You are with a group of Chinese friends and they just keep talking, talking and talking,
but you don't understand all of the conversation.
Learn these 7 very useful Chinese interjections,
that you can use to keep the conversation going.
Everyday Easy Chinese
Hello everyone I am Teacher Lin from Everyday Easy Chinese.
And today we will be learning, 7 life saving Chinese interjections that you can use,
even if you don't understand the conversation that is going on.
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Let's start!
Number 1
太可惜了 (tài kěxīle)
'What a pity'.
So if your conversation looks like that it's going abit bad and the speaker looks,
disappointed you can say
太可惜了 (kěxīle), ah, 太可惜了 (tài kěxīle),
to mean 'what a pity' and to emphasise with their disappointment.
This can be used in situations, where the speaker probably cancelled the plan
or you to a shop with them and they try to by something but it is out of stock
or they can't go to your birthday party, you can say,
太可惜了 (tài kěxīle).
Number 2
哇 (wā), 哇塞 (wāsāi)
'Wow!'
So if you are in a conversation
and someone does something amazing or they are talking about something amazing.
You can use 哇 (wā) or 哇塞 (wāsāi)
to show how amazed you are.
For example, if you are at the karaoke and your friend is showing off their powerful vocals,
you can say 哇 (wā)
or 哇塞 (wāsāi),
they are both interchangeable.
Number 3
哪里哪里 (nǎlǐ nǎlǐ)
哪里哪里 (nǎlǐ nǎlǐ),
'no, no', for when you try to be modest.
So, if it looks like that someone is praising you,
for example, they say 你的中文说的非常好 (nǐ de zhōngwén shuō de fēicháng hǎo).
'Your Chinese is very good',
instead of saying 'thank you', 谢谢 (xièxiè).
Chinese people are normally very modest and they will say,
哪里哪里 (nǎlǐ nǎlǐ), when they are hit with a compliment.
So, next time when someone praises you say,
哪里哪里 (nǎlǐ nǎlǐ), ah, 哪里哪里 (nǎlǐ nǎlǐ).
It literally means 'where, where', but it means 'no'
and you use it when you try to be modest,
even if your Chinese is great.
Number 4
哎呀 (āiyā)
means 'oh, no',
so, imagine if your friend stepped on something really disgusting
or maybe even you stepped on something really disgusting, you can say
哎呀 (āiyā)
which means 'oh, no'.
Use it to express disgust or irritation.
Number 5
真的没想到 (zhēn de méi xiǎngdào)
真的没想到 (zhēn de méi xiǎngdào),
'who would have thought'.
If your friend is telling you something surprising or it sounds unexpected,
you can show how surprised you are,
by saying, 真的没想到 (zhēn de méi xiǎngdào)
哇!真的没想到 (wā zhēn de méi xiǎngdào)
真的没想到 (zhēn de méi xiǎngdào),
which means 'who would have thought'.
Number 6
真的吗 (zhēn de ma), 'really'.
真的吗 (zhēn de ma)
So, say if your Chinese friend keeps talking, talking and talking
and they are saying something that sounds, you know, a bit impressive
or maybe slightly unexpected, you can say,
真的吗 (zhēn de ma).
'really', you can just nod and say 真的吗 (zhēn de ma).
So, for example if they say that, their getting engaged,
you can say, 真的吗 (zhēn de ma),
or if they bought a new house
you can also say 真的吗 (zhēn de ma), 'really'.
Just nod and say 真的吗 (zhēn de ma).
Number 7
你是说 (nǐ shì shuō),
'so you are saying....'
This is one that I recommend to our Everyday Easy Chinese students,
because it forces you to repeat what the speaker has said
and paraphrase it back to them, to confirm that you heard correctly.
So for example if your friend is saying something like he wants to break up with his girlfriend,
you can say,
你是说想跟她分手是吧? (nǐ shì shuō xiǎng gēn tā fēnshǒu shì ba?)
你是说想跟她分手是吧 (nǐ shì shuō xiǎng gēn tā fēnshǒu shì ba?)
'You are saying you want to break up with her right?'
So, you are trying to confirm whether you've heard it correctly or not,
and they can affirm it naturally, this is a very natural way of asking.
And instead of using other interjections like
真的吗 (zhēn de ma) or 哇 (wā),
which can be faked, this one actually let's you practice
and ask for affirmation naturally.
So, in this lesson we learned 7 Chinese interjections
that you can fake to keep a conversation going.
These are,
太可惜了 (tài kěxīle), to express sympathy.
哇 (wā), 哇塞 (wāsāi), to express your amazement.
哪里哪里 (nǎlǐ nǎlǐ), 'no, no', to express your modesty.
哎呀 (āiyā),
to express your disgust or irritation.
真的没想到 (zhēn de méi xiǎngdào),
to express your surprise.
Number 6, 真的吗 (zhēn de ma), 'really',
to express affirmation.
And finally, number 7,
你是说 (nǐ shì shuō), to repeat or to confirm whether you've heard what the speaker is saying is correct or not.
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and also leave us a COMMENT to let us know which interjection you use most of the time.
Which one do you like?
Let us know in the comments below.
Goodbye!