This part is pretty short but it is packed with interesting verbs. I tried to explain the subtleties as much as I could!

Mandarin transcript (in pinyin and characters) for Peppa Pig S01E46 “At the Beach” Part 5:

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Show Notes for Learn Chinese with Peppa Pig Season 01 Episode 46 Part 5

qiáozhì, wǒmen lái dā shātān chéngbǎo ba
乔治，我们来搭沙滩城堡吧
George, let’s put up a castle!

“person/people + 来 + do something + （吧）” means the speaker is suggesting the person/people to do something. We’ve seen this sentence structure in previous posts such as S01E51 Part 5, S01E46 Part 2 and S01E51 Part 6
乔治 = qiáozhì, George Pig
我们 = wǒmen, we
来 = lái, to come (do something)
搭 = dā, to put up. 搭 typically implies it’s temporary structure being put up or built. For example:
- 搭积木 = dā jīmù, to make a structure out of wooden blocks (a Children’s activity),
- 搭帐篷 = dā zhàngpéng, to put up a tent
- 搭窝 = dā wō, (bird) to make a nest.
- The structure sometimes could be permanent, but generally in my mind it’d be bridge like. My grandmother underwent a surgery called 心脏搭桥手术 = xīnzàng dāqiáo shǒushù, heart bypass surgery or coronary artery bypass graft surgery (I had to look this one up, and by the way, it is not related to the coronavirus!)
沙滩 = shātān, sand beach
城堡 = chéngbǎo, castle
I’m surprised they translated a sand castle into 沙滩城堡, because I’d have used 沙子城堡. 沙子 = shāzi, sand. However I think people would understand 沙滩城堡 no problem. I didn’t notice it until I started writing this note.
吧 = ba, indicating it’s a suggestion

pèiqí hé qiáozhì kāishǐ dā shātān chéngbǎo
佩奇和乔治开始搭沙滩城堡
Peppa and George started to put up a sand castle

person A (和 person B) + 开始 + do something. We’ve seen this structure in S01E09 Part 4 and S01E09 Part 5
佩奇 = pèiqí, Peppa Pig
和 = hé, and
开始 = kāishǐ, to start

shǒuxiān, bǎ shāzi zhuāngjìn tǒng lǐ
首先，把沙子装进桶里
First, put the sand in the bucket

首先 = shǒuxiān, first
把 = bǎ, indicating applying some action to an object (or person). We’ve seen the usage of 把 many times, such as in S01E09 Part 3 and S01E51 Part 3. You will also see it a few more times in this part.
沙子 = shāzi, sand
装进 = zhuāngjìn, to put in, to pack in
桶 = tǒng, bucket
里 = lǐ, inside
把+ object + 装 + 进 + container + 里. To put the object into some sort of container. For example, 把书装进书包里 , to pack books into the backpack.
You can change the verb 装 to 放 = fàng, 装进 and 放进 are very similar. 装进 sounds more like “to pack in” to me. You can put your books into the backpack, but you can also pack your books into the backpack.

jiù xiàng zhèiyàng
就像这样
Just like this

ránhòu bǎ shuǐtǒng fān gè gèér
然后把水桶翻个个儿
And then flip the bucket over

Oh boy! It’s cool to explain this sentence.
然后 = ránhòu, and then
水桶 = shuǐtǒng, water bucket
翻 = fān, to flip
个 = gè, the first 个 is a measure word. You could technically add a 一 (one) in front of it. When the count of the object is only one, you can usually drop the 一.
个儿 = gèér, on its own means size or height. Say a mother could hope her son to 长高个儿 = zhǎng gāo gè’er, to grow tall in size.
- You may have noticed some words have an “er” sound at the end, such as 玩儿 = wánr, to play. Well, you don’t have to use the 儿 at the end. Saying 玩 by itself is fine. Read about how to use er-coloring in my focused article.
- However, you cannot omit 儿 in 个儿. It’s part of the word.
翻个个儿 literally means “flip (one) size”. It’s a set phrase for flipping something over by 180 degrees. Just watch what Peppa is doing.

qīng pāi yíxià
轻拍一下
Pat gently

轻 = qīng, light or gentle.
拍 = pāi, to pat or slap. 轻拍 would be to pat.
一下 = yíxià, technically means once, but it’s just generally used for short actions. Note that you cannot drop 一 here because 一下 is a set phrase, not measuring anything.

bǎ tǒng tí qǐlái
把桶提起来
Lift the bucket up

提 = tí, to lift. You 提 an object if the object has a handle. You can lift things barehanded, but it wouldn’t be 提, probably 抬 = tái.
起来 = qǐlái. Here it is, the infamous 起来! In this case it is associated with a verb when you’re describing moving something up. I had to write about it in a separate post on how to interpret and use 起来

hèi, biàn chūlái ba
嘿，变出来吧
Hey, show up!

I wouldn’t say the “hèi” is a commonly used sound in Chinese. But if you’re foreign nobody would fault you for using it.
变 = biàn, to change, to transform
出来 = chūlái, associated with something showing up or coming out. Grammatically similar to 起来.

yīzuò shātān chéngbǎo
一座沙滩城堡
One sand castle.

hèi, biàn chūlái
嘿，变出来
Hey, show up!

Note that George is not easy to understand here. I had to listen to what he said a couple times to figure it out. A typical toddler.

lìng yīzuò shātān chéngbǎo
另一座沙滩城堡
Another sand castle!

Learn Mandarin: Peppa Pig S01E46 Part 5