儿。我玩到晚上十二点才回家。那(个)时候，我的爸妈都睡觉了。

An interactive H5P element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://openbooks.lib.msu.edu/chs101/?p=181#h5p-21

Vocabulary:

Chinese	Pinyin	English
昨天	zuó tiān	time word, yesterday
约会	yuē huì	n., dating; v., to date
准备	zhǔn bèi	v., to prepare; n., preparation
披萨	pī sà	n., pizza
寿司	shòu sī	n., sushi
饮料	yǐn liào	n., beverage
水	shuǐ	n., water
渴	kě	adj., thirsty
可乐	kě lè	n., cola
K歌	kēi gē	v., to sing karaoke songs
玩	wán	v., to play, to have fun
好玩	hǎo wán	adj., fun, interesting
别的	bié de	adj., other
到	dào	prep., to, till
回	huí	v., to go/come back, to return
回家	huí jiā	verb phrase, to go home
吧	ba	particle, used at the end of a sentence to communicate some level of uncertainty, or to make an educated guess about something.
才	cái	adv., as late as, not…until
白酒	bái jiǔ	n., a strong Chinese liquor (around 40-60% alcohol)
红	hóng	adj., red
红酒	hóng jiǔ	n., red wine
图书馆	tú shū guǎn	n., library
听	tīng	measure word for an airtight container made of tinplate or aluminium

An interactive H5P element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://openbooks.lib.msu.edu/chs101/?p=181#h5p-20

Grammar Notes：

1. The word 好玩:
   The adjective 好玩 is formed by putting the adverb 好 before the verb 玩, meaning “nice/pleasant to play with”. This is a way to form adjectives in Chinese, i.e., “好 + verb”. For example, we have learned 好吃、好喝.
2. The particle 了：
   了 is a particle, used after a verb to indicate its completion. In the example 我去了, 了 is used after the verb 去, meaning the action 去 was completed. Note: It is not equal to the past tense in English because the particle 了 can also be used with future tense to indicate an action completed in the future. For example, 明天你去了北京以后回家。
3. The adverb 才:
   It is always used before verbs to indicate “as late as…”, “not… until”. For example, we have this sentence from the dialogue: 我两点才回家。This sentence means “I didn’t come home until 2:00 a.m.”. In this sentence, the word 才 is an adverb, used before the verb phrase 回家 to indicate “as late as”.
4. The preposition 到
   到 can be used in the prepositional phrase to introduce the time of the action, indicating the status of the action to this time. The structure is “verb + 到 + time”. For example:
   他昨天学到了十一点。(He studied till/to 11:00 PM yesterday.)
   我玩到晚上十点才回家。(I didn’t go back home until I played till 10:00 PM.)
5. The word 别的:
   This is an adjective, often used before a noun. For example, 别的人 (other people). In the dialogue, there is a sentence containing this word: 没有问我喝了别的酒没有。([You] didn’t ask me whether I had drunken other wine or not.) Here 别的 is an adjective, used before the noun 酒 to modify it.

Culture Notes:

In China, partying is normally done on weekends when people are not busy. If you are invited to a Chinese friend’s party, here are a few things to observe:

• Prepare a small gift. Your Chinese host may tell you not to bring anything. Actually, they’re just being polite. In the Chinese culture, visiting a friend empty-handed is considered impolite. Bringing fruit, chocolates, or souvenir products from your home country would be welcomed.
• Be on time. In China, showing up on time is a way to show your appreciation and respect to the host.
• Greet all people in the house. Start from the most senior, proceeding down the social scale, or as many as you can see from where you are. A simple “ni hao” or “hello” would be okay.
• Take your shoes off and change into a pair of home slippers your host provides. Your host would probably tell you it’s okay to wear your shoes, but it is more polite to take them off.
• Your Chinese friend might offer to show you around. Don’t look around without informing your friend.