The new movie Zootopia has recently come out, and already everyone is talking about it. It’s gotten some great reviews, and it’s very clear that this movie is going to be one of the hottest films around for quite some time. So, how about we check out some fun quotes and excerpts from Zootopia and use them to learn Mandarin? Come on, let’s take a look...

 

Excerpt #1

 

Judy Hopps: Life's a little bit messy. We all make mistakes. No matter what type of animal you are, change starts with you.

 

Key words:

 

  • Mistake
  • cuòwù
  • 错误

 

  • Make a mistake
  • fàn cuò(wù)
  • 犯错误

 

Key phrase:

 

  • We all make mistakes.
  • Wǒmen dōu huì fàn cuò 。
  • 我们都会犯错。

 

There is also an old Chinese saying that has a very similar meaning:

 

  • Nobody’s perfect.
  • Rén wú wán rén 。
  • 人无完人。

 

Excerpt #2

 

Nick Wilde: Hey, Flash, wanna hear a joke?

Judy Hopps: NO!

Flash: Sure.

Nick Wilde: OK. What do you call a three humped camel?

Flash: I don't... know.

Nick Wilde: Pregnant!

 

Key word:

 

  • Know
  • zhīdào
  • 知道

 

Key phrase:

 

  • I don't know.
  • Wǒ bù zhīdào 。
  • 我不知道。

 

However, for Flash I suppose it should be:

 

  • Wǒ… bù… zhī…dào…
  • 我……不……知……道……

 

Excerpt #3

 

Judy Hopps: Wait, uh, wait... listen! I know you'll never forgive me. And I don't blame you. I wouldn't forgive me either.

 

Key words:

 

  • Forgive
  • yuánliàng
  • 原谅

 

  • Blame
  • zébèi /zéguài /guài
  • 责备/责怪/怪

 

Key phrases:

 

  • I know you'll never forgive me.
  • Wǒ zhīdào nǐ yǒngyuǎn yě bú huì yuánliàng wǒ le 。
  • 我知道你永远也不会原谅我了。

 

  • I don't blame you.
  • Wǒ bú guài nǐ 。
  • 我不怪你。

 

  • I wouldn't forgive me either.
  • Wǒ yě bù huì yuánliàng wǒ zìjǐ de 。
  • 我也不会原谅我自己的。

 

Here 自己（zìjǐ）means “oneself”:

 

  • Myself: 我自己（wǒ zìjǐ）
  • Yourself: 你自己（nǐ zìjǐ）
  • Himself: 他自己（tā zìjǐ）
  • Herself: 她自己（tā zìjǐ）

 

Excerpt #4

 

Nick Wilde: You know you love me.

Key word:

 

  • Love
  • ài
  • 爱

 

Key phrases:

 

  • You know you love me.

 

This can be directly translated as:

 

  • Nǐ zhīdào nǐ ài wǒ 。
  • 你知道你爱我。

 

However, we can also translate it in the following way, which sounds more like what a native speaker would say:

 

  • Nǐ zhīdào nǐ shì ài wǒ de 。
  • 你知道你是爱我的。

 

In this second translation, we use the 是……的(shì ……de) pattern for emphasis.

 

So, how do we use this pattern? Well, here is an example sentence for us to analyze:

 

  • Tā zuótiān cóng Niǔyuē zuò fēijī lái Shànghǎi xuéxí Hànyǔ 。
  • 他昨天从纽约坐飞机来上海学习汉语。

 

The literal translation of this sentence would be:

 

  • He yesterday from New York take airplane come Shanghai study Chinese.

 

So, if we wanted to emphasize something in the sentence above using the 是……的(shì ……de) pattern, the actual wording would depend on what we wanted to emphasize. For example, if we wanted to...

 

emphasize the time “yesterday,” we would write:

 

  • Tā shì zuótiān cóng Niǔyuē zuò fēijī lái Shànghǎi xuéxí Hànyǔ de。
  • 他是昨天从纽约坐飞机来上海学习汉语的。

 

emphasize the place “New York,” we would write:

 

  • Tā zuótiān shì cóng Niǔyuē zuò fēijī lái Shànghǎi xuéxí Hànyǔ de。
  • 他昨天是从纽约坐飞机来上海学习汉语的。

 

emphasize how you would do something like “take airplane,” we would write:

 

  • Tā zuótiān cóng Niǔyuē shì zuò fēijī lái Shànghǎi xuéxí Hànyǔ de。
  • 他昨天从纽约是坐飞机来上海学习汉语的。

 

emphasize the destination “Shanghai,” we would write:

 

  • Tā zuótiān cóng Niǔyuē zuò fēijī shì lái Shànghǎi xuéxí Hànyǔ de。
  • 他昨天从纽约坐飞机是来上海学习汉语的。

 

emphasize the action “study Chinese,” we would write:

 

  • Tā zuótiān cóng Niǔyuē zuò fēijī lái Shànghǎi shì xuéxí Hànyǔ de。
  • 他昨天从纽约坐飞机来上海学习汉语。

 

All in all, this 是……的(shì ……de) pattern is not particularly easy to learn because you can’t really translate it directly and you probably can’t find a similar pattern in your native language. Just keep in mind that we generally use the 是……的(shì ……de) pattern for emphasis and that we usually put 是(shì) in front of the part we want to emphasize and 的(de) at the end of the sentence.

 

Excerpt #5

 

Judy Hopps: Tomorrow's another day.

Bucky Oryx-Antlerson: Yeah, but it might be worse!

 

Key words:

 

  • Tomorrow
  • míngtiān
  • 明天

 

  • But
  • dàn(shì)
  • 但（是）

 

  • Might
  • kěnéng
  • 可能

 

Key phrases:

 

  • Tomorrow's another day.
  • Míngtiān yòu shì xīn de yī tiān le 。
  • 明天又是新的一天了。

 

  • But it might be worse!
  • dàn yě kěnéng gèng zāo 。
  • 但也可能更糟。

 

Excerpt #6

 

Nick Wilde: (about Bellwether) Do you think when she goes to sleep, she counts herself?

 

Key words:

 

  • Think
  • juéde
  • 觉得

 

  • Sleep
  • shuìjiào
  • 睡觉

 

Key phrase:

 

  • Do you think when she goes to sleep, she counts herself?
  • Nǐ juéde tā shuìjiào de shíhou huì shǔ zìjǐ mǎ ？
  • 你觉得她睡觉的时候会数自己吗？

 

Some people count sheep when they can’t sleep, and in Mandarin we count them like this:

 

  • yì zhī yáng ，liǎng zhī yáng ，sān zhī yáng ……
  • 一只羊，两只羊，三只羊……

 

Here the 只(zhī) serves as the measure word for sheep (as well as some other small animals). This kind of thing is called 数羊（shǔ yáng）.

 

And that’s it! While, analyzing quotes from Zootopia might be fun, these phrases can also be commonly used in your daily life. I hope you have enjoyed learning about the movie and Mandarin at the same time!

 

Image Sources


Hero Image by Anthony J (CC BY 2.0)