🎙️1️⃣1️⃣0️⃣ Better This Way? Not Necessarily — A Small Change That Worked
Chinese Bites — with Jianying | HSK3️⃣Show Notes
Sometimes we think one choice is better, but the result turns out differently. In today’s episode, a simple plan changes — and three very natural Chinese expressions appear: 不如 (it’d be better to) 不见得 (not necessarily) 反而 (on the contrary)
昨天晚上我本来打算在家工作。Zuótiān wǎnshàng wǒ běnlái dǎsuàn zài jiā gōngzuò.Yesterday evening, I originally planned to work at home.
我想：Wǒ xiǎng:I thought to myself:
“在家太安静了， 不如去咖啡店工作吧。”“Zài jiā tài ānjìng le, bùrú qù kāfēi diàn gōngzuò ba.”“It’s too quiet at home — it’d be better to work at a café.”
结果到了咖啡店，Jiéguǒ dào le kāfēi diàn,But when I got to the café,
人很多，也有点儿吵。rén hěn duō, yě yǒudiǎnr chǎo.there were a lot of people, and it was a bit noisy.
我心里想：Wǒ xīnli xiǎng:I thought to myself:
“这样工作效率不见得会更高。”“Zhèyàng gōngzuò xiàolǜ bújiànde huì gèng gāo.”“Working like this is not necessarily more efficient.”
可是奇怪的是，Kěshì qíguài de shì,But strangely,
我反而比在家更专心。wǒ fǎn’ér bǐ zài jiā gèng zhuānxīn.I was on the contrary more focused than at home.
最后我很快就把工作做完了。Zuìhòu wǒ hěn kuài jiù bǎ gōngzuò zuò wán le.In the end, I finished my work quickly.
有时候，Yǒu shíhou,Sometimes,
事情真的不见得跟你想的一样。shìqing zhēn de bújiànde gēn nǐ xiǎng de yíyàng.things are not necessarily the way you expect.
More from Chinese Bites — with Jianying | HSK3️⃣
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A quiet day, a small surprise, and a feeling that’s much better than expected — today’s episode shows how three very common Chinese expressions are used in daily conversations: 没怎么 (didn’t really) 怎么回事 (what’s going on?) ……得多 (much …er)
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