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Mythic Mandarin

Not even time to eat: 连…都

HSK 4 Unit 2: Not only… but also · Lesson 4 of 5 · About 20 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can stress a surprising or extreme case with 连…都 and 连…也, and talk about being overworked.

Warm-up: do you remember?

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

  1. Meaning

    What does 内向 mean?

    1. while, whereas (in contrast)
    2. introverted, shy
    3. prices (of goods)
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, introverted, shy.

    内向 (nèixiàng) means introverted, shy.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “in addition, other”?

    1. 优点
    2. 另外
    3. 污染
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 另外.

    “in addition, other” is 另外 (lìngwài).

  3. Listening

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

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    座位 zuòwèi

    1. seat
    2. (measure word for films and books)
    3. so, like that
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, seat.

    You heard 座位 (zuòwèi): seat.

New words

  • 连liáneven
  • 饿èhungry
  • 渴kěthirsty
  • 老板lǎobǎnboss
  • 辞职cízhíto resign, to quit (a job)
  • 休假xiūjiàto take a holiday, leave

连…都 / 连…也

连 (lián) + something extreme + 都 or 也 says even that. It stresses how surprising the situation is.

  • 我忙得连饭都没时间吃。

    Wǒ máng de lián fàn dōu méi shíjiān chī.

    I'm so busy I don't even have time to eat.

  • 这个问题连老师都不知道。

    Zhège wèntí lián lǎoshī dōu bù zhīdào.

    Even the teacher doesn't know the answer to this.

  • 他连一个汉字也不会写。

    Tā lián yí gè Hànzì yě bú huì xiě.

    He can't write even one character.

  • Not: 连他知道。

    But: 连他都知道。 Lián tā dōu zhīdào.

    连 always needs 都 or 也.

At work

老板 (lǎobǎn) is the boss. 辞职 (cízhí) is to resign; 休假 (xiūjià) is to take time off.

  • 我想辞职。

    Wǒ xiǎng cízhí.

    I want to quit my job.

  • 我已经一年没休假了。

    Wǒ yǐjīng yì nián méi xiūjià le.

    I haven't had a holiday for a year.

Characters

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

Too much work

Li Ming meets Liu Fang late in the evening, looking exhausted.

Listen first

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

  1. Listening

    Listen first. What doesn't Li Ming have time for?

    1. breakfast
    2. dinner
    3. lunch
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, lunch.

    我连午饭都没时间吃.

  2. Listening

    How long since his last holiday?

    1. a month
    2. two years
    3. over a year
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, over a year.

    一年多了.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 刘芳

    你Nǐ怎么zěnme了le？脸色Liǎnsè这么zhème不bù好hǎo。

    What's wrong? You look terrible.

  2. 李明

    最近Zuìjìn太tài忙máng了le，我wǒ连lián午饭wǔfàn都dōu没méi时间shíjiān吃chī。

    I've been so busy lately, I don't even have time for lunch.

  3. 刘芳

    你Nǐ饿è不bu饿è？渴Kě不bu渴kě？

    Are you hungry? Thirsty?

  4. 李明

    又Yòu饿è又yòu渴kě。我们Wǒmen老板lǎobǎn周末zhōumò也yě让ràng我们wǒmen加班jiābān，连lián星期天xīngqītiān都dōu不bù能néng休息xiūxi。

    Both. Our boss makes us work at weekends too. We can't even rest on Sundays.

  5. 刘芳

    这样Zhèyàng不bù行xíng。你Nǐ已经yǐjīng多duō长cháng时间shíjiān没méi休假xiūjià了le？

    That's not OK. How long since you've had a holiday?

  6. 李明

    一Yì年nián多duō了le。我Wǒ有yǒu时候shíhou真zhēn想xiǎng辞职cízhí！

    Over a year. Sometimes I really want to quit!

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.

  • 又饿又渴。我们老板周末也让我们加班，连星期天都不能休息。

    Yòu è yòu kě. Wǒmen lǎobǎn zhōumò yě ràng wǒmen jiābān, lián xīngqītiān dōu bù néng xiūxi.

    Both. Our boss makes us work at weekends too. We can't even rest on Sundays.

  • 你饿不饿？渴不渴？

    Nǐ è bu è? Kě bu kě?

    Are you hungry? Thirsty?

  • 一年多了。我有时候真想辞职！

    Yì nián duō le. Wǒ yǒu shíhou zhēn xiǎng cízhí!

    Over a year. Sometimes I really want to quit!

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 连 mean?

    1. to remember, to memorise
    2. even
    3. pair
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, even.

    连 (lián) means even.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “hungry”?

    1. 练
    2. 渴
    3. 饿
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 饿.

    “hungry” is 饿 (è).

  3. Pinyin

    How do you read 渴 (thirsty)?

    1. ké
    2. kē
    3. kě
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, kě.

    渴 is read kě. Check the tone mark on every syllable.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    老板 lǎobǎn

    1. boss
    2. most
    3. to feel, to think (an opinion)
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, boss.

    You heard 老板 (lǎobǎn): boss.

  5. Your turn

    Recall: type the Chinese for “to resign, to quit (a job)” (characters or pinyin).

    Show the answer

    Answer: 辞职

    “to resign, to quit (a job)” is 辞职 (cízhí).

  6. Grammar

    Which sentence means Even children know this?

    1. 连孩子都知道这个。
    2. 连孩子知道这个。
    3. 孩子连都知道这个。
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 连孩子都知道这个。.

    连孩子都知道这个。: 连孩子都知道这个: 连 + … + 都.

  7. Fill the gap

    Complete: I didn't even drink water.

    我连水＿＿没喝。

    1. 就
    2. 还
    3. 也
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 也.

    我连水也没喝: 连…也.

  8. In context

    You haven't eaten all day. How do you feel?

    1. 很饿。
    2. 很渴。
    3. 很休假。
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 很饿。.

    很饿。: 饿: hungry.

  9. Your turn

    Type the Chinese for to resign (quit a job)

    Show the answer

    Answer: 辞职

    辞职: to resign.

Busy, busy

Describe the busiest week you ever had, out loud, with at least three 连…都 sentences.

  1. Something you didn't even have time to do.
  2. Something even your boss or teacher said.
  3. What you did after it was over.

Sentence frames

  • 我忙得连＿＿都＿＿。

    Wǒ máng de lián ＿＿ dōu ＿＿.

    I was so busy I didn't even ...

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 连…都 or 连…也 for even.
  • I can talk about being overworked, hungry and thirsty.

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: Grandma goes online: 甚至