课程Level 1 · 入门 → 课 9

Level 1 · Lesson 9

我学汉语
I'm learning Chinese

我学汉语。汉语很难,不容易。我不学英语。

Your first full transitive sentence: subject, verb, object — and the names of the languages.

听 · Listen

对话

王老师 — 安娜,你学汉语吗?
Anna, do you study Chinese?
安娜 — 我学汉语。我很高兴!
I study Chinese. I'm very happy about it!
王老师 — 汉语难吗?
Is Chinese hard?
安娜 — 汉语很难,不容易。
Chinese is hard — it isn't easy.
李明 — 我不学汉语,我学英语。
I don't study Chinese — I study English.
安娜 — 英语容易吗?
Is English easy?
李明 — 英语也很难。你学中文,我学英语,我们是同学!
English is hard too. You study Chinese, I study English — we're classmates!
王老师 — 不错!
Not bad at all!

讲解 · Explanation

我学汉语。

Here is the backbone of the language: subject, then verb, then object — the same order as English. 我 does the studying, 学 is the studying, 汉语 is what gets studied. Compare it with 我是学生 from before: 是 only links two nouns, while 学 is a real action taken on an object. And 学 never changes shape — 我学, 你学, 他学, 我们学 are all just 学, because Chinese verbs have no endings at all.

我不学英语。汉语很难,不容易。

不 goes immediately before the verb, exactly as it did before 是: 不学, 不是, 不忙. Nothing else in the sentence moves, so 我学英语 becomes 我不学英语 and stops there. The adjectives behave the same way: 汉语很难 in the positive, 汉语不难 in the negative. 学, 难 and 容 all carry a rising tone, so 不 keeps its own falling tone in front of them: bù xué, bù nán, bù róngyì — unlike bú lèi and búcuò, where the next syllable falls.

汉语、中文、英语

Two endings name languages. 语 yǔ is the tongue you speak, 文 wén the writing you read, and each attaches to a short name for the people or the country: 汉语 is the language of the 汉 people, 英语 the language of 英国 Britain, 中文 the language of 中国 China. In practice 汉语 and 中文 both mean 'Chinese' and you will hear them used for each other; 汉语 is the usual word in a classroom, 中文 the usual word when the writing is in view.

生词 · Vocabulary

Meaning 注 · Note
to study, to learn takes an object: 学汉语
汉语 Chinese (the Han language) the classroom word
中文 Chinese (language and writing)
英语 English
hard, difficult 不难 is bù nán
容易 easy second syllable falls: róngyì

练习 · Practice

汉语…… Which sentence means 'I study Chinese'?
你学英语吗? You study Chinese, not English. Which answer is correct?
汉语不容易,汉语很______。 Chinese isn't easy — Chinese is hard.
排一排。 Arrange the words: 'I don't study English.'
学、汉语、中文、英语、难、容易 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

我学汉语。汉语很难,我很高兴。不错!

Say aloud what you study: 我学汉语. Then say what you do not study: 我不学 …. Then judge it — 汉语很难 or 汉语不难, 英语很容易 or 英语不容易 — and ask a friend back with 你呢? Four short sentences, and every one of them is subject first, verb second.