This part is full of simple examples. I ended up explaining a bunch about words related to a bathroom in Chinese. Those are, you know, essential expressions.
Mandarin transcript (in pinyin and characters) for Peppa Pig S01E09 “Daddy Loses his Glasses” Part 5:
- pèiqí zhǎo le zhěntou dǐxia
- dànshì bàba de yǎnjìng yě búzài nàr
- qiáozhì zhǎo le bàba de tuōxié
- dànshì yǎnjìng yě búzài nàr
- wǒmen qù yùshì kànkan
- pèiqí hé qiáozhì kāishǐ zài yùshì lǐ zhǎo
- yǎnjìng búzài yùgāng lǐ
- yǎnjìng yě búzài mǎtǒng lǐ
- zhè yǎnjìng yě tài nánzhǎo le
- 佩奇找了枕头底下
- 但是爸爸的眼镜也不在那儿
- 乔治找了爸爸的拖鞋
- 但是眼镜也不在那儿
- 我们去浴室看看
- 佩奇和乔治开始在浴室里找
- 眼镜不在浴缸里
- 眼镜也不在马桶里
- 这眼镜也太难找了
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Show Notes for Learn Chinese with Peppa Pig Season 01 Episode 09 Part 5
pèiqí zhǎo le zhěntou dǐxia
佩奇找了枕头底下
Peppa looked under the pillow.
- 佩奇 = pèiqí, Peppa Pig
- 找 = zhǎo, to look for
- 找了 = zhǎo le, this is a very commonly used and very colloquial expression! 找了 + location means looked for something at that location.
- 枕头= zhěntou, pillow
- 底下 = dǐxia, under
dànshì bàba de yǎnjìng yě búzài nàr
但是爸爸的眼镜也不在那儿
But dad’s glasses are not there either.
- 但是 = dànshì, but.
- 眼镜 = yǎnjìng, glasses.
- 爸爸的 = bàba de, dad’s
- 也 = yě, also, too/either
- 不在 = búzài, not in/at/on (a place). Pay attention that even though 不 is usually a descending tone, it’s changes to a rising tone in 不在, also 不是 = búshì, 不对 = búduì, both mean not correct.
- 那儿 = nàr, there. Read about how to use er-coloring in my focused article.
qiáozhì zhǎo le bàba de tuōxié
乔治找了爸爸的拖鞋
George looked in dad’s slippers.
- 乔治 = qiáozhì, George Pig
- 拖鞋 = tuōxié, slippers.
- I actually think this sentence is a bit awkward, I would have added a 里 = lǐ, inside, after 拖鞋. However, 找了那儿了 (while pointing at a place) is a perfectly valid use. Perhaps I haven’t had to look into slippers for anything.
dànshì yǎnjìng yě búzài nàr
但是眼镜也不在那儿
But the glasses are not there either.
wǒmen qù yùshì kànkan
我们去浴室看看
Let’s go to the bathroom.
- 我们 = wǒmen, we/us.
- 去 = qù, to go, often used in front of a location.
- 浴室 = yùshì, bathroom.
- Unlike in English, 浴室 focuses on the bath, if you just have a toilet with no shower, you can’t use 浴室.
- There are a few ways to call the bathroom (even if it just has a toilet) in Chinese. The two most common ones are 厕所 = cèsuǒ and 卫生间 = wèishēngjiān.
- I think 卫生间 sounds more polite and more upscale. But 厕所 is very commonly used.
- If you are going to use the bathroom, just say 我去上厕所 = wǒ qù shàng cèsuǒ.
- The best way to ask about where the bathroom is at a public place: 请问厕所在哪儿? = qǐngwèn cèsuǒ zài nǎr?
- 看看 = kànkàn, to see / to check, check my post on repeating verbs. Even though there is no “吧” ba at the end of this sentence, it still sounds like a suggestion.
pèiqí hé qiáozhì kāishǐ zài yùshì lǐ zhǎo
佩奇和乔治开始在浴室里找
Peppa and George started to look in the bathroom.
- 开始 = kāishǐ, to start
- We’ve talked about 开始 + verb + 了. Here the verb is 找 but there is no 了. I think whether there is a 了 doesn’t make a difference here. I will keep thinking about whether it does make a difference, at least it is not obvious to me so you’re probably safe to have the 了 or not.
yǎnjìng búzài yùgāng lǐ
眼镜不在浴缸里
The glasses are not in the bathtub.
- 浴缸 = yùgāng, bathtub. Another way to call bathtub is 澡盆 = zǎopén which is literally shower tub. I think both are fairly commonly used.
yǎnjìng yě búzài mǎtǒng lǐ
眼镜也不在马桶里
The glasses are not in the toilet.
- 马桶 = mǎtǒng, the toilet. So, I’ve rarely used this word because I’d never say 用马桶 = yòng mǎtǒng, which literally translates into using the toilet, to express using the toilet. Instead I’d say 我(在)上厕所.
zhè yǎnjìng yě tài nánzhǎo le
这眼镜也太难找了
These glasses are so hard to find!
- 难 = nán, hard, difficult
- 太 = tài, too much
- 也太难…了 = it’s too hard (to do something)!
- 也 does not mean “also, too” here. 也太…了 is a common expression for complaints.
- The verb following 也太难 is the thing being difficult. But the verb is optional. If you’re describing an object, you only need the adjective but not the verb.
- For example, if you want to say this sentence is too hard to understand, you could use 这句话也太难了 = zhè jù huà yě tài nánle.
- I could feel this sentence is too hard to explain, I’d say 这句话也太难解释了 = zhè jù huà yě tài nán jiěshìle. 解释 means explain.
- In the 也太…了 sentence, You can also change the adjective from 难 to many other words. Let’s complain about something being too expensive: 这也太贵了 = zhè yě tài guìle.