In Chinese like in English verbs can take two objects. In sentences like "I return the book to you." the verb "return" has two objects, a direct object "the book" and the indirect object "you". In English the indirect object sometimes is placed right after the verb like in "He gave me the book.", but often a preposition like to, for, or with precedes an indirect object like in "He gave the book to me." In Chinese the indirect object can always be identified by its place in the sentence directly following the verb. So in Chinese the sentence "I return the book to you." is ordered "I return you book."

In this lesson we learn our first time word, 現在 [xiànzài]: now. In English time words can be placed almost anywhere in a sentence. Chinese, on the other hand, is more structured. In Chinese time words must always come before the verb.

We can add 一下兒 to a regular verb to soften a command, or request. 一下兒 [yíxiàr] means a small amount, or a little bit. In this lesson Palanka wants to use Ding Yun's dictionary. To make her request less forceful she says, "用一下兒"

A basic dialogue for borrowing and returning items is introduced in this lesson. See the sample dialogue below:

This lesson introduces the numerals 6-10. In a telephone number, address, identification, and other documents numbers are read as single digits. The telephone number (562) 985-1082 is read wǔ - liù - èr - jiǔ - bā - wǔ - yī - líng - bā - èr.