Hostage Negotiations: Hostage: The TV Remote
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Key Phrases
遙控器
yáo kòng qì
Remote Control
放下
fàng xià
Put down
肥皂劇
féi zào jù
Soap opera
Skills You'll Learn
Forming compound words
組合詞語的形成
zǔ hé cí yǔ de xíng chéng
Expressing actions
表達動作
biǎo dá dòng zuò
Describing preferences
描述偏好
miáo shù piān hǎo
Lesson Roleplay
Imagine you're in a humorous negotiation with a friend over the TV remote. Your friend spoiled the ending of a soap opera, and now you're trying to make a deal. They propose watching a three-hour documentary about moss as a condition. You reluctantly agree, and a playful banter ensues.
把遙控器放下，我們就當沒聽到你透露的肥皂劇劇情。
bǎ yáo kòng qì fàng xià wǒ men jiù dāng méi tīng dào nǐ tòu lù de féi zào jù jù qíng
Put down the remote, and we'll pretend we didn't hear you spoil the soap opera.
不行，除非你們答應跟我一起看這部關於苔藓的紀錄片。
bù xíng chú fēi nǐ men dá yīng gēn wǒ yì qǐ kàn zhè bù guān yú tái xiǎn de jì lù piàn
No way, unless you agree to watch this documentary about moss with me.
真的要看苔藓嗎？聽起來不太有趣。
zhēn de yào kàn tái xiǎn ma tīng qǐ lái bù tài yǒu qù
Do we really have to watch moss? It doesn't sound that interesting.
絕對有趣！你知道苔藓是多麼神奇的生物嗎？
jué duì yǒu qù nǐ zhī dào tái xiǎn shì duō me shén qí de shēng wù ma
It's absolutely interesting! Do you know how amazing moss is as a creature?
好吧，如果我們看苔藓，你願意放下遙控器嗎？
hǎo ba rú guǒ wǒ men kàn tái xiǎn nǐ yuàn yì fàng xià yáo kòng qì ma
Alright, if we watch the moss documentary, will you put down the remote?
Lesson Vocabulary & Phrases
遙控
yáo kòng
Remote Control
器
qì
Device
💬 [器] often means a device or tool in compound words. You'll see the same pattern in [機器] (machine) and [武器] (weapon).
See breakdown →遙控器
yáo kòng qì
Remote
放
fàng
Put
下
xià
Down
放下
fàng xià
Put down
💬 [放下] is a common verb-result combo: [放] plus [下] gives the sense of putting something down. The same pattern shows up in [坐下] (sit down) and [寫下] (write down).
See breakdown →假裝
jiǎ zhuāng
Pretend
沒
méi
Not
聽到
tīng dào
Hear
💬 [聽到] is [聽] plus [到], which adds the idea of actually reaching the result: hearing it successfully. Compare [聽] 'listen' with [聽到] 'hear / manage to hear.'
See breakdown →Learn this vocabulary list the easy way
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