(一) 我讀罷之書要出去望朋友. (二) 勿論啥人來對伊話我有事體. (三) 天濕末我勿能彀出去跑路. (四) 拉學堂間裏學生子勿應該吃平菓. (五) 小囝歡喜做捉人個勃相. (六) 今朝學生子讀來勿好我想伊拉勿曾預備. (七) 啥辰光開學, 啥辰光放學? (八) 儂隨便幾時來我蠻歡喜對儂白話. (九) 第個小囝一顔勿歡喜讀書我想頂好伊出去做生意. (十) 我已輕對儂話兩三回勿要忘記. (十一) 下個月我伲要搬塲. (十二) 近上海無沒高山必過坟山. (十三) 第扇窗開勿來個動也勿動. (十四) 鐘已輕敲過末. (十五) 籃裏有幾個蛋?
(1) In the fourth sentence of the First Exercise { ’m-sa° °hau} means “not at all well.” (2) In the eleventh sentence of the First Exercise the expression { Dzoe-bien° noong° meh tse} is one very frequently used. It implies, “do it whenever and however you please” (3) In the fourteenth sentence of the First Exercise { Tan theh} means “take away.” We have already had the use of { Theh} after verbs, as { Thoeh-theh}, “to take off clothes.” It can be used with almost any verb of motion. We have { Peh theh}, “to give away.” { Chuh-theh}, “to eat up.” { Chi°-theh}, “to cast off, disown.” { Ma°-theh}, “to sell away, etc.” (4) In the fifteenth sentence of the First Exercise { Yang° yang°} repeated means, “Things of every sort.” (5) Note that the usual expression in Chinese to say you are busy is { °Ngoo °yeu z°-°thi}. It is never very polite to tell any one that you are busy. A person asking whether you were busy would say { maung va°}? “Are you busy?” (6) In the fifth sentence of the Second Exercise the game { Tsauh nyung}, frequently played by Chinese children, is referred to. (7) In the eighth sentence of the Second Exercise the clauses should be reversed. { Noong° dzoe-bien° °kyi-z-le} should come first. (8) In the ninth sentence of the Second Exercise “to go and do business” is { Chi° tsoo° sang-i°}. (9) In the fourteenth sentence of the Second Exercise { Tsoong khau koo° meh} is the usual way of asking the question. { Tsoong} is shortened form of { Z°-ming tsoong}.
\{ Siang}/ (相) is often placed before transitive verbs and usually gives the idea of mutual or reciprocal. In some cases it is reflexive. As instances of reciprocal action we have \{ siang-°tang}/ (相打), “to fight with one another.” \{ Siang-mo°}/ (相駡), “to revile one another.” \{ siang-lien}/ (相聯), “to be connected together.” \{ Siang-paung}/ (相幫), “to help one another.”
\{ Khe}/ (開) or \{ Khe-le}/ (開來) is used with many verbs to give the idea of spreading wide open. Thus \{ Than-khe-le}/ (攤開來) means “to unroll a bundle.” \{ Hyih-khe-le}/ (揭開來) means “to open a box.” \{ Fung-khe}/ (分開), “to divide,” \{ san°-khe}/ (散開), “to scatter wide cast.” \{ Tshih-khe}/ (切開) or \{ tshih-khe-le}/ (切開來) means “to cut open, etc.”