Timeline for Is it acceptable to teach 看书 as a generic verb "To read"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
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| Mar 9, 2022 at 16:39 | comment | added | r13 | The comment area is not a place to ask questions in a new direction. But, for your latest question, I consider "他老在看书" is accurate for the English equivalent - "he reads all the time", except the reading material is clearly can't be classified as a book (such as newspapers, user manual/instructions..). If you want to express "he reads (everything in sight) all the time, then both "他老在阅读" and "他老在讀东西" are appropriate and accurate. Hope it now makes sense to you. | |
| Mar 9, 2022 at 16:21 | comment | added | Buddy L | Thanks for your patience. I'm trying to get better at asking more specific questions. | |
| Mar 9, 2022 at 16:00 | comment | added | r13 | You started with a very specific case - your brother is in the car reading something (unknown to you). For that case, 看书 is actually correct/acceptable if he's reading anything that has the form of "book". "阅读" is also acceptable though sounds "formal" to some ears. "东西" is the choice because it is non-specific on the object unless you feel it is very important to let the listener know and makes no mistake that your brother is "reading", not "watching", then you shall be "object-specific" and using 看书/看小說/看雜誌/看報紙..., or simply "阅读". | |
| Mar 9, 2022 at 2:21 | comment | added | Buddy L | Thanks for the edit, though I still feel the question is unanswered (maybe I misunderstand the answer). If the person reads a lot of different materials (newspapers, magazines, poems, essays, but never books) frequently, I can say in English "He reads all the time". In Chinese, if I say 他老在看书，would it be thought of as inaccurate? Perhaps better to say 他老在看东西, but this could be easily misunderstood. Would 他老在阅读 be considered extremely formal? | |
| Mar 9, 2022 at 1:05 | history | edited | r13 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 8, 2022 at 23:49 | comment | added | r13 | I see where I made mistake, the answer has been revised. | |
| Mar 8, 2022 at 23:47 | history | edited | r13 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 8, 2022 at 22:00 | comment | added | Buddy L | I don't understand your answer. If he is reading something that isn‘t exactly a book, would it be misleading to say 看书？ | |
| Mar 8, 2022 at 21:44 | history | answered | r13 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |