If you are using a computer which I am sure you are, you gotta watch this segment to learn some highly practical expressions related to computers in Chinese. I probably got too ahead of myself while writing the notes – they are very detailed and long!
There are numerous useful Chinese expressions in this segment such as something having a malfunction, turn off the computer, to fix something, being good at something (if you are a beginner Chinese learner, may I suggest a way to say “I don’t speak Chinese very well”?). Too many to list. I am sure you can take away a few things from this segment.
Mandarin transcript (in pinyin and characters) for Peppa Pig S01E07 “Mummy Pig at Work” Part 3:
- ò, zāogāo, diànnǎo hǎoxiàng chūxiàn le gùzhàng
- zhū bàba, zhū bàba
- fāshēng shénme shì le, zhū māma
- zhū bàba, nǐ néng xiūlǐ diànnǎo ma
- wǒqù zuò wǔcān, nǐ lái xiūlǐ diànnǎo ba
- hǎo de, zhū māma. dànshì, wǒ búshi hěn shàncháng xiū diànnǎo
- xièxie nǐ le, zhū bàba
- zhū bàba zhǔnbèi qù xiū diànnǎo le
- yěxǔ wǒ yīnggāi xiān bǎ diànnǎo guān le
- ránhòu zài chóngxīnkāijī
- zhū bàba bǎ diànnǎo xiūhǎo le
- hǎo ēi, bàba
- tàihǎole, kànlái wǒ shì zhèi fāngmiàn de zhuānjiā
- 哦，糟糕，电脑好像出现了故障
- 猪爸爸，猪爸爸
- 发生什么事了，猪妈妈
- 猪爸爸，你能修理电脑吗
- 我去做午餐，你来修理电脑吧
- 好的，猪妈妈。但是，我不是很擅长修电脑
- 谢谢你了，猪爸爸
- 猪爸爸准备去修电脑了
- 也许我应该先把电脑关了
- 然后再重新开机
- 猪爸爸把电脑修好了
- 好诶，爸爸
- 太好了，看来我是这方面的专家
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Show Notes for Learn Chinese with Peppa Pig Season 01 Episode 07 Part 3
ò, zāogāo, diànnǎo hǎoxiàng chūxiàn le gùzhàng
哦 ， 糟糕 ， 电脑 好像 出现 了 故障
Oh, no. The computer seems to be malfunctioning
- 哦，糟糕 = ò, zāogāo, oh no. Note that in Chinese you typically wouldn’t use 哦，糟糕. It’s conceivable that you’d say 糟糕, but it’s never 哦，糟糕 as that just sounds foreign. However, 哦 in Chinese is commonly used for acknowledging something like 哦，我明白了. Oh, I see. 哦，我知道了. I know now.
- 电脑 = diànnǎo, computer
- 好像 = hǎoxiàng, it seems
- 出 = chū, the character could mean many things depending on the context, for example, it could mean “to happen”, “to exit”, “out” etc. It’s not just the characters you have to learn, but also the words. The contexts are very important!
- 出现 = chūxiàn, to appear. You can shorten 出现 to 出 in this context. Both 电脑好像出故障了 and 电脑好像出了故障 sound fine to me.
- 出 is often associated with bad things happening for example:
- 出了故障 = chūle gùzhàng, literally some malfunction happened. Something broke down
- 出了事故 = chūle shìgù, literally some accident happened. Most usually used in the context of car accident
- 出了事儿 = chūle shì er, literally some (bad) things happened. let’s say somebody got in trouble and was taken away by the police, you could say 他出事儿了
- 故障 = gùzhàng, malfunction, breakdown
zhū bàba, zhū bàba
猪 爸爸 ， 猪 爸爸
Daddy Pig, Daddy Pig
fāshēng shénme shì le, zhū māma
发生 什么 事 了 ， 猪 妈妈
What happened, Mummy Pig?
- This is a useful sentence to remember.
- 发生 = fāshēng, to happen. Note that if Daddy Pig asked “出什么事儿了” would have a more negative connotation. 发生什么事儿了 is pretty neutral.
- 什么 = shénme, what
- 事 = shì, thing, event. Note that I’d usually add the er-coloring to 事.
- 了 = le, indicating past tense.
zhū bàba, nǐ néng xiūlǐ diànnǎo ma
猪 爸爸 ， 你 能 修理 电脑 吗
Daddy Pig, can you fix the computer?
- 你 = nǐ, you
- 能 = néng, able to
- 修理 = xiūlǐ, to fix, to repair. I think it’s even more common to just say 修. 修 by itself will soon be used by Daddy Pig.
- 吗 = ma, turns a statement into a question
wǒ qù zuò wǔcān, nǐ lái xiūlǐ diànnǎo ba
我去 做 午餐 ， 你 来 修理 电脑 吧
I am going to make lunch, why don’t you come fix the computer
- 我 = wǒ, I
- 去 = qù, am going to, about to go off doing something
- 做 = zuò, to make
- 午餐 = wǔcān, lunch. Again I think 午饭 is more commonly used.
- 来 = lái, to come
- Why don’t you isn’t a literal translation. 来…吧 combination is to suggest somebody to do something. It’s very commonly used. Also see S01E46 Part 2 and S01E43 Part 3
- 吧 = ba, indicating suggestion, used together with 来
hǎo de, zhū māma. dànshì, wǒ búshi hěn shàncháng xiū diànnǎo
好 的 ， 猪 妈妈 。但是 ， 我 不是 很 擅长 修 电脑
Okay, Mummy Pig. But I am not good at fixing the computer
- 好的 = hǎo de, okay, common way to agree to something.
- 但是 = dànshì, but
- 不 = bú, no
- 是 = shi, is/am/are
- 很 = hěn, very
- 不是很 can often be added in front of an adjective. For example,
- 天气不是很冷 = tiānqì bùshì hěn lěng, the weather isn’t that cold. It is less strong than 天气不冷, not cold at all.
- Note that 天气不很冷 sounds awkward to me, but 天气不太冷 is okay and is similar to 天气不是很冷, not as good though.
- They all make sense though so don’t worry if you don’t end up using the most natural way to express this.
- 擅长 = shàncháng, to be good at, typically a skill. This is a little bit formal and in spoken Chinese you’d more likely use 会 instead, which means being capable of.
- 我不是很会 + do something is a pretty useful structure.
- For example, 我不是很会说中文 = wǒ bùshì hěn huì shuō zhōngwén, I am not good at speaking Chinese or I don’t speak Chinese very well. I think this sounds better than 我不会说中文 because technically speaking, if you can’t speak Chinese at all, you wouldn’t use a Chinese sentence to express it. 不是很会 is saying you’re not good at it, but not totally unable to. If you use this expression, I guarantee you that it sounds more impressive than 我不会说中文 because clearly you know more than saying the old 我不会说中文. Haha. With that said, if you’re not good at speaking Chinese, it’d be pretty obvious so maybe you don’t have to learn this expression…
xièxie nǐ le, zhū bàba
谢谢 你 了 ， 猪 爸爸
Thank you, Daddy Pig
- Everybody probably already learned 谢谢 one way or another. 谢谢你了 is also commonly used and I think it’s a little bit more sincere.
- BTW, 谢谢你, literally “thank you”, is widely used by English speakers, but it is usually only used in some serious situations by native speakers. Say you want to thank your teacher for years of great teaching, you could say 谢谢你，老师. But, if you just want to thank your teacher for answering a question, you shouldn’t use 谢谢你, even though anybody would surely understand it. I would use 谢谢 instead. In generally, I think 谢谢 is way more general purpose than 谢谢你.
- Compared to 谢谢你, I think 谢谢你了 is also more commonly used and sounds more casual. 谢了，谢啦 are even more casual ways to say thank you. They are all better than 谢谢你 in daily conversations imo.
- If you’re dealing with elder people or people you respect, it’s common to say 谢谢您了 to show respect to the elderly.
zhū bàba zhǔnbèi qù xiū diànnǎo le
猪 爸爸 准备 去 修 电脑 了
Daddy Pig is about to fix the computer
- 准备 = zhǔnbèi, to get ready
- 准备去 = zhǔnbèi qù, to get ready to do something, about to do something
- It’s similar to 要去 but 准备 implies you gotta get ready somehow for this thing. It adds to the comic effect of Daddy Pig taking on the challenge of repairing the computer!
yěxǔ wǒ yīnggāi xiān bǎ diànnǎo guān le
也许 我 应该 先 把 电脑 关 了
Perhaps I should first turn off the computer
- 也许 = yěxǔ, perhaps.
- 也许 is the most direct way to translate “perhaps” and “perhaps” is a commonly used word in English. However, in spoken Chinese 也许 is not commonly used. If you have to say “perhaps”
- I think it’s more common to use 可能 which is closer to “probably”.
- Personally, I would have translated this sentence to say 我先把电脑关了试试 (I did write about repeating Chinese verbs and I am pretty sure I used 试试 as an example.)
- 应该 = yīnggāi, should
- 先 = xiān, first
- 把 + noun + 关了 = bǎ + noun + guān le, to turn something off. This is a very useful phrase. For example,
- 把电视关了 = bǎ diànshì guānle, to turn off the TV
- 把灯关了 = bǎ dēng guānle, to turn off the light. Easy peasy!
- 把火关了 = bǎ huǒ guānle, literally to turn off the fire, it’s used to say to turn off the stove
- 把水关了 = bǎ shuǐ guānle, literally to turn off the water, it’s used to say to turn off the faucet / tap
- In Chinese, 关 can be used for both “to turn off” or “to close”. For example, 把门关了 = bǎ mén guānle, to shut the door
ránhòu zài chóngxīnkāijī
然后 再 重新开机
And then, restart the computer
- 然后 = ránhòu, and then, after tha
- 再 = zài, by itself, it usually means again. Commonly seen in 再见, see you again. In this context, you could interpret it that way. However, 再 often just means “and then” as well. It is not necessary that an action is repeated. For example,
- 你先睡觉，我再吃饭 = Nǐ xiān shuìjiào, wǒ zài chīfàn. You go to sleep first, and then I will eat. The action doesn’t have to be the same.
- 再说 is “let’s talk later”, even for a topic that hasn’t been discussed before.
- 重 = chóng, to repeat, to start over. 重复 = chóngfù means to repeat. You may have learned this character in the context of “heavy” or “weight”, where it’s pronounced as Zhòng. Also seen in 重要 used in S01E09 Part 1 and S01E07 Part 1.
- 新 = xīn, new, fresh.
- 重新, afresh. For example, 重新开始, to restart something.
- 开, to turn on, to open. All the examples I used for 关 can be replaced with 开 and mean the opposite action.
- 机, machine.
- Another name for computer is 计算机, literally a computing machine. Both 计算机 and 电脑 are commonly used. However, some words about the computer involve 机, such as 开机, to turn on the computer, 关机, to turn off the computer. Even though 机 is a generic noun for machines (check out 摄像机 in S01E51 Part 1), 开机关机 are used just for computers.
- 重新开机, to restart the computer. Another way to say it is 重起 = chóng qǐ (When you are an advanced learner, come back here and tell me the difference between 重起 and 重启).
zhū bàba bǎ diànnǎo xiūhǎo le
猪 爸爸 把 电脑 修好 了
Daddy Pig fixed the computer
- 把…修好了, to have fixed something
- 把 + something + verb + 好了 is a useful structure to learn. It essentially means to do something well, or to have done something successfully.
- 把门关好了 = bǎ mén guān hǎole, to shut the door closely
- 把火关好了 = bǎ huǒ guān hǎole, to turn off the stove completely
- 把作业做好了 = bǎ zuòyè zuò hǎole, to finish some homework
hǎo ēi, bàba
好 诶 ， 爸爸
Great, dad
- 好诶 sounds pretty childish. You don’t necessarily want to use that as an adult.
tàihǎole, kànlái wǒ shì zhèi fāngmiàn de zhuānjiā
太好了 ， 看来 我 是 这 方面 的 专家
Awesome, it looks like I am an expert at this.
- 太好了 = tàihǎole, literally “too good”, a common expression to say great or awesome
- 看来 = kànlái, it seems
- 方面 = fāngmiàn, area
- 这 = zhèi, this. Note that the official pinyin is zhè, but it sounds slightly different.
- 这方面的, of this area, of this topic. This expression is used because 专家 is often used together with 这方面. You often become an expert at a 方面, which can be interpreted as a topic.
- 专 = zhuān, specialized
- 家 = jiā, you’ve learned 家 in the context of family. But it’s often used to call a respectful profession, such as 钢琴家 = gāngqín jiā, a well-known pianist, 画家 = huàjiā, a well-known painter, 科学家 = kēxuéjiā, a scientist
- 专家 = zhuānjiā, expert