Would a literal translation be:
"As for our school, 22nd Dec begins the release (of students) for Winter vacation"?
If so can you just say:
"...开始寒假"？
(And maybe this would move 学校 from topic to subject of the sentence?)
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2 Answers
放假, 放(some)假 is a fixed structure, meaning "to (canonically) begin a holiday", or "to denote the start of a holiday".
In most common examples, 我们学校十二月二十二号开始放寒假 is better translated into Our school's Winter holiday begins on December 22.
And while “开始寒假” looks like a valid word-by-word translation, it simply doesn't sound natural to a Chinese ear.
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Thank you so much, but if 放假 means ”to begin a holiday", as you say, can you not simply say "我们学校十二月二十二号放寒假"? Why do you need to double up on the "beginning" with 开始?– NmdyAug 25, 2022 at 9:28
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@Nmdy Indeed, depending on context, 放假 may also refer to the status of "being on holiday", like 十二月二十三号我们正在放假 (Dec 23 is in the middle of our holiday). As you'd probably have noticed, it doesn't make sense to say "in the process of beginning a holiday", so I wouldn't consider 开始放假 as excessive repetition.– iBugAug 25, 2022 at 9:52
If so can you just say:
"...开始寒假"？
放 is the main verb in this sentence, 开始(begin) is the auxiliary verb, 寒假 is the noun
[我们学校][十二月二十二号][开始][寒假] would make 寒假 the main verb. Since 寒假 can only be a noun, we have to presume a verb is omitted
Example
[我们学校][十二月二十二号][开始][討論][寒假]
[我们学校][十二月二十二号][开始][取消][寒假]
[我们学校][十二月二十二号][开始][放][寒假] --> make the most sense
It is not advisable to reduce 放寒假 to 寒假
(And maybe this would move 学校 from topic to subject of the sentence?)
Change it to [我们][十二月二十二号][开始][寒假] doesn't change the fact that the main verb is omitted or you are using a noun (寒假) as a verb
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Ah ok, amazing thank you, so is 开始 intransitive? So it couldn't be the main verb as you say because you cannot "开始 an object", it has to be followed by a verb-phrase? If so, what is the transitive form?– NmdyAug 25, 2022 at 9:29
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