Mini-Test Answer: Quite a while

Beginner Level 初级 (chūjí)

The right answer for this online Chinese test is A.

Translation:

                     Nǐ zài zhèr ya, zhǎo nǐ bàn tiān le.
Wang Hong: 你 在 这儿呀,找    你 半   天 了。
Ah, here you are. I looked for you for quite a while.

                     Bú huì ba, nǐ zhǎole wǒ “bàn tiān?”
          Emily: 不 会 吧,你 找了    我“半天”?
Are you kidding me? Have you really looked for me for “half a day?”

“半天 (Bàn tiān)” in the above conversation means quite a while, or a long time. The facts are often exaggerated when this word is applied. It doesn’t really mean that it takes a person half a day to finish something. For example, Lily and Mike made an appointment to meet each other at the cinema entrance at 4:00 p.m. Mike got there at 3:50 p.m., but Lily didn’t arrive until 4:30 p.m. Mike was a little bit angry. He said,

Nǐ qù nǎr le? Wǒ děngle nǐ bàn tiān le!
你 去哪儿了?我 等了   你   半 天   了!
Where have you been? I have been waiting for you for quite a while!

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1 thought on “Mini-Test Answer: Quite a while”

  1. confused lately..ban=half and tian=day thats why I thought its half day.. but everything is clear to me now.. thank you…

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