What you will be able to do
- Say where you work and what you do with 在…工作 and the measure word 家.
- Split a verb-object verb to take a duration: 上了一天班, 开了两个小时的会.
- Put a clock time before the verb and a length of time after it.
- Reach a colleague with 给…打电话 and 给…发邮件, and apologise for a late arrival.
Chinese words in this text can be activated to show a dictionary gloss.
Work: the words, and the joins between them
is both the noun and the verb
- 。 Wǒ zài yì jiā gōngsī gōngzuò. — I work at a company. The measure word for a company, a shop or a restaurant is jiā.
- 。 Wǒ de gōngzuò hěn máng. — literally my work is busy, which is how Chinese says you are busy at work.
- 。 Tā zài zhǎo gōngzuò. — He is looking for a job.
Note the order in the first sentence. The place comes before the verb, introduced by : , , . Putting it after the verb is the commonest word-order error at this level.
Five verbs that already carry their object
shàngbān is not a verb ban; it is to go up to plus a work shift. The same is true of xiàbān, jiābān (to work overtime), kāihuì (to hold a meeting) and qǐngjià (to ask for leave). They behave normally until you try to add something, and then the two halves come apart.
- 。 Wǒ shàng le yì tiān bān. — I put in a full day. Not .
- 。 Wǒmen kāi le liǎng ge xiǎoshí de huì. — We met for two hours.
- 。 Tā qǐng le sān tiān jià. — He took three days off.
- 。 Zuótiān jiā le liǎng ge xiǎoshí bān.
The rule behind all four: the duration goes after the verb, and the object goes after the duration. Since the object is already inside the word, the word has to open.
Two kinds of time in one sentence
- When, before the verb: 。 Wǒ měitiān bā diǎn shàngbān. 。 Wǒmen xiàwǔ liǎng diǎn kāihuì.
- How long, after the verb: 。 Wǒ gōngzuò le bā ge xiǎoshí.
Put both in and the sentence reads like a timetable: ，，。
The people
- jīnglǐ — manager. lǎobǎn — boss, the word used in a small firm or a shop.
- tóngshì — colleague: 。 Tā shì wǒ de tóngshì.
- bàngōngshì — office, the room. Do not use it for the company: means you are in the room; means you are at work.
Reaching someone
gěi marks the person you are directing something at, and it stands before the verb.
- 。 Wǒ gěi jīnglǐ dǎ le ge diànhuà. — I gave the manager a call.
- 。 Wǒ gěi nǐ fā yóujiàn. — I will email you. fā duǎnxìn is a text message.
- 。 Qǐng nǐ gěi wǒ dǎ diànhuà.
Small phrases that carry a lot
- ，。 Duìbuqǐ, wǒ chídào le. — Sorry, I am late. already means arrive late, so is ten minutes late.
- 。 Máfan nǐ le. — Sorry to put you to the trouble. Said when someone has done you a small favour.
- 。 Xīnkǔ le. — literally that was hard work: an acknowledgement offered to someone who has just finished a task, at any level of seniority. It has no clean English equivalent and is heard constantly in a Chinese office.
How to work through it
Where the place goesread
Read the first section, then say five sentences on the frame 在 + place + verb: work at a company, wait in the office, eat at home, read in the library, meet in the meeting room. The place never follows the verb.
Ten office wordsvocabulary
Five of these ten split in two when a duration is added. Mark them on the card as you learn them — it is faster than relearning the pattern later from your own mistakes.
Open the verb and put the hours insidesentence
Convert each into a duration sentence: 上班 → eight hours; 开会 → two hours; 请假 → three days; 加班 → one hour. Then say the whole day in one breath: 我今天八点上班，六点下班，还加了一个小时班。
Right now, and already donequiz
Twelve items. Six choose between 在开会 and 开会了 for a colleague who is unavailable; six place 了 correctly in a split verb-object verb.
Phone a colleaguespeaking
Three short calls, thirty seconds each: say you will be twenty minutes late; ask whether the manager is in the office; ask a colleague to email you the document, then thank them with 麻烦你了.