03.07 Helping Hands

做义工

to volunteer - zuòyìgōng

爱心厨房

soup kitchen - àixīnchúfáng

提供

to serve/to provide (food) - tígōng

动物收容所

animal shelter - dòngwùshōuróngsuǒ

喂

to feed - wèi

养老院

nursing home - yǎnglǎoyuàn

照顾

to take care of - zhàogù

关于

about - guānyú

直到

until - zhídào

为

for - wèi

关于 guānyú + object ... to express "about," which states a topic/theme for the following discussion(s). Note that in Chinese the structure with "关于 guānyú (about)" comes in the beginning of a sentence.

• 关于动物收容所，她知道很多。 Guānyú dòngwù shōuróngsuǒ, tā zhīdào hěnduō. (She knows a lot about animal shelters.)

• 关于做义工，你有什么建议吗？ Guānyú zuò yìgōng, nǐ yòu shénme jiànyì ma? (Do you have any suggestions about volunteering?)

直到 zhídào + time/event, subject + 才 cái + action to describe an action in the past that didn't happen until a specific time or event.

• 直到下午五点，我们才去做义工。 Zhídào xiàwǔ wǔdiǎn, wǒmen cái qù zuò yìgōng. (We didn't go do volunteer work until 5 p.m.)

• 直到喂完动物，收容所才关门。 Zhídào wèi wán dòngwù, shōuróngsuǒ cái guānmén. (The shelter didn't close until they finished feeding the animals.)

subject + 为 wèi + object + action/activity to express doing something for certain people or certain reason.

• 我们为爱心厨房捐赠食物。 Wǒmen wèi àixīn chúfáng juānzèng shíwù. (We donated food for the soup kitchen.)

• 她总是为别人考虑。 Tā zǒngshì wèi biérén kǎolǜ. (She always considers things for other people.)

海滩

beach - hǎitān

捡

to pick up (trash) - jiǎn

之间/中间

in the middle/between - zhījiān/zhōngjiān

不到

less than/fewer than - bùdào

向

toward - xiàng

不到 bùdào + number + measure word + noun in a sentence to express "less than" or "fewer than."

• 从我家到海滩开车不到一个小时。 Cóng wǒjiā dào hǎitān bùdào yīgè xiǎoshí. (It's less than an hour drive from my home to the beach.)

• 我们捡了不到三袋垃圾。 Wǒmen jiǎn le bùdào sān dài lājī. (We picked up fewer than three bags of trash.)

向 xiàng + direction / person + verb in a sentence to describe an action toward someone or somewhere.

• 他们向海滩走去。 Tāmen xiàng hǎitān zǒu qù. (They walked toward the beach.)

• 我向志愿者们表示感激。 Wǒ xiàng zhìyuànzhě men biǎoshì gǎnjī. (I expressed gratefulness toward the volunteers.)

"之间 zhījiān" and "中间 zhōngjiān" both describe spatial relationships.

• The word 之间 zhījiān focuses more on describing between two objects or people.

• The word 中间 zhōngjiān focuses more on describing in the middle of or among multiple objects or people.

• 他在两个爱心厨房之间跑来跑去。 Tā zài liǎnggè àixīnchúfáng zhījiān pǎoláipǎoqù. (He goes back and forth between the two soup kitchens.)

• 八点到十点之间我都会在养老院做义工。 Bādiǎn dào shídiǎn zhījiān wǒ dōu huì zài yǎnglǎoyuàn zuòyìgōng. (Between 8 o'clock and 10 o'clock, I will be volunteering at the nursing home.)

• 在他们四个人中间，他最喜欢去海滩。 Zài tāmen sìgèrén zhōngjiān, tā zuì xǐhuān qù hǎitān. (Among those four, he likes to go to the beach the most.)

• 在客厅的中间有一些垃圾。 Zài kètīng de zhōngjiān yǒu yīxiē lājī. (There is some trash in the middle of the living room.)