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Daily lessons · Day 28 of 90
Staying in touch
Phones, messaging and arranging to meet
Almost every friendship in China starts with the same sentence, and it is about adding each other on an app. This day covers that, the phone call that follows, and how to arrange to meet.
Swapping contacts
The standard opening after a good first conversation.
Why it works
给 plus a person goes before the verb, like time and place: 给你发消息, to you send a message. It is the same slot you have been filling since day 11, which is why the order feels familiar even though the word is new. 给我打电话 is call me.
On the phone
Chinese phone manners are short and have their own greeting.
Why it works
喂 is exclusively a telephone word, and saying it face to face sounds like hailing a stranger. The rising tone matters: said with a falling tone it is closer to oi. Calls in China tend to be short and functional, and most arranging happens by message rather than by voice.
Making a plan
Getting from a nice conversation to an actual meeting.
Why it works
有空一起吃饭 is warm and genuinely common, and it sits somewhere between a real invitation and a friendly noise, much like we should get a coffee sometime in English. If you mean it, follow it with a specific time, which is what 明天晚上可以吗 is for.
Voice messages instead of typing
Sending short voice clips rather than typed text is extremely common in China, across every age group. Typing characters takes longer than speaking, even for natives. As a learner this is good news and bad news: you get plenty of listening practice, and you cannot paste a voice message into a dictionary. Asking someone to type it is a normal request.
Carried over from earlier days
Say each one out loud before you look at the English.
Today’s words 12
Check yourself
8 questions. Get 6 right to finish the day.
Where does 给你 go in 我给你发消息?
- before the verb
- after the verb
- at the end
- before the subject
Show the answer
before the verb The same slot as time and place, from day 11.
Type let's add each other on WeChat in pinyin.
Show the answer
jiā gè Wēixìn ba 加 is to add, and 吧 turns it into a suggestion.
When is 喂 used?
- only on the phone
- as a general greeting
- only in writing
- when saying goodbye
Show the answer
only on the phone Face to face it sounds like hailing a stranger.
What tone should 喂 have when answering a call?
- rising
- falling
- level
- neutral
Show the answer
rising A falling tone makes it closer to oi.
What does 到了告诉我 mean?
- tell me when you arrive
- I told you I arrived
- tell me where to go
- I arrived and told you
Show the answer
tell me when you arrive 了 marks the arrival as complete, inside a larger sentence.
How direct is 有空一起吃饭?
- warm but loose, like we should get a coffee sometime
- a firm invitation with a date
- a polite refusal
- a formal request
Show the answer
warm but loose, like we should get a coffee sometime Follow it with a specific time if you mean it.
Why are voice messages so common in China?
- typing characters takes longer than speaking, even for natives
- phones cannot type Chinese
- text messages cost more
- it is considered more polite
Show the answer
typing characters takes longer than speaking, even for natives Asking someone to type it instead is a normal request.
Type I can't hear you clearly in pinyin.
Show the answer
wǒ tīng bù qīngchu The same 不 in the middle as 听不懂 on day 14.
Question 1 of 8
Writing practice optional
Every character from today, in the order it came up. Watch it, trace it, then write it from memory.
Press Watch to see the stroke order.
Stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi via Hanzi Writer, Arphic Public License.
Character 1 of 50
This lesson is written by an English speaker who learned Mandarin as a second language, and it is waiting on a check by a native speaker. If you spot something off, please tell us and we will fix it.