A surprise party for Dad

The lesson’s vocabulary

Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutralHide colors

• 生日
  shēngrì

  birthday

• 满
  mǎn

  full; filled; packed

• 偷偷
  tōutōu

  stealthily; secretly; covertly

• 聚会
  jùhuì

  to meet; to get together; party

• 热闹
  rènao

  bustling with noise and excitement; lively

• 一辈子
  yībèizi

  (for) a lifetime

• 亲戚
  qīnqi

  a relative (i.e. family relation)

• 老朋友
  lǎo péngyou

  old friend

• 退休
  tuìxiū

  to retire (from the workforce); to go into retirement

• 大都
  dàdū

  for the most part; on the whole; metropolitan

• 通知
  tōngzhī

  to notify; to inform; notice

• 打电话
  dǎ diànhuà

  to make a telephone call

• 小心
  xiǎoxīn

  to be careful; to take care

• 千万
  qiānwàn

  ten million; countless; many

• 阳台
  yángtái

  balcony; porch

• 饭店
  fàndiàn

  restaurant; hotel

• 犹豫
  yóuyù

  to hesitate

• 干脆
  gāncuì

  candid; direct and to the point; simply

• 订
  dìng

  to agree; to conclude; to draw up

• 蛋糕
  dàngāo

  cake

• 同事
  tóngshì

  colleague; co-worker

• 结婚
  jiéhūn

  to marry; to get married

• 根本
  gēnběn

  fundamental; basic; root

• 礼物
  lǐwù

  gift; present

• 手机
  shǒujī

  cell phone; mobile phone

• 万一
  wànyī

  just in case; if by any chance; contingency

• 怀疑
  huáiyí

  to doubt (sth); to be skeptical of; to have one's doubts

• 告诉
  gàosu

  to tell; to inform

• 办法
  bànfǎ

  way of handling sth; means

• 放心
  fàngxīn

  to feel relieved; to feel reassured; to be at ease

• 吓
  xià

  to frighten; to scare

• 表情
  biǎoqíng

  (facial) expression; to express one's feelings

• 只不过
  zhǐbùguò

  only; merely; it's just that ...

• 而已
  éryǐ

  that's all; nothing more

• 可
  kě

  (prefix) can; may; (particle used for emphasis) certainly

• 附近
  fùjìn

  nearby; neighboring; (in the) vicinity (of)

• 周末
  zhōumò

  weekend

• 老人
  lǎorén

  old man or woman; the elderly

The lesson’s grammar

• 大都 / 偷偷: mostly, secretly

  S + 大都 + V / Adj ; S + 偷偷 (地) + V

• 可: the emphatic adverb (可漂亮了, 可不能…)

  可 + Adj + 了 ; 可 + 不 / 没 + V ; 你可 + 得 / 要 / 不能 + V

• 蛋糕吃光了: the passive without 被

  Affected thing + verb + result complement (+ 了)

• 干脆 / 就: simply, might as well; I just will

  干脆 + verb ; Subject + 就 + 要 / 不 + verb (stressed 就)

• 只不过…(而已): merely, just

  S + 只不过 + 是/V + … + (而已/罢了)

• 不料 / 没想到: unexpectedly

  Expectation/plan，不料/没想到 + unexpected event