▎叫, jiào, (V), Imperative Verb

 

Function 叫 here is a transitive verb to indicate that someone asks or makes someone else do something.

1 媽媽叫我先把包水餃的材料準備好。

Māma jiào wǒ xiān bǎ bāo shuǐjiǎo de cáiliào zhǔnbèihǎo.

Mom asked me to first get all the ingredients for wrapping dumplings ready.

2 房東叫我們把新家具都搬到樓上房間去。

Fángdōng jiào wǒmen bǎ xīn jiājù dōu bān dào lóushàng fángjiān qù.

The landlord asked us to move all the new furniture to the room upstairs.

3 老師叫學生進教室參加考試。

Lǎoshī jiào xuéshēng jìn jiàoshì cānjiā kǎoshì.

The teacher told the students to go inside the classroom to take the exam.

4 醫生叫我多休息。

Yīshēng jiào wǒ duō xiūxí.

The doctor told me to have more rest.

5 媽媽叫我少吃油膩的食物。

Māma jiào wǒ shǎo chī yóunì de shíwù.

My mother asked me to eat less greasy food.

 

Structures

Negation：沒 is used for instances in the past, 別bié for instances to come and 不bù for either.

1 別叫小孩一個人去超商買飲料。

Bié jiào xiǎohái yí ge rén qù chāoshāng mǎi yǐnliào.

Don’t have the child go alone to the convenience store to buy a drink.

2 別叫新來的學生參加演講比賽。

Bié jiào xīn lái de xuéshēng cānjiā yǎnjiǎng bǐsài.

Don’t tell new students to participate in the speech contest.

3 你們不喜歡喝酒，我以後不叫你們來了。

Nǐmen bù xǐhuān hē jiǔ, wǒ yǐhòu bú jiào nǐmen lái le.

You guys don’t like to drink, so I won’t ask you to come in the future.

4 爸爸不叫他看書，他是不會看的。

Bàba bú jiào tā kànshū, tā shì bú huì kàn de.

He doesn’t study unless his father tells him to.

5 老師沒叫你出去，你怎麼自己跑出去了？

Lǎoshī méi jiào nǐ chūqù, nǐ zěnme zìjǐ pǎo chūqù le?

The teacher didn’t send you, so how come ran out on your own?

6 主任沒叫小美介紹自己的工作經驗。

Zhǔrèn méi jiào Xiǎoměi jièshào zìjǐ de gōngzuò jīngyàn.

The director did not ask Xiaomei to introduce, i.e., talk about, her work experience.

Questions：

1 是不是主任叫你來參加這個活動的？

Shìbúshì zhǔrèn jiào nǐ lái cānjiā zhè ge huódòng de?

Did the director ask you to attend the instance?

2 醫生是不是叫你別天天喝酒？你還是少喝一點吧！

Yīshēng shìbúshì jiào nǐ bié tiāntiān hē jiǔ? Nǐ háishì shǎo hē yìdiǎn ba!

The doctor told you not to drink every day, right? You should ease up a bit then!

3 老師沒叫你把功課帶來嗎？

Lǎoshī méi jiào nǐ bǎ gōngkè dàilái ma?

Didn’t the teacher ask you to bring your homework?

 

Usage

(1) As a verb, 叫 has several different meanings. Compare the meanings of the following examples.

1 他肚子痛得大叫。(to scream)

Tā dùzi tòng de dà jiào.

His stomach hurt so much he screamed.

2 你沒聽到我叫你嗎？(to call someone)

Nǐ méi tīngdào wǒ jiào nǐ ma?

Didn’t you hear me call you?

3 她叫王美美。(to be named)

Tā jiào Wáng Měiměi.

She is called Wang Meimei. (i.e., Her name is Wang Meimei.)

4 腳踏車也叫自行車。(to be termed)

Jiǎotàchē yě jiào zìxíngchē.

Jiaotache is also known as zixingche.

(2) 請qǐng is similar to 叫, but is more polite.

1 張老師叫你去找他。(plain command)

Zhāng lǎoshī jiào nǐ qù zhǎo tā.

Zhang Laoshi asked, or told, you to go see him.

2 張老師請你去找他。(polite request)

Zhāng lǎoshī qǐng nǐ qù zhǎo tā.

Zhang Laoshi requested that you go see him.