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Mythic Mandarin

Anyway, in short: 反正 and 总之

HSK 3 Unit 5: Interests and feelings · Lesson 4 of 5 · About 18 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can shrug something off with 反正, sum up with 总之, and talk about hobbies and boredom.

Warm-up: do you remember?

Two quick questions from earlier lessons. Recalling before you learn makes the new material stick.

  1. Meaning

    What does 慢慢 mean?

    1. slowly
    2. to stay up late
    3. (adds feeling to the end of a sentence)
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, slowly.

    慢慢 (mànmàn) means slowly.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “excited, thrilled”?

    1. 激动
    2. 脸色
    3. 肚子
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 激动.

    “excited, thrilled” is 激动 (jīdòng).

  3. Listening

    From an earlier unit. Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    卫生间 wèishēngjiān

    1. time (once through, from start to end)
    2. to change, to become
    3. bathroom, toilet
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, bathroom, toilet.

    You heard 卫生间 (wèishēngjiān): bathroom, toilet.

New words

  • 反正fǎnzhènganyway, in any case
  • 总之zǒngzhīin short, in a word
  • 无聊wúliáoboring, bored
  • 爱好àihàohobby

反正: anyway

反正 (fǎnzhèng) says whatever happens, the result is the same: anyway. It often gives a relaxed reason.

  • 反正你周末没事，跟我去吧！

    Fǎnzhèng nǐ zhōumò méi shì, gēn wǒ qù ba!

    You've got nothing on at the weekend anyway, so come with me!

  • 反正我不着急，你慢慢来。

    Fǎnzhèng wǒ bù zháojí, nǐ mànmàn lái.

    I'm in no hurry anyway, take your time.

总之: in short

总之 (zǒngzhī) sums up what you have said: in short, all in all.

  • 总之，这是一个好主意。

    Zǒngzhī, zhè shì yí gè hǎo zhǔyi.

    In short, it's a good idea.

无聊 (wúliáo) is boring or bored; 爱好 (àihào) is a hobby.

  • 我的爱好是看书。

    Wǒ de àihào shì kàn shū.

    My hobby is reading.

  • 这个电影太无聊了。

    Zhège diànyǐng tài wúliáo le.

    This film is so boring.

Characters

Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.

Nothing to do

Xiaoyu tries to get Zhang Wei to try something new.

Listen first

Play the whole conversation and answer the questions before you open the transcript.

  1. Listening

    Listen first. What does Zhang Wei think of films?

    1. They're boring.
    2. They're exciting.
    3. They're expensive.
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, They're boring..

    看电影吧，太无聊了.

  2. Listening

    What is Xiaoyu's final argument?

    1. It's better than playing on his phone at home.
    2. The class is free this weekend.
    3. Her teacher is very famous.
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, It's better than playing on his phone at home..

    总之，比在家玩手机好.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 小雨

    周末Zhōumò你nǐ有yǒu什么shénme打算dǎsuan？

    What are your plans for the weekend?

  2. 张伟

    还Hái没méi想xiǎng好hǎo。看Kàn电影diànyǐng吧ba，太tài无聊wúliáo了le；去qù爬山páshān吧ba，天气tiānqì又yòu不bù好hǎo。

    I haven't decided. Films are boring, and the weather's bad for hiking.

  3. 小雨

    反正Fǎnzhèng你nǐ周末zhōumò没méi事shì，跟gēn我wǒ去qù学xué书法shūfǎ吧ba！

    You've got nothing on anyway, come and learn calligraphy with me!

  4. 张伟

    书法Shūfǎ？我Wǒ对duì书法shūfǎ没méi兴趣xìngqù。

    Calligraphy? I'm not interested in calligraphy.

  5. 小雨

    你Nǐ试试shìshi吧ba。总之Zǒngzhī，比bǐ在zài家jiā玩wán手机shǒujī好hǎo！

    Give it a try. Anyway, it's better than playing on your phone at home!

  6. 张伟

    好Hǎo吧ba，反正fǎnzhèng我wǒ也yě没有méiyǒu别的biéde爱好àihào。

    All right, I don't have any other hobbies anyway.

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.

  • 好吧，反正我也没有别的爱好。

    Hǎo ba, fǎnzhèng wǒ yě méiyǒu biéde àihào.

    All right, I don't have any other hobbies anyway.

  • 反正你周末没事，跟我去学书法吧！

    Fǎnzhèng nǐ zhōumò méi shì, gēn wǒ qù xué shūfǎ ba!

    You've got nothing on anyway, come and learn calligraphy with me!

  • 你试试吧。总之，比在家玩手机好！

    Nǐ shìshi ba. Zǒngzhī, bǐ zài jiā wán shǒujī hǎo!

    Give it a try. Anyway, it's better than playing on your phone at home!

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 反正 mean?

    1. to use
    2. anyway, in any case
    3. easy
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, anyway, in any case.

    反正 (fǎnzhèng) means anyway, in any case.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “in short, in a word”?

    1. 总之
    2. 反正
    3. 风景
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 总之.

    “in short, in a word” is 总之 (zǒngzhī).

  3. Pinyin

    How do you read 无聊 (boring, bored)?

    1. wùliáo
    2. wúliāo
    3. wúliáo
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, wúliáo.

    无聊 is read wúliáo. Check the tone mark on every syllable.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    爱好 àihào

    1. last year
    2. hobby
    3. interesting
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, hobby.

    You heard 爱好 (àihào): hobby.

  5. Pinyin

    Type the pinyin of 反正 (anyway, in any case). Tone marks or tone numbers are welcome.

    Show the answer

    Answer: fǎnzhèng

    反正 is fǎnzhèng in pinyin.

  6. Grammar

    Which sentence means I'm not in a hurry anyway?

    1. 我反正着急。
    2. 反正我不着急。
    3. 我不着急反正。
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 反正我不着急。.

    反正我不着急。: 反正我不着急: anyway, I'm not in a hurry.

  7. Fill the gap

    Complete: In short, I like it very much.

    ＿＿，我很喜欢。

    1. 反正
    2. 因为
    3. 总之
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 总之.

    总之，我很喜欢: in short, I like it.

  8. In context

    How do you ask someone about their hobbies?

    1. 你无聊吗？
    2. 你的爱好是什么？
    3. 你反正什么？
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 你的爱好是什么？.

    你的爱好是什么？: 你的爱好是什么: what are your hobbies?

  9. Listening

    Listen. How does the speaker feel?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    今天没事做，太无聊了。 Jīntiān méi shì zuò, tài wúliáo le.

    1. bored
    2. busy
    3. excited
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, bored.

    太无聊了: so bored.

Persuade a friend

Persuade a friend out loud to try a hobby of yours, using 反正 and 总之.

  1. Say what your hobby is.
  2. Give a relaxed reason with 反正.
  3. Sum up with 总之.

Sentence frames

  • 反正你＿＿，跟我去＿＿吧！

    Fǎnzhèng nǐ ＿＿, gēn wǒ qù ＿＿ ba!

    You ... anyway, come and ... with me!

  • 总之，＿＿。

    Zǒngzhī, ＿＿.

    In short, ...

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 use 反正 for anyway and 总之 for in short.
  • I can talk about hobbies and boredom.

Review works best spaced out: answer these exercises again tomorrow, then after a few days. Your progress is saved in this browser.

Completing records that you finished the lesson. Mastery is separate: it grows as reviews bring the exercises back and you answer them correctly.

Next lesson: At the calligraphy museum