Level 4 · Lesson 17

我们几点见面？
What time shall we meet?

我们三点见面。你能帮我一个忙吗？

Verbs that already contain their object — 见面, 帮忙, 睡觉 — and how they split down the middle.

听 · Listen

明天三点
 安娜 —  李明，我们明天几点见面？ 
Li Ming, what time are we meeting tomorrow?  
 李明 —  下午三点，在图书馆前边。 
Three in the afternoon, in front of the library.  
 安娜 —  好。明天我请客，我们去吃饺子。 
Good. Tomorrow it's on me — let's go and eat dumplings.  
 李明 —  好！那儿人很多，我们要排队。 
Great! There are a lot of people there, so we'll have to queue.  
 安娜 —  没关系。你能帮我一个忙吗？ 
That's fine. Could you do me a favour?  
 李明 —  你说吧。 
Go ahead.  
 安娜 —  星期天我姐姐结婚，我想买一件新衣服。 
My sister is getting married on Sunday and I want to buy a new outfit.  
 李明 —  好，我帮你。我们三点见！ 
Sure, I'll help. See you at three!  

讲解 · Explanation

我们见面。我们明天下午三点见面。

见面 already means 'see' plus 'face' — the object is built into the word. So it cannot take another object after it: 我见面他 is wrong, always. When two people meet, both of them go into the subject: 我们见面, 他们明天见面. The time expression sits where it always has, before the verb. A way of naming your partner separately is coming in level 5; until then, put everyone in the subject.

你能帮我一个忙吗？我帮你的忙。

帮忙 is the same shape — 帮 'help' plus 忙 'a busy job' — and here you can see the seam, because the person you are helping slides right into the middle: 帮我一个忙, 帮你的忙. Never 帮忙我. If you only want to say 'I'll help you', the plain verb 帮 is enough: 我帮你.

我睡了三个小时的觉。我排了半个小时的队。

睡觉 and 排队 split the same way, and this is where the seam really matters: 了 and any measurement of time go inside the word, not after it. 我睡了三个小时的觉 (I slept for three hours), 我排了半个小时的队 (I queued for half an hour). Note the reading — the 觉 of 睡觉 is jiào, not jué. 请客 and 结婚 behave alike: 今天我请客 (today I'm paying), 他们昨天结婚了 (they got married yesterday), and never 结婚她.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
见面	to meet	我们见面 — never 见面他
帮忙	to help, do a favour	帮我一个忙, 帮你的忙
请客	to treat, to pay for everyone	今天我请客
结婚	to get married	他们结婚了
排队	to queue, to line up	排了半个小时的队
小时	hour	一个小时, 三个小时

练习 · Practice

我们明天见面。 Which sentence is correct Chinese?

你能 ______ 吗？ Could you do me a favour?

昨天晚上我睡了八个小时的 ______。 Fill in the missing half of 睡觉.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'We're meeting at three tomorrow.'

见面、帮忙、请客、结婚、排队 Match each two-part verb to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

我们几点见面？在哪儿见面？

Arrange a meeting out loud. Ask the two questions above, then answer them yourself with a time and a place: 我们明天下午四点在公园前边见面。Add one favour — 你能帮我一个忙吗？ — and one offer — 明天我请客。Finish by reporting your night in the split shape: 昨天晚上我睡了…… 个小时的觉。