Poor Wang Ming finds himself in a predicament when Li Hong shows off her fresh new hairstyle.
李红剪了新头发。她去找王明。
“你看，”她说。”我的新头发怎么样？”
王明看了看。他想了很长时间。
“怎么样？”李红又问。
“很……不一样，”王明说。
“不一样好还是不好？”
王明又想了很长时间。
“王明！”
“好看，”王明说。”很好看。”
李红看着他。”你觉得不好看,对不对？”
“我……”
“告诉我真的，”李红说。”我们是朋友。”
“我觉得……以前的头发更好看。但是这个也不错。”
李红点点头。”我也觉得。”
“那为什么你剪了？”王明问。
“因为我想试试，”李红说。
王明笑了。”没事，头发会长回来的。”
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 剪 | jiǎn | to cut (with scissors) |
| 头发 | tóufa | hair |
| 不一样 | bù yí yàng | different |
| 好看 | hǎokàn | good-looking |
| 真的 | zhēn de | the truth; really |
| 以前 | yǐqián | before; previously |
| 点点头 | diǎn diǎn tóu | to nod |
| 试试 | shìshì | to try |
| 长回来 | zhǎng huílái | to grow back |
| 李 | lí | plum; surname Li |
| 红 | Hóng | surname Hong |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 新 | Xīn | abbr. for Xinjiang 新疆[Xin1 jiang1]; abbr. for Singapore 新加坡[Xin1 jia1 po1]; surname Xin |
| 她 | tā | she |
| 去 | qù | to go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last; just passed; to send; to remove; to get rid of; to reduce; to be apart from in space or time; to die (euphemism); to play (a part);… |
| 找 | zhǎo | to try to find; to look for; to call on sb; to find; to seek; to return; to give change |
| 王明 | Wáng Míng | Wang Ming (1904-1974), Soviet-trained Chinese communist, Comintern and Soviet stooge and left adventurist in the 1930s, fell out with Mao and moved to Soviet Union from 1956 |
| 你 | nǐ | you (informal, as opposed to courteous 您[nin2]); you (Note: In Taiwan, 妳 is used to address females, but in mainland China, it is not commonly used. Instead, 你 is used to address both males and females.) |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 怎 | zěn | how |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 样 | yàng | manner; pattern; way; appearance; shape; classifier: kind, type |
| 他 | tā | (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日[ta1 ri4] and 他人[ta1 ren2]) |
| 想 | xiǎng | to think (about); to think of; to devise; to think (that); to believe (that); to desire; to want (to); to miss (feel wistful about the absence of) |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 长 | cháng | long; (bound form) length; (bound form) strong point; forte; (bound form) to be good at; (literary) surplus; spare (Taiwan pr. [zhang4]) |
| 时间 | shí jiān | (concept of) time; (duration of) time; (point in) time |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 问 | wèn | to ask; to inquire |
| 好 | hǎo | good; appropriate; proper; all right!; (before a verb) easy to; (before a verb) good to; (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so; (verb complement indicating completion); (… |
| 还是 | hái shi | still (as before); had better; unexpectedly; or |
| 不好 | bù hǎo | no good |
| 着 | zhāo | variant of 著|着[zhao1]; a move in chess (Taiwan pr. [zhuo2]); trick; tactic; (dialect) okay; all right; (dialect) to put in; to add |
| 觉得 | jué de | to think that ...; to feel that ...; to feel (uncomfortable etc) |
| 对不对 | duì bù duì | right or wrong?; Is it right?; OK, yes? (colloquial) |
| 告 | gào | (bound form) to say; to tell; to announce; to report; to denounce; to file a lawsuit; to sue |
| 诉 | sù | variant of 訴|诉[su4]; to complain; to sue; to tell |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 朋友 | péng you | friend; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4] |
| 更 | gēng | to change or replace; to experience; one of the five two-hour periods into which the night was formerly divided; watch (e.g. of a sentry or guard) |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 这个 | zhè ge | (pronoun) this; (adjective) this |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 不错 | bù cuò | correct; right; not bad; pretty good |
| 那 | Nā | surname Na |
| 为 | wéi | as (in the capacity of); to take sth as; to act as; to serve as; to behave as; to become; to be; to do; by (in the passive voice); variant of 為|为[wei2] |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 因为 | yīn wèi | because; owing to; on account of |
| 笑 | xiào | old variant of 笑[xiao4]; to laugh; to smile; to laugh at |
| 没事 | méi shì | it's not important; it's nothing; never mind; to have nothing to do; to be free; to be all right (out of danger or trouble) |
| 会长 | huì zhǎng | president of a club, committee etc |
| 回 | Huí | Hui ethnic group (Chinese Muslims); to curve; to return; to revolve; variant of 迴|回[hui2] |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3… |
Li Hong got a new haircut. She went to find Wang Ming.
“Look,” she said. “What do you think of my new hair?”
Wang Ming looked at it. He thought for a long time.
“What do you think?” Li Hong asked again.
“Very… different,” Wang Ming said.
“Different good or different bad?”
Wang Ming thought for a long time again.
“Wang Ming!”
“It looks good,” Wang Ming said. “Very good.”
Li Hong looked at him. “You don’t think it looks good, do you?”
“I…”
“Tell me the truth,” Li Hong said. “We’re friends.”
“I think… your old hair looked better. But this one is also not bad.”
Li Hong nodded. “I think so too.”
“Then why did you cut it?” Wang Ming asked.
“Because I wanted to try something new,” Li Hong said.
Wang Ming laughed. “It’s okay, hair will grow back.”