It’s so easy to look back on things which happened in the past, on decisions you have made…, and wish you could have had better foresight. Unfortunately, no-one can predict the future as, if they could, we’d all be millionaires! But reality means that we all make decisions we’d like to change—both business wise and personal. Not to worry, we all make mistakes! So learn how to talk about them in Mandarin Chinese…
In this Podcast, you will learn:
(i) To talk about some decisions you made in the past you wish you hadn’t
(ii) How to discuss some of your main regrets
Dialogue:
Two colleagues talk about their regrets:
（在街上）
(Zài jiē shàng)
(on the street)
A:你知道么，我现在特后悔当初没把股票都卖了！
A: Nǐ zhī dào me, wǒ xiàn zài tè hòu huǐ dāng chū méi bǎ gǔ piào dōu mài le!
You know what I really regret is that I didn’t sell all my stocks earlier.
B:啊对，现在股票跌的这么厉害。
B: A duì, xiàn zài gǔ piào diē de zhè me lì hài.
Ah right, now stocks have fallen so much.
A:唉，真是失算，失算啊！
A: Āi, zhēn shi shī suàn, shī suàn a!
I really miscalculated.
B:你知道我特后悔什么么？
B: Nǐ zhī dào wǒ tè hòu huǐ shén me me?
Do you know what I really regret?
A:什么？
A: Shén me?
What?
B:我后悔，北京房价便宜的时候，我没早点在北京买几套房。我真没想到现在房价涨成这样！
B: Wǒ hòu huǐ, Běi Jīng fáng jià pián yí de shí hòu, wǒ méi zǎo diǎn zài Běi Jīng mǎi jǐ tào fáng. Wǒ zhēn méi xiǎng dào xiàn zài fáng jià zhǎng chéng zhè yàng!
I regret that I did not buy a few apartments when the price was low in Beijing in the early days. I didn’t expect housing price to increase so much.
Chinese words and phrases mentioned in this Podcast:
特别：really
后悔：regret
当初：in the first place, earlier in time, in the very beginning
股票：stock(s)
卖了：sell
跌：fall
股市大跌：stock market crash
厉害：serious damage, a big crash
失算：miscalculate, misjudge
房价：housing price(s)
便宜：lower, cheaper
早点：earlier
买几套房：buy a few apartments
没想到：did not expect
涨成这样：increase so much
Cultural/Grammar note:
When you would like to express ‘regret’, you could use the following sentence structure:
Subject +后悔+ a time in the past + the thing you did that you regret
e.g.
他后悔一年前和女朋友分手。
Tā hòu huǐ yī nián qián hé nǚ péng yǒu fēn shǒu.
He regrets that he broke up with his girlfriend a year ago.
If you want to express ‘I should have done something’ or ‘I should not have done something’ in Chinese, you can use the following sentence structure:
我当初应该／不应该……
wǒ dāng chū yīng gāi/ bù yīng gāi…
e.g.
我当初不应该和她分手。
Wǒ dāng chū bù yīng gāi hé tā fēn shǒu.
I shouldn’t have broken up with her.
今天早上你应该和我们一起来／你今天早上应该和我们一起来。
Jīn tiān zǎo shàng nǐ yīng gāi hé wǒ mén yī qǐ lái/ nǐ jīn tiān zǎo shàng yīng gāi hé wǒ mén yī qǐ lái.
You should have come with us this morning.
我不应该买那条裙子。
Wǒ bù yīng gāi mǎi nà tiáo qún zi.
I shouldn’t have bought that dress.
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