HSK 4 • Lesson 7生活有时候就是琐碎的
HSK 4 • 提高篇Lesson 7 / 24

生活有时候就是琐碎的

Shēnghuó yǒushíhou jiù shì suǒsuì de
Life is Sometimes Trivial / Mundane
Pattern 1

十有八九

Spoken idiom meaning 'in eight or nine cases out of ten', indicating a very high probability or well-grounded presumption ('most likely', 'almost certainly').

Examples
你现在去找他，十有八九他不在家。
Nǐ xiànzài qù zhǎo tā, shí yǒu bā-jiǔ tā bú zài jiā.
If you go looking for him right now, nine times out of ten he won't be at home.
这么晚了还没回来，十有八九是单位又加班了。
Zhème wǎn le hái méi huílái, shí yǒu bā-jiǔ shì dānwèi yòu jiābān le.
He hasn't returned this late; nine out of ten he's working overtime at the office again.
Pattern 2

时……时…… (Lúc thì…… lúc thì……)

Fixed structure indicating that two opposing states occur alternately and unpredictably. The words following each '时' must be antonyms (e.g. 时好时坏 'good at times, bad at times').

Examples
这个电视机不知道怎么回事，时好时坏，真让人头疼。
Zhè ge diànshìjī bù zhīdào zěnme huí shì, shí hǎo shí huài, zhēn ràng rén tóuténg.
I don't know what's wrong with this TV; it works on and off, which is a real headache.
春天北京的天气真奇怪，时冷时热，很容易感冒。
Chūntiān Běijīng de tiānqì zhēn qíguài, shí lěng shí rè, hěn róngyì gǎnmào.
Spring weather in Beijing is so capricious—freezing one moment and warm the next—making it easy to catch a cold.
Pattern 3

哪儿啊

Conversational idiom used to gently or playfully negate, refute, or dispute the other person's conjecture or question ('Not at all!', 'Where did you get that idea?').

Examples
A：这台电脑该报废了吧？—— B：哪儿啊，才买了一年多！
A: Zhè tái diànnǎo gāi bàofèi le ba? —— B: Nǎr a, cái mǎi le yì nián duō!
A: This computer is ready for the scrap heap, right? —— B: Not at all, I only bought it a little over a year ago!
A：那位就是你男朋友吧？—— B：哪儿啊，那是我亲哥哥。
A: Nà wèi jiù shì nǐ nánpéngyou ba? —— B: Nǎr a, nà shì wǒ qīn gēge.
A: That guy must be your boyfriend, right? —— B: No way, that's my biological older brother!
Pattern 4

……不说，还 / 也……

Colloquial progressive structure meaning 'not only A (which is already a lot), but furthermore B'. Often used to emphasize compounding difficulties or expenses.

Examples
找公司装修得花一大笔钱不说，还不一定能找到信得过的。
Zhǎo gōngsī zhuāngxiū děi huā yí dà bǐ qián bù shuō, hái bù yídìng néng zhǎodào xìndeguò de.
Hiring a renovation firm costs a huge amount of money, not to mention that you might not even find one that is trustworthy.
他昨天上课迟到不说，还顶撞了老师。
Tā zuótiān shàngkè chídào bù shuō, hái dǐngzhuàng le lǎoshī.
Not only was he late for class yesterday, but he also talked back to the teacher.
Pattern 5

忙 / 照顾 / 吃 + 得 / 不过来

Potential complement '得过来' / '不过来' indicating whether someone has the capacity, time, or energy to handle an overwhelming volume of tasks, people, or items ('manage to cope with' vs 'too much to cope with').

Examples
装修房子可是项大工程，你一个人怎么忙得过来呢？
Zhuāngxiū fángzi kě shì xiàng dà gōngchéng, nǐ yí ge rén zěnme máng de guòlai ne?
Renovating a house is a massive project; how could you possibly manage it all by yourself?
今天店里的顾客实在太多了，我们两个服务员根本忙不过来。
Jīntiān diàn li de gùkè shízài tài duō le, wǒmen liǎng ge fúwùyuán gēnběn máng bu guòlai.
There are simply too many customers in the shop today; the two of us waiters can't cope at all.
Pattern 6

慢慢来

Common spoken phrase meaning 'take your time', 'take it easy', or 'one step at a time', advising patience when facing challenging endeavors.

Examples
别着急，慢慢来，一口吃不成个胖子。
Bié zháojí, mànman lái, yì kǒu chī bù chéng ge pàngzi.
Don't fret, take your time; you can't get fat on one mouthful (Rome wasn't built in a day).
Pattern 7

只不过……罢了

Spoken pattern downplaying significance or intensity: 'merely...', 'nothing more than...'.

Examples
他洗衣服只不过是把脏衣服放进洗衣机，再按几下开关罢了。
Tā xǐ yīfu zhǐ búguò shì bǎ zāng yīfu fàng jìn xǐyījī, zài àn jǐ xià kāiguān bàle.
His idea of doing laundry is merely tossing dirty clothes into the washing machine and pushing a couple of buttons, that's all.
这没多难，我只不过是按照说明书试着拼装了一下罢了。
Zhè méi duō nán, wǒ zhǐ búguò shì ànzhào shuōmíngshū shì zhe pīnzhuāng le yíxià bàle.
It wasn't that hard; I merely tried assembling it according to the instruction manual, that's all.