watch over a stall; manage affairs
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 4 examplesverb
to watch over a stall; to mind the store
informalOriginally used for physically watching over a vendor's stall. Now commonly extended to mean holding down the fort or managing routine affairs in someone's absence. The 儿 (ér) suffix is optional and typical in spoken Mandarin.
Bié别
rén人
dōu都
chū出
chāi差
le了
，
zhǐ只
liú留
wǒ我
yī一
rén人
kàn看
tān摊
r儿
。
Everyone else is on a business trip, leaving only me to hold down the fort.
Shì市
chǎng场
kuài快
guān关
mén门
le了
，
wǒ我
bāng帮
nǐ你
zài再
kàn看
yī一
huì会
r儿
tān摊
。
The market is about to close; I'll watch your stall for you a bit longer.
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Lǎo老
bǎn板
bú不
zài在
，
zhè这
jǐ几
tiān天
jiù就
yóu由
Xiǎo小
Lǐ李
kàn看
tān摊
r儿
。
The boss is away, so Xiao Li is in charge of managing things these few days.
Tā他
tuì退
xiū休
hòu后
jiù就
zài在
shè社
qū区
mén门
kǒu口
kàn看
tān摊
r儿
，
mài卖
diǎn点
bào报
zhǐ纸
。
After retiring, he watched over a stall at the community entrance, selling some newspapers.