课程 → Level 1 · 入门 → 课 8
Level 1 · Lesson 8 对不起,没关系
Sorry — it's fine
对不起。没关系。谢谢。不客气。欢迎!请坐。
The four politeness formulas of everyday Chinese, and 请 plus a verb as a real request.
听 · Listen
对话
Sorry! I'm tired.
It's fine. Welcome, welcome! Please sit down.
Thank you!
You're welcome.
Hello everyone! Are you busy?
We're busy. Teacher, please sit down.
Thanks, I won't sit. I'm busy too.
All right, let's go!
讲解 · Explanation
对不起。没关系。
Learn these two as one unit: an apology and the answer to it. 对不起 duìbuqǐ covers 'sorry' and 'excuse me' — bumping someone, arriving late, interrupting. 没关系 méi guānxi is what you say back: 'it doesn't matter'. Both are frozen phrases, so do not try to take them apart yet. The 没 inside 没关系 is a negator you have not met — it belongs to level 4 and behaves quite differently from 不 — so for now leave it where it sits and learn the phrase whole. Notice too that 不 in 对不起 goes light and toneless.
谢谢。不客气。
The second pair. 谢谢 you already have; the reply is 不客气 bú kèqi, literally 'don't be polite', meaning 'you're welcome, don't mention it'. 客气 kèqi is the politeness people stand on ceremony with, and 不客气 waves it away. Because 客 falls, the 不 rises: bú kèqi, never bù kèqi.
欢迎!请坐。请问。
欢迎 huānyíng greets someone arriving — at a door, a shop, a classroom — and doubling it, 欢迎欢迎, sounds warmer still. Then comes the frame you met in 请问: 请 plus a verb is a genuine request, not decoration. 请坐 'please sit down', 请问 'may I ask'. It is short, it is polite, and it is the normal way to tell anyone to do anything. To leave, use 走 zǒu 'to go, to leave': 我们走 is the everyday 'let's go'.
生词 · Vocabulary
| 词 | Meaning | 注 · Note |
|---|---|---|
| 对不起 | sorry, excuse me | the 不 goes light: duìbuqǐ |
| 没关系 | it doesn't matter | the answer to 对不起; a set phrase |
| 不客气 | you're welcome | the answer to 谢谢 |
| 欢迎 | to welcome | 欢迎欢迎 is warmer |
| 坐 | to sit | 请坐 qǐng zuò |
| 走 | to go, to leave | 我们走 = let's go |
练习 · Practice
用一用 · Use it
对不起。没关系。谢谢。不客气。欢迎!请坐。
Say the two pairs aloud one after the other, both halves each time, until the answer arrives without thinking — that is the whole point of a formula. Then act out a small arrival: welcome someone with 欢迎,欢迎, seat them with 请坐, thank them with 谢谢, and when it is time to leave say 好,我们走.