Intermediate - A Visit to the In-laws (C1572)

A: 小蒋,来看你老丈人啦!
Xiǎo Jiǎng, lái kàn nǐ lǎozhàngrén la!
Xiao Jiang, you're here to see your father-in-law!
B: 是啊,周末了,来看看岳父岳母。
shì a, zhōumò le, lái kàn kan yuèfù yuèmǔ.
Yeah. It's the weekend. I'm here to see my wife's parents.
A: 好女婿,你丈母娘老夸你呢!
hǎo nǚxu, nǐ zhàngmuniáng lǎo kuā nǐ ne!
You're a good son-in-law. Your mother-in-law is always speaking highly of you!
B: 哪里哪里,工作忙,很少回来。
nǎli nǎli, gōngzuò máng, hěn shǎo huílai.
No way. I've been busy with work and haven't come very often.
A: 小敏怎么没一起回来?
Xiǎomǐn zěnme méi yīqǐ huílai?
How come Xiaomin didn't come with you?
B: 小敏昨天就回来了。
Xiǎomǐn zuótiān jiù huílai le.
Xiaomin just came yesterday.
A: 哦。你们能抽空回来看看老人,老人就满意了。
ò. nǐmen néng chōukòng huílai kàn kan lǎorén, lǎorén jiù mǎnyì le.
Oh. As long as you guys can find the time to see your elders, they'll be happy.
B: 是是是。
shì shì shì.
Yeah, that's right.
A: 哎,我女儿女婿离得远,一年能回来一趟就不错了。
ài, wǒ nǚ'ér nǚxu lí de yuǎn, yī nián néng huílai yī tàng jiù bùcuò le.
Agh, my daughter and son-in-law are really far away. If they can get here once a year, that's pretty good.
B: 你儿子媳妇也在上海吧?
nǐ érzi xífu yě zài Shànghǎi ba?
Your son and daughter-in-law are in Shanghai as well, right?
A: 别提了,我儿子只知道去丈母娘家!
bié tí le, wǒ érzi zhǐ zhīdào qù zhàngmuniáng jiā!
Don't bring it up. My son only ever thinks about going to his mother-in-law's!

Key Vocabulary

老丈人 lǎozhàngrén wife's father
丈母娘 zhàngmuniáng wife's mother
岳父 yuèfù wife's father
岳母 yuèmǔ wife's mother
女婿 nǚxu son-in-law
lǎo always
kuā to speak highly of, to praise
抽空 chōukòng to find time
老人 lǎorén elderly person
满意 mǎnyì content, satisfied
离得远 lí de yuǎn to be far away from
tàng [measure word for trips]
媳妇 xífu daughter-in-law, wife
别提了 bié tí le 'don't bring it up'

Supplementary Vocabulary

称呼 chēnghu term of address
正式 zhèngshì formal
尊敬 zūnjìng respectful
孝顺 xiàoshùn to show filial obedience

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