Difference between "老", "旧" and "之前" when translating basing on the context?

Question

I came across this sentence when speaking to a friend: "There were lots of rats at my old house. "

I tried to translate this to Chinese, that being:"我旧房子那里有很多老鼠。 "

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However, I realized that using "旧" sounded unnatural. As 旧 may refers to something being used and becoming in a bad condition.

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Does it make sense to use "老"instead? However, 老 usually refers to an object or person, sometime referring to when someone is experienced. However, its meaning was different when the context changed. Like how "老家" refers to "hometown". This could be due to 约定俗成 (conventionalism).

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Another translation would be "以前". As 以前 means the "before" or "previous". This make sense as based on the context, as it related to the house that I used to lived in.

Example: 我以前房子那里有很多老鼠。

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Which translation make sense based on the context?

When translating: "There were lots of rats at my old house".

Answer 1

I think 以前 is better. You already pointed out the reason: 旧 and (especially) 老 can be ambiguous. For example, in 我现在住的老房子是1950年建的, the 老房子 is my current house. However, if 老房子/旧房子 is not ambiguous in the context (e.g., you previously mentioned that you moved into a 新房子), it’s totally fine.

For me, the most natural translation is 我以前住的房子.

Answer 2

It would help if you made the context more clear:

• A. There were lots of rats at my old house (where I used to live). - 我過去住的老/旧房子有很多老鼠.

• B. There were lots of rats at my old house (where I lived previously). - 我之前住的老/旧房子有很多老鼠.

• C. There were lots of rats at my old home (where I grew up). - 我的老家有很多老鼠.

• D. There were lots of rats at my old home (where I lived from...). - 我的旧家有很多老鼠.

Answer 3

"老" & "旧" both mean old. However, "旧" mostly won't be used on living things like animals and human. For example, an old man is "老人" instead of "旧人". And "旧" had more of a "worn out" feeling, like it had been used for a while and the status ain't as good as the new.

And for "之/以前" is more like "before" and "previous", mostly not for an object's status.

As for the translation for "There were lots of rats at my old house" mentioned in the question. "My old house" is more like "the old house I used to live", which fit more in the "我 之/以前 住的 老/旧 房子". So I'll translate it into "我 之/以前 住的 老/旧 房子有很多老鼠."

Answer 4

Of course, the context is all-important, but you may just write:

There were lots of rats at my old house.
我的老房子里曾有很多老鼠。

Answer 5

There were lots of rats at my old house.

这 有 许多 旧鼠 在 我的老房子里