HEYGOW
Telling a story 100
100
phrases
Opening a story
10
Placing it in time
10
Setting the scene
10
The turn
10
Reporting what was said
10
How it felt
10
How it ended
10
What you took from it
10
Passing on second-hand news
10
The listener's part
10
我跟你说件事。
wǒ gēn nǐ shuō jiàn shì.
— let me tell you something
昨天发生了一件事。
zuótiān fāshēng le yí jiàn shì.
— something happened yesterday
你猜怎么着？
nǐ cāi zěnme zhe?
— guess what happened
说来话长。
shuō lái huà cháng.
— it's a long story
事情是这样的。
shìqing shì zhèyàng de.
— here's what happened
我先说个背景。
wǒ xiān shuō ge bèijǐng.
— some background first
这事挺有意思。
zhè shì tǐng yǒu yìsi.
— this one's rather good
你听我慢慢说。
nǐ tīng wǒ mànmàn shuō.
— hear me out
我至今记得。
wǒ zhìjīn jìde.
— I remember it to this day
那还是去年的事。
nà háishi qùnián de shì.
— this was back last year
那天早上。
nà tiān zǎoshang.
— that morning
就在那个时候。
jiù zài nàge shíhou.
— right at that moment
没过多久。
méi guò duōjiǔ.
— not long after
过了一阵子。
guò le yí zhènzi.
— after a while
与此同时。
yǔ cǐ tóng shí.
— meanwhile
从那以后。
cóng nà yǐhòu.
— ever since then
后来有一天。
hòulái yǒu yì tiān.
— then one day
到了晚上。
dào le wǎnshang.
— come the evening
转眼一年过去了。
zhuǎnyǎn yì nián guòqù le.
— a year went by in a flash
直到现在。
zhídào xiànzài.
— right up to now
当时人很多。
dāngshí rén hěn duō.
— there were a lot of people
天已经黑了。
tiān yǐjīng hēi le.
— it had already got dark
现场很安静。
xiànchǎng hěn ānjìng.
— the place was very quiet
我一个人在家。
wǒ yí ge rén zài jiā.
— I was alone at home
周围都是陌生人。
zhōuwéi dōu shì mòshēngrén.
— everyone around me was a stranger
我正在排队。
wǒ zhèngzài páiduì.
— I was in the queue
那地方很偏。
nà dìfang hěn piān.
— it was out of the way
外面下着大雨。
wàimiàn xià zhe dàyǔ.
— it was pouring outside
屋里一片漆黑。
wū lǐ yí piàn qīhēi.
— the room was pitch dark
场面有点混乱。
chǎngmiàn yǒudiǎn hùnluàn.
— things were a bit chaotic
谁知道后来。
shéi zhīdào hòulái.
— and then, would you believe
结果出乎意料。
jiéguǒ chū hū yìliào.
— it turned out quite differently
事情突然变了。
shìqing tūrán biàn le.
— things suddenly changed
就在这时。
jiù zài zhè shí.
— just then
我这才发现。
wǒ zhè cái fāxiàn.
— only then did I realise
越来越不对劲。
yuè lái yuè bú duìjìn.
— it felt more and more wrong
我赶紧跑过去。
wǒ gǎnjǐn pǎo guòqù.
— I rushed over
情况一下子逆转。
qíngkuàng yíxiàzi nìzhuǎn.
— the situation flipped
谁也没想到。
shéi yě méi xiǎngdào.
— nobody saw it coming
结果反倒好了。
jiéguǒ fǎndào hǎo le.
— it worked out for the better
他说他不知道。
tā shuō tā bù zhīdào.
— he said he didn't know
我当时就问他。
wǒ dāngshí jiù wèn tā.
— so I asked him right then
他跟我说了实话。
tā gēn wǒ shuō le shíhuà.
— he told me the truth
她只说了一句。
tā zhǐ shuō le yí jù.
— she said just one thing
我回了一句。
wǒ huí le yí jù.
— I answered back
他一句话没说。
tā yí jù huà méi shuō.
— he didn't say a word
原话是这么说的。
yuánhuà shì zhème shuō de.
— his exact words were these
我记不清原话了。
wǒ jì bu qīng yuánhuà le.
— I can't recall the exact words
大概是这个意思。
dàgài shì zhège yìsi.
— that was roughly the gist
他后来道歉了。
tā hòulái dàoqiàn le.
— he apologised afterwards
我当时懵了。
wǒ dāngshí měng le.
— I froze
我心里咯噔一下。
wǒ xīn lǐ gēdēng yíxià.
— my heart skipped
我松了口气。
wǒ sōng le kǒu qì.
— I breathed out
我又气又好笑。
wǒ yòu qì yòu hǎoxiào.
— I was angry and amused at once
我差点没忍住。
wǒ chàdiǎn méi rěn zhù.
— I nearly lost it
我一下子红了脸。
wǒ yíxiàzi hóng le liǎn.
— I went red
我心跳得厉害。
wǒ xīn tiào de lìhai.
— my heart was pounding
我真是服了。
wǒ zhēnshi fú le.
— I had to hand it to them
我说不出话。
wǒ shuō bu chū huà.
— I was lost for words
我到现在还后怕。
wǒ dào xiànzài hái hòupà.
— it still frightens me to think of it
最后还是解决了。
zuìhòu háishi jiějué le.
— it got sorted in the end
结果不了了之。
jiéguǒ bù liǎo liǎo zhī.
— it just fizzled out
事情就这么过去了。
shìqing jiù zhème guòqù le.
— and that was that
大家都松了口气。
dàjiā dōu sōng le kǒu qì.
— everyone was relieved
幸好没出事。
xìnghǎo méi chūshì.
— luckily nothing came of it
白忙了一场。
bái máng le yì chǎng.
— all that trouble for nothing
最后不欢而散。
zuìhòu bù huān ér sàn.
— it broke up badly
总算有个交代。
zǒngsuàn yǒu ge jiāodài.
— at least there was an answer
到现在也没结果。
dào xiànzài yě méi jiéguǒ.
— still no outcome to this day
这事就算完了。
zhè shì jiù suàn wán le.
— we'll call it closed
这事给我提了个醒。
zhè shì gěi wǒ tí le ge xǐng.
— it was a wake-up call
我学到一课。
wǒ xué dào yí kè.
— I learned a lesson
以后我会小心。
yǐhòu wǒ huì xiǎoxīn.
— I'll be careful in future
凡事都有两面。
fánshì dōu yǒu liǎng miàn.
— everything has two sides
说到底是我大意。
shuō dào dǐ shì wǒ dàyi.
— when it comes down to it, I was careless
现在想想挺后怕。
xiànzài xiǎngxiang tǐng hòupà.
— it's alarming in hindsight
换成你也一样。
huàn chéng nǐ yě yíyàng.
— you'd have done the same
这就是经验。
zhè jiùshì jīngyàn.
— that's experience for you
好在结局不坏。
hǎozài jiéjú bú huài.
— at least it ended all right
值得记一辈子。
zhídé jì yíbèizi.
— worth remembering for life
我听说是这样。
wǒ tīngshuō shì zhèyàng.
— that's what I heard
据说当时很乱。
jùshuō dāngshí hěn luàn.
— apparently it was chaos
有人告诉我。
yǒu rén gàosu wǒ.
— somebody told me
这是他亲口说的。
zhè shì tā qīnkǒu shuō de.
— he said so himself
我不是当事人。
wǒ búshì dāngshìrén.
— I wasn't involved myself
传来传去就变了。
chuán lái chuán qù jiù biàn le.
— the story changed in the telling
真假我不清楚。
zhēn jiǎ wǒ bù qīngchu.
— I don't know if it's true
你别到处说。
nǐ bié dàochù shuō.
— don't spread it around
我也是听来的。
wǒ yě shì tīng lái de.
— I only heard it myself
具体要问他。
jùtǐ yào wèn tā.
— you'd have to ask him
后来呢，快说。
hòulái ne, kuài shuō.
— and then? go on
太精彩了。
tài jīngcǎi le.
— what a story
我起鸡皮疙瘩了。
wǒ qǐ jīpí gēda le.
— I've got goosebumps
换我也会生气。
huàn wǒ yě huì shēngqì.
— I'd have been angry too
你受苦了。
nǐ shòukǔ le.
— you've had a hard time of it
幸好你没事。
xìnghǎo nǐ méi shì.
— thank goodness you're all right
这也太惊险了。
zhè yě tài jīngxiǎn le.
— that was a close call
我听得入迷了。
wǒ tīng de rùmí le.
— I was gripped
难为你了。
nánwei nǐ le.
— that can't have been easy
说得我都紧张了。
shuō de wǒ dōu jǐnzhāng le.
— you've got me on edge