Squirrels are one kind of wild animal that is not having any trouble adapting to human civilization. Personally, I am conflicted about squirrels. On one hand they are cute. On the other hand, they are just invasive rodents with bushy tails. My Chinese tutor has been having some trouble with squirrels lately, but is it really their fault….?

Here is some vocabulary that is useful when talking about squirrels:

一大早          ㄧˊ ㄉㄚˋ ㄗㄠˇ             (yí dào zǎo)                at dawn, first thing in the morning

屋頂          ㄨ ㄉㄧㄥ ˇ                         (wū dǐng)                   roof

聲音              ㄕㄥ  ㄧㄣ                       (shēng yīn)                 sound, voice

賽跑              ㄙㄞˋ ㄆㄠˇ                     (sài pǎo)                     race, to race (running)

通常              ㄊㄨㄥ ㄔㄤˊ                   (tōng cháng)               normally, usually

雖然              ㄙㄨㄟ ㄖㄢˊ                   (sūi rán)                      although, even if

太飽了        ㄊㄞˋ ㄅㄠˇ ㄌㄜ˙            (tài bǎo le.)                  too full from eating

吃飽撐著    ㄔㄅㄠˇ ㄔㄥ ㄓㄜ˙         (chī bǎo chēng zhe.)  having nothing better to do

堅果              ㄐㄧㄢ ㄍㄨㄛˇ              (jiān guǒ)                      nut

麵包屑           ㄇㄧㄢ ㄅㄠˇ ㄒㄧㄝˋ   (miān bǎo xiè)            bread crumbs

玻璃門         ㄅㄛ ㄌㄧ˙ ㄇㄣˊ             (bō li. mén)                 glass door

發現              ㄈㄚ ㄒㄧㄢˋ                    (fā xiàn)                       to find, to discover

自私              ㄗˋ ㄙ                                (zì sī)                            selfish, selfishness

同伴               ㄊㄨㄥˊ ㄅㄢˋ                (tóng bàn)                 comrade, companion

This is what my tutor told me about those squirrels:

一大早我還沒有起床的時候，聽見了屋頂上很大的聲音！

(一大早)(我)(還)(沒)(有)(起床)(的時候)，

(ㄧˊ ㄉㄚˋ ㄗㄠˇ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄏㄞˊ)(ㄇㄟ˙)(ㄧㄡˇ)(ㄑㄧˇ ㄔㄨㄤˊ)(ㄉㄜ˙ ㄕˊ ㄏㄡˋ),

(yí dà zǎo)(wǒ)(hái)(méi)(yǒu)(qǐ chuáng)(de. shí hòu)

(first thing in the morning, break of day)(I)(still)(not)(to have)(to get up)(when)

……(聽見)❶(了)(屋頂)(上)(很)(大)(的)(聲音)

……(ㄊㄧㄥ ㄐㄧㄢˋ)(ㄌㄜ˙)(ㄨ ㄉㄧㄥˇ)(ㄕㄤˋ)(ㄏㄣˇ)(ㄉㄚˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄕㄥ ㄧㄣ)

……(tīng jiàn)(le.)(wū dǐng)(shàng)(hěn)(dà)(de.)(shēng yīn)

……(to hear)(emphasis)(roof)(on)(very)(big, great)(adjective marker)(sound)

First thing in the morning, when I still hadn’t gotten out of bed, I heard a loud noise on the roof.

我想是松鼠在屋頂上賽跑！

(我)(想)(是)(松鼠)(在)(屋頂)(上)(賽跑)

(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄒㄧㄤˇ)(ㄕˋ)(ㄙㄨㄥ ㄕㄨˇ)(ㄗㄞˋ)(ㄨ ㄉㄧㄥˇ)(ㄕㄤˋ)(ㄙㄞˋ ㄆㄠˇ)

(wǒ)(xiǎng)(shì)(sōng shǔ)(zài)(wū dǐng)(shàng)(sài pǎo)

(I)(to think)(is, to be)(squirrel)(at)(roof)(on)(race)

I think there is a squirrel race on my roof!

我不知道為什麼在我家附近的松鼠都很胖。

(我)(不)(知道)(為什麼)(在)

(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄅㄨˋ)(ㄓ ㄉㄠˋ)( ㄨㄟˋ ㄕㄣˊ ㄇㄜ˙)(ㄗㄞˋ)

(wǒ)(bù)(zhī dào)(wèi shén me.)(zài)

(I)(not)(to know)(why)(at)

…..(我)(家)(附近)(的)(松鼠)(都)(很)(胖)

……(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄐㄧㄚ)(ㄈㄨˋ ㄐㄧㄣˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄙㄨㄥ ㄕㄨˇ)(ㄉㄡ)(ㄏㄣˇ)(ㄆㄤˋ)

……(wǒ)(jiā)(fù jìn)(de.)(sōng shǔ)(dōu)(hěn)(pàng)

……(my)(house)(nearby, in the vicinity)(adjective marker)(squirrel)(all)(very)(fat, plump)

I don’t know why all the squirrels in my neighborhood are so fat!

通常胖的人都比較慢。

(通常)(胖)(的)(人)(都)(比較)(慢)

(ㄊㄨㄥ ㄔㄤˊ)(ㄆㄤˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄖㄣˊ)(ㄉㄡ)(ㄅㄧˇ ㄐㄧㄠˋ)(ㄇㄢˋ)

(tōng cháng)(pàng)(de.)(rén)(dōu)(bǐ jiào)(màn)

(usually)(plump, fat)(adjective marker)(person/people)(all)(comparatively)(slow)

Usually plump people are comparatively slow.

可是這些松鼠雖然很胖， 不過牠們還是跑得很快！

(可是)❷(這些)(松鼠)(雖然)(很)(胖)，

(ㄎㄜˇ ㄕˋ)(ㄓㄜˋ ㄒㄧㄝ)(ㄙㄨㄥ ㄕㄨˇ)(ㄙㄨㄟ ㄖㄢˊ)(ㄏㄣˇ)(ㄆㄤˋ),

(kě shì)(zhè xiē)(sōng shǔ)(suī rán)(hěn)(pàng),

(however)(these)(squirrel)(even though)(very)(fat),

…..(不過)❷(牠們)(還)(是)(跑)(得)(很)(快)

……(ㄅㄨˊ ㄍㄨㄛˋ)(ㄊㄚ ㄇㄣ˙)(ㄏㄞˊ)(ㄕˋ)(ㄆㄠˇ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄏㄣˇ)(ㄎㄨㄞˋ)

……(bú guò)(tā men.)(hái)(shì)(pǎo)(de.)(hěn)(kuài)

……(but)(they)(still)(to be, is)(to run)(particle connecting adverb to verb)(very)(fast)

However, even though these squirrels are very fat, (but) they are still very fast.

可能我把牠們餵得太飽了。。。

(可能)(我)(把)(牠們)(餵)(得)(太飽)(了)

(ㄎㄜˇ ㄋㄥˊ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄅㄚˇ)(ㄊㄚ ㄇㄣ˙)(ㄨㄟˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄊㄞˋ ㄅㄠˇ)(ㄌㄜ˙)

(kě néng)(wǒ)(bǎ)(tā men.)(wèi)(de.)(tài bǎo)(le.)

(possibly, probably)(I)(particle indicating direct object will come next)(they)(to feed)(adjective marker)(too full)(emphasis)

Possibly I feed them too much….

我常常放一些我不要的堅果和麵包屑在外面。

(我)(常常)(放)(一些)(我)(不)(要)(的)

(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄔㄤˊ ㄔㄤˊ)(ㄈㄤˋ)(ㄧˋ ㄒㄧㄝ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄅㄨˊ)(ㄧㄠˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)

(wǒ)(cháng cháng)(fàng)(yì xiē)(wǒ)(bú)(yào)(de.)

(I)(often)(to put)(some)(I)(not)(to want)(adjective marker)

…..(堅果)(和)(麵包屑)(在)(外面)

……(ㄐㄧㄢ ㄍㄨㄛˇ)(ㄏㄢˋ)(ㄇㄧㄢˋ ㄅㄠ ㄒㄧㄝˋ)❸(ㄗㄞˋ)(ㄨㄞˋ ㄇㄧㄢˋ)

……(nut)(and)(bread crumbs)(at)(outside)

I often put some nuts and bread crumbs that I don’t want outside.

所以松鼠會來我家玻璃門外吃它們。

(所以)(松鼠)(會)(來)(我)(家)(玻璃)(門)(外)(吃)(它們)❹

(ㄙㄨㄛˇ ㄧˇ)(ㄙㄨㄥ ㄕㄨˇ)(ㄏㄨㄟˋ)(ㄌㄞˊ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄐㄧㄚ)(ㄅㄛ ㄌㄧ˙)(ㄇㄣˊ)(ㄨㄞˋ)(ㄔ)(ㄊㄚ ㄇㄣ˙)

(suǒ yǐ)(sōng shǔ)(huì)(lái)(wǒ)(jiā)(bō li.)(mén)(wài)(chī)(tā men.)

(so)(squirrel)(will)(to come)(my)(house)(glass)(door)(outside, external)(to eat)(them)

So, squirrels come to my house outside of the glass door to eat them.

希望發現的松鼠比較自私。

(希望)(發現)(的)(松鼠)(比較)(自私)

(ㄒㄧ ㄨㄤˋ)(ㄈㄚ ㄒㄧㄢˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄙㄨㄥ ㄕㄨˇ)(ㄅㄧˇ ㄐㄧㄠˋ)(ㄗˋ ㄙ)

(xī wàng)(fā xiàn)(de.)(sōng shǔ)(bǐ jiào)(zì sī)

(to hope)(to discover)(adjective marker)(squirrel)(comparatively)(selfish)

(I) hope the squirrels who find (the food) are fairly selfish.

不會告訴其他的同伴！

(不)(會)(告訴)(其他的)(同伴)

(ㄅㄨˊ)(ㄏㄨㄟˋ)(ㄍㄠˋ ㄙㄨˋ)(ㄑㄧˊ ㄊㄚ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄊㄨㄥˊ ㄅㄢˋ)

(bú)(huì)(gào sù)(qí tā de.)(tóng bàn)

(not)(will)(to tell)(other)(companion, comrade)

(Then they) won’t tell their comrades!

我不要很多松鼠來我家噢！

(我)(不)(要)(很)(多)(松鼠)(來)(我)(家)(噢)

(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄅㄨˊ)(ㄧㄠˋ)(ㄏㄣˇ)(ㄉㄨㄛ)(ㄙㄨㄥ ㄕㄨˇ)(ㄌㄞˊ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄐㄧㄚ)(ㄡ)

(wǒ)(bú)(yào)(hěn)(duō)(sōng shǔ)(lái)(wǒ)(jiā)(ō)

(I)(not)(to want)(very)(many)(squirrel)(to come)(my)(house)(conversational sound)

I don’t want a lot of squirrels to come to my house!

Notes:

❶ When you use the sensing verbs by themselves, it indicates you have taken action to engage your senses yourself. If 到 or 見 are added, then the sensing has occurred, not because you sought out the experience, but because you were there to experience it.

❷ 可是 and 不過 are basically interchangeable, much like however and but are in English.

❸ When my tutor was growing up, she constantly heard this pronounced ㄒㄩㄝˋ (xuè) but she has also always known that the dictionary uses the pronunciation given in the sentence.

❹ Notice that the they here is the one used for inanimate objects. It is the food being referred to.