GCSE Mandarin: Holidays and Travel Revision Guide

Key vocabulary: transport

• 飞机 (fēijī) — plane
• 火车 (huǒchē) — train
• 汽车 (qìchē) — car
• 坐 (zuò) — to take/ride (transport)

Key vocabulary: holidays and countries

• 假期 (jiàqī) — holiday
• 旅行 (lǚxíng) — to travel
• 国家 (guójiā) — country
• 中国 (Zhōngguó) — China
• 法国 (Fǎguó) — France
• 海滩 (hǎitān) — beach
• 去 (qù) — to go

Grammar point: talking about transport

Use 坐 (zuò) before a mode of transport to say you travel by it: 坐飞机 (zuò fēijī) — 'to take a plane'; 坐火车 (zuò huǒchē) — 'to take a train'.

Grammar point: completed actions with 了

Add 了 (le) straight after a verb to show that a specific action was completed, often used for a single past event: 我去了法国 (wǒ qùle Fǎguó) — 'I went to France'. This is commonly used when giving a sequence of events on holiday, e.g. 我坐火车去了海滩 (wǒ zuò huǒchē qùle hǎitān) — 'I took the train to the beach'.

Grammar point: past experience with 过

Add 过 (guo) after a verb to say you have had the experience of doing something at some point, without focusing on when: 我去过中国 (wǒ qùguo Zhōngguó) — 'I have been to China (before)'. The difference is important for GCSE writing: 了 describes a specific completed event, while 过 emphasises life experience. Compare 我去了中国 (wǒ qùle Zhōngguó), 'I went to China (on a specific trip)', with 我去过中国 (wǒ qùguo Zhōngguó), 'I have been to China at some point in my life'.

Common mistakes

• Using 了 and 过 interchangeably — they express different shades of the past and examiners look for the correct choice.
• Forgetting 坐 before a transport word, e.g. saying 我飞机去了法国 instead of 我坐飞机去了法国.
• Mixing up 去 (qù, to go) with 去过 (qùguo, have been) — the second needs 过 attached to show experience.