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Mythic Mandarin

Busy weekdays and free weekends

HSK 1 Unit 3: Days and routines · Lesson 5 of 5 · About 17 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can describe your week, say you are busy or tired, and talk about resting at the weekend.

Warm-up: do you remember?

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

  1. Meaning

    What does 回 mean?

    1. breakfast
    2. early
    3. to return, to go back
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, to return, to go back.

    回 (huí) means to return, to go back.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “to go to work”?

    1. 早上
    2. 漂亮
    3. 上班
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 上班.

    “to go to work” is 上班 (shàngbān).

  3. Listening

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

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    月 yuè

    1. the United States
    2. pretty, beautiful
    3. month
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, month.

    You heard 月 (yuè): month.

New words

  • 周末zhōumòweekend
  • 休息xiūxito rest
  • 忙mángbusy
  • 累lèitired
  • 每天měitiānevery day

Busy and tired

Adjectives work as verbs, with 很 and no 是: 我很忙, I am busy.

  • 我今天很累。

    Wǒ jīntiān hěn lèi.

    I'm tired today.

  • Not: 我是很累。

    But: 我很累。 Wǒ hěn lèi.

    No 是 before an adjective.

每天 (every day) goes before the verb and usually takes 都.

  • 我每天都很忙。

    Wǒ měitiān dōu hěn máng.

    I'm busy every day.

Characters

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

Plans for the weekend

Xiaoyu and Zhang Wei talk on a Friday evening.

Listen first

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

  1. Listening

    Listen first. When does Zhang Wei finish work?

    1. 8 p.m.
    2. 7 a.m.
    3. 5 p.m.
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 8 p.m..

    张伟 says 晚上八点下班: eight in the evening.

  2. Listening

    Which day does Zhang Wei rest?

    1. Sunday
    2. both days
    3. Saturday
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, Saturday.

    星期六我休息，星期天我上班.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 小雨

    张伟Zhāng Wěi，你nǐ每天měitiān都dōu很hěn忙máng！

    Zhang Wei, you're busy every day!

  2. 张伟

    对Duì。我Wǒ每天měitiān七qī点diǎn上班shàngbān，晚上wǎnshang八bā点diǎn下班xiàbān。我Wǒ很hěn累lèi。

    Yes. Every day I start work at seven and finish at eight in the evening. I'm tired.

  3. 小雨

    周末Zhōumò你nǐ休息xiūxi吗ma？

    Do you rest at the weekend?

  4. 张伟

    星期Xīngqī六liù我wǒ休息xiūxi，星期天xīngqītiān我wǒ上班shàngbān。你Nǐ呢ne？

    I rest on Saturday and work on Sunday. And you?

  5. 小雨

    我Wǒ周末zhōumò不bú上课shàngkè。星期Xīngqī六liù下午xiàwǔ我wǒ去qù看kàn朋友péngyou。

    I don't have classes at the weekend. On Saturday afternoon I'm going to see a friend.

  6. 张伟

    星期Xīngqī六liù晚上wǎnshang我们wǒmen一起yìqǐ吃chī晚饭wǎnfàn，好hǎo吗ma？

    Shall we have dinner together on Saturday evening?

  7. 小雨

    好Hǎo！

    OK!

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.

  • 周末你休息吗？

    Zhōumò nǐ xiūxi ma?

    Do you rest at the weekend?

  • 张伟，你每天都很忙！

    Zhāng Wěi, nǐ měitiān dōu hěn máng!

    Zhang Wei, you're busy every day!

  • 对。我每天七点上班，晚上八点下班。我很累。

    Duì. Wǒ měitiān qī diǎn shàngbān, wǎnshang bā diǎn xiàbān. Wǒ hěn lèi.

    Yes. Every day I start work at seven and finish at eight in the evening. I'm tired.

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 周末 mean?

    1. son
    2. sorry
    3. weekend
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, weekend.

    周末 (zhōumò) means weekend.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “to rest”?

    1. 上课
    2. 休息
    3. 午饭
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 休息.

    “to rest” is 休息 (xiūxi).

  3. Pinyin

    How do you read 忙 (busy)?

    1. máng
    2. māng
    3. mǎng
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, máng.

    忙 is read máng. Check the tone mark on every syllable.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    累 lèi

    1. to know (a person), to meet
    2. five
    3. tired
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, tired.

    You heard 累 (lèi): tired.

  5. Pinyin

    Type the pinyin of 每天 (every day). Tone marks or tone numbers are welcome.

    Show the answer

    Answer: měitiān

    每天 is měitiān in pinyin.

  6. Listening

    Listen. Which sentence did you hear?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    张伟，你每天都很忙！ Zhāng Wěi, nǐ měitiān dōu hěn máng!

    1. Zhang Wei, you're busy every day!
    2. Yes. Every day I start work at seven and finish at eight in the evening. I'm tired.
    3. I rest on Saturday and work on Sunday. And you?
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, Zhang Wei, you're busy every day!.

    You heard 张伟，你每天都很忙！ (Zhāng Wěi, nǐ měitiān dōu hěn máng!): Zhang Wei, you're busy every day!

  7. Grammar

    Which sentence means I am very busy?

    1. 我是很忙。
    2. 我很忙。
    3. 我忙是。
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 我很忙。.

    我很忙。 No 是 before an adjective.

  8. Reading

    Read: 李明每天七点起床，八点上班。中午他在公司吃午饭，晚上六点下班。周末他休息。 When does Li Ming start work?

    1. eight
    2. seven
    3. six
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, eight.

    八点上班: at eight.

  9. Fill the gap

    Complete: I'm busy every day.

    我每天＿＿很忙。

    1. 和
    2. 在
    3. 都
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 都.

    我每天都很忙。 每天 usually takes 都.

  10. Your turn

    Type the Chinese for weekend

    Show the answer

    Answer: 周末

    周末: weekend.

Your week in Chinese

Describe your week out loud in five sentences, record yourself and listen back.

  1. Say what you do every day.
  2. Say when you are busy and tired.
  3. Say what you do at the weekend.

Sentence frames

  • 我每天都＿＿。

    Wǒ měitiān dōu ＿＿.

    Every day I ...

  • 周末我＿＿。

    Zhōumò wǒ ＿＿.

    At the weekend I ...

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 describe my week from Monday to the weekend.
  • I say 我很忙, with no 是.
  • I put 每天 before the verb with 都.

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: HSK 1 Unit 4: Food and drink, where you order food and say what you like.