没帮什么忙 就打了个电话
“I didn't do much. I just made a call.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
这么好的重点学校
“get in a key school.”
没帮什么忙 就 打了个电话
“I didn't do much. I just made a call.”
你孙子祥仔 成绩这么好 每个学校都抢他啦
“Your grandson Xiang has such good grades. Every school wants him.”
“It was no trouble at all, but you owe me one for using my connections.”
Chinese etiquette dictates that even when exercising significant social influence to solve a major problem, one should downplay the effort as minimal to display grace and avoid appearing self-aggrandizing.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
didn't really help much
A polite formulaic expression used to downplay a favor and deflect excessive praise.
just made a phone call
Used to minimize the apparent effort required to solve a difficult problem via personal connections.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“he is very sorry he couldn't help.”
“Don't come to me again. I really can't help.”
“so I can't be of much help.”
“there wasn't much they could help with.”
“What can I help with? Every staffer is busy now.”
“Mo Lao'er, you have to help me. What's wrong?”