--- title: At the friend's home: what to say to the parents — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «At the friend's home: what to say to the parents», a lesson of the chinese street course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: The door opens and there are Ming's mum and dad. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Chinese street](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/) / At the friend's home: what to say to t… # At the friend's home: what to say to the parents Lesson 28 of the chinese street course of Mova's primary school: 13 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/chinese-street/28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents/0/) — The door opens and there are Ming's mum and dad. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents/1/) — Before you look at a single toy you say «shūshu hǎo, āyí hǎo!» (hello Uncle, hello Auntie) — that's what children call a friend's parents, and two seconds of it wins them over. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents/2/) — Then «qǐng jìn» (come in, please), and your eyes go to the row of slippers by the door: huàn tuōxié, change into slippers. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents/3/) — Most Chinese homes are shoes-off, even if nobody says it. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents/4/) — Inside you'll hear qǐng zuò (please sit), hē diǎnr shuǐ ba (have some water — often warm) and bié kèqi (don't be shy, make yourself at home). - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents/5/) — Take a little, say xièxie āyí, and you're doing brilliantly. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents/6/) — Leaving has its own dance: you say wǒ gāi zǒu le, they ask you to stay a bit longer, you thank them, and at the door you hear màn zǒu — «walk slowly», which really means «get home safely». - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents/7/) — shūshu hǎo, āyí hǎo («SHOO-shoo HOW, AH-ee HOW») means hello Uncle, hello Auntie, said to the friend's dad and mum the moment you walk in; forgetting it is the biggest mistake. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents/8/) — qǐng jìn («ching JIN») means come in, please, said by the host at the door; jìnlái is come in and chūqù is go out. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents/10/) — qǐng zuò («ching DZWAW») means please sit down; wait to be shown where, because at the table the best seat is for the eldest. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents/12/) — bié kèqi («BYEH KUH-chee», literally «don't be polite») means make yourself at home; it is an invitation, but still take one helping, not the whole plate. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents/15/) — wǒ gāi zǒu le («waw GUY DZOE luh») means I'd better go now; the hosts will politely ask you to stay (zài wánr yíhuìr ba), which is custom, and it is fine to go. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents/17/) — xià cì zài lái wánr («SHYAH TSZ DZYE LIGH WAR») means come and play again next time, the warmest goodbye, and a sign you did well; the answer is hǎo, xièxie shūshu āyí! - ← previous: [Lanterns, dragon boats, mooncakes and birthdays](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/27-lanterns-dragon-boats-mooncakes-birthdays/) - next →: [Talking to the friend's grandparents](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/29-talking-to-the-friends-grandparents/) - ↑ back to [Chinese street](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/)