Chinese For Dummies (51 page)

Wǒ bù néng chī yǒu táng de cài.
我不能吃有糖的菜
. (waw boo nuhng chir yo tahng duh tsye.) (
I can't eat anything made with sugar.
)

Wǒ bú yào là de cài.
我不要辣的菜
. (waw boo yaow lah duh tsye.) (
I don't want anything spicy.
)

Wǒ bú yuànyì chī hǎishēn.
我不愿意吃海参
. (
我不願意吃海參
.) (waw boo ywan-yee chir hi-shun) (
I don't want to try sea slugs.
)

Wǒ méi
diǎn zhèige.
我没点这个
. (
我没点這個
.) (waw may dyan jay-guh.) (
I didn't order this.
)

Wǒmen yào yíge suān là tāng.
我们要一个酸辣汤
. (
我們要一個酸辣湯
.) (waw-men yaow ee-guh swan lah tahng.) (
We'd like a hot-and-sour soup.
)

Yú xīnxiān ma?
鱼新鲜吗
? (
魚新鮮嗎
?) (yew shin-shyan mah?) (
Is the fish fresh?
)

Regular nouns in Chinese make no distinction between singular and plural. Whether you want to talk about one
píngguǒ
苹果
(
蘋果
) (peeng-gwaw) (
apple
), two
júzi
桔子
(jyew-dzuh) (
oranges
), or both
píngguó hé júzi
苹果和桔子
(peeng gwaw huh jyew dzuh) (
apples and oranges
), the fruits always sound the same in Chinese. On the other hand, if you want to refer to human beings, you can always add the suffix
men
们
(
們
) (mun). The word for
I
or
me
is
wǒ
我
(waw), but
we
becomes
wǒmen
我们
(
我們
) (waw-mun). The same goes for
nǐ
ä½ 
(nee)
(
you
) and
tā
他
/
她
/
它
(tah) (
he/she/it
).
Both of you
or
all of you
becomes
nǐmen
你们
(
你們
) (nee-mun) and
both of them
or
all of them
becomes
tāmen
他们
他們
) /
她们
(
她們
) /
它们
(
它們
) (tah-mun). If you want to refer to a specific number of apples, however, you don't use
men
as a suffix. You can either say
píngguǒ
for
apple
(or
apples
) or
liǎngge píngguǒ
两个苹果
(
兩個蘋果
) (lyahng-guh peeng-gwaw), meaning
two apples.
How do you like them apples?

Dipping into some dim sum

Dim sum
is probably the most popular food of Chinese folks in the United States and of people in Guangdong Province and all over Hong Kong, where you can find it served for breakfast, lunch, and sometimes dinner. Vendors even sell dim sum snacks in subway stations.

The dish's main claim to fame is that it takes the shape of mini portions, and it's often served with tea to help cut through the oil and grease afterwards. You have to signal the waiters when you want a dish of whatever is on the dim sum cart they push in the restaurant, however, or they just pass on by. Dim sum restaurants are typically crowded and noisy, which only adds to the fun.

Part of the allure of dim sum is that you get to sample a whole range of different tastes while you catch up with old friends. Dim sum meals can last for hours, which is why most Chinese people choose the weekends to have dim sum. No problem lingering on a Saturday or Sunday.

Because dim sum portions are so small, your waiter often tallys the total by the number of plates left on your table. You can tell the waiter you want a specific kind of dim sum by saying
Qǐng lái yì dié
_____.
请来一碟
_____. (
請來一碟
_____.) (cheeng lye ee dyeh
_______.
) (
Please give me a plate of _____.
). Fill in the blank with one of the tasty choices I list in
Table 8-7
.

Table 8-7 Common Dim Sum Dishes

Have you ever used the particle
guò
过
(
過
) (gwaw)?
If you want to ask whether someone has ever done something, use this word directly after the verb to get your point across: