Chinese for English speakers Street · Lesson 0

Separable verbs

Chinese separable verbs — 拍照片 (take a photo) — words like 拍 + 照片 require object between halves.

Conversation

  1. PX296 PX296

    蜜拉，你喜欢拍照片吧。

    Mìlā, nǐ xǐ huan pāi zhào piàn ba.

    Meera, you like taking pictures, right?

    Tip: 拍 <pāi> = take, snap 照片<zhàopiàn> = picture 拍照片 <pāizhàopiàn> = take pictures

  2. Meera Meera

    对，没错。

    duì, méi cuò.

    Yes, that's correct.

    Tip: 错<cuò> = wrong, incorrect 没错 <méicuò> = no mistake, correct

  3. PX296 PX296

    你经常拍什么照片？

    nǐ jīng cháng pāi shén me zhào piàn?

    What pictures do you usually take?

    Tip: 经常<jīngcháng> = often, many times

  4. Meera Meera

    我拍山的照片。

    wǒ pāi shān de zhào piàn.

    I take pictures of mountains.

Common questions

Quick answers about this lesson's grammar and vocabulary.

What are Chinese separable verbs?

Verbs like 拍照 (take photo), 见面 (meet up), 说话 (speak). Object can go between the parts: 拍他的照 = 'take his photo'.

What is 照片?

'Photo / picture'. 拍照片 = 'take a photo'. 一张照片 (one photo) — counter 张.

Common Chinese photography vocabulary?

拍照 (take photo), 照片 (photo), 相机 (camera), 自拍 (selfie), 美图 (photo editing).

Test yourself

Pick the English translation for each line from this lesson. Wrong answers are pulled from other Chinese lessons.

4 quick questions on what you just heard.

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