Basic Grammar: all 87 lessons free
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Verb + 一下 — Just a Quick One
「V一下」— 一下就好
看一下, 尝一下, 等一下: 一下 after a verb makes it short, casual and polite. Add 我可以……吗 and you can ask for anything in a Chinese home.
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Memory hook
V + 一下 (+ O) = a short, light action
Quick looks and small tastes
Every 一下 here makes something smaller. Listen for how the request softens when 我可以……吗 wraps around it.
Tap any line to hear it
Make it small把它说小
No pressure — just making it stick.
我可以____你的作业吗？
Wǒ kěyǐ ____ Nǐ de zuòyè ma?
Can I take a look at your homework?
A friend eyes your burger. Which reply lets them?
Change your shoes.
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
____！我的手机在哪儿？
____! Wǒ de shǒujī zài nǎr?
Hang on! Where is my phone?
Your turn — say it
我可以用一下你的厕所吗？
May I use your bathroom?
这个菜很好吃，你____。
Zhè ge cài hěn hǎochī, nǐ ____.
This dish is delicious — have a taste.
Finish the visit: pick the verb for each 一下.
Tap a word to fill the next gap; tap a filled sentence to clear it. Every word is used once.
Word bank
0/5Small actions, in pictures看图说一下
No pressure — just making it stick.
What is each person doing 一下? Match the picture to the verb, then say 我……一下 for each.
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
等一下！
Hang on a second!
Can I try a bit of your fish?
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
你坐一下，我去拿茶。
Sit for a moment, I'll get the tea.
This lesson's characters
Three characters that do small things: the taste, the wait, and the shoe at the door.
to taste
会two ideas joined
The traditional 嘗 put 旨, delicious, under 尚: to find out whether something is delicious — to taste. The simplified form swapped the bottom for a quick 云, but the job stayed: 尝一下 is the spoon at the lips before the verdict. It also means 'once, ever' in older Chinese — a flavour you have tried before.
to wait; class, rank
会two ideas joined
Bamboo 竹 on top, 寺 below: bamboo slips being sorted into ranks at an office. From sorting came 'grade, class' — 头等 first class — and from standing in line for your turn came 'to wait'. 等一下 is exactly that: your slip is next, hold still.
shoe
形meaning + sound
革 on the left is a hide pegged out to dry — leather, the stuff shoes were made from. 圭 on the right once sounded closer to the word and now only hints at it. 鞋子 is the pair you take off at a Chinese door; 拖鞋, the 'drag-shoes', are the slippers waiting for you inside.
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
- Take three verbs you already own — 看, 听, 问 — and make each one small: 看一下, 听一下, 问一下. You just learned thirty polite sentences at once.
- Next time you are in a Chinese friend's home, keep score: how many 一下 do you hear before the tea arrives? It is never fewer than three.
- Remember the seat: 一下 hugs the verb — 看一下手机, never 看手机一下.