Skip to content
WordSwing HSK Practice and prep
Menu
HSK guide Levels Words Grammar Practice Open WordSwing

HSK 2 story · 132 characters

妈妈的生日 Mum’s birthday

Two children plan a surprise for their mother.

Xià gè xīngqī wǔ shì māma de shēngrì. Wǒ hé gēge xiǎng ràng māma gāoxìng yíxià.

下个星期五是妈妈的生日。我和哥哥想让妈妈高兴一下。

Next Friday is Mum’s birthday. My older brother and I want to do something to make her happy.

Gēge shuō:"māma zuì xǐhuan huā, wǒmen qù mǎi yìxiē hóngsè de huā ba."Wǒ shuō:"hǎo! Wǒ hái xiǎng zìjǐ gěi māma zuòfàn."

哥哥说：“妈妈最喜欢花，我们去买一些红色的花吧。”我说：“好！我还想自己给妈妈做饭。”

My brother said, “Mum loves flowers most. Let’s buy some red flowers.” I said, “Great! I also want to cook dinner for her myself.”

Xīngqī wǔ xiàwǔ, māma hái méi huílái, wǒmen jiù kāishǐ zhǔnbèi le. Gēge qù mǎi huā, wǒ zài jiā zuòfàn. Wǒ dì yí cì zuòfàn, zuò de bú tài hǎokàn, dànshì hěn hǎochī.

星期五下午，妈妈还没回来，我们就开始准备了。哥哥去买花，我在家做饭。我第一次做饭，做得不太好看，但是很好吃。

On Friday afternoon, before Mum got home, we started getting ready. My brother went to buy flowers and I cooked at home. It was my first time cooking. It didn’t look great, but it tasted good.

Wǎnshang qī diǎn, māma huí jiā le. Kàn dào huā hé fàn cài, tā fēicháng gāoxìng, shuō:"zhè shì wǒ zuì kuàilè de shēngrì!"

晚上七点，妈妈回家了。看到花和饭菜，她非常高兴，说：“这是我最快乐的生日！”

At seven in the evening Mum came home. When she saw the flowers and the dinner, she was very happy and said, “This is my happiest birthday!”

Words to know (14)

Words from HSK 2 and above that appear in the story.

生日 shēngrì birthday HSK 2
让 ràng to let; to ask (someone to do something) HSK 2
最 zuì most HSK 2
花 huā flower HSK 2
红色 hóngsè red HSK 2
自己 zìjǐ oneself HSK 2
回来 huílái to come back HSK 2
就 jiù then; just; right away; only HSK 2
开始 kāishǐ to begin; to start HSK 2
准备 zhǔnbèi to prepare; to plan to HSK 2
次 cì time (occurrence), as in 三次 "three times" HSK 2
得 děi to have to; must HSK 3
但是 dànshì but; however HSK 2
快乐 kuàilè happy HSK 2

Questions

Answer from the story. Each answer comes with the line that gives it away.

  1. 1. 妈妈的生日是哪天？

    When is Mum’s birthday?

  2. 2. 哥哥去做什么？

    What did the brother go to do?

  3. 3. “我”做的饭怎么样？

    What was the dinner like?

Study this story

The story uses words from the HSK 2 list and below. Study them in the HSK 2 word list; for the structures, see the HSK 2 grammar points. There are tips on reading and listening with these stories on the stories page.

More stories