Level 4 · Lesson 13

你应该休息
You should rest

你应该休息。今天我必须工作，工作的时候要注意身体。

应该 for advice, 必须 for obligation — and where a modal verb sits in the sentence.

听 · Listen

你不舒服吗？
 安娜 —  李明，你不舒服吗？ 
Li Ming, aren't you well?  
 李明 —  我昨天晚上没睡觉。 
I didn't sleep last night.  
 安娜 —  你应该休息。 
You should rest.  
 李明 —  今天我必须工作。 
I have to work today.  
 安娜 —  工作的时候你要注意身体。 
While you work, look after your health.  
 李明 —  好，明天我不工作，我去公园锻炼。 
All right — tomorrow I'm not working, I'll go and exercise in the park.  
 安娜 —  外边下雨了，小心！ 
It's started raining outside — be careful!  
 李明 —  谢谢，我小心。 
Thanks, I'll watch out.  

讲解 · Explanation

你应该休息。

应该 is advice: 'you should', 'you ought to'. It is warm rather than bossy, which is why a friend uses it and a sign never does. Negate it on the modal itself: 你不应该工作 (nǐ bù yīnggāi gōngzuò) 'you shouldn't be working'. Say the pinyin carefully — yīnggāi, two first tones.

今天我必须工作。

必须 is obligation with no way out: a deadline, a law, a boss. Its negative is the one exception in this lesson — 不必须 does not exist. To say there is no obligation, use 不用 (bú yòng) 'no need': 明天你不用来 (míngtiān nǐ bú yòng lái) 'you don't have to come tomorrow'.

你要注意身体。你应该锻炼。

Every modal you have met — 会, 能, 可以, 想, 要, 应该, 必须 — stands in one fixed place: after the subject and before the main verb, subject + modal + verb + object. Nothing may come between the modal and its verb except an adverb, and the 不 always attaches to the modal, never to the verb. 注意 is 'pay attention to, look after', 小心 is 'be careful' and can stand alone as a warning.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
应该	should, ought to	advice; negative 不应该
必须	must, have to	no 不必须 — say 不用 instead
注意	to pay attention to, look after	注意身体 look after your health
小心	to be careful; careful!	stands alone as a warning: 小心！
锻炼	to exercise, work out	在公园锻炼
身体	body; health	注意身体 is the everyday 'take care of yourself'

练习 · Practice

你昨天晚上没睡觉。 You are giving a friend gentle advice: 'You should rest.'

明天没有工作。 How do you say 'You don't have to come tomorrow'?

工作的时候你要 ______ 身体。 Fill in 'pay attention to'.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'Tomorrow you should rest.'

应该、必须、注意、小心、锻炼 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

你应该休息。你应该锻炼。今天我必须工作。

Give a tired friend three pieces of advice out loud, each with 应该: 你应该休息，你应该锻炼，你应该喝水 (nǐ yīnggāi hē shuǐ). Then say the two things you yourself must do this week with 必须, and one thing you are free to skip with 不用. Keep the shape in your ear: subject, modal, verb.