三人行，必有我师(焉)

语法
差点 (almost but not actually) vs 差不多 (almost completely)
https://mandarinbean.com/cha-yidianr-vs-chabuduo/
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Approximations_with_%22chabuduo%22
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_%22almost%22_using_%22chadian_mei%22

词汇
龙, dragon (pinyin in tags)
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-3-word-list/

Guardian:
他挺好的，都已经恢复差不多了, he's good, he's almost completely recovered
祝红差一点在梦里一梦不醒, Zhu Hong almost didn't wake up from her dream
你最好尽快的离开龙城, you had better leave Dragon City right away

Me:
我差点没错过火车。
他一个月变成一次一条龙。

语法
Approximate numbers with 来 and 多
https://mandarinbean.com/approximate-number/
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Indicating_a_number_in_excess

词汇
光/光明, light; 不光, not only; 阳光, sunshine ( ”pinyin” )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-3-word-list/

Guardian:
闲了一百多年你话都不会说了, a hundred-odd years hanging around and you can hardly speak any more
多少钱？两三百吧, How much? Two or three hundred.
我从来没像今天这样看清楚光明和希望, I have never seen light and hope so clearly as today

Me:
等三四年他那个孩子快要比我更高了。
那时候他浑身发光了。

成语
斩钉截铁, firmly/resolutely (literally "chop nails and slice iron"; apparently first used in Song-era Buddhist texts?)
见多识广, experienced and knowledgeable (literally "see a lot, know broadly")
省油的灯, someone easy to deal with (literally "a fuel-saving lamp," most often used in the negative as 不是省油的灯 to mean a person who is a lot to handle; comes originally from the literal depiction of fuel-saving lamps in Song-era poems by Lu You? Hard not to include it here as part of the lantern imagery)
( pinyin )

词汇
这么, like this; 这时(候), at this time; 这样, this way ( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-2-word-list/

Guardian:
几年来我为研究所招揽了不少英才啊，你是第一个斩钉截铁地拒绝我的人, over the last few years I've brought quite a few brilliant scholars into my institute, you're the first to turn me down flat
你跟老赵这么些年，你见多识广，你最了解他, you've been with Lao Zhao this many years, you know him backward and forward, you understand him best
我有直觉啊，这个家伙可不是省油的灯, my instinct tells me this guy is going to be trouble.
如果这时候龙城发生什么案子，谁来带队, if a case comes up in the city right now, who's going to lead the team?

Me:
最好跟他说得不多，他不是省油的灯。
忘记了吧，我怎么这么傻啊？

语法
不管 + 多 + adjective + S + 都 "no matter how X, Y" (bottom of page)
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_%22no_matter%22_with_%22buguan%22

词汇
态度, attitude (pinyin in tags)
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-2-word-list/

Guardian:
不管你们多大的来头，只要坏了我的规矩就没商量, no matter how good a reason you've got, once you break my rules the matter is off the table.
赌不管过了多久，不管去到哪里，你我总有一天还会再见的, let's bet that no matter how much time has passed, no matter where we go, you and I will always meet again.
我不管你们的态度立场是否正确, I don't care if you people's attitude and stance are correct or not

Me:
不管多冷，早上都需要起床。
你的那个态度怎么回事？

语法
多亏 + good thing + S + 才 + outcome "it was only thanks to X that..." (middle of page)
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_%22thanks_to%22_with_%22duokui%22

词汇
猫, cat (pinyin in tags)
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-2-word-list/

Guardian:
多亏了机智如我领导有方才让你这个小秘密没让普通的人民群众给发现, it was thanks to intelligence and my leadership that your little secret wasn't found out by the ordinary people
还多亏是遇见你才发外开恩带回特调出, it was thanks to meeting you that he was lucky enough to come to the SID
大家都是猫，给个面子行不行, we're all cats, give me some face here

Me:
多亏你的建议我才可以求职。
你会说英语，中文，日语，还会说猫语呢？

语法
差很多 (as a predicate), "X and Y are very different"
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/The_opposite_of_%22chabuduo%22_is_%22cha_hen_duo%22

词汇
卡, card; 信用卡, credit card; 银行卡, bank card ( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-2-word-list/
(I've also seen 卡 used as a verb meaning "to freeze" in the sense of a livestream, video etc., 卡了/卡住了).

Guardian:
[no 差很多, surprisingly]
像我们这些大学老师上班又不用打卡, it's not as if university professors like us have to punch a timecard when we come to work

Me:
甜椒和辣椒的味道差很多。
在这家店可以用信用卡付款吗？

语法
adj. + 多了, "much more ~" (bottom of page, simpler form of yesterday's version)
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_%22much_more%22_in_comparisons

词汇
读音, pronunciation (specifically when reading out loud, I suppose, as opposed to 发音) (pinyin in tags)
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-2-word-list/

Guardian:
舒服多了, much more comfortable. [This is Ye Zun; Wu Xie in LTR also says it under very different circumstances]
我看您最近气色好多了呀, you've been looking much healthier lately
我也度过当年历史的, I've also read the history of the time [just 读, not 读音]

Me:
从我移动过植物窗户附近，他们健康多了。
不好意思，我的读音真差。

语法
多长时间 + V + 一次 (+ O) "how often do you do X?" (top of page)
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_%22how_often%22

词汇
倒, fall; 倒, upside down, unexpectedly (see pinyin) ( pinyin )
(I always wonder if the second usage is like davka in Hebrew, but my Hebrew is limited to a handful of second-hand phrases so goodness knows...)
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-2-word-list/

Guardian:
[no 多长时间 in this usage]
我要不撞他，他也不会摔倒, if I hadn't hit him he wouldn't have fallen
你倒过来看看, look at it upside down [cheating, this one is from LTR]
赵处长是个聪明之人，倒是本使多嘴了, you are clever, it's I who has said too much

Me:
你多长时间练习一次乐器？
他倒是没想喝咖啡的。

语法
多 + verb phrase, "do more X"
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Doing_something_more_with_%22duo%22

词汇
遍, [do something X] times (pinyin in tags)
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-2-word-list/

Introductory grammar day 149

Guardian:
只要你多看多听多学，你自然就懂得多了, if you look, listen, and learn more, you'll naturally end up understanding a lot
你要算是麻烦的话，那最好多给我来几打好好地烦烦我这一辈子 if you're trouble, better give me more of it to trouble me all my life
这样的梦，我已经做了几万遍了 I've already had this dream zillions of times

Me:
你还是多看书，这样你才会自然地用英语说话。
我听了这首歌几十遍了。

(And now I'm not sure whether today should be 九十天 or 九零天...)

语法
多少 + measure word for “how many” (bottom of page)
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Measure_words_in_quantity_questions

词汇
六, six ( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-1-word-list/

Guardian:
你们到底打算失败多少次, how the hell many times are you planning to fail?
我这个人呀，很多时候有一种神奇的第六感. I often have a kind of mystical sixth sense.

Me:
我家里有多少本书，我也不知道。
明天我要六点钟起床。