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Mythic Mandarin

Could it be: 莫非

HSK 6 Unit 1: Rhetorical questions · Lesson 4 of 5 · About 26 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can voice a suspicion with 莫非 and 难道, and solve a small mystery about a parcel.

Warm-up: do you remember?

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

  1. Meaning

    What does 法律 mean?

    1. to pick (flowers or fruit)
    2. law
    3. whole, entire
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, law.

    法律 (fǎlǜ) means law.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “age”?

    1. 年纪
    2. 整个
    3. 背影
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 年纪.

    “age” is 年纪 (niánjì).

  3. Listening

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

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    政策 zhèngcè

    1. brows
    2. policy
    3. the twelfth lunar month
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, policy.

    You heard 政策 (zhèngcè): policy.

New words

  • 莫非mòfēicould it be that
  • 神秘shénmìmysterious
  • 猜cāito guess
  • 奇怪qíguàistrange
  • 秘密mìmìsecret
  • 迹象jìxiàngsign, indication

莫非

莫非 (mòfēi) voices a guess or suspicion: could it be that …? It is a little literary. 难道 can do the same job in speech. Both often end with 吗 or 不成.

  • 他今天没来，莫非生病了？

    Tā jīntiān méi lái, mòfēi shēngbìng le?

    He didn't come today. Could he be ill?

  • 你笑什么？莫非你知道这个秘密？

    Nǐ xiào shénme? Mòfēi nǐ zhīdào zhège mìmì?

    What are you smiling at? Could it be that you know the secret?

  • Not: 莫非明天下雨，我们不去。

    But: 如果明天下雨，我们就不去。 Rúguǒ míngtiān xiàyǔ, wǒmen jiù bú qù.

    莫非 guesses about now; it is not if.

Characters

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

A mysterious parcel

Anna gets a parcel with no name on it. Sophie helps her guess.

Listen first

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

Helpful words: 诗集 shījí book of poems; 卡片 kǎpiàn card; 寄 jì to send (by post); 地址 dìzhǐ address; 签名 qiānmíng signature; 偷偷 tōutōu secretly

  1. Listening

    Listen first. What was missing from the parcel?

    1. the address
    2. a name
    3. a stamp
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, a name.

    上面没有签名.

  2. Listening

    Who does Sophie guess sent it?

    1. Anna's mother
    2. Mark
    3. Professor Yang
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, Professor Yang.

    我猜是杨教授.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 安娜

    真Zhēn奇怪qíguài，有yǒu人rén给gěi我wǒ寄jì了le一yí个gè包裹bāoguǒ，可是kěshì上面shàngmian没有méiyǒu签名qiānmíng。

    How strange: someone sent me a parcel, but there's no name on it.

  2. 苏菲

    里面Lǐmian是shì什么shénme？

    What's inside?

  3. 安娜

    一Yì本běn中文Zhōngwén诗集shījí，还hái有yǒu一yì张zhāng卡片kǎpiàn，写xiě着zhe“生日shēngrì快乐kuàilè”。

    A book of Chinese poems and a card saying "Happy birthday".

  4. 苏菲

    你Nǐ的de生日shēngrì明明míngmíng是shì下个xiàge月yuè。莫非Mòfēi是shì有yǒu人rén记错jìcuò了le？

    Your birthday is clearly next month. Could someone have got the date wrong?

  5. 安娜

    你Nǐ看kàn，地址dìzhǐ是shì用yòng中文Zhōngwén写xiě的de，字zì写xiě得de很hěn漂亮piàoliang。

    Look, the address is written in Chinese, in beautiful handwriting.

  6. 苏菲

    我Wǒ猜cāi是shì杨教授Yáng jiàoshòu！他Tā上次shàngcì说shuō要yào送sòng你nǐ一yì本běn诗集shījí。所有Suǒyǒu的de迹象jìxiàng都dōu说明shuōmíng是shì他tā。

    I bet it's Professor Yang! He said last time he'd give you a book of poems. All the signs point to him.

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.

  • 我猜是杨教授！他上次说要送你一本诗集。所有的迹象都说明是他。

    Wǒ cāi shì Yáng jiàoshòu! Tā shàngcì shuō yào sòng nǐ yì běn shījí. Suǒyǒu de jìxiàng dōu shuōmíng shì tā.

    I bet it's Professor Yang! He said last time he'd give you a book of poems. All the signs point to him.

  • 你的生日明明是下个月。莫非是有人记错了？

    Nǐ de shēngrì míngmíng shì xiàge yuè. Mòfēi shì yǒu rén jìcuò le?

    Your birthday is clearly next month. Could someone have got the date wrong?

  • 真奇怪，有人给我寄了一个包裹，可是上面没有签名。

    Zhēn qíguài, yǒu rén gěi wǒ jì le yí gè bāoguǒ, kěshì shàngmian méiyǒu qiānmíng.

    How strange: someone sent me a parcel, but there's no name on it.

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 莫非 mean?

    1. to infect, to spread (a disease)
    2. website
    3. could it be that
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, could it be that.

    莫非 (mòfēi) means could it be that.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “mysterious”?

    1. 奇怪
    2. 条款
    3. 神秘
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 神秘.

    “mysterious” is 神秘 (shénmì).

  3. Pinyin

    How do you read 猜 (to guess)?

    1. cái
    2. cǎi
    3. cāi
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, cāi.

    猜 is read cāi. Check the tone mark on every syllable.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    奇怪 qíguài

    1. first
    2. strange
    3. you're welcome
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, strange.

    You heard 奇怪 (qíguài): strange.

  5. Your turn

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

    Show the answer

    Answer: 秘密

    “secret” is 秘密 (mìmì).

  6. Grammar

    Which sentence uses 莫非 correctly?

    1. 莫非明天下雨，我不去。
    2. 灯还亮着，莫非他还没睡？
    3. 他莫非。
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 灯还亮着，莫非他还没睡？.

    灯还亮着，莫非他还没睡？: 莫非 + a guess about now.

  7. Fill the gap

    Complete: Guess who called me!

    你＿＿谁给我打电话了！

    1. 莫非
    2. 猜
    3. 秘密
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 猜.

    猜: to guess.

  8. In context

    Nobody knows who built this old house or why. How is it?

    1. 很神秘
    2. 很明明
    3. 很何况
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 很神秘.

    很神秘: 神秘: mysterious.

  9. Your turn

    Type the Chinese for secret

    Show the answer

    Answer: 秘密

    秘密: secret.

Solve a mystery

Describe a small mystery out loud (something lost, a strange noise, an unexpected message), in six sentences.

  1. What happened, and what was strange about it.
  2. Two guesses with 莫非 or 难道.
  3. Your final answer, with 所有的迹象都说明.

Sentence frames

  • 莫非＿＿？

    Mòfēi ＿＿?

    Could it be that ...?

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 voice a suspicion with 莫非 and 难道.
  • I can describe something strange and guess the reason.

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 debate: should children have smartphones?