# Elementary | Sleepy

An episode of [ChinesePod - Beginner](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1489328856), 9 Mar 2026, 16 min.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/109bf914/podcast/play/116611859/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-2-9%2Ff390892f-72e2-8a28-df00-28fc9da69b45.mp3

You are getting sleepy, very sleepy. And you know it's lame, but you just want to go to bed early. Learn to express these sentiments and more in this Chinese lesson. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/1631

## Transcript

[0:06] Watch What to Learn. Chinese, but Chinese.
[0:09] But that's the way to learn Chinese.
[0:15] Chinese, but that's the way to learn Chinese.
[0:24] Elementary listeners, this is Chinese pod.
[0:26] My name is John. My name's Dilu, and this is an
[0:28] elementary lesson. Yes, and we hope you're wide
[0:30] awake because we have a topic today about being sleepy.
[0:34] In Chinese, sleepy is kun kun KUN kun. 4th tone, right?
[0:42] Shoulda. OK, Kun, so we're going to hear
[0:45] that word a couple times in the dialogue.
[0:47] Why don't we set the situation for this one?
[0:50] So you think it's a couple in the dialogue, right?
[0:52] Yeah, it seems that way. A man and a woman, anyway.
[0:55] Maybe roommate? Maybe one of them is sleepy.
[0:59] How we know that? Can you guess where this is
[1:02] going? All right, why don't we listen
[1:04] to the dialogues 3 times and then talk about this
[1:06] conversation? OK.
[1:12] Straight next. Wednesday night, Wilson Kun.
[1:20] Kafe Bar. What?
[1:58] Yes. Now the translation.
[2:34] Wuhan Kun. I'm sleepy.
[2:37] Wuhan Kun. I'm sleepy.
[2:40] Wuhan Kun, her dear cafe bar. Drink a little coffee.
[2:46] Her dear cafe bar. Drink some coffee.
[2:50] Ho dear cafe BA BU xiang Hui xiang zao dear.
[2:57] I don't want to drink any. I want to go to sleep early.
[3:05] I don't want any. I want to go to bed early.
[3:17] No way this early. No way this early.
[3:30] Yeah, I'm really sleepy. Uh huh.
[3:38] I'm really sleepy. Then go sleep.
[3:48] Na nichu sreba. Then go to bed.
[3:52] Na nichu sreba how near Saudi shrey?
[3:59] OK, you should sleep early too. How near Saudi Shrey?
[4:05] OK, you should get to bed early too.
[4:08] How near Saudi Shrey I Zheng Wu liao ah.
[4:14] I'm so bored. I, Joan Woo Liao.
[4:19] I'm so bored. I Joan Woo Liao.
[4:23] All right, so this guy is sleepy.
[4:26] Yeah, so one more time, the adjective is.
[4:28] Quin Quin. Wuhan Quin.
[4:32] OK, 4th tone. Remember, this one does not
[4:35] necessarily mean very. It's in this case just a
[4:38] standard pattern for saying a noun is some adjective.
[4:43] We don't think that much when we talk about.
[4:46] Yeah, I'm sleepy. OK, so then she suggests.
[4:50] Hoodier cafe BA. Hoodier Cafe BA.
[4:55] Yeah, so this sentence ends with a BA because it's a suggestion
[4:59] and the word for coffee again. Cafe, Cafe.
[5:06] OK, two first tones. So cafe and to say, drink
[5:11] coffee. For the verb we use Hu Hu de
[5:15] ition, Hu coffee, Hu coffee. OK, but in this case it's drink
[5:21] a little coffee, drink some coffee.
[5:24] Hu dear coffee, Hu dear coffee. OK.
[5:28] So this Dr. is that the same as ETR?
[5:32] Is it the same as ETN? Yes.
[5:34] OK, all the same. Hu EI Dear Cafe or Hu Dian Cafe,
[5:41] They're both the same. OK, all the same, but he doesn't
[5:44] want to drink it, right? He says BU shang Hu Wu Shang
[5:49] zao, dear Shri Zha. So here we have the Dr. again,
[5:52] right? Zhao Dear Shri Zhao Zhao dear
[5:56] Shri Zhao all. Right.
[5:57] First, let's look at the verb at the end.
[5:59] The verb is. Shri Zhao 2 fourth tones.
[6:03] OK, Sri Zhao 2 fourth tones and it's preceded by what?
[6:09] Zhao dear, Sri Zhao Zhao dear. So Zhao dear, is that like a
[6:13] little early? OK, so Zhao dear Sri Zhao means
[6:18] go to bed a little early. Then the normal time you go to
[6:21] bed. Go to sleep a little early now.
[6:23] Can we drop this Dr. Can we say Zhao Sri Zhao?
[6:26] OK. Yeah, all.
[6:28] Right. So it's kind of obligatory,
[6:29] Yeah. So if you want to say go to
[6:31] sleep early. You say so it's the same there
[6:38] in her dear cafe. You can also say or.
[6:46] OK. But we want to point out here
[6:47] that this Dr. doesn't mean just a little bit early, it means
[6:52] earlier than usual. So if you want to say go to bed
[6:56] earlier than usual, you have to say.
[6:58] Now. Notice the order.
[7:02] We don't say. Oh yes, when you put this Saudi
[7:06] art before the verb. All right, so one more time, I
[7:10] want to go to bed early. Wash out Saudiya Shriya.
[7:17] OK, and evidently it's still pretty early because the girl
[7:20] thinks this is incredible. Let's look at the response of
[7:24] the girl all. Right.
[7:27] So that's kind of like, no way what you're saying is
[7:30] impossible, or at least exaggerated.
[7:34] So this way here is not can it means well.
[7:38] Yeah, it's referring to the feature.
[7:39] So that like that cannot be. Just remember this as a phrase
[7:43] you. Said phrase.
[7:45] I like to think of it as no way, Buhueba.
[7:48] No way. All right.
[7:50] Juma Tao, Juma Tao all. Right.
[7:53] So Juma meaning so this early, so early.
[7:58] Lot of things we say like Juma TA.
[8:02] So big. Drama GAO.
[8:05] So tall. I hear that one a lot.
[8:08] Because you're tall. I am OK, so then the guy
[8:12] confirms, right? Pashua, Wajenda, Hong Kong.
[8:18] Wajenda, Hong Kong. OK, so the way he says yes is.
[8:26] So this is an informal way to say yes, kind of like yeah, in
[8:29] English, right? You don't say that in English.
[8:32] We say uh huh. She younged.
[8:36] OK. And then in his response, it's
[8:37] just a slight variation of what he said earlier, right?
[8:40] Earlier, he says wah Hong kun, wah Hong kun.
[8:44] So I'm sleepy dway and now he says.
[8:46] Wah gender Hong Kong. Wah Gender, Hong Kong.
[8:51] So I'm really sleepy. Dway.
[8:54] So notice where the gender goes, right?
[8:55] How does it go? Wah Gender Hong Kong What Jinda
[9:00] Hong Kuen. OK, so then the girl responds.
[9:03] Another suggestion na MI Chu shreba Nani Chu shreba.
[9:09] So NA meaning then in that case you go sleep.
[9:13] Na MI Chu shreba. Now earlier we heard Shrey Jiao
[9:18] right two 4th tones. Now we see Shrey 4th tone.
[9:22] Sometimes you can drop this jiao.
[9:24] OK, so they have the same meaning.
[9:26] Ah, she young that. OK, then the BA at the end,
[9:29] because it's suggestion. Brilliant suggestion.
[9:31] The guy has been telling her the whole dialogue that he's sleepy,
[9:34] so she comes up with this all right, And apparently the guy
[9:37] thinks it would be good for her to go to sleep early too, right?
[9:40] Oh Pashua, how niye zaudier shrei?
[9:44] Niye zaudier shrei. Yeah, notice where the yeah
[9:47] goes. So also right, it doesn't go at
[9:50] the end and it doesn't come between the Zaldier and the
[9:53] Shrei. So the order is.
[9:55] Niye Zaudier, Shrei Mia Saudi, Ashley.
[10:00] OK, and then the girl left with nothing to do, says.
[10:04] I Jung woo Leo. Jung Woo Leo.
[10:08] So really bored, right? This word woo Leo.
[10:14] Two second tones, right? Duet it came in bored or boring.
[10:18] So she's not calling the guy boring, she's saying she's
[10:21] bored. She has nothing to do and she is
[10:24] left there so, so bored. OK, and frequently you'll see
[10:28] this Chen Wooly out without a subject, so you kind of have to
[10:31] guess what's boring or who is bored, right?
[10:34] Should that? All right, so we know who it is
[10:35] in this case. We're now going to listen three
[10:37] more times. Greetings everyone and welcome
[10:40] to Chinese Pod Trivia. Our first question is how long
[10:48] will it take you to become an intermediate tiny speaker using
[10:51] the Chinese Pod app? Is it A the rest of your life B
[10:55] you should already be an intermediate speaker C3 months
[10:59] or D Chinese pod has an app you. Should already be in.
[11:05] Oh, that is incorrect. The correct answer is C3 months.
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[11:15] Get the Chinese Pod app now on Google Play or the App Store.
[11:31] Next Wednesday night. The RPN.
[12:42] Oh. So, Delu, there are a few
[12:46] cultural questions we haven't asked or answered yet.
[12:49] I should I should. The question is, if he's going
[12:52] to sleep early, what is considered early in China?
[12:55] In China? Why it's different in China, In
[12:58] the States? I I really feel like Chinese
[13:01] people go to sleep earlier. Not that that's a bad thing.
[13:04] A lot of Americans are sleep deprived.
[13:06] Are you talking about we're less developed?
[13:09] I mean, you're more developed in your sleep patterns.
[13:12] I don't know, it depends on different people for me.
[13:16] Maybe going to bed like 9 o'clock 10:00 it's early.
[13:21] It was early, yeah. So what time do you usually go
[13:24] to bed? Around midnight.
[13:27] How about you? Yeah.
[13:28] Me too around midnight, but that's because I'm getting old.
[13:30] I used to go to bed later. So what do you think?
[13:33] It's early in this dialogue. What time do you think it is?
[13:36] Well the the girl's like but way by so I bet it's like 8:00 or
[13:40] something. Isn't 8:00 pretty early?
[13:42] Go to bed in China. Well, for me it is very early
[13:45] but. Especially in Shanghai, right?
[13:47] Yeah, we know that the night life is quite, you know, popular
[13:51] here, right? But maybe in some countryside
[13:54] places people don't have electricity.
[13:57] Oh, so they're really rural places, right?
[13:59] Yes, people go to bed like 6 o'clock 7:00.
[14:04] I guess that's early. But I actually asked around the
[14:07] office and I asked people about their parents and some people's
[14:12] parents, if they're kind of getting up there, they go to bed
[14:14] at like 9, sometimes even 8. Wow, that's pretty.
[14:18] Early. My mom doesn't, she can play
[14:21] video games till like 2:00 in the.
[14:23] Morning, your mom plays video games.
[14:24] She's very modern. That's cool.
[14:26] Yeah, and if I go to bed at like 11:00, she will be like, why do
[14:30] you go to bed so early? So weird.
[14:35] She's weird. OK, but when you go to bed
[14:37] early, do you announce it? Yes, I will.
[14:41] I would say what's on Zhao, dear Shri Zhao and.
[14:43] What if you decide to go to bed later than usual?
[14:46] How would you say that? What's on one, dear Shri Zhao?
[14:49] OK, so Zhao is early, one is late, same pattern.
[14:53] All. Right.
[14:54] So I think that's all we have for today.
[14:56] But if you have questions, please come to chinesepod.com
[14:58] and ask us. And maybe you can tell us what
[15:01] is early and what is late for bedtime.
[15:03] Yeah. Is China different or not?
[15:05] I don't know. Anyway, see you guys.
[15:06] See you. As usual, Chinese Pod provides
[15:12] an extensive selection of learning materials for this
[15:14] lesson on its website, www.chinesepod.com.
[15:19] You can access this lesson directly with the lesson #1. 63.
[15:23] One so just go to www.chinesepod.com/one. 6. 31
[15:30] and you will find a transcript, vocabulary and much more.
[15:34] The link again www.chinesepod.com slash. 16.
[15:39] 31.

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