122: How to Politely Interrupt in Mandarin Chinese

Sometimes you might overhear others talking about a matter of interest, or, for example, you may be in a rush to get to a meeting and need to find the directions. So how do you politely interrupt a conversation between others and make sure that they don’t feel offended?

In this Podcast, you will learn:

(i) To politely ask a question when others are talking

(ii) How to interrupt a conversation without offending anyone

Dialogue:

A: 我带我儿子去上海迪士尼来着！Wǒ dài wǒ érzi qù shànghǎi díshìní láizhe!

I just took my son to Shanghai Disneyland.

B: 是吗？一定很不错吧？Shì ma? Yīdìng hěn bùcuò ba?

Really? It must have been great!

C: 不好意思，打搅一下。刚才听到你们在说新开的上海迪士尼,是么？Bù hǎoyìsi, dǎjiǎo yīxià. Gāngcái tīng dào nǐmen zài shuō xīn kāi de shànghǎi díshìní, shì me?

Sorry to interrupt. I heard you were talking about Shanghai Disneyland which recently opened.

A: 是啊。Shì a.

Yes.

C: 我也想带我孩子去呢。Wǒ yě xiǎng dài wǒ háizi qù ne.

I want to take my child there too.

Chinese words and phrases mentioned in this Podcast:

带：take

上海：Shanghai

迪士尼：Disneyland

不错：not bad

很不错：not bad

不好意思：I am sorry

打搅一下：sorry to interrupt

刚才：just now

新开：just opened

也：too

孩子：child

Cultural/Grammar notes:

In this conversation, we used ‘来着’ at the end of the sentence to denote something which happened in the past. It is an auxiliary word with no actual meaning. Shanghai Disney Resort: located in Pudong, Shanghai is the first Disney park resort in mainland China and the second in Greater China, after the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. The resort opened on June 16th, 2016.

Mandarin Chinese learning resources we recommend:

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Keats Chinese School, which was founded in 2004, is one of the top Mandarin Chinese language schools in China, offering both one-on-one immersion Mandarin courses and small group Chinese classes. Located in Kunming, Keats develops personalised exercises and materials for students to meet their learning goals and requirements and can arrange a student visa for its 16 week course.