普通人家总会断断续续的停电
“Ordinary households have been experiencing intermittent power outages.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
这些时日 租界正在修电
“these days, the concession has been undergoing electrical repairs.”
普通人 家总会 断断续续 的 停电
“Ordinary households have been experiencing intermittent power outages.”
有时街上的路灯啊 霓虹灯
“Sometimes even the streetlights and neon signs”
Direct spoken expression in this communicative setting.
In modern Chinese cities such as old Shanghai, although foreign concessions were early to introduce electricity, residential homes were often the first to experience rationing or blackouts during maintenance or power shortages, reflecting the social stratification and municipal service realities of the era.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
intermittent; on and off; discontinuous
An AABB-pattern reduplicated adjective, often used as an adverbial modifying verbs (e.g., ringing or raining intermittently) to describe actions or states that occur on and off.
ordinary households; average families
Commonly used to refer to everyday working- or middle-class families in contrast to wealthy or elite households.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“What's going on? Sudden blackout.”
“why the power suddenly went out at my place”
“What's happening? Why is the power out? What's going on?”
“Another black-out?”
“A blackout? Why? Sudden blackout. Why?”
“I was worried the sudden blackout would cause chaos.”