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Mythic Mandarin

Is it worth it? 值得 and 仅仅

HSK 5 Unit 4: Luck and necessity · Lesson 4 of 5 · About 26 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can judge whether something is worth doing with 值得, and play down a number or fact with 仅仅 and 只不过.

Warm-up: do you remember?

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

  1. Meaning

    What does 房东 mean?

    1. to cause, to result in
    2. as, to be (written)
    3. landlord
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, landlord.

    房东 (fángdōng) means landlord.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “to rise (prices)”?

    1. 以
    2. 涨
    3. 主
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 涨.

    “to rise (prices)” is 涨 (zhǎng).

  3. Listening

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

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    善良 shànliáng

    1. kind-hearted
    2. at, in, on (written)
    3. to investigate, survey
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, kind-hearted.

    You heard 善良 (shànliáng): kind-hearted.

New words

  • 仅仅jǐnjǐnmerely, only
  • 只不过zhǐbuguòit's just that, merely
  • 代价dàijiàprice, cost (figurative)
  • 投资tóuzīto invest, investment
  • 回报huíbàoreturn, reward

值得

值得 (zhíde) + verb is worth doing: 值得一看, worth seeing. 不值得 is not worth it.

  • 这本书很值得一读。

    Zhè běn shū hěn zhíde yì dú.

    This book is well worth reading.

  • 为了这么一点儿钱，不值得冒险。

    Wèile zhème yìdiǎnr qián, bù zhíde màoxiǎn.

    It's not worth the risk for so little money.

仅仅 and 只不过

仅仅 (jǐnjǐn) is merely, only, stressing a small amount. 只不过 (zhǐbuguò) plays something down: it's just that.

  • 他仅仅用了三个月就学会了。

    Tā jǐnjǐn yòng le sān gè yuè jiù xuéhuì le.

    He learned it in only three months.

  • 我只不过是开个玩笑。

    Wǒ zhǐbuguò shì kāi gè wánxiào.

    I was only joking.

  • 这个投资的回报很高，代价也很大。

    Zhège tóuzī de huíbào hěn gāo, dàijià yě hěn dà.

    This investment has a high return, but the cost is high too.

Characters

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

An MBA?

Gao Fei is thinking about an expensive evening course. Xiaoyu helps him decide.

Listen first

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

Helpful words: 二十万 èrshíwàn two hundred thousand; 玩笑 wánxiào joke; 好处 hǎochu benefit; 几十年 jǐshínián decades

  1. Listening

    Listen first. How much does the course cost?

    1. twenty thousand
    2. two thousand
    3. two hundred thousand
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, two hundred thousand.

    这个课要二十万.

  2. Listening

    How does Gao Fei describe the course in the end?

    1. a waste of money and weekends
    2. a nice break from work
    3. an investment in himself
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, an investment in himself.

    这是对自己的投资.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 高飞

    这个Zhège课kè要yào二十万èrshíwàn，你nǐ觉得juéde值得zhíde吗ma？

    This course costs two hundred thousand. Do you think it's worth it?

  2. 小雨

    要Yào看kàn回报huíbào。读Dú完wán以后yǐhòu，你nǐ的de工资gōngzī能néng涨zhǎng多少duōshao？

    It depends on the return. After you finish, how much would your salary go up?

  3. 高飞

    听说Tīngshuō能néng涨zhǎng百bǎi分fēn之zhī三十sānshí。可是Kěshì要yào读dú两liǎng年nián，每měi个gè周末zhōumò都dōu要yào上课shàngkè。

    Supposedly thirty per cent. But it takes two years, with classes every weekend.

  4. 小雨

    代价Dàijià不bù小xiǎo。可是Kěshì两liǎng年nián仅仅jǐnjǐn是shì很hěn短duǎn的de时间shíjiān，以后yǐhòu几十年jǐshínián都dōu有yǒu好处hǎochu。

    The cost isn't small. But two years is only a short time, and you'd benefit for decades.

  5. 高飞

    你Nǐ说shuō得de对duì，这zhè是shì对duì自己zìjǐ的de投资tóuzī。

    You're right. It's an investment in myself.

  6. 小雨

    只不过Zhǐbuguò你nǐ周末zhōumò不bù能néng陪péi我们wǒmen玩wán了le！

    It's just that you won't be able to hang out with us at weekends!

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.

  • 代价不小。可是两年仅仅是很短的时间，以后几十年都有好处。

    Dàijià bù xiǎo. Kěshì liǎng nián jǐnjǐn shì hěn duǎn de shíjiān, yǐhòu jǐshínián dōu yǒu hǎochu.

    The cost isn't small. But two years is only a short time, and you'd benefit for decades.

  • 你说得对，这是对自己的投资。

    Nǐ shuō de duì, zhè shì duì zìjǐ de tóuzī.

    You're right. It's an investment in myself.

  • 只不过你周末不能陪我们玩了！

    Zhǐbuguò nǐ zhōumò bù néng péi wǒmen wán le!

    It's just that you won't be able to hang out with us at weekends!

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 仅仅 mean?

    1. merely, only
    2. cold
    3. hero
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, merely, only.

    仅仅 (jǐnjǐn) means merely, only.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “it's just that, merely”?

    1. 只不过
    2. 与其说
    3. 差点儿
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 只不过.

    “it's just that, merely” is 只不过 (zhǐbuguò).

  3. Pinyin

    How do you read 代价 (price, cost (figurative))?

    1. dàijià
    2. dāijià
    3. dǎijià
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, dàijià.

    代价 is read dàijià. Check the tone mark on every syllable.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    投资 tóuzī

    1. outside
    2. price
    3. to invest, investment
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, to invest, investment.

    You heard 投资 (tóuzī): to invest, investment.

  5. Your turn

    Recall: type the Chinese for “return, reward” (characters or pinyin).

    Show the answer

    Answer: 回报

    “return, reward” is 回报 (huíbào).

  6. Grammar

    Which sentence means This film is worth seeing?

    1. 这个电影值得看一。
    2. 这个电影一看值得。
    3. 这个电影值得一看。
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 这个电影值得一看。.

    这个电影值得一看。: 值得一看: worth seeing.

  7. Fill the gap

    Complete: I was only joking.

    我＿＿是开个玩笑。

    1. 值得
    2. 只不过
    3. 代价
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 只不过.

    只不过: merely.

  8. In context

    You did something risky for very little money. What do you think now?

    1. 很值得。
    2. 不值得。
    3. 很回报。
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 不值得。.

    不值得。: 不值得: not worth it.

  9. Your turn

    Type the Chinese for merely, only (written)

    Show the answer

    Answer: 仅仅

    仅仅: merely.

Worth it?

Weigh up out loud whether three things are worth it, with 值得, 仅仅 and 只不过.

  1. An expensive purchase.
  2. A course or a trip.
  3. A small risk.

Sentence frames

  • ＿＿值得吗？我觉得＿＿。

    ＿＿ zhíde ma? Wǒ juéde ＿＿.

    Is ... worth it? I think ...

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 say whether something is worth doing with 值得.
  • I can play things down with 仅仅 and 只不过.

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: A narrow escape