Basic Grammar: all 87 lessons free
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V + 着 — The Door Is Open, He Is Holding a Camera
「着」— 状态的持续：门开着、他戴着帽子
门开着, 他躺着, 他拿着相机, 他戴着绿色的帽子: 着 after a verb freezes it into a state that is still going on. The grammar of describing a scene.
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Memory hook
S + V + 着 (+ O) — a state that continues
Describing what is the case
The deck's four scenes, then the questions. Hear how 着 makes each sentence a still photograph.
Tap any line to hear it
What is the case现在是什么样
No pressure — just making it stick.
门____，请关一下。
Mén ____, qǐngguān yíxià.
The door is open — please close it.
He is. Which reply?
He is wearing a green hat.
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
空调____开着，很热。
Kōngtiáo ____ Kāizhe, hěn rè.
The air conditioning isn't on — it's hot.
Your turn — say it
他拿着相机。
He is holding a camera.
她拿着手机____？——没拿着。
Tā ná zhuó shǒujī ____? — Méi názhe.
Is she holding a phone? — No.
Describe each scene with the right V + 着.
Tap a word to fill the next gap; tap a filled sentence to clear it. Every word is used once.
Word bank
0/5A scene, in pictures看图说状态
No pressure — just making it stick.
Four states from the deck. Match each picture, then describe it with 着.
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
我穿着白色的衣服，拿着一个红色的包。
I'm wearing white and holding a red bag.
Is the door open?
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
他戴着眼镜吗？
Is he wearing glasses?
This lesson's characters
着 itself, and two of the things that stay on: the hat and the light.
(particle) zhe — an ongoing state
会two ideas joined
着 began as a written variant of 著, 'to show, to attach', and the everyday form took over: something attached, staying. As zhe after a verb it holds a state in place — 开着, 拿着, 戴着. Read zháo it means to catch or hit — 睡着了, fell asleep; read zhuó, to wear — 着装. Three readings; the light zhe is the one this lesson lives on.
hat
形meaning + sound
Cloth 巾 beside 冒, which you met in 感冒 — itself a cap 冃 over an eye 目. So 帽 is cloth-cap, doubly a hat. 帽子 is the hat, 戴帽子 to wear one, 绿帽子 — a green hat — the one thing you must never give a Chinese man, since it means his wife is unfaithful. 他戴着绿色的帽子 is the deck's sentence; say it about a foreigner.
lamp, light
形meaning + sound
Fire 火 with 丁 for the sound: a flame you keep — a lamp. Before electricity 灯 was oil and a wick; now it is the light you switch on, and 灯开着 means it is on. 红绿灯 are traffic lights; 灯笼 are the red lanterns of Spring Festival. Turn it off with 关灯.
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Everything worth taking away. Tap any line to hear it.
Words 生词
Characters 汉字
Before you go课后回顾
- Describe the room you are in with five 着 sentences — the door, the light, what you are wearing, what you are holding. A still photograph in Chinese.
- Play the airport game with a friend on the phone: describe yourselves until you could find each other in a crowd. Every 着 is a clue.
- Feel the difference: 门开了 is an event, 门开着 is a state. One is a verb happening; the other is a photograph.