3

I know a few ways to say "more" or "in addition", and I'm wondering which to use when translating this sentence. I came across the following English sentence and its Chinese translation on tatoeba.org.

May I ask you some more questions?

我可以問你一些問題嗎?

To me, it looks like the Chinese version has slightly changed the meaning to "May I ask you some questions?" Is that right, or is the "more" somehow implied?

If I wanted to propose an alternate translation that clearly talks about "more questions", would any of these work?

  • 我可以再问你一些问题嗎?
  • 我可以問你更多問題嗎?
  • 我可以問你一些更多問題嗎?

Are there better ways to translate this?

3 Answers 3

6

For May I ask you some more questions?

我可以再问你一些问题吗?

This is the way we speak.

or 我可以再问你几个问题吗?

Here 几个 doesn't mean "how many"; while it means "several". And 再 means "again". So "several again" refers to "some more".

or 可以再问你几个问题吗?

because the subject of a sentence in Chinese is not always necessary -- saying like this infers that "it's me who want to ask more questions".

or 可以再问几个问题吗?

if the conversation happens only between two people ("you" and "I").

我可以問你更多問題嗎?

This is not a wrong sentence, but we'd rather not use it.

我可以問你一些更多問題嗎?

一些 and 更多 should not be used together directly like this. This is like a sentence translated word by word with a translation software.

3
  • I suspected that 一些 and 更多 didn't sound right together. Thanks for the detailed answer.
    – Don Kirkby
    Feb 18, 2012 at 3:17
  • Note that 再 can also mean 'again'. To say 'I want to ask you this question again', it can be differentiated by saying 我想再問一次這個問題 or 我想再問你一次. (Any native speakers care to comment?)
    – Bathrobe
    Feb 18, 2012 at 8:52
  • @Bathrobe It's OK. Note that 我想再問一次這個問題 or 我想再問你一次 infers that you are asking for the “same question” again.
    – Dante WWWW
    Feb 20, 2012 at 1:32
2

* NON NATIVE-SPEAKER DISCLAIMER *

How about something using 另外?

Like:

*我还有一些另外的问题。

我还有另外一些问题。

EDIT: Corrected following comment :D

2
  • 1
    另外 is also OK. However, I would prefer saying 我还有另外一些问题。 另外 should be used before 一些; also, I think 另外 should be an adverb rather than an adjective.
    – Dante WWWW
    Feb 17, 2012 at 9:56
  • @coolcfan okay cool.. I starred my (incorrect) version and added a correct one
    – jsj
    Feb 17, 2012 at 11:00
1

Another approach would be to say 我还有几个问题想问你.

1
  • And also, to say it like a native speaker, "我还有几个问题".
    – Dante WWWW
    Feb 17, 2012 at 8:16

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.