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Lesson 5 of 47

老 in Context

CONGRATULATIONS! 
The Character You Just Learned is Also a Common Word!
Usage 1 - "always (doing sth. negative)": 

*Sentence:

你怎么老是丢东西?

English:

Why do you always lose things?

Top-Down Words:

怎么 zěnme - how?


Usage 2 - "old":

Sentence:

妈妈老了,她有很多故事。 

English:

Mom's getting old. She's got lots of stories.

Top-Down Words:

故事- gùshi- story; tale


Sentence:

父母老了,头发白了。 

English:

Parents are getting old. Their hair is gray.

Top-Down Words:

 头发 tóufa - hair (on one’s head, body hair is 毛发 máofa)


*Sentence:

一开始,我觉得有点不开心,因为我一点儿也不“老”,我才三十五岁。

English:

At first, I was a little unhappy because I wasn't "old." I was only 35.



Need a Reminder?

The Six Steps to Learning Words

Understanding Chinese Words - Morphemes

3 Questions About Words


Member Comments from 2019-mid-2020

Do you also want to leave a comment? You can do so below!

Jay A

for the meaning of "always (doing sth. negative)", is 老 used by itself? Or is it always 老是?

Mandarin Blueprint

It's possible to omit the 是 when putting 老 before a verb, but it's more often placed w/ 是.

Great Job! Keep Going! 老公 in Context
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