Going to work and class: 来, 去 and 回
HSK 1 Unit 3: Days and routines · Lesson 4 of 5 · About 16 minutes
Preview version — Chinese review in progress.
Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can say when you start and finish work or class, use 来 and 去 for direction, and say when you go home with 回.
Audio preview uses your device’s Chinese voice. It is not a recording.
Warm-up: do you remember?
Two quick questions from earlier lessons. Recalling before you learn makes the new material stick.
Meaning
What does 早 mean?
That is 早饭 (zǎofàn).
That is 司机 (sījī).
Show the answer
Answer: A, early.
早 (zǎo) means early.
Characters
Which word means “dinner”?
爷爷 (yéye) means grandpa (father's father).
照片 (zhàopiàn) means photo.
Show the answer
Answer: C, 晚饭.
“dinner” is 晚饭 (wǎnfàn).
Listening
From an earlier unit. Listen. What does the word mean?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
卖 mài
That would be 朋友 (péngyou).
That would be 那 (nà).
Show the answer
Answer: A, to sell.
You heard 卖 (mài): to sell.
New words
上 and 下 for starting and finishing
上 and 下 also mean starting and finishing something regular: 上班 and 下班 for work, 上课 and 下课 for class.
我八点上班，五点下班。
Wǒ bā diǎn shàngbān, wǔ diǎn xiàbān.
I start work at eight and finish at five.
我们几点上课？
Wǒmen jǐ diǎn shàngkè?
What time does class start?
来, 去 and 回
来 (lái) is to come, towards the speaker. 去 (qù) is to go, away from the speaker. 回 (huí) is to go back: 回家, to go home.
你来我家吗？
Nǐ lái wǒ jiā ma?
Are you coming to my place?
你几点回家？
Nǐ jǐ diǎn huí jiā?
What time are you going home?
Not:
我去家。But: 我回家。 Wǒ huí jiā.
Going home is 回家.
Characters
Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.
When does class end?
David asks Teacher Wang about the class times.
Listen first
Play the whole conversation and answer the questions before you open the transcript.
Listening
Listen first. What time does class finish?
Show the answer
Answer: A, 11:30.
王老师 says 十一点半下课: 11:30.
Listening
What does Teacher Wang invite David to do?
Show the answer
Answer: A, come to dinner.
晚上你来我家吃饭: come to dinner.
Show the transcript
大卫
王老师，我们几点上课？
Teacher Wang, what time does our class start?
王老师
九点上课，十一点半下课。
Class starts at nine and finishes at half past eleven.
大卫
您中午回家吃饭吗？
Do you go home for lunch?
王老师
不回。下午两点我也有课。
No. I have a class at two in the afternoon too.
大卫
您几点下班？
What time do you finish work?
王老师
五点。晚上你来我家吃饭，好吗？
At five. Would you like to come to my place for dinner this evening?
大卫
好！谢谢王老师！
Yes! Thank you, Teacher Wang!
Speak: listen, record, compare
Listen to each model, record yourself, then play both and compare: the rhythm, the tones, the vowels. No automatic score: your ear is the judge.
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Recording is not available in this browser. Listen, then repeat aloud and compare by ear.
九点上课，十一点半下课。
Jiǔ diǎn shàngkè, shíyī diǎn bàn xiàkè.
Class starts at nine and finishes at half past eleven.
您几点下班？
Nín jǐ diǎn xiàbān?
What time do you finish work?
您中午回家吃饭吗？
Nín zhōngwǔ huí jiā chīfàn ma?
Do you go home for lunch?
Practice
Meaning
What does 上班 mean?
That is 照片 (zhàopiàn).
That is 朋友 (péngyou).
Show the answer
Answer: C, to go to work.
上班 (shàngbān) means to go to work.
Characters
Which word means “to finish work”?
早饭 (zǎofàn) means breakfast.
上班 (shàngbān) means to go to work.
Show the answer
Answer: B, 下班.
“to finish work” is 下班 (xiàbān).
Pinyin
How do you read 上课 (to go to class, class starts)?
Show the answer
Answer: C, shàngkè.
上课 is read shàngkè. Check the tone mark on every syllable.
Listening
Listen. What does the word mean?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
下课 xiàkè
That would be 星期 (xīngqī).
That would be 吗 (ma).
Show the answer
Answer: B, to finish class.
You heard 下课 (xiàkè): to finish class.
Pinyin
Type the pinyin of 回 (to return, to go back). Tone marks or tone numbers are welcome.
Show the answer
Answer: huí
回 is huí in pinyin.
In context
You are at home and invite a friend over. What do you say?
去 is away from you.
Show the answer
Answer: B, 你来我家吗？.
你来我家吗？ Towards the speaker: 来.
Fill the gap
Complete: What time are you going home?
你几点＿＿家？
Show the answer
Answer: B, 回.
你几点回家？ Going home is 回家.
Grammar
Which sentence means I finish work at six?
上班 is starting work.
Show the answer
Answer: C, 我六点下班。.
我六点下班。 Time before the verb.
Word order
Put the words in order: I go home at seven in the evening.
- 我
- 回
- 七点
- 家
- 晚上
Show the answer
我晚上七点回家 Wǒ wǎnshang qī diǎn huí jiā.
I go home at seven in the evening.
我晚上七点回家。 Bigger time words come first: 晚上 before 七点.
Your working day
Describe a normal weekday out loud: start, lunch, finish and going home.
- 我…点上班 (or 上课)。
- 中午我在…吃午饭。
- 我…点下班，…点回家。
Sentence frames
我＿＿点上班，＿＿点下班。
Wǒ ＿＿ diǎn shàngbān, ＿＿ diǎn xiàbān.
I start work at ... and finish at ...
Record your attempt (three and a half minutes at most) and listen back:
Review and finish
Can you do this? If a line feels shaky, go back to that part before you move on.
- I can say when I start and finish work or class.
- I use 来 towards me, 去 away from me and 回 for going back.
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