Learn Mandarin: Peppa Pig S01E09 Part 1

This episode’s main topic is looking for something. It’s packed with new sentence structures and words. Enjoy!

Mandarin transcript (in pinyin and characters) for Peppa Pig S01E09 “Daddy Loses his Glasses” Part 1:

  • zhū bàba cháng dàizhe yǎn jìng
  • tā dàishang yǎnjìng cái néng kàn dé qīngchu
  • zhū bàba dàishang yǎnjìng zhīhòu, yíqiè kànde hěn qīngchu
  • dànshì dāng zhū bàba zhāidiào yǎnjìng zhīhòu
  • jiù shénme dōu kànbùqīng le
  • suǒyǒu de dōngxi kànshangqu dōu hěn móhu
  • suǒyǐ duì zhū bàba láishuō, zhīdào zìjǐ de yǎnjìng zài nǎr, shì hěn zhòngyào de

  • 猪爸爸常戴着眼镜
  • 他戴上眼镜才能看得清楚
  • 猪爸爸戴上眼镜之后,一切看得很清楚
  • 但是当猪爸爸摘掉眼镜之后
  • 就什么都看不清了
  • 所有的东西看上去都很模糊
  • 所以对猪爸爸来说,知道自己的眼镜在哪儿,是很重要的

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Show Notes for Learn Chinese with Peppa Pig Season 01 Episode 09 Part 1

zhū bàba cháng dàizhe yǎn jìng
猪爸爸常戴着眼镜
Daddy Pig usually wears glasses.

  • 猪爸爸 = zhū bàba, Daddy Pig
  • 常 = cháng, usually
  • 戴着 = dàizhe, to wear. This is a good segment to learn the distinction between 着 vs 上 in Chinese. 着 means it’s ongoing, such as in wearing or wears.
  • 眼镜 = yǎn jìng, glasses

tā dàishang yǎnjìng cái néng kàn dé qīngchu
他戴上眼镜才能看得清楚
He needs to put on (his) glasses to see clearly.

  • 他 = tā, he/him
  • 戴上 = dàishang, to put on (a pair of glasses). Compared to verb + 着, verb +上 focuses more on the action.
  • 才 = cái, only if, only then
  • 能 = néng, be able to
  • 才能 = cái néng, is a common set phrase. action + 才能 + result, only after the action is completed, you get some result that’s caused by the action. Not to be confused by the noun 才能 which means talent. You’d have to pay attention to the context
  • 看 = kàn, to look, to see
  • 清楚 = qīngchu, clear
  • 看得清楚 = kàn dé qīngchu, see clearly. 得 effectively converts clear to clearly
  • The subtle difference between 戴着 vs 戴上: 戴着 is only about the state of wearing glasses. 戴上 is more vivid and can be used to describe the action of putting on classes, however, it can also refer to the state of wearing glasses. In this sentence, if you substitute the 戴上 by 戴着, the new sentence still has the same meaning.

zhū bàba dàishang yǎnjìng zhīhòu, yíqiè kànde hěn qīngchu
猪爸爸戴上眼镜之后,一切看得很清楚
After he put on his glasses, (he) can see everything very clearly.

  • 之后 = zhīhòu, after, commonly used after an action. Also see the next sentence.
  • 一切 = yíqiè, everything
  • 很 = hěn, very
  • The subtle difference between 戴着 vs 戴上 (continued): In this sentence, you cannot sub 戴上 by 戴着, because the sentence implies Daddy Pig transitioned from not wearing glasses to wearing glasses (by using 之后), therefore you have to use 戴上 which can refer to the action of putting on glasses but not 戴着.

dànshì dāng zhū bàba zhāidiào yǎnjìng zhīhòu
但是当猪爸爸摘掉眼镜之后
But as soon as Daddy Pig takes off (his) glasses

  • 但是 = dànshì, but, however
  • 当 = dāng, when, as soon as
  • 摘掉 = zhāidiào, to take off
  • 当…之后 is also a set phrase, which means as soon as something happens. For example 当太阳下山之后 = dāng tàiyáng xiàshān zhīhòu, after the sun has gone down

jiù shénme dōu kànbùqīng le
就什么都看不清了
He wouldn’t see anything clearly

  • 就 = jiù, then
  • 什么 = shénme, whatever
  • 都 = dōu, all
  • 不 = bù, no
  • 看不清 = kànbùqīng, can’t see clearly. This is the exact negation of 看得清

suǒyǒu de dōngxi kànshangqu dōu hěn móhu
所有的东西看上去都很模糊
Everything looks blurry

  • 所有 = suǒyǒu, all of
  • 东西 = dōngxi, stuff
  • 所有的东西 = suǒyǒu de dōngxi, everything, it’s more colloquial than 一切
  • 看上去 = kànshangqu, colloquial expression for to look. For example, 你看上去很累 = nǐ kàn shàngqù hěn lèi, you look tired. An expression with the same meaning is 看起来 = kàn qǐlái, which I thnk may be even more colloquial
  • 模糊 = móhu, blurry

suǒyǐ duì zhū bàba láishuō, zhīdào zìjǐ de yǎnjìng zài nǎr, shì hěn zhòngyào de
所以对猪爸爸来说,知道自己的眼镜在哪儿,是很重要的
Therefore knowing where his glasses are is very important to Daddy Pig

  • 所以 =suǒyǐ, therefore
  • 对 + a person / people + 来说 = duì + person / people + láishuō, to somebody. 你对我很重要, you’re important to me
  • 知道 = zhīdào, to know
  • 自己 = zìjǐ, self
  • 自己的 =zìjǐ de, (his) own
  • 在 = zài, indicating location, similar to at
  • 哪儿 = nǎr, where. Read about how to use er-coloring in my focused article.
  • 是 = shì, is/am/are
  • 重要 = zhòngyào, important
  • This sentence also sounds like it’s translated from an English sentence. Keeping the meaning as much the same as possible, I would re-write the second half as 知道眼镜在哪儿很重要 (in colloquial Chinese, shorter is usually better).

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