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Mythic Mandarin

The one in red: describing people with 的

HSK 2 Unit 3: Comparing things · Lesson 4 of 5 · About 16 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can describe what someone looks like, and use a longer phrase + 的 before a noun to point someone out.

Warm-up: do you remember?

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

  1. Meaning

    What does 瘦 mean?

    1. new
    2. thin
    3. as early as, right away
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, thin.

    瘦 (shòu) means thin.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “good-looking, nice to watch”?

    1. 分钟
    2. 好看
    3. 唱歌
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 好看.

    “good-looking, nice to watch” is 好看 (hǎokàn).

  3. Listening

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

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    一会儿 yíhuìr

    1. to travel, tourism
    2. a little while
    3. key
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, a little while.

    You heard 一会儿 (yíhuìr): a little while.

New words

  • 眼睛yǎnjingeye
  • 头发tóufahair (on the head)
  • 短duǎnshort (in length)
  • 戴dàito wear (glasses, a hat)
  • 眼镜yǎnjìngglasses

Describing people

Describe a person with the body part and an adjective: 她头发很长, her hair is long (literally she, hair is long). Glasses and hats take 戴 (dài); clothes take 穿.

  • 他眼睛很大。

    Tā yǎnjing hěn dà.

    He has big eyes.

  • 她头发很短，戴眼镜。

    Tā tóufa hěn duǎn, dài yǎnjìng.

    She has short hair and wears glasses.

Phrase + 的 + noun

Any description can go before a noun with 的: the person who is wearing red is 穿红衣服的人. The description always comes first.

  • 穿红衣服的人是我朋友。

    Chuān hóng yīfu de rén shì wǒ péngyou.

    The person in red is my friend.

  • 我昨天买的书很有意思。

    Wǒ zuótiān mǎi de shū hěn yǒuyìsi.

    The book I bought yesterday is interesting.

  • Not: 人穿红衣服的是我朋友。

    But: 穿红衣服的人是我朋友。 Chuān hóng yīfu de rén shì wǒ péngyou.

    The description goes before 的 and the noun.

Characters

  • 眼 = 目

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

At the station

Mark and Xiaoyu wait at the station for Mark's friend Sophie.

Listen first

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

  1. Listening

    Listen first. What does Mark's friend look like?

    1. short hair, no glasses
    2. tall, long hair, glasses
    3. short, long hair
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, tall, long hair, glasses.

    她很高，头发很长，戴眼镜.

  2. Listening

    Which person is Mark's friend?

    1. the one in red
    2. the one in white
    3. the one with short hair
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, the one in red.

    穿红衣服的那个人.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 马克

    小雨Xiǎoyǔ，你nǐ看见kànjiàn我wǒ朋友péngyou了le吗ma？

    Xiaoyu, have you seen my friend?

  2. 小雨

    她Tā长zhǎng什么样shénmeyàng？

    What does she look like?

  3. 马克

    她Tā很hěn高gāo，头发tóufa很hěn长cháng，戴dài眼镜yǎnjìng。

    She's tall, has long hair and wears glasses.

  4. 小雨

    那个Nàge穿chuān白bái衣服yīfu、戴dài眼镜yǎnjìng的de人rén是shì她tā吗ma？

    Is that her, the person in white with glasses?

  5. 马克

    不Bú是shì，那个nàge人rén头发tóufa很hěn短duǎn。你Nǐ看kàn，她tā在zài那儿nàr！穿Chuān红hóng衣服yīfu的de那个nàge人rén。

    No, that person has short hair. Look, there she is! The one in red.

  6. 苏菲

    马克Mǎkè！小雨Xiǎoyǔ！你们Nǐmen好hǎo！

    Mark! Xiaoyu! Hello!

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.

  • 她很高，头发很长，戴眼镜。

    Tā hěn gāo, tóufa hěn cháng, dài yǎnjìng.

    She's tall, has long hair and wears glasses.

  • 那个穿白衣服、戴眼镜的人是她吗？

    Nàge chuān bái yīfu, dài yǎnjìng de rén shì tā ma?

    Is that her, the person in white with glasses?

  • 不是，那个人头发很短。你看，她在那儿！穿红衣服的那个人。

    Bú shì, nàge rén tóufa hěn duǎn. Nǐ kàn, tā zài nàr! Chuān hóng yīfu de nàge rén.

    No, that person has short hair. Look, there she is! The one in red.

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 眼睛 mean?

    1. eye
    2. how many, how much
    3. early
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, eye.

    眼睛 (yǎnjing) means eye.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “hair (on the head)”?

    1. 分钟
    2. 眼镜
    3. 头发
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 头发.

    “hair (on the head)” is 头发 (tóufa).

  3. Pinyin

    How do you read 短 (short (in length))?

    1. duǎn
    2. duān
    3. duán
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, duǎn.

    短 is read duǎn. Check the tone mark on every syllable.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    戴 dài

    1. to order food
    2. and (between nouns)
    3. to wear (glasses, a hat)
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, to wear (glasses, a hat).

    You heard 戴 (dài): to wear (glasses, a hat).

  5. Pinyin

    Type the pinyin of 眼镜 (glasses). Tone marks or tone numbers are welcome.

    Show the answer

    Answer: yǎnjìng

    眼镜 is yǎnjìng in pinyin.

  6. Grammar

    Which phrase means the person wearing glasses?

    1. 戴眼镜的人
    2. 人戴眼镜的
    3. 戴人的眼镜
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 戴眼镜的人.

    戴眼镜的人: description + 的 + noun.

  7. Fill the gap

    Complete: She wears glasses.

    她＿＿眼镜。

    1. 穿
    2. 戴
    3. 有
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 戴.

    她戴眼镜。 Glasses take 戴.

  8. In context

    How do you say she has long hair?

    1. 她有长头发很。
    2. 她头发很长。
    3. 她长头发。
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 她头发很长。.

    她头发很长。: 她头发很长: she, hair is long.

  9. Word order

    Put the words in order: The book I bought yesterday is interesting.

    • 很
    • 的
    • 我
    • 有意思
    • 昨天
    • 买
    • 书
    Show the answer

    我昨天买的书很有意思 Wǒ zuótiān mǎi de shū hěn yǒuyìsi.

    The book I bought yesterday is interesting.

    我昨天买的书很有意思。 The description comes before 的书.

Find my friend

Describe two people so that someone could find them in a crowd, out loud.

  1. Height and hair: 他很高，头发很短。
  2. Glasses, clothes: 他戴…，穿…。
  3. Point them out: 穿…的那个人。

Sentence frames

  • 穿＿＿的那个人是＿＿。

    Chuān ＿＿ de nàge rén shì ＿＿.

    The person wearing ... is ...

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 hair, eyes, glasses and clothes.
  • I put a long description before 的 and the noun.

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: What do you think? 是不是 and 觉得