说 你看我平时又不在这老住
“Tell me. You see, I don't live here.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
得拜托你
“I need your help with.”
说 你看我 平时又 不在 这老住
“Tell me. You see, I don't live here.”
平时工作也忙
“Work keeps me busy.”
“I'm rarely around to handle things myself, so I really need you to step in.”
In Chinese interpersonal communication, speakers rarely make direct requests right away; they explain their mitigating circumstances first to make the upcoming favor request polite and justifiable.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
you see; look
A conversational filler used to draw the listener's attention and invite empathy or understanding.
stay or live permanently/regularly
Colloquial northern expression where '老' functions as an adverb meaning 'constantly' or 'frequently'.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“You can live here alone. Let's see if you can stay until next month”
“I just won’t stay here, okay?”
“Just look at this place. It's completely unlivable. What's going on?”
“I told you not to live here.”
“So you staying here with me now”
“That's a bit harsh, isn't it? If we don't live here, are we supposed to live on the streets?”