有件事情想问你
“there is something I've been wanting to ask you.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
对了
“Oh right,”
有件事情想问你
“there is something I've been wanting to ask you.”
你为什么
“Why did you help”
“I need to ask you something important, so please give me a straight answer.”
Chinese speakers often use preparatory phrases before raising serious topics to soften the abruptness and give the listener time to mentally prepare.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
there is a matter; there is something
Standard conversational buffer used to preface a question or request to avoid sounding too abrupt.
want to ask you
Direct yet polite way to initiate an inquiry between peers or familiar interlocutors.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“I came today to ask you something.”
“I have a question for you.”
“I've been meaning to ask.”
“Let me ask you something.”
“I have another matter to ask you about.”