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Study in the app →Mandarin Chinese · HSK 3.0 Band 2 · Chapter 3
我从来没坐过飞机 I've never been on a plane
Using 从来没…过 to mean "have never (ever) done X". Picks up transport vocabulary (planes, trains, buses, taxis) plus the common 上车 / 下车 / 出发 patterns.
Dialogue
我从来没坐过飞机 — I've never been on a plane
- 周雨 大卫, 我从来没坐过飞机. David, I've never been on a plane.
- 大卫 真的吗? 你从来没出过国? Really? You've never been abroad?
- 周雨 我们都坐火车出门, 没出过国. We always took the train to go places, never abroad.
- 大卫 那这次, 你第一次坐飞机, 第一次出国! Then this time — you'll be on a plane for the first time, abroad for the first time!
- 周雨 真的, 我已经想很久了. Yeah — I've been wanting to for a long time.
Dialogue
坐过几次火车? — How many times have you been on a train?
- 大卫 你坐过几次火车? How many times have you been on a train?
- 周雨 差不多三十多次吧. 你呢? About thirty-something times. How about you?
- 大卫 我经常坐飞机出国, 但是从来没坐过中国的火车. I often fly abroad, but I've never been on a Chinese train.
- 周雨 中国的火车很好, 你这次一定要坐. Chinese trains are great. You should definitely take one this time.
- 大卫 好, 这次我也想坐. Good — I'd like to this time too.
Dialogue
坐公共汽车 — Taking the bus
- 大卫 周雨, 这次我们怎么去? Zhou Yu, how are we getting there this time?
- 周雨 坐公共汽车吧, 很便宜. Let's take the bus — it's cheap.
- 大卫 我从来没坐过中国的公共汽车. 打车好吗? I've never been on a Chinese bus. Should we take a taxi?
- 周雨 打车太贵了. 我帮你, 我们一起上车. A taxi's too expensive. I'll help you — we'll get on together.
- 大卫 好. 出发! Alright. Let's go!
Vocabulary
| 汉字 | Pinyin | POS | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 从来 | cónglái | adv. | always; throughout — paired with 没 to form "(have) never" |
| 飞机 | fēijī | n. | airplane |
| 船 | chuán | n. | boat; ship |
| 火车 | huǒchē | n. | train |
| 公共汽车 | gōnggòng qìchē | n. | bus (public bus) |
| 出租车 | chūzūchē | n. | taxi (lit. "vehicle put out for rent") |
| 上车 | shàng//chē | v. | to get on (a vehicle); to board |
| 下车 | xià//chē | v. | to get off (a vehicle) |
| 打车 | dǎ//chē | v. | to take a taxi (lit. "hit a car" — colloquial for hailing) |
| 坐 | zuò | v. | to sit; (with vehicle) to take, ride — 坐火车 / 坐飞机 / 坐船 / 坐公共汽车 |
| 出发 | chūfā | v. | to set off; to depart |
New characters
| 汉字 | Pinyin | POS | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 便 | biàn | (in 便宜 = cheap (recall Bk1)) 便宜 piányi — cheap (recall Bk1)方便 fāngbiàn — convenient (recall Bk1) | |
| 宜 | yi | (in 便宜 = cheap (recall Bk1)) 便宜 piányi — cheap (recall Bk1) | |
| 发 | fā / fà | to send out; to issue (fā); also: hair (fà) 出发 chūfā — to set off; to depart发烧 fā shāo — have a fever (separable verb)沙发 shāfā — sofa | |
| 船 | chuán | boat; ship |
Hanzi — writing & recognition
fēi to fly Writing
A pictograph: 飞 originally depicted a bird in flight, with wings spread above a body. The simplified form keeps just three strokes but you can still trace the curve of the wings. 飞机 = literally "flying machine" — same logic as English "airplane".
chuán boat; ship Writing
A phono-semantic compound: left 舟 (zhōu, the ancient word for "boat") is the semantic component (this character is about boats), right 㕣 (yán) gives the phonetic hint. The 舟 radical is still alive in literary phrases like 行舟 ("sailing a boat") and 舟车 ("by boat or by car" — generic for "transport").
chū to go out; out of; to produce Writing
出 is an associative compound: top resembles a foot stepping out, bottom resembles a doorway or pit — together "to step out". Core meaning: "from inside to outside". Hence 出国 ("leave the country"), 出门 ("leave home"), 出发 ("set out, depart").
fā / fà to send out; to issue (fā); also: hair (fà) Writing
jī machine; (in 飞机 = airplane) Recognition
gōng public; common; (in 公共汽车 = bus) Recognition
gòng common; together; (in 公共 = public) Recognition
zū to rent; (in 出租车 = taxi) Recognition
cóng from; (in 从来 = always/never) Recognition
lái to come (Level 1 revisit; also in 从来 = always/never) Recognition
Grammar
从来没…过 — "have never (ever)" 从来没…过 — saying "have never (ever)"
"从来"表示"自始至终, 一直"。配上ch1的"没…过"句型, 就成了"从来没V过", 意思是"在以前的全部时间里都没做过某事", 比单用"没V过"语气更强、更明确。规则: "从来"必须搭配"没"和"过", 不能用"不"。"我从来不去过"是错的; 只能说"我从来没去过"。
从来 means "always, from the start, throughout". Combined with ch1's 没 V 过 pattern, it forms 从来没 + V + 过 — "have never V-ed, at any point". It's stronger and more emphatic than plain 没 V 过: instead of "haven't done X", it says "haven't done X across the entire span of time before now". CRITICAL rule: 从来 in this experiential pattern combines with 没 + 过, never with 不. 我从来不去过 is wrong — only 我从来没去过 works. 不 simply doesn't pair with 过 for past experience; only 没 negates an experience.
- 我从来没坐过飞机. Wǒ cónglái méi zuò guo fēijī. I've never been on a plane.
- 你从来没出过国? Nǐ cónglái méi chū guo guó? You've never been abroad?
- 我经常坐飞机出国, 但是从来没坐过中国的火车. Wǒ jīngcháng zuò fēijī chū guó, dànshì cónglái méi zuò guo Zhōngguó de huǒchē. I often fly abroad, but I've never been on a Chinese train.
- 我从来没坐过中国的公共汽车. Wǒ cónglái méi zuò guo Zhōngguó de gōnggòng qìchē. I've never been on a Chinese bus.
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