In this episode, we’ve learned some useful phrases about one’s health condition, body parts, and seeing a doctor. Also, we talked a little bit about the passive voice in Taiwanese and the passive marker “hōo” and “khì-hōo”.
These show notes use tables and rich formatting. Please visit the episode webpage for an optimal viewing experience.)
| TAIWANESE | ENGLISH |
| Lí ū khì hōo i-sing khuànn--bô? | Have you gone to see a doctor? |
| hōo i-sing khuànn | to see a doctor |
| kū-tsìng-thâu | an old injury or disease (usually recurring), chronic symptoms |
| Guá bô sè-jī, io khì hōo siám--tio̍h. | I wasn’t careful and sprained my back. |
| sè-jī | to be careful, cautious |
| siám--tio̍h | to sprain, to get sprained |
| Se-i | Western medicine |
| Tiong-i / Hàn-i | traditional Chinese medicine in general or the actual practitioner |
| kiān-pó | (national) healthcare insurance |
| Khó-liân--neh. | That’s too bad. Sorry to hear that. |
| Guá (ê) thâu teh thiànn. | My head hurts. |
| thâu-khak | head |
| king-kah | shoulder |
| io | lower back |
| kha-tsiah(-phiann) | upper back |
| io-sng-puē-thiànn | to have a sore and aching back |
| sng | sore |
| tshiú | hand or arm |
| Khui-to kám ē khah hó? | Would having surgery help? |
| khui-to | to operate, to have surgery |
| Guá pak-tóo bô sóng-khuài. | My stomach isn’t feeling well. |
| bô sóng-khuài | to not feel well, to feel uncomfortable or upset |
| sin-khu | body
Usage note: usually when talking about the physical, concrete aspects (e.g. head, trunk, limbs). |
| sin-thé | body; health
Usage note: usually when talking about the more abstract aspects, one’s overall health. |
| sin-thé kiám-tsa | a physical exam or health check-up |
| (surname) i-su | Dr. ___ (The title of doctor when addressing someone directly) |
*Syllables that have been greyed out require a tone change
GRAMMAR: PASSIVE MARKER “HŌO”
In this episode, we talked a little about the passive marker “hōo” (also “khì-hōo”, “khit-hōo”).
Since Taiwanese doesn’t really differentiate the active and passive verb forms and doesn’t seem to use the “explicit” passive as much as English does, there’s a range of different ways to express the passive sense. Using the passive marker “hōo” is one of them.
The word “hōo” as a verb on its own has a meaning of “to give”. As a passive marker, it can be loosely translated as: “to get/allow/have (itself) verb-ed” or “to let/allow sb. to do sth. on itself.”
- Subject + “khì hōo” + Verb
| Subject = recipient of the action | Passive marker | Verb = action done on the subject |
| io | khì hōo | siám--tio̍h |
| (lower back) | (allow/get itself) | (to sprain; to be sprained) |
We can also say “guá io siám--tio̍h” or “guá siám-tio̍h io”, both without any passive marker to convey a similar meaning.
- Subject + “hōo” (by) + Doer + Verb
| Passive marker = “by” | Doer | Verb = action done on the subject |
| hōo | i-sing | khuànn |
| (to let/allow; by) | (doctor) | (to look at) |
The structure in the example “Lí kám ū khì hōo i-sing khuànn?” is literally like “Did you go to allow a doctor to look at you?”
Both the active form “khuànn i-sing” (to see a doctor) and the passive form “hōo i-sing khuànn” (to be seen by a doctor) are commonly used to say “to see a doctor”, although grammatically the role of the subject is not the same.
To learn more about this grammar point, related expressions and other body parts, check out our workbook. It also gives you some additional vocabulary, culture and grammar explanations, and great exercises to reinforce what you’ve learned in this episode.
ONE BITE CHALLENGE: EVERY PERSON HAS DIFFERENT ISSUES TO DEAL WITH
Our One Bite Challenge this week is a Taiwanese saying:
“Tsi̍t lâng huân-ló tsi̍t iūnn, bô lâng huân-ló tshin-tshiūnn.”
Let’s break down the sentence:
| TAIWANESE | ENGLISH |
| tsi̍t lâng | one person, each person |
| huân-ló | to worry; to be worried |
| iūnn | thing, kind, type |
| bô lâng | no one, no people |
| tshin-tshiūnn | like, alike |
This saying means: “Every person has their own worries, and they’re all different from each other.” It can be used when you want to describe a situation like “every person has different issues to deal with.” That’s life, isn’t it?
Music Credit: TeknoAXE