Level 3 · Lesson 20

我的房间
My room

我的房间很小，很舒服，也很安静。

Review: chain four descriptions of one place, choosing 的 or no 的 and the right 量词 every time.

听 · Listen

你的房间
 李明 —  安娜，你的房间大不大？ 
Anna, is your room big?  
 安娜 —  不大。我的房间很小，很舒服。 
Not big. My room is small and very comfortable.  
 李明 —  房间里有什么？ 
What's in the room?  
 安娜 —  有一张床、一张桌子和一把椅子。 
A bed, a table and a chair.  
 李明 —  桌子上一共有几本书？ 
How many books are on the table altogether?  
 安娜 —  一共有五本书和一台电脑。 
Five books and a computer in all.  
 李明 —  你的房间安静吗？ 
Is your room quiet?  
 安娜 —  很安静。房间外边有一个公园，很漂亮。 
Very quiet. Outside my room there's a park, and it's beautiful.  

讲解 · Explanation

我的房间、我家、小房间、红色的花。

Three habits decide 的. A pronoun plus an ordinary possession keeps it: 我的房间, 我的电脑, 老师的车. A pronoun plus family or 家 or 学校 drops it: 我家, 我妈妈. A one-syllable adjective in front of a noun drops it too — 小房间, 大公园, 新书 — while a colour or a longer description keeps it: 红色的花, 很大的房子. When in doubt with a possession, put 的 in; when in doubt with a short adjective, leave it out.

桌子上一共有五本书。

一共 means 'altogether' and stands in front of the verb, where every adverb you have met goes: 一共有五本书, 一共有三个房间. Every count still carries its measure word — 一张床, 一张桌子, 一把椅子, 一台电脑, 一本书 — and the number changes nothing about it. Ask for the total with 几 when you expect a handful, with 多少 when the answer could be anything.

我的房间很小，很舒服，也很安静。

Chain descriptions with commas and repeat 很 in front of each adjective; 也 slots in before the second 很 and never sits at the end of the sentence. To ask, either add 吗 or use the A-not-A form: 房间大不大？舒服不舒服？ In an A-not-A question the 不 loses its tone — dà bu dà, shūfu bu shūfu — and the whole question sounds a shade more direct than 吗.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
漂亮	pretty, good-looking	很漂亮; negative 不漂亮 bú piàoliang
舒服	comfortable	of a place, a chair, or how you feel
安静	quiet	very quiet 很安静; not quiet 不安静 bù ānjìng
热闹	lively, bustling	a compliment for a market or a party
一共	altogether, in all	before the verb: 一共有五本书

练习 · Practice

王老师 ______ 车很新。 Teacher Wang's car is new. Which word joins the two nouns?

我的房间 ______ 舒服。 An adjective is the whole predicate here. What goes in front of it?

桌子上 ______ 有五本书。 Fill in the word for 'altogether'.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'In the room there is a bed.'

漂亮、舒服、安静、热闹、一共 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

我的房间很小，很舒服。房间里有一张桌子。桌子旁边有一把椅子。

Describe your own room aloud in four sentences, and make each one do a different job. One: two adjectives with 很. Two: what is in it, with 有 and a 量词 on every noun. Three: where two of those things sit, with 在 or with a place word plus 有. Four: a total, with 一共. Then say the whole thing again without stopping — that run of four is the whole of level 3 in your mouth at once.