Lesson 17 你家有什么小动物

Animals Vocabulary in Mandarin Chinese

Grammar

I. 它 It

A personal pronoun refers to persons or things.  In this lesson we will be working with the personal noun for it: 它.  To take a quiz on 它 click here.  The most common personal pronouns in Chinese are:

English	Pinyin	English
我	wǒ	I
你	nǐ	you (informal)
您	nín	you (formal)
我们	wǒ men	we
咱们	zán men	we
你们	nǐ men	you
他	tā	he
她	tā	she
它	tā	it
他们	tā men	they
她们	tā men	they
它们	tā men	they

Note: There is no plural form for 您.  You can say 您三位 or 您几位。

Examples:

Chinese Sentence	English Translation
这是我的小猫。它很可爱。	This is my kitten. It's very cute.
那是陈老师的小狗。它叫小龙。	That's Mrs. Chen's puppy. It's called Xiao Lone.

II. 为什么？ Why?

为什么 is a question phrase meaning “why” and typically appears between the subject and verb phrase but can also be placed before the subject and verb phrase.

Examples:

Chinese Sentence	English Translation
哥哥为什么不喜欢猫?	Why doesn't older brother like cats?
为什么爸爸不去?	Why doesn't Dad go?

III. 因为……所以……  Because……therefore……

“因为……所以……”is a commonly used pattern which literally means “because…, therefore…“. They can also be used separately.

Examples:

Chinese Sentence	English Translation
因为我喜欢 Stanford 大学;所以我有很多红色的衣服。	Because I like Stanford University; (therefore) I have many red clothes.
(因为）我渴了;所以喝了很多水。	(Because) I am thirsty; therefore I drank a lot of water.

Practice the vocabulary for this lesson with games and activities! Click on the picture below to download all the words in PDF.

Culture

Traditionally, fish and birds are common pets in China. Fish are popular because the word ‘fish’ (鱼 : yú) sounds similar to the word for “abundance” (余 : yú), as in the phrase 年年有余 “to have an abundance of wealth and happiness.”  Working animals such as dogs and cats have also been kept in Chinese homes.  Traditionally, dogs were kept to guard the home and cats to catch mice.  As China becomes more prosperous, there is a growing trend for animals to be kept as pets in the homes of cities and towns.  Some of these animals can also be status symbols.  Dog and cat owners need to make sure that their pet receives vaccinations against rabies and other pet diseases.

Quiz

Directions: Rearrange the words into complete sentences. Make sure to include punctuation marks.

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