Level 24 - Vocab in Context
46 Lessons
1
红 in Context
2
红包 in Context
约 in Context
4
约会 in Context
5
合法 in Context
6
给 in Context
7
拿 in Context
8
穿 in Context
9
穿衣服 in Context
10
空 in Context
11
天空 in Context
12
有空 in Context
13
空间 in Context
14
空气 in Context
15
深 in Context
16
正式 in Context
17
试试 in Context
18
刀子 in Context
19
分 in Context
20
分钟 in Context
21
分手 in Context
22
分开 in Context
23
过分 in Context
24
份 in Context
25
月份 in Context
26
切 in Context
27
一切 in Context
28
计划 in Context
29
别 in Context
30
别人 in Context
31
别的 in Context
32
BONUS: Connector - Expressing Exceptions with 除了
33
刚 in Context
34
刚刚 in Context
35
BONUS: “How Does What" - Adverbs of Time
36
刚才 in Context
37
班 in Context
38
上班 in Context
39
下班 in Context
40
加班 in Context
41
前 in Context
42
以前 in Context
43
前天 in Context
44
前面 in Context
45
往前 in Context
46
前边 in Context
Next Character
约 in Context
CONGRATULATIONS!
The Character You Just Learned is Also a Common Word!
Usage 1 - "to arrange, to make an appointment":
Sentence
我约了小明去吃饭。
English:
I made an appointment with Xiaoming to go eat.
*Sentence
我约了她今天吃饭
English:
I made an appointment to eat with her today.
Sentence
约了谁呢？
English:
Who are you meeting?
Top-Down Words:
谁 shéi - who?
呢 ne - (grammatical particle placed at the end of a non-yes no question to emphasize the inquisitiveness. Unlike 吗，it is optional and is only meant to influence the tone…
Sentence
今天给他们打了个电话，约他们这周末见一次面。
English:
I called them today and asked them to meet me this weekend.
Top-Down Words:
给 gěi - to give
次 cì - times
Usage 2 - "approximately":
*Sentence
我上网下载了约500张照片.
English:
I went online and downloaded about 500 pictures.
Top-Down Words:
下载 xiàzǎi - to download
张 zhāng - measure word for pictures
照片 zhàopiàn or zhàopiān - picture, photograph
Need a Reminder?
The Six Steps to Learning Words
Understanding Chinese Words - Morphemes
Member Comments from 2019-mid-2020
Do you also want to leave a comment? You can do so below！
William Beeman
Hi! This construction puzzles me a bit. It is the 我约了她
First, having the verb so close to the beginning of the phrase is "different." Then having 了right before the person with whom the appointment with no connector is also odd.
I was expecting a construction like 跟她一起 to indicate with whom I had a "date" or an appointment. So:
Is this a correct sentence? 我约了跟她一起
How about this? 我跟她一起约了Mandarin Blueprint
'约' means "to make an appointment/date with" so just think of it like that and you should be fine.
Your first sentence needs an activity/action after the 一起 i.e. 我约了她一起➕动作（吃饭，逛街，打球）我约了她一起吃饭, for example.
The second sentence should be changed to something like: "我和她约好了（一起）➕动作"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=mirQSJ4gwPQ&t=2877s
Comments 10
Click Here to Search Individual Hanzi 汉字
PHASE 1 (Levels 1-6)
- The Basics - Why Does This Method Work?
- How our Pinyin Chart is Different
- What are Chinese Characters?
- Props
- Sets
- Actors
- Scripts
- Inspiration for Scripts
- Special Effects
- Timeboxing
- Why SRS is So Important: Frequency & Memory
- How to Use SRS
- Habit Building Part 1 - Triggers
- Habit Building Part 2 - Routine
- Habit Building Part 3 - Reward
- Habit Building Part 4 - Belief
- Stroke Order Rule #1
- Stroke Order Rule #2
- Stroke Order Rule #3
- Stroke Order Rule #4
- Stroke Order Rule #5
- Stroke Order Rule #6
- Stroke Order Rule #7
- Stroke Order Rule #8
- Stroke Order Rule #9
- Stroke Order Rule #10
- Stroke Order Rule #11
- Stroke Order Rule #12
PHASE 2 (Levels 7-12)
- Understanding Chinese Words - Morphemes
- The Six Steps to Learning Words
- 3 Questions About Words
- Top-Down & Bottom-Up Learning
Living Links Series
Word Structure Series
- Part 1 - What are Chinese Words?
- Part 2 - Verb-What 述宾式
- Part 3 - Verb-How 补充式
- Part 4 - Biased 偏正式
- Part 5 - Parallel 并列式
- Part 6 - Duplicated 重叠式
- Part 7 - Subject-Predicate 主谓式
- Part 8 - Affixed 附加式
PHASE 3 (Levels 13-20)
- The Basic Chinese Sentence
- Helper - Expressing Possession with 的
- Helper - When You Can Omit 的
- Helper - Completed Actions with 了
- Helper - Change of State with 了
- Helper - Present Actions with 着
- Connector - Saying 'But' with 但是 - 可是 - 不过
- Connector - Reasons & Actions with 因为..., 所以...
- Connector - Conditional "If-Then" Statements with 如果..., 就
- Connector - Conditional "If-Then" Statements with 要是...的话
- Connector - "Or" in Questions with 还是
- Connector - “Or" in Statements with 或/或者
- Relator - Using 为 to Express "For"
- Relator - Expressing "From" with 从
- Relator - Expressing Location with 在
- Special - Using 在 as a Verb
- Tone - Softening Tone of Voice with 呢
- “How Does What" - Adverbs of Denial
- “How Does What" - Adverbs of Degree
PHASE 4 (Levels 21-30)
Level 21
- Transferring Money by Smartphone or Bank
- Walk in the Park?! I Have 汉字 to Study!
- Who Determine's a Baby's Looks, Mom or Dad?
Level 22
- How Many Pages of the Book Have You Read?
- Many People Don't Want to Have Babies
- My Girlfriend Can Really Eat!
- What Do You Like to Do?
- What Method Works for Learning Chinese?
Level 23
- Eating Bread
- I Met My Girlfriend in the Park
- Something is Different About My Dog Lately
- The Older Brother is Better Than the Younger Brother
- The Right and Left Side of the Office
- Three Meals a Day
Level 24
- Annoying People
- Breaking Up at the End of the Date
- Going on a Date
- My Two Friends and I
- Overtime at Work
- Red Packets
- Two People in a Relationship
Level 25
- I Want to Find a Boyfriend Too
- My Dad and I
- My Dog Chouchou
- The Big Changes of China
- The Weather is Great, Let's Go to the Park!
- Xiaomei and Her Boyfriend's Day
Level 26
Level 27
- American Journalist Studies Chinese in China
- Can I Still Learn Chinese Anymore?
- Should I Change?
- Children and Their Parents
- Foreigner's Opinion of China
- What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?
Level 28
- Daughter & Mother
- Son's Eighth Birthday
- Study, Work & Life
- What's More Important, Looks, or Ability?
Level 29
- Advertisements
- Buying Tickets at Chinese New Year
- Everybody Restaurant
- How Does One Progress
- Son is Out of Control
Level 30
- Cars, Bicycles & Trains
- Potatoes & Beef
- Two Ladies Compare Who's Got it Better
- Young People Raising Cats and Dogs
Phase 4 Grammar Points
Get Involved!
Have any questions about the course? Want to share an interesting "movie scene?" How about an Actor, Set or Prop? Just leave a comment below the lesson in question and we'll talk about it in our weekly podcast!
Keep on learning with us!
We make frequent blog updates that will make you SUPER motivated as you keep climbing the "acquisition mountain." Check it out and subscribe!
Melissa Niesen 😊🤝 倪茉莉
Checking my understanding here, in the sentence 今天给他们打了个电话，约他们这周末见一次面。Is the indication that it is referring to the speaker because it already happened? If you leave it the "了" does it sound more like a command?
Mandarin Blueprint
That's right!
Micaela Ellison
Based on the English translations of "appointment" and "date", I had the sense 约 was formal. But some of these examples appear to be more casual (a bit hard to tell without more context). So if I were planning to meet up with an old friend and we set a specific day and time, but otherwise there was nothing "formal" about the occasion, could I still use 约？
Mandarin Blueprint
约 isn't formal when used this way, so go for it. It's only formal when used to mean "approximately"
MB Team
This is where Luke and Phil talked about your question in the Mandarin Blueprint Podcast:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5u5g-VtJo8&t=758s
George J 🤝
In the sentence "今天给他们打了个电话，约他们这周末见一次面。" what is the function of the "一次" (one time) ? It doesn't seem to appear in the translation. Or is this another case of 'that's just how people say it'?
Mandarin Blueprint
It makes no difference as 见面 and 见一次面 are the same thing if you think about it, both mean "one time" so not worth putting in the translation. Adding the 一次 is indeed just another way to say it :D
Robert
Can you help by giving an example of the different ways we would use 左右 to mean approximately and 约 to mean approximately? is the first one for positional contexts while the second one is for mathematical contexts? or are they interchangeable when they mean approximately?
Thanks
Mandarin Blueprint
左右 is used after the thing and 约 is used before the thing (it's also very formal). Check Pleco for some example sentences for these.
MB Team
This is where Luke and Phil talked about your question in the Mandarin Blueprint Podcast:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7snaR-D-7R0&t=95s