Learn Mandarin: Peppa Pig S01E07 Part 2

Another good segment for practicing sentence building. I particularly enjoyed talking about the use of 乱 in combination with Chinese verbs! These expressions are frequently used in spoken Chinese but you may not come across them for a long time if you follow a textbook.

Mandarin transcript (in pinyin and characters) for Peppa Pig S01E07 “Mummy Pig at Work” Part 2:

  • māma, wǒmen néng wándiànnǎo shàng de kuàilè xiǎojī yóuxì ma
  • wǒmen dàihuìr wánr kuàilè xiǎojī de yóuxì
  • yīnwèi xiànzài wǒyào gōngzuò
  • māma, wǒmen kěyǐ bāng nǐ ma
  • bùxíng, pèiqí. nǐ bùkěyǐ luàn pèng diànnǎo, zhīdào ma
  • qiáozhì, nǐ yě shì. bùkěyǐ luàn pèng diànnǎo
  • méicuò, qiáozhì. nǐ bùkěyǐ zhèiyàng luàn pèng
  • pèiqí, bié àn le
  • duìbùqǐ, māma
  • wǒ zhǐshì xiǎng gàosu qiáozhì shénmeshì bùnéng zuò de

  • 妈妈,我们能玩电脑上的快乐小鸡游戏吗
  • 我们待会儿玩儿快乐小鸡的游戏
  • 因为现在我要工作
  • 妈妈,我们可以帮你吗
  • 不行,佩奇。你不可以乱碰电脑,知道吗
  • 乔治,你也是。不可以乱碰电脑
  • 没错,乔治。你不可以这样乱碰
  • 佩奇,别按了
  • 对不起,妈妈
  • 我只是想告诉乔治什么是不能做的

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Show Notes for Learn Chinese with Peppa Pig Season 01 Episode 07 Part 2

māma, wǒmen néng wándiànnǎo shàng de kuàilè xiǎojī yóuxì ma
妈妈 , 我们 能 玩电脑 上 的 快乐 小鸡 游戏 吗
Mom, can we play the Happy Chicks game on the computer?

  • people + 能 + verb / action + 吗? A common structure to ask if doing something is allowed or if somebody can do something. Also see S01E03 Part 6.
  • 妈妈 = māma, mom
  • 我们 = wǒmen, we
  • 能 = néng, can
  • 玩 = wán, to play
  • 电脑 = diànnǎo, computer
  • 上 = shàng, on top of
  • 电脑上的 = diànnǎo shàng de, on the computer. Similarly, you can say 电视上的, see S01E51 Part 5.
  • 快乐 = kuàilè, happy
  • 小鸡 = xiǎojī, small chicken, or chicks
  • 游戏 = yóuxì, game
  • 吗 = ma, turns a statement into a question

wǒmen dàihuì wánr kuàilè xiǎojī de yóuxì
我们 待会 玩儿 快乐 小鸡 的 游戏

  • 待 = dài, it usually means to wait or to stay at somewhere.
  • 待会 = dàihuìr, in a bit.
    • Listen carefully, the 待 is pronounced more like a first flat tone here, even though the official pinyin marks it as the fourth decreasing tone.
    • This is a way to say “later”, usually within a few hours or even a few minutes. You can’t use 待会 in the context of something way out in the future, say you’re going to visit China next year, you wouldn’t say 待会去中国. You could say 我待会去超市 = wǒ dài huì qù chāoshì, I’m going to the supermarket in a bit.
    • Even though this is highly similar to 一会儿, 待会儿 often subtly implies you would rather delay doing something. 
  • Also, read my post on the use of er-sound!

yīnwèi xiànzài wǒyào gōngzuò
因为 现在 我要 工作
Because I have to work now

  • 因为 = yīnwèi, because
  • 现在 = xiànzài, now. Note that you could move 现在 after 我 as well. 因为我现在要工作 also works, but you can’t put it anywhere else such as at the end of the sentence like in English.
  • 我 = wǒ, I
  • 要 = yào, when followed by an action, it means “have to do” or  “will do”.
  • 工作 = gōngzuò, to work, to do work

māma, wǒmen kěyǐ bāng nǐ ma
妈妈 , 我们 可以 帮 你 吗
Mom, can we help you?

  • 我们 = wǒmen, we
  • 可以 = kěyǐ, can. 可以 is very similar to 能.
  • 帮 = bāng, to help
  • 你 = nǐ, you

bùxíng, pèiqí. nǐ bùkěyǐ luànpèng diànnǎo, zhīdào ma
不行 , 佩奇 。 你 不可以 乱碰 电脑 , 知道 吗
No you can’t, Peppa. You can’t mess with the computer, okay?

  • 不行 = bùxíng, not allowed. Read more about how to say No in Chinese!
  • 佩奇 = pèiqí, Peppa Pig
  • 不可以 = bùkěyǐ, not allowed, can’t
  • 乱 = luàn, messy, or to mess with
  • 碰 = pèng, to touch. 碰 is also used in S01E09 Part 4 in a more physical sense of the word, to bump.
  • 乱碰 implies the touching is not desirable or inappropriate from the speaker’s point of view. I translated it as “to mess with” although 乱碰 is more literally “inappropriately touch”.
  • It’s common to add 乱 in front of a single character word in Chinese. There are a lot of examples I can think of right away:
    • You don’t want your kids to touch stuff randomly in public, you could say “别乱碰东西” or “别乱摸东西”.
    • If a kid has a stomachache, his mom may ask “你乱吃什么了?” What the heck did you eat?
    • You can also 乱花钱, which means, you are wastefully spending money.
    • 别听他乱说 means don’t listen to him talking nonsense
  • 知道 = zhīdào, to know. 知道吗 on its own is a colloquial way to say “okay?”, “can you acknowledge that?”. 

qiáozhì, nǐ yě shì. bùkěyǐ luàn pèng diànnǎo
乔治 , 你 也 是 。 不可以 乱 碰 电脑
George, you too. Don’t mess with the computer. 

  • 乔治 = qiáozhì, George Pig
  • 你也是 = nǐ yě shì, this is a common way to say “you too”. 

méicuò, qiáozhì, nǐ bùkěyǐ zhèyàng luàn pèng
没错,乔治 , 你 不可以 这样 乱 碰
That’s right, George, you can’t mess with it like that. 

  • 这样 = zhèiyàng, like this. BTW, 这’s official pinyin is zhè but it doesn’t really sound like zhè. Check out S01E45 Part 4 to practice 这 further.

pèiqí, bié àn le
佩奇 , 别 按 了
Peppa, stop pressing!

  • 别 = bié, do not, must not
  • 别 + verb + 了 is to urge somebody to stop doing something.
  • 按 = àn, to push or press (a button)

duìbùqǐ, māma
对不起 , 妈妈
Sorry, mom

zhǐshì xiǎng gàosu qiáozhì shénmeshì bùnéng zuò de
我 只是 想 告诉 乔治 什么是 不能 做 的
I just wanted to tell George what he shouldn’t do.

  • 只是 = zhǐshì, only
  • 想 = xiǎng, want to
  • 我只是想 is a pretty common phrase to start a sentence to say “I just wanted to”
  • 告诉 = gàosu, to tell
  • 什么 = shénme, what
  • 是 = shì, is
  • 不能做的 = bùnéng zuò de, what can’t be done, what is now allowed.
  • 什么是不能做的 is more literally what can’t be done.
  • This sentence can be rephrased as 我只是想告诉乔治他不能做什么. It’s perhaps more straightforward that way. Please leave a comment if you are still confused. I can try breaking this down further. I gotta write about “什么” sometime. I started to but I ended up only writing about 为什么.

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