A bit too much: 未免
HSK 6 Unit 5: Degrees and limits · Lesson 2 of 5 · About 26 minutes
Preview version — Chinese review in progress.
Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can criticise tactfully with 未免, and discuss spending and luxury.
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Warm-up: do you remember?
Two quick questions from earlier lessons. Recalling before you learn makes the new material stick.
Meaning
What does 黄金周 mean?
That is 慌 (huāng).
That is 出口 (chūkǒu).
Show the answer
Answer: B, Golden Week (national holiday week).
黄金周 (huángjīnzhōu) means Golden Week (national holiday week).
Characters
Which word means “admission ticket”?
过度 (guòdù) means excessive, too much.
忽视 (hūshì) means to ignore, to neglect.
Show the answer
Answer: C, 门票.
“admission ticket” is 门票 (ménpiào).
Listening
From an earlier unit. Listen. What does the word mean?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
浑身 húnshēn
That would be 出口 (chūkǒu).
That would be 地震 (dìzhèn).
Show the answer
Answer: A, all over the body.
You heard 浑身 (húnshēn): all over the body.
New words
未免
未免 (wèimiǎn) + adjective or verb softens a criticism: this is rather too …, a bit too …. It is often followed by 太 or 有点儿 and sounds polite. 不免 (bùmiǎn), which you met with 难免, means it is natural that … happens.
你这样说未免太过分了。
Nǐ zhèyàng shuō wèimiǎn tài guòfèn le.
Saying that is going a bit too far.
一顿饭花三千块，未免有点儿奢侈。
Yí dùn fàn huā sānqiān kuài, wèimiǎn yǒudiǎnr shēchǐ.
Three thousand yuan for one meal is rather extravagant.
Not:
未免很便宜。But: 真便宜。 Zhēn piányi.
未免 is for gentle criticism, not for praise.
Characters
Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.
The wedding budget
Liu Fang tells Li Ming about her cousin's wedding plans.
Listen first
Play the whole conversation and answer the questions before you open the transcript.
Helpful words: 婚礼 hūnlǐ wedding; 包 bāo to book (a whole place); 豪华 háohuá luxurious; 一辈子 yíbèizi a whole lifetime; 表姐 biǎojiě (older female) cousin; 一代 yídài generation
Listening
Listen first. How many guests does the cousin want to invite?
Show the answer
Answer: B, five hundred.
请五百个客人.
Listening
How does Liu Fang describe her parents' generation?
Show the answer
Answer: C, very thrifty.
他们那一代人都很节俭.
Show the transcript
刘芳
我表姐的婚礼要包一个豪华酒店，请五百个客人。
My cousin wants to book a luxury hotel for her wedding and invite five hundred guests.
李明
五百个？这未免太夸张了吧！
Five hundred? That's a bit much, isn't it?
刘芳
她说结婚一辈子只有一次，应该办得好一点儿。
She says you only marry once in your life, so it should be done well.
李明
有道理，可是花那么多钱，未免有点儿奢侈。
Fair enough, but spending that much money is rather extravagant.
刘芳
我爸妈也说她太过分了。他们那一代人都很节俭。
My parents also say she's going too far. Their generation is very thrifty.
李明
婚礼最重要的是两个人开心，不是花了多少钱。
The most important thing at a wedding is that the two of them are happy, not how much they spend.
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.
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Recording is not available in this browser. Listen, then repeat aloud and compare by ear.
五百个？这未免太夸张了吧！
Wǔbǎi gè? Zhè wèimiǎn tài kuāzhāng le ba!
Five hundred? That's a bit much, isn't it?
有道理，可是花那么多钱，未免有点儿奢侈。
Yǒu dàoli, kěshì huā nàme duō qián, wèimiǎn yǒudiǎnr shēchǐ.
Fair enough, but spending that much money is rather extravagant.
我爸妈也说她太过分了。他们那一代人都很节俭。
Wǒ bàmā yě shuō tā tài guòfèn le. Tāmen nà yídài rén dōu hěn jiéjiǎn.
My parents also say she's going too far. Their generation is very thrifty.
Practice
Meaning
What does 未免 mean?
That is 迟到 (chídào).
That is 灵感 (línggǎn).
Show the answer
Answer: A, rather too, a bit too.
未免 (wèimiǎn) means rather too, a bit too.
Characters
Which word means “luxurious, extravagant”?
门票 (ménpiào) means admission ticket.
未免 (wèimiǎn) means rather too, a bit too.
Show the answer
Answer: C, 奢侈.
“luxurious, extravagant” is 奢侈 (shēchǐ).
Pinyin
How do you read 过分 (excessive, going too far)?
Show the answer
Answer: C, guòfèn.
过分 is read guòfèn. Check the tone mark on every syllable.
Listening
Listen. What does the word mean?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
夸张 kuāzhāng
That would be 难 (nán).
That would be 善良 (shànliáng).
Show the answer
Answer: B, exaggerated.
You heard 夸张 (kuāzhāng): exaggerated.
Your turn
Recall: type the Chinese for “thrifty” (characters or pinyin).
Show the answer
Answer: 节俭
“thrifty” is 节俭 (jiéjiǎn).
Grammar
Which sentence criticises gently?
Show the answer
Answer: A, 你这样做未免太着急了。.
你这样做未免太着急了。: 未免 + 太 + a negative adjective.
Fill the gap
Complete: My grandmother is very thrifty.
我奶奶非常＿＿。
Show the answer
Answer: B, 节俭.
节俭: thrifty.
In context
Your friend says he ate a hundred dumplings for lunch, which can't be true. How is what he said?
Show the answer
Answer: A, 很夸张.
很夸张: 夸张: exaggerated.
Your turn
Type the Chinese for luxurious
Show the answer
Answer: 奢侈
奢侈: luxurious.
Tactful criticism
A friend tells you about a plan that seems too much (a huge party, an expensive car, a very long trip). React tactfully out loud in six sentences.
- Repeat the plan.
- Criticise gently with 未免.
- Suggest something more reasonable.
Sentence frames
这样＿＿未免太＿＿了吧？
Zhèyàng ＿＿ wèimiǎn tài ＿＿ le ba?
Isn't ... a bit too ...?
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 criticise tactfully with 未免.
- I can talk about spending, luxury and thrift.
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