Why bother: 何必 and 何苦
HSK 6 Unit 1: Rhetorical questions · Lesson 2 of 5 · About 26 minutes
Preview version — Chinese review in progress.
Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can tell someone there is no need to do something with 何必 and 何苦, and calm down an office quarrel.
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Warm-up: do you remember?
Two quick questions from earlier lessons. Recalling before you learn makes the new material stick.
Meaning
What does 明明 mean?
That is 厨师 (chúshī).
That is 端午节 (Duānwǔjié).
Show the answer
Answer: A, clearly, obviously.
明明 (míngmíng) means clearly, obviously.
Characters
Which word means “to travel around”?
争吵 (zhēngchǎo) means to quarrel, to argue.
投篮 (tóulán) means to shoot (in basketball).
Show the answer
Answer: C, 环游.
“to travel around” is 环游 (huányóu).
Listening
From an earlier unit. Listen. What does the word mean?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
社区 shèqū
That would be 肩膀 (jiānbǎng).
That would be 将来 (jiānglái).
Show the answer
Answer: B, community.
You heard 社区 (shèqū): community.
New words
何必 and 何苦
何必 (hébì) + verb: why bother …? There is no need to …. It often ends with 呢. 何苦 (hékǔ) is stronger: why put yourself through this?
一点儿小事，何必生这么大的气呢？
Yìdiǎnr xiǎoshì, hébì shēng zhème dà de qì ne?
It's such a little thing. Why get so angry?
你明明不喜欢他，何苦每天跟他一起吃饭？
Nǐ míngmíng bù xǐhuan tā, hékǔ měitiān gēn tā yìqǐ chīfàn?
You clearly don't like him. Why put yourself through having lunch with him every day?
Not:
你何必去。But: 你何必去呢？ Nǐ hébì qù ne?
何必 makes a rhetorical question: end with 呢 and a question mark.
Characters
Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.
Who gets the credit?
Chen Jing is angry with a colleague. Liu Fang tries to calm her down.
Listen first
Play the whole conversation and answer the questions before you open the transcript.
Helpful words: 抢 qiǎng to grab, to snatch; 功劳 gōngláo credit (for work); 气 qì to make angry, anger
Listening
Listen first. What did Xiao Wang do?
Show the answer
Answer: B, said he wrote Chen Jing's report.
小王在会上说是他写的.
Listening
What does Liu Fang advise?
Show the answer
Answer: C, forgive him if he apologises.
如果他道歉了，你就原谅他吧.
Show the transcript
陈静
那个报告明明是我写的，可是小王在会上说是他写的！
I clearly wrote that report, but Xiao Wang said in the meeting that he wrote it!
刘芳
你别生气。为了这点儿事，何必呢？
Don't be angry. Why let something like this upset you?
陈静
他抢了我的功劳，我怎么能不气？
He stole my credit. How can I not be angry?
刘芳
经理心里很清楚是谁写的。你何苦跟他计较？
The manager knows perfectly well who wrote it. Why bother fussing with him?
陈静
可是他还没跟我道歉呢。
But he still hasn't apologised to me.
刘芳
如果他道歉了，你就原谅他吧。心胸宽一点儿，自己也快乐一点儿。
If he apologises, forgive him. Be a bit more broad-minded, and you'll be happier too.
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.
如果他道歉了，你就原谅他吧。心胸宽一点儿，自己也快乐一点儿。
Rúguǒ tā dàoqiàn le, nǐ jiù yuánliàng tā ba. Xīnxiōng kuān yìdiǎnr, zìjǐ yě kuàilè yìdiǎnr.
If he apologises, forgive him. Be a bit more broad-minded, and you'll be happier too.
经理心里很清楚是谁写的。你何苦跟他计较？
Jīnglǐ xīnli hěn qīngchu shì shéi xiě de. Nǐ hékǔ gēn tā jìjiào?
The manager knows perfectly well who wrote it. Why bother fussing with him?
你别生气。为了这点儿事，何必呢？
Nǐ bié shēngqì. Wèile zhè diǎnr shì, hébì ne?
Don't be angry. Why let something like this upset you?
Practice
Meaning
What does 何必 mean?
That is 九 (jiǔ).
That is 不错 (búcuò).
Show the answer
Answer: A, why bother, there's no need.
何必 (hébì) means why bother, there's no need.
Characters
Which word means “why go to such trouble”?
何必 (hébì) means why bother, there's no need.
环游 (huányóu) means to travel around.
Show the answer
Answer: C, 何苦.
“why go to such trouble” is 何苦 (hékǔ).
Pinyin
How do you read 计较 (to fuss over, to haggle)?
Show the answer
Answer: B, jìjiào.
计较 is read jìjiào. Check the tone mark on every syllable.
Listening
Listen. What does the word mean?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
原谅 yuánliàng
That would be 哪儿 (nǎr).
That would be 冰 (bīng).
Show the answer
Answer: A, to forgive.
You heard 原谅 (yuánliàng): to forgive.
Your turn
Recall: type the Chinese for “mind, breadth of mind” (characters or pinyin).
Show the answer
Answer: 心胸
“mind, breadth of mind” is 心胸 (xīnxiōng).
Grammar
Which sentence uses 何必 correctly?
Show the answer
Answer: C, 这么近，何必打车呢？.
这么近，何必打车呢？: 何必 + verb + 呢？
Fill the gap
Complete: Don't fuss over such little things.
别为了小事＿＿。
Show the answer
Answer: A, 计较.
计较: to fuss over.
In context
Your friend says sorry for being late. You say it's fine. What did you do?
Show the answer
Answer: C, 原谅了他.
原谅了他: 原谅: to forgive.
Your turn
Type the Chinese for to forgive
Show the answer
Answer: 原谅
原谅: to forgive.
Calm a friend down
A friend is upset about something small. Calm them down out loud in six sentences.
- Ask what happened.
- Say there is no need to be upset, with 何必…呢.
- Give a reason, and advise forgiving or forgetting.
Sentence frames
＿＿，何必＿＿呢？
＿＿, hébì ＿＿ ne?
..., why bother ...?
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 say there is no need with 何必…呢 and 何苦.
- I can calm down a quarrel and talk about forgiving.
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.