Megasprachen

Chinese Taster Training · Chapter 1: First Words and Phrases

I'm Sorry

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Duìbùqǐ means “I’m sorry”.

In a crowd you bump into somebody and snap “Du!” at them – the German word for “you”, said sharply, carries the falling tone and gives you duì. By way of apology he hands you a book with sharp edges: book (Buch in German) and the sharp edge give you , also falling. Inside the book it describes how people in India dance the cha-cha-cha, on a trampoline: cha and India give you , with the trampoline marking the third tone.

You can see how the pitch moves into the image – and how that makes you confident without learning the tones separately.