死 in Context

CONGRATULATIONS! 

The Character You Just Learned is Also a Common Word!

Usage 1 - "death, to die": 

Sentence：

那只小狗死在了马路旁。

English:

That dog died by the side of the road.

Top-Down Words:

马路 mǎlù - road
旁 páng - beside, next to

*Sentence：

她吃的那些东西都不知道去哪儿了，让我担心死了。

English:

I don't know where she puts all that food she eats [because she never gets fat]. It worries me to death.

Top-Down Words:

都 dōu - all, every
知道 zhīdào - to know

Need a Reminder?

The Six Steps to Learning Words

Understanding Chinese Words - Morphemes

3 Questions About Words

Member Comments from 2019-mid-2020

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William Beeman

Hi! In 那只小狗死在了马路旁--I don't understand the position/function of 在 in the sentence. I know it can designate ongoing action, and also location, but I don't see what it does in this sentence after the verb and before 了. Thanks!

Mandarin Blueprint

Here it just means "located". I think the placement of 了le threw you off a little.

MB Team

Here's the link to where Phil and Luke talked about this comment in the Mandarin Blueprint Podcast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX6uT92Sy4U&t=2820s

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Gregory Paturau

Hello Guys,
In this sentence: "那只小狗死在了马路旁'' We have 4 words in a row using the third tone. If I remember correctly from the pronunciation course if we have 3 words using the third tone in a row, it's our discretion when to use second tone on the first word or second word. But what about in this case? When I listen to the audio it looks like to me they are using second tone for the first 3 words then third tone for 死 : Nà zhí xiáo góu sǐ. That's what I heard but maybe I'm mistaken. But if so, does it means we can use second tone for the all of them except the last word even if it's only 3 words using third tone? My apology if you already explained it before.

Mandarin Blueprint

When 只 is a measure word, it's pronounced zhī in first tone, so it's not actually four in a row here.. However, if you had four third tones in a to, it would simply be 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd.

Gregory Paturau

Great! Thank you for your time! =)