别担心 Don't Worry in Chinese

明天míngtiān我wǒ要yào考试kǎoshì，可是kěshì我wǒ还hái没有méiyǒu复习fùxí完wán，心里xīnli很hěn担心dānxīn。

Tomorrow I have an exam, but I still haven't finished reviewing — I'm worried.

朋友péngyou说shuō：“别bié担心dānxīn，你nǐ已经yǐjīng很hěn努力nǔlì了le。”

My friend said: "Don't worry, you've already worked so hard."

我wǒ说shuō：“可是kěshì我wǒ还是háishi很hěn紧张jǐnzhāng，觉得juéde自己zìjǐ考kǎo不好bù hǎo。”

I said: "But I'm still nervous — I feel like I won't do well."

朋友péngyou说shuō：“放心fàngxīn吧ba，你nǐ每天měitiān都dōu在zài学习xuéxí，一定yídìng没问题méi wèntí。”

My friend said: "Relax — you study every day, it'll definitely be fine."

到了dàole考试kǎoshì那nà天tiān，问题wèntí不bù难nán，我wǒ都dōu会huì做zuò。

When exam day came, the questions weren't hard, and I could answer them all.

考kǎo完wán以后yǐhòu，我wǒ给gěi朋友péngyou打电话dǎ diànhuà，说shuō：“太tài好hǎo了le，真的zhēnde没事méishì！”

After the exam, I called my friend and said: "It's great, everything's fine!"

朋友péngyou笑xiào了le，说shuō：“你nǐ看kàn，我wǒ说shuō得de对duì吧ba。”

My friend laughed and said, "See? I told you so."

🔊 Audio uses your device's Chinese voice for now — teacher recordings are coming. Tap any word to see its meaning.

Key words 生词

担心dānxīnto worry

放心fàngxīnto rest assured; relax

没事méishìit's fine; nothing's wrong

考试kǎoshìexam; to take a test

紧张jǐnzhāngnervous

努力nǔlìhardworking; to work hard

别 + verb (don't...)

别 before a verb tells someone not to do something — 别担心 (don't worry) is one of the most common uses.

别担心，你已经很努力了。— Don't worry, you've already worked so hard.

放心吧 (relax; rest assured)

放心吧 is a softer, more reassuring way to say 'don't worry' — often used to calm someone down.

放心吧，一定没问题。— Relax, it'll definitely be fine.

A没有用，B才有用 (only B is useful)

才 here means 'only then' — pairing 没有用 with 才有用 contrasts something useless with the one thing that actually helps.

担心没有用，努力才有用。— Worrying is useless, only hard work is.

1. What is the narrator worried about?

2. What does the friend say to comfort the narrator?

3. How did the exam turn out?

After this reading

I'm Fei, and I teach Mandarin one-on-one on Preply. Bring this text to a trial lesson — we'll fix your tones and turn it into a real conversation.