Level 2 · Lesson 15

我每天工作
My day, every day

我每天七点上班，晚上七点下班。请坐，请喝茶。

Chaining a whole day together with 每天, 上班 and 下班 — and 请 as the polite command.

听 · Listen

对话
 李明 —  安娜，请坐。请喝茶。 
Anna, please have a seat. Please have some tea.  
 安娜 —  谢谢！李明，你爸爸做什么工作？ 
Thank you! Li Ming, what work does your father do?  
 李明 —  他是医生，每天上班。 
He's a doctor; he goes to work every day.  
 安娜 —  他早上八点上班吗？ 
Does he start work at eight in the morning?  
 李明 —  早上七点上班，晚上七点下班。他很忙。 
He starts at seven in the morning and finishes at seven in the evening. He's very busy.  
 安娜 —  他星期天也工作吗？ 
Does he work on Sundays too?  
 李明 —  星期天他不工作，他休息。 
On Sunday he doesn't work — he rests.  
 安娜 —  我妈妈每天做饭，也很累。 
My mother cooks every day; she's tired too.  

讲解 · Explanation

我每天工作。我早上七点起床，八点上班，晚上十点睡觉。

每天 means 'every day', and like every other time expression it stands before the verb: 我每天工作, never 我工作每天. Once you can put a time in front of a verb you can tell a whole day: name a time, name the verb, add a comma, and start again. The verbs themselves never change — the day is carried entirely by the time words, which is why 今天我上班 and 明天我上班 use exactly the same 上班.

他每天上班，晚上七点下班。我妈妈做饭。

上班 and 下班 are built like 上课 and 下课 and are learned the same way, whole: 上班 is going on shift, 下班 is coming off it. 工作 does double duty — a verb in 他星期天也工作, a noun in 什么工作. And 做 is the all-purpose 'do, make': 做饭 is to cook a meal, 做什么工作 asks what someone does for a living. Ask that question exactly in that order, with 什么 sitting where the answer will sit.

请坐。请喝茶。请说。

请 in front of any verb turns it into a polite request — the gentlest command Chinese has, and the one you will use most as a guest or in a shop. 请坐, 请喝茶, 请说, 请看, 请休息. Nothing else changes: no ending on the verb, no word for 'you'. Say it warmly and it is an invitation; say it briskly and it is still perfectly polite.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
工作	to work; work, job	both verb and noun
每天	every day	stands before the verb
休息	to rest	second syllable neutral tone
上班	to go to work, start work
下班	to finish work
做	to do, to make	做饭 = to cook a meal

练习 · Practice

你星期一工作，星期二工作……你说什么？ Which sentence is correct for 'I work every day'?

星期天我不上班，我______。 On Sunday I don't work — I ______.

排一排。 Arrange: 'My father goes to work at seven every day.'

朋友来我家。我说：______ A friend arrives at your home. What do you say?

上班、下班、休息、做饭、每天 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

我每天早上七点起床，八点上班，中午十二点吃饭，晚上六点下班，晚上十一点睡觉。星期天我休息。

Tell your own day from waking to sleeping, in one connected turn, with a time before every verb. Then tell your Sunday, which should look different. Finally, seat an imaginary guest and offer them something: 请坐。请喝茶。 That is level two finished — you can now say who you are, who your family are, what you eat, where you go, what time it is and what day it is.