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Level B · Elementary

Moving house

Xiaoyu is moving this weekend. Auntie Wang offers to help; Chen Hao has already arranged everything.

What you learn to do

  • announcing a move
  • offering and declining help
  • saying what is already done
  • reassuring someone you are leaving behind

  1. Auntie Wang

    小雨，听说你要搬家了？

    Xiǎoyǔ, tīngshuō nǐ yào bānjiā le ?

    Xiaoyu, I hear you are moving?

  2. Xiaoyu

    是啊，王阿姨，这个周末就搬。

    Shì a, Wáng āyí, zhè gè zhōumò jiù bān.

    I am, Auntie Wang, this very weekend.

  3. Auntie Wang

    东西多不多？要不要我帮忙？

    Dōngxi duō bù duō ? Yào bùyào wǒ bāngmáng ?

    Have you a lot of things? Shall I come and help?

  4. Xiaoyu

    谢谢您，陈浩说他来帮我。

    Xièxie nín, Chén Hào shuō tā lái bāng wǒ.

    Thank you, but Chen Hao said he would help me.

  5. Chen Hao

    我借了一辆车，两趟就能搬完。

    Wǒ jiè le yī liàng chē, liǎng tàng jiù néng bān wán.

    I have borrowed a van, two runs will do it.

  6. Auntie Wang

    大件的家具呢？你们两个抬得动吗？

    Dà jiàn de jiājù ne ? Nǐmen liǎng gè tái de dòng ma ?

    What about the big furniture? Can the two of you lift it?

  7. Chen Hao

    床和柜子我请了搬家公司。

    Chuáng hé guìzi wǒ qǐng le bānjiā gōngsī.

    For the bed and the wardrobe I have booked a removal firm.

  8. Xiaoyu

    剩下的衣服和书我已经收拾好了。

    Shèngxià de yīfu hé shū wǒ yǐjīng shōushi hǎo le.

    The rest, clothes and books, I have already packed.

  9. Auntie Wang

    新房子离这儿远吗？

    Xīn fángzi lí zhèr yuǎn ma ?

    Is the new place far from here?

  10. Xiaoyu

    坐两站地铁就到，我会常回来看您。

    Zuò liǎng zhàn dìtiě jiù dào, wǒ huì cháng huílai kàn nín.

    Two metro stops. I will come back and see you often.

  11. Auntie Wang

    好孩子。搬完了来我家吃饭。

    Hǎo háizi. Bān wán le lái wǒ jiā chī fàn.

    Good girl. Come and eat at mine when you have finished.

Vocabulary to remember

  • 听说 tīngshuō to hear it said, apparently
  • 搬家 bānjiā to move house
  • 帮忙 bāngmáng to help out, to lend a hand
  • 帮 bāng to help, to assist
  • 辆 liàng (measure word for vehicles)
  • 趟 tàng (measure word for round trips): 两趟, two runs
  • 家具 jiājù furniture
  • 抬 tái to lift, to raise
  • 柜子 guìzi cupboard, cabinet
  • 剩下 shèngxià to be left, to remain
  • 收拾 shōushi to tidy up, to put in order
  • 孩子 háizi child

Language points

帮我搬 and 帮忙: two ways of helping

帮 is built with the person helped and then the verb: 帮我搬东西, to help me move things. 帮忙 is a complete verb which takes no object after it: you say 帮我的忙 and not 帮忙我. The polite question that uses both is Auntie Wang's: 要不要我帮忙, shall I give a hand?

抬得动: strength, not permission

得 between the verb and its result says the thing is possible: 抬得动, we can lift it; the negative is 抬不动. The shade of meaning is in the second word: 动 speaks of strength, 完 of finishing (搬得完), 到 of the goal reached (买得到). That is the difference from 可以, which speaks only of what is allowed.

收拾好了: tidied, and properly tidied

好 in second position no longer means "good" but "properly, all the way": 收拾好, tidied as it should be; 准备好, quite ready; 做好, finished. It differs from 完, which says only that the action stopped. 吃完了 means the plate is empty, 做好了 that the work is fit to hand in.

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