Level 1 Lesson 25.1 – Please Take A Seat and Have Some Tea!

Grammar 1: Please in Chinese with 请 · HSK 1

When we want to make a suggestion or a request politely, for example if we want to say please do something in Chinese, we can use this structure:

请+ Verb Predicate (+Object)

For example,

(1) With Object

• qǐng hēchá 请喝茶！ please drink tea
• qǐng kāimén 请开门。please open (the) door

(2) Without Object

• qǐngzuò 请坐。 please sit / please take a seat
• qǐngjìn 请进！ please enter / please come in

With 请 we can say an Imperative Sentence in Chinese with a nice and polite tone.

Grammar 2: Imperative Sentence in Chinese with Modal Particle 吧· HSK 1

We can also say an Imperative Sentence in Chinese with the Modal Particle 吧 by using this structure:

Verb Predicate (+Object) + 吧

For example,

(1) With Object

• hēchá ba 喝茶吧！ drink tea
• guānmén ba 关门吧。close (the) door

(2) Without Object

• zuò ba 坐吧。 (just) sit
• zǒu ba 走吧！ (let's) go/ (just) go

Imperative Sentence with Modal Particle 吧 usually have a nice and polite tone, even though the English translation of it might not sound nice.

Grammar 3: Excuse me in Chinese with 请问 · HSK 1

When we want to ask someone a question and get their attention, we can say 请问 to mean excuse me in Chinese, followed by the question itself. For example,

• qǐngwèn, wǒ míngtiān néng bú shàngbān ma
  请问，我明天能不上班吗？
  excuse me, can I not go to work tomorrow
• qǐngwèn, nǐ huì xiě zhège Hànzì ma
  请问，你会写这个汉字吗？
  excuse me, do you know how to write this Chinese character
• qǐngwèn diànshì kāiguān zài nǎr
  请问电视开关在哪儿？
  excuse me where is the TV power switch