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I've recently come across this statement.

那你可以在宾馆洗. "Then you can wash them (clothes) at the hotel."

I'd like to say,

"Can you wash your clothes at the hotel?"

But I can't figure out the placement of the noun clothes. Could someone translate "Can you wash your clothes at the hotel?" for me?

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Sounds weird. If you are the one asking, shouldn't it be "can I" instead of "can you"? – Question Overflow Oct 16 '12 at 13:18
Is it the case that you have seen that sentence and now you'd like to know where the noun should go if you want to add "clothes" to that sentence? – Olle Linge Oct 16 '12 at 15:52
Are you using 'you' to colloquially refer to the generic third person (as in 'can one wash one's clothes at the hotel?') or are you using it literally to refer to the second person? – deutschZuid Oct 17 '12 at 1:34

1 Answer

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To translate directly:

"Can you wash your clothes at the hotel?"

你可以在宾馆洗你的衣服(clothes)吗?

Not sure if it is really what you want. But if you are asking the hotel staff whether they help you wash your clothes, then it should be:

"Do you provide laundry service?"

你有提供洗衣服务(service)吗?

The basic order of a Chinese sentence is usually in the form of subject-verb-object arrangement. From the two sentences above, 你 is the subject, 洗 and 提供 are the verbs, 衣服 and 洗衣服务 are the objects. Please refer to this article for more examples on the Chinese grammar.

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I suspect the OP is using 'you' to refer to the generic third person, not the second person. So I would say generically: '在这宾馆里可以洗衣服吗?'. Your second suggestion is probably what I would say and is a good alternative to the first. – deutschZuid Oct 17 '12 at 1:37
@JamesJiao, yes, I think the first one is quite ambiguous, because it could be mistaken to mean washing clothes DIY. – Question Overflow Oct 17 '12 at 6:55

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