Basic Grammar: all 87 lessons free
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对 — Towards: Good to Me, Bad for You
介词「对」— A对B很好／不好／有帮助
中国人对我很友好, 喝可乐对身体不好, 看中国电影对学汉语有帮助: 对 aims an attitude or an effect at its target.
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Memory hook
A + 对 + B + Adj / V
Aimed at someone, aimed at something
Six from the deck, then a few more you will need. Hear 对 right before the target every time.
Tap any line to hear it
Aim it对准它
No pressure — just making it stick.
中国人____我很友好。
Zhōngguó rén ____ Wǒ hěn yǒuhǎo.
Chinese people are friendly towards me.
It is not. Which reply?
Watching Chinese films helps with learning Chinese.
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
抽烟对身体____。
Chōuyān duì shēntǐ ____.
Smoking is bad for the body.
Your turn — say it
老板对我很好。
The boss is good to me.
喝热水____身体好。
Hē rèshuǐ ____ Shēntǐ hǎo.
Drinking hot water is good for you.
Aim each sentence at its target.
Tap a word to fill the next gap; tap a filled sentence to clear it. Every word is used once.
Word bank
0/5Good for you, bad for you — in pictures看图说好坏
No pressure — just making it stick.
Four things the deck judges with 对. Match each picture, then say 对……好 or 不好.
Tap a picture, then choose its word. Picked wrong? Tap that picture and choose again. Match all the cards to finish.
Your turn — say it
喝可乐对身体不好。
Drinking cola is bad for you.
My Chinese colleagues are good to me.
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
Your turn — say it
看中国电影对学汉语有帮助。
Watching Chinese films helps with learning Chinese.
This lesson's characters
对 itself, the friend in 友好, and the body everything is good or bad for.
towards; correct; a pair
会two ideas joined
The traditional 對 showed a hand holding up a tally or a lamp-stand: to face, to answer, to match. Facing became 'towards' — 对我很好; matching became 'correct' — 对！ right!; and a matched set became a pair — 一对. One character for the arrow, the tick and the couple. 不对 is wrong; 对不起, 'unable to face you', is sorry.
friend
会two ideas joined
Two right hands 又又, one over the other — helping, joining: a friend. 朋友 is the everyday word; 友好 is friendly; 女友 and 男友 are the short forms of girlfriend and boyfriend. 中国人对我很友好 — two hands reaching towards you.
body
象drawn from life
A person seen from the side with a rounded belly — the oldest 身 is a pregnant body, the body at its most bodily. 身体 is body and health; 身高 is height; 身上 is 'on you' — 你身上有钱吗？ do you have money on you? 对身体不好 aims at exactly this figure.
Take these with you
Everything worth taking away. Tap any line to hear it.
Words 生词
Characters 汉字
Before you go课后回顾
- Judge five things you did today with 对身体好 or 对身体不好, out loud. You will sound exactly like a Chinese grandmother, which is the goal.
- Answer the mother's question before it is asked: 他对我很好. Say it about someone who deserves it.
- Three 对s now: 对 towards, 对 correct, 对不起. Same character — a hand facing you, every time.