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Mythic Mandarin

Regardless: 不管…都

HSK 5 Unit 1: Even if and no matter what · Lesson 2 of 5 · About 26 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can say something holds regardless with 不管…都, and tell 不管 from 无论 in register.

Warm-up: do you remember?

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

  1. Meaning

    What does 即使 mean?

    1. to pick up
    2. even if
    3. exactly the same
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, even if.

    即使 (jíshǐ) means even if.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “promise, to promise”?

    1. 口味
    2. 承诺
    3. 筷子
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 承诺.

    “promise, to promise” is 承诺 (chéngnuò).

  3. Listening

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

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    口味 kǒuwèi

    1. reason, grounds
    2. violin
    3. flavour, taste
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, flavour, taste.

    You heard 口味 (kǒuwèi): flavour, taste.

New words

  • 不管bùguǎnno matter, regardless
  • 态度tàiduattitude
  • 尽力jìnlìto do one's best
  • 批评pīpíngto criticise, criticism
  • 表扬biǎoyángto praise

不管…都

不管 (bùguǎn) works like 无论 but is more spoken. It is followed by a question word, an A-not-A form or two choices, and the result takes 都 or 也.

  • 不管别人怎么说，我都要试试。

    Bùguǎn biéren zěnme shuō, wǒ dōu yào shìshi.

    Whatever others say, I'm going to try.

  • 不管结果好不好，我们都尽力了。

    Bùguǎn jiéguǒ hǎo bu hǎo, wǒmen dōu jìnlì le.

    Whatever the result, we did our best.

  • Not: 不管他来，我们都开始。

    But: 不管他来不来，我们都开始。 Bùguǎn tā lái bu lái, wǒmen dōu kāishǐ.

    不管 needs a choice or a question word.

Characters

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

After the presentation

Zhang Wei's presentation went badly. Chen Jing talks to him.

Listen first

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

Helpful words: 报告 bàogào report

  1. Listening

    Listen first. What did the manager criticise?

    1. that he spoke too fast
    2. the report had too little content
    3. that he came to the meeting late
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, the report had too little content.

    内容太少了.

  2. Listening

    What does Chen Jing praise?

    1. his clear and well-made slides
    2. his serious attitude
    3. his calm voice during the talk
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, his serious attitude.

    你的态度都很认真.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 张伟

    经理Jīnglǐ批评pīpíng了le我wǒ的de报告bàogào，说shuō内容nèiróng太tài少shǎo了le。

    The manager criticised my report and said there wasn't enough content.

  2. 陈静

    别Bié难过nánguò。不管Bùguǎn经理jīnglǐ说shuō什么shénme，你nǐ的de态度tàidu都dōu很hěn认真rènzhēn。

    Don't be upset. Whatever the manager said, your attitude was very serious.

  3. 张伟

    可是Kěshì我wǒ准备zhǔnbèi了le一yí个gè星期xīngqī……

    But I prepared for a week...

  4. 陈静

    不管Bùguǎn结果jiéguǒ好hǎo不bu好hǎo，你nǐ已经yǐjīng尽力jìnlì了le。下次Xiàcì改gǎi一yì改gǎi，经理jīnglǐ一定yídìng会huì表扬biǎoyáng你nǐ的de。

    Whatever the result, you did your best. Change it a bit next time and the manager will definitely praise you.

  5. 张伟

    谢谢Xièxie你nǐ。不管Bùguǎn多duō难nán，我wǒ都dōu会huì坚持jiānchí下去xiàqu。

    Thanks. However hard it is, I'll keep going.

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.

  • 别难过。不管经理说什么，你的态度都很认真。

    Bié nánguò. Bùguǎn jīnglǐ shuō shénme, nǐ de tàidu dōu hěn rènzhēn.

    Don't be upset. Whatever the manager said, your attitude was very serious.

  • 经理批评了我的报告，说内容太少了。

    Jīnglǐ pīpíng le wǒ de bàogào, shuō nèiróng tài shǎo le.

    The manager criticised my report and said there wasn't enough content.

  • 谢谢你。不管多难，我都会坚持下去。

    Xièxie nǐ. Bùguǎn duō nán, wǒ dōu huì jiānchí xiàqu.

    Thanks. However hard it is, I'll keep going.

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 不管 mean?

    1. to think, to consider
    2. no matter, regardless
    3. to protect
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, no matter, regardless.

    不管 (bùguǎn) means no matter, regardless.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “attitude”?

    1. 表扬
    2. 态度
    3. 条件
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 态度.

    “attitude” is 态度 (tàidu).

  3. Pinyin

    How do you read 尽力 (to do one's best)?

    1. jìnlì
    2. jínlì
    3. jīnlì
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, jìnlì.

    尽力 is read jìnlì. Check the tone mark on every syllable.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    批评 pīpíng

    1. to care about
    2. goodbye
    3. to criticise, criticism
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, to criticise, criticism.

    You heard 批评 (pīpíng): to criticise, criticism.

  5. Your turn

    Recall: type the Chinese for “to praise” (characters or pinyin).

    Show the answer

    Answer: 表扬

    “to praise” is 表扬 (biǎoyáng).

  6. Grammar

    Which sentence is right?

    1. 不管你去，我都去。
    2. 不管你去不去，我都去。
    3. 不管你去不去，我就去。
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 不管你去不去，我都去。.

    不管你去不去，我都去。: 不管 + A-not-A, 都.

  7. Fill the gap

    Complete: We did our best.

    我们已经＿＿了。

    1. 尽力
    2. 批评
    3. 表扬
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 尽力.

    尽力: did our best.

  8. In context

    Your boss says your work is excellent. What did she do?

    1. 批评了你
    2. 表扬了你
    3. 尽力了你
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 表扬了你.

    表扬了你: 表扬: to praise.

  9. Your turn

    Type the Chinese for attitude

    Show the answer

    Answer: 态度

    态度: attitude.

Whatever happens

Encourage a friend after a failure, out loud, with three 不管 sentences.

  1. Comfort them about the result.
  2. Praise their attitude.
  3. Say what they should do next time.

Sentence frames

  • 不管＿＿，你都＿＿。

    Bùguǎn ＿＿, nǐ dōu ＿＿.

    No matter ..., you ...

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 不管 + question word or A-not-A + 都.
  • I can criticise and praise politely.

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: Even if I lose: 就算 and 就是…也