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

安娜 — 对不起!我很累。
Sorry! I'm tired.
李明 — 没关系。欢迎,欢迎!请坐。
It's fine. Welcome, welcome! Please sit down.
安娜 — 谢谢你!
Thank you!
李明 — 不客气。
You're welcome.
王老师 — 大家好!你们忙吗?
Hello everyone! Are you busy?
李明 — 我们很忙。老师,请坐。
We're busy. Teacher, please sit down.
王老师 — 谢谢,我不坐。我也很忙。
Thanks, I won't sit. I'm busy too.
李明 — 好,我们走!
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

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
to sit 请坐 qǐng zuò
to go, to leave 我们走 = let's go

练习 · Practice

对不起! Someone has just apologised to you. What do you say?
谢谢你! Someone has just thanked you. What do you say?
王老师,请______。 Offer your teacher a seat.
排一排。 Arrange the words: 'Teacher, please sit down.'
对不起、没关系、不客气、欢迎、坐、走 Match each word to its meaning.

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.