Hover a line for its pinyin and translation; hover a word for its meaning. Tap 🔊 to hear it.
At a party, Alex meets Lin Yue, a friend of Su Xiaoyu's.
不太 is how Chinese says no politely. 不太好 is “not great”, 不太会说 is “can't really speak it” — and both usually mean a plain no, softened. Saying 不好 outright is blunter than an English speaker expects, so 不太 is worth reaching for by default. 呢 is the smallest useful word in the language. Attach it to anything and it means “and what about that?” — 你呢, 明天呢, 这个呢. It saves repeating a whole question, and it has already appeared in lesson 3 doing exactly this job. Note that 工作 is both the noun and the verb, so 我在公司工作 has it as “work” and 你做什么工作 as “job”. Chinese does a great deal of this, and it is one of the reasons the vocabulary load is lighter than it looks.
How do I read these pronunciations? See the pronunciation guide.
1. 在 + place + verb — where you do it
The place comes before the verb, not after it: 我在银行工作, literally “I at bank work”. This is the same rule as the time words in lesson 5 — circumstances first, action last — and it is the single biggest word-order difference from English, which puts both at the end. 我工作在银行 is the mistake; it reads as though the working were located somewhere rather than you.
2. 会 and 能 — two kinds of can
会 is a skill you have learned: languages, driving, swimming, cooking. 能 is whether you are able to right now — free, permitted, physically capable. So 我会开车 means you know how, and 我不能开车 might mean you have had a drink. Lin Yue uses both in one breath: 我能看，可是不太会说 — able to read, but never learned to speak it well.
3. ……呢？ — and what about you?
Put 呢 after a noun and you have turned it into a question that borrows the one just asked. 你做什么工作？— 我在公司工作。你呢？ There is no need to repeat anything. It works for any topic, not just people: 明天呢？, 这个呢？
4. 是……的 — naming someone by what they do
Wrap a verb phrase in 是 and 的 and it becomes a description of a person: 我是教中文的, “I'm one who teaches Chinese”. It is a common and natural way to say what you do, less formal than naming the job title, and it is the same 的 that made 热的 into “the hot one” in lesson 2.
A. Fill in the Blank · 填空
Fill in the blank with a word from this lesson's vocabulary.
- 1.我一家公司工作。at (a place)
- 2.你说法语吗？can (a learned skill)
- 3.我很好。你？and what about …?
- 4.很累，很开心。but
B. Multiple Choice · 选择
Choose the best answer.
- 1.How do you say “I work at a bank”?
- 2.Which is correct?
- 3.Which would you use for “I can swim”?
- 4.What does 不太会说 really mean?
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 works at a trading company.
- 2.Lin Yue teaches English.
- 3.Lin Yue dislikes her job.
- 4.Lin Yue speaks French fluently.
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.What do you do?
- 2.I work at a bank.
- 3.我在中学教英语。
- 4.我能看，可是不太会说。
Generate a brand-new dialog on any topic, using this lesson's 19 vocab words — plus any words you add below.
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Questions that are fine to ask
The etiquette here runs opposite to English-speaking habit. Questions that would be intrusive in London or New York — what you earn, what your rent is, how old you are, whether you are married — are ordinary small talk in China, and asking them signals friendly interest rather than nosiness. A vague answer is perfectly acceptable if you would rather not say, and you may hear more about someone's salary than you expected. Work itself is taken seriously: 996, meaning nine to nine, six days a week, is common shorthand for the tech industry's hours.