Hover a line for its pinyin and translation; hover a word for its meaning. Tap 🔊 to hear it.
Over lunch, Yang Fan asks Alex how he spends an ordinary day.
和 joins nouns and nothing else. 星期二和星期五 is fine; “I get up and go running” cannot use it, which is why that sentence needs 然后. English “and” glues anything to anything, so this is a habit worth breaking early — 我跑步和看书 is wrong. Several of this lesson's verbs are secretly verb plus object: 起床 is “rise-bed”, 跑步 is “run-step”, 看书 is “read-book”, 睡觉 is “sleep-sleep”. This matters because they can be pulled apart — 睡了一个好觉, “had a good sleep” — and because you cannot add another object to them. 我看书一本书 is wrong; the 书 is already in there. 真厉害 is a genuine compliment, roughly “that's seriously impressive”. It is common and warm, and unlike 哪里哪里 in lesson 1, you can simply say 谢谢 back to it.
How do I read these pronunciations? See the pronunciation guide.
1. 每天 + 都 — every day, without exception
When a sentence begins with 每 — 每天, 每年, 每个星期 — Chinese wants 都 before the verb to complete the thought. It is not optional in the way English “all” is: 我每天跑步 sounds unfinished to a native ear, while 我每天都跑步 lands properly. Think of 每 as opening a claim about a whole set and 都 as closing it.
2. Verb-object compounds
起床, 跑步, 看书, 睡觉, 上班 and 吃饭 all already contain their object. That has two consequences. You cannot give them another one — 看书一本书 is wrong, and “read a book” is 看一本书, with the 书 doing double duty. And they can be split open when something needs to go inside: 睡一个好觉, 跑了半个小时的步.
3. 先……然后…… — first this, then that
先 marks the first action and 然后 opens the next. Both sit before their verbs, and 然后 is what you must reach for where English would simply say “and” — 我起床，然后去跑步. Using 和 there is the mistake: 和 joins nouns, never actions.
4. 常常, 有时候, 从来不 — how often
Frequency words go before the verb, where English usually puts them too: 我常常十一点睡觉. The one to watch is 从来不, “never”, which is built from 从来 plus a negative and cannot stand without it. There is no single word for “never” in Chinese — you say “from ever, not”.
A. Fill in the Blank · 填空
Fill in the blank with a word from this lesson's vocabulary.
- 1.每天早上跑步。all, without exception
- 2.我六点半起床，去跑步。then, after that
- 3.我喝咖啡。only
- 4.我十一点睡觉。usually
B. Multiple Choice · 选择
Choose the best answer.
- 1.How do you say “I run every day”?
- 2.Which is correct?
- 3.Why can't you say 我起床和去跑步?
- 4.Why is 看书一本书 wrong?
C. Rearrange the Sentence · 排序
Rearrange the words into a correct sentence, adding the punctuation shown in parentheses.
- 1.Tap tiles below…
- 2.Tap tiles below…
- 3.Tap tiles below…
- 4.Tap tiles below…
D. True or False · 判断
Based on the dialogue, mark each sentence T (true) or F (false).
- 1.Alex gets up at half past six.
- 2.Alex runs every morning.
- 3.Alex eats breakfast.
- 4.Alex usually goes to bed at eleven.
E. Matching · 连线
Match each line on the left with the best response on the right.
F. Translation · 翻译
Translate items 1–2 into Chinese, and items 3–4 into English.
- 1.I run every day.
- 2.I usually go to bed at eleven.
- 3.我六点半起床，然后去跑步。
- 4.我从来不吃早饭。
Generate a brand-new dialog on any topic, using this lesson's 22 vocab words — plus any words you add below.
Sign in to generate dialogues. It needs a pass — the first ten lessons of every course are free either way.
The park at six in the morning
Exercise in China is public and communal in a way it rarely is in the West. Parks fill before dawn with people doing tai chi, stretching against trees, walking backwards, playing badminton without a net, or singing. In the evening the squares belong to 广场舞 — groups, mostly of older women, dancing in formation to a portable speaker, common enough to have produced genuine noise disputes and local regulations. Gyms exist, but as a young, indoor, urban thing. Saying you 跑步 every morning places you in the ordinary rhythm of the neighborhood.