第一課 LESSON 1

LESSON 1

What’s in this lesson:

- Introducing Yourself

- Verb ‘to be’

- Two simple ways of Asking Questions

INTRODUCING YOURSELF

DIALOGUE t`ui-¨oe

Oˆng： Sian-sin, k`ui-s`en ？

Lˆim： G´oa s`en Lˆim, k`io Lˆim Kok-kong.

Oˆng： Lˆim sin-sen, l´i s¨i B´i-kok-lˆang, s¨i bˆo ？

Lˆim： ¨ -s¨i, g´oa s¨i Eng-kok-lˆang.

M

- - - - - -

Oˆng： S´io-ch´ia, k`ui-s`en ？

Tˆan： (G´oa) s`en Tˆan.

Oˆng： Tˆan s´io-ch´ia, l´i s¨i l¨au-su, s¨i bˆo ？

Tˆan： G´oa ¨m-s¨i l¨au-su, g´oa s¨i h’ak-seng.

- - - - - -

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LESSON 1 第一課

Oˆng： Chh´ian-m¨ng, l´i k`ui-s`en ？

Ngˆo.： G´oa s`en Ngˆo., k`io Ngˆo. Siok-tin.

Oˆng： L´i s¨i-¨m-s¨i l¨au-su ？

Ngˆo.： S¨i, g´oa s¨i l¨au-su.

Oˆng： Ngˆo. l¨au-su, ch`ai-k`ian.

Ngˆo.： Ch`ai-k`ian.!

王 ： 先生，貴姓？
林 ： 我姓林，叫林國光。
王 ： 林先生，你是美國人嗎？
林 ： 不是，我是英國人。

- - - - - -

王 ： 小姐，貴姓？
陳 ： (我)姓陳。
王 ： 陳小姐，你是老師嗎？
陳 ： 我不是老師，我是學生。

- - - - - -

王 ： 請問，你貴姓？
吳 ： 我姓吳，叫吳淑珍。
王 ： 您是不是老師？
吳 ： 是，我是老師。
王 ： 吳老師，再見。
吳 ： 再見。

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ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE DIALOGUE 對 話 翻 譯

Oˆng: Sir/Mister, what is your (esteemed) surname?

Lˆim : My family name is Lim, I’m called Lim Kok-kong.
Oˆng : Mr. Lim, are you (an) American? (see note 7)
Lˆim : No, I’m British.

- - - - - - - - - -

Oˆng : Miss., what is your family name?

Tˆan: My family name is Tan.
Oˆng: Miss. Tan, are you a teacher?
Tˆan : I’m not a teacher, I’m a student.

- - - - - - - - - -

Oˆng: Excuse me, what is your family name?

Ngˆo. : My family name is Ngo., my name is Ngo. Siok-tin.
Oˆng: Are you a teacher?
Ngˆo. : Yes, I’m a teacher.
Oˆng: Teacher Ngo., goodbye.
Ngˆo. : Goodbye.

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NEW VOCABULARY sin-j¨i

1. Oˆng 王 (N) king; (a Taiwanese family name)

2. sian-sin 先 生 (N) Mr.; sir; husband; gentleman

(or sin-sen)

3. th`ai-th`ai 太 太 (N) Mrs.; madam; wife;

(married) lady

4. s´io-ch´ia 小 姐 (N) Miss., young lady, girl, female

shop assistant

5. k`ui-s`en 貴 姓 (EX) What is (your) esteemed

surname? (see note 3)

6. g´oa 我 (PN) I, me

g´oan / l´an 我 們 (PN) we, us (see note 11)

7. l´i 你 (PN) you (singular)

l´in 你 們 (PN) you (plural)

8. i 他 / 她 (PN) he, she; him, her (note 6)

in 他 們 (PN) they; them [ 她 們 ]

9. s`en 姓 (EV/N) to be surnamed / surname

10. Lˆim 林 (N) (a Taiwanese family name)

11. k`io 叫 (EV) to be named, to be called (by a

certain name)

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第一課 LESSON 1

12. s¨i 是 (EV) to be (negative: ¨m-s¨i)

13. B´i-kok-lˆang 美 國 人 (N) American

B´i-kok 美 國 (PW) America

lˆang 人 (N) man, person, people

14. s¨i-bˆo / b¨e / bˆo 嗎 (P) (interrogative sentence particle)

15. bˆo / b¨e / ¨m 不 (A) not (the negative) (note 12)

16. Eng-kok-lˆang 英 國 人 (N) British (note 8)

Eng-kok 英 國 (PW) Britain

17. Tˆan 陳 (N) (a Taiwanese family name)

18. l¨au-su 老 師 (N) teacher

19. h’ak-seng 學 生 (N) student

20. chh´ian-m¨ng 請 問 (EX) Please may I ask, ? Excuse me, ...?

21. Ngˆo. 吳 (N) (a Taiwanese family name)

22. ch`ai-kìan 再 見 (EX) Goodbye ! (See you again)

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LESSON 1 第一課

EQUATIVE VERBS (EV)

S EV N
G´oa s¨i l¨au-su
我 是 老師

I am teacher

I am a teacher

Equative Verbs equate two nouns (or nominal expressions) as in:

I am a teacher, He is an American (I s¨i B´i-kok-lˆang), I am Miss
Tan (G´oa s¨i Tˆan s´io-ch´ia). The word order in most instances is
the same in both English and Taiwanese.

The most common Equative Verb is s¨i (to be). Two other
Equative Verbs are s`en (to be surnamed) and k`io (to be
named/called).

SENTENCE PATTERNS 語法練習

1. Negative ¨m precedes verb s¨i .

Repetition Drill

S ¨ m EV N
G´oa ¨m s¨i B´i-kok-lˆang
L´i ¨m! s¨i l¨au-su!
I ¨m! s¨i h’ak-seng
G´oan ¨m s¨i Eng-kok-lˆang
Tˆan s´io-ch´ia ¨m s¨i l¨au-su

我不是美國人
你不是老師
她不是學生 ! !
我們不是英國人 !
陳小姐不是老師

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2. Questions can be formed by adding s¨i bˆo？ to the end of the sentence.
Teacher asks the student the following questions and the student replies.
Then the student asks the teacher the following questions and the teacher
replies.

Q:!L´i s¨i B´i-kok-lˆang, s¨i bˆo？ A:(¨m)s¨i, g´oa (¨m)s¨i B´i-kok-lˆang

Q:!G´oa s¨i l¨au-su, s¨i bˆo？ A:!
Q:!I/L´i s¨i h’ak-seng, s¨i bˆo？ A:
Q:!L´i s`en Oˆng, s¨i bˆo ？ A:

你是美國人嗎？ (不)是，我(不)是美國人。
我是老師嗎？
他/你是學生嗎？
你姓王嗎？

3. Questions can also be formed by using the positive + negative form of the
verb (i.e. by immediately following the positive form of the verb with its
negative form). bˆo？ is always omitted in this kind of sentence pattern.
Teacher asks the student the following questions and the student replies.
Then the student asks the teacher the following questions and the teacher
replies.

Q: L´i s¨i-¨m-s¨i B´i-kok-lˆang？ A: (¨m)s¨i,g´oa (¨m)s¨i B´i-kok-lˆang

Q:!I s¨i-¨m-s¨i l¨au-su？ A:
Q:!Tˆan l¨au-su s¨i-¨m-s¨i Eng-kok-lˆang？ A:
Q:!Chh´ian-m¨ng, in s¨i-¨m-s¨i h’ak-seng？ A:!

你是不是美國人？ (不)是，我(不)是美國人。
她是不是老師？ !
陳老師是不是英國人？ !
請問，他們是不是學生？ ! !

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LESSON 1 第一課

INTRODUCING YOURSELF

Asking Someone’s Name:

(Chh´ian-m¨ng) l´i k`ui-s`en？ or sian-sin / s´io-ch´ia, k`ui-s`en？
(請問)您貴姓？ or 先生/小姐，貴姓？

Replying to the above Question:

- giving surname only: G´oa s`en Lˆim.
我姓林。

- giving full name: (G´oa) s`en Lˆim, k`io Lˆim Kok-kong.

(我)姓林，叫林國光。
or: G´oa s¨i Lˆim Kok-kong.
我是林國光。

Now practice using your own Taiwanese name. [Refer to Notes 1-3]

Answer the following questions by giving your own personal details:

Q: L´i s¨i-¨m-s¨i B´i-kok-lˆang ？ A:
Q:!!L´i s¨i l¨au-su, s¨i bˆo ？ A:!
Q:!!L´i s`en Ngˆo., s¨i bˆo ？ A:
Q:!!L´i k`io Tˆan Kok-kong, s¨i bˆo ？ A:

你是不是美國人？
你是老師嗎？
你姓吳嗎？
你叫陳國光嗎？

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Talk about the picture below

Tˆan l¨au-su Lˆim Kok-kong

陳 老 師 林 國 光

TRANSLATION 翻 譯 hoan-’ek
1. Are they British?
2. We are not teachers.
3. He is not Lim Kok-kong.
4. May I ask, is Teacher Ngo. an American?
5. Is she called Tan Siok-tin?

WORTH NOTING 註 解
People’s titles are very important. So when talking to a person who is a teacher,
professor, etc., be sure to use their appropriate title when addressing them.
Don’t be too quick to use given names - and never with older people. Older
Taiwanese people seldom call each other just by their given name, unless they
are very close friends.
Two simple rules worth noting are:
a) with regards to addressing someone else - see how other people address them.
b) as regards yourself, don’t insist on people calling you by your given name but
rather let them address you in the way they feel most comfortable and natural.

Although there are over 1600 different Taiwanese surnames, in Taiwan just 10
of these account for half of the population:
Tˆan 陳 (10%), Lˆim 林 (8%), Nˆg 黃 (6%), Tiun 張 (5%), L´i 李 (5%),
Oˆng 王 (4%), Ngˆo. 吳 (4%), Lˆau 劉 (3%), Chh`oa 蔡 (3%), Iˆun 楊 (3%).

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LESSON 1 第一課

TRANSLATION OF THE SENTENCE PATTERNS 句型翻譯

1. I’m not an American.
You are not a teacher.
She isn't a student.
We aren’t British.
Miss. Tan isn’t a teacher.

2. Are you (an) American?

Am I a teacher?
Is he / Are you a student?
Is your family name Ong?

3. Are you (an) American?

Is she a teacher?
Is Teacher Tan British?
Excuse me, are they students? (see note 9)

NOTES 註 解

Notes regarding Introducing Yourself

1. Taiwanese personal names consist of two parts: a family name (or surname)
and a given name. Note that the family name precedes the given name. The
most common pattern for Taiwanese names is a single-syllable family name
(e.g. Lˆim) followed by a two-syllable given name (e.g. Kok-kong).
Also note that the person’s name precedes their title (e.g. Lˆim l¨au-su).
However, when giving your own name, you always omit the title.

The tone on the surname preceding sin-sen does not change; but for any
other title, it does change.

2. The answer to “L´i k`ui s`en？” is only “G´oa s`en + SURNAME”.

It is never “G´oa s`en Lˆim sin-sen ” nor “G´oa s`en Lˆim Kok-kong.”

3. k`ui (esteemed) is used mostly when asking someone their name, and, when
wishing to be very polite, their country of origin too. But it is never used in the
reply !

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General Notes

4. This lesson has covered two ways of asking questions in Taiwanese:

One way is to add s¨i bˆo to the end of the sentence. The word order remains
unchanged (see Drill 2). Another way of asking questions is to use the positive
+ negative form of the verb: s¨i-¨m-s¨i. The interrogative particle bˆo？ is not
added to this type of question. It is rather like: “You be-no-be?” (Drill 3).

5. Answers to Questions: In simple questions, answers are formed by just

repeating the verb in its positive or negative form. Inclusion of parts of speech
other than the verb is optional. (Taiwanese does not really have exact words
corresponding to ‘yes’ and ‘no’ as in English.)
Q: I s¨i h’ak-seng, s¨i bˆo ？ Is he a student?
A: S¨i. Yes.
Q: I s¨i-¨m-s¨i Eng-kok-lˆang ？ Is she British?
¨ -s¨i.
A: M No.

6. i = he or she . In spoken Taiwanese, it is sometimes unclear whether the

person referred to is male or female.

7. Taiwanese does not have words corresponding to the English words ‘a’ or
‘the’, e.g. G´oa s¨i l¨au-su = I am a teacher; L¨au-su k`io Ngˆo. Siok-tin
= The teacher is called Ngo. Siok-tin.

8. The strict meaning of Eng-kok is ‘Britain’. When needing to be more

specific, there are proper words for England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

9. Ambiguity of Singular and Plural Nouns: Nouns do not change form

according to whether they are being used in the singular or plural. Taiwanese is,
therefore, not always clear as to whether a Noun is singular or plural, e.g.
l¨au-su can mean either ‘teacher’ or ‘teachers’. The context usually makes the
meaning clear.

10. See the front of the textbook for a description of each Part of Speech.

11. Note the difference in meaning between l´an and g´oan :

l´an includes the person being spoken to.
g´oan excludes the person being spoken to.

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12. Negative sentences use bˆo, b¨e, ¨m as appropriate. All these express a
negative meaning. You will learn more about when to use each one in later
lessons. Note that the negative normally directly precedes the verb.
。
13. The zero tone can be indicated by an。above the syllable, e. g. s¨i bˆo？
So that you can quickly become familiar with the zero tone, we suggest that you
mark the zero tones in each sentence, and get your teacher to check that you have
got them right.

Note that the tone on the syllable preceding a zero tone does not change tone.

Some Other Nationalities

Australian ` -chiu-lˆang
O 澳洲人
Canadian Ka-n´a-t¨ai-lˆang 加 拿 大 人
French Hoat-kok-lˆang 法 國 人
German Tek-kok-lˆang 德國人
Japanese J’it-p´un-lˆang 日本人
Korean Hˆan-kok-lˆang 韓國人
Swiss S¨ui-s¨u-lˆang 瑞士人

YOUR OWN NOTES

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The 7 Tones and How They Change

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LESSON 1 第一課

Rules for Changing the Tones

1. The final syllable of a word before a comma, period mark (U.K.: full stop)
or question mark does not change tone:
1 2 7 2
n
G´oa s`e Lˆim, i s`en Tˆan.
1 3 1 8
G´oa s¨i B´i-kok-lˆang.

2. The final syllable of a Noun does not change tone:

3 2
L¨au-su s`en Oˆng.

3. Any syllable before a zero-tone syllable does not change tone:

1 3 1 8 o

L´i s¨i B´i-kok-lˆang, s¨i bˆo ？

4. The final syllable of a Subject does not change tone, unless it is a Personal
Pronoun:
7 3 3 1 8
Lˆim l¨au-su s¨i B´i-kok-lˆang.
1 3 7 8
G´oa s¨i Eng-kok-lˆang.

YOUR OWN NOTES

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