Questions tagged [mistakes]

Questions related to (lexical, grammatical, stylistic, ...) errors in the usage of a Chinese language.

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3 votes
1 answer
685 views

How is this smodin.io AI-generated Chinese passage?

I generated this story using smodin.io (my input was the title): 我被友好的外星人绑架了。 有史以来最引人入胜的电影之一是 H.G. 威尔斯的《世界大战》。这部电影描绘了外星人入侵地球,人类使用大规模杀伤性武器反击外星人。在整部电影中,人类主角都在努力理解他受到外星人攻击的事实。他最终屈服于外星人的精神控制并被他们绑架。...
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2 votes
3 answers
326 views

Is there a clear linguistic explanation behind this mistranslation?

I'm an electronics hobbyist, so I'm no stranger to iffy machine translations from Chinese to English in datasheets and marketing materials. However, today I came across something that I'm not sure can ...
1 vote
3 answers
334 views

闕 meaning in 一闕短歌

闕 here is obviously a classifier. Is it another name for 首 or 段? in short, 一闕短歌 is 一首歌or 一段歌? But I am not sure 闕 doesn't mean a complete short song. If so, " "classifier for short song"...
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3 votes
4 answers
577 views

What does 幾分 means in 我愛你有幾分?

The lyric of a popular song "月亮代表我的心" (YouTube video) contains the phrase "我愛你有幾分". This is my interpretation: 我 means I, me 愛 means love, care 你 means you 有 means to have or to ...
  • 55
1 vote
4 answers
58 views

How can one get away with saying a noun before a description?

I very often come across the following problem. Somebody asks me about a thing/ person/ noun and I start responding by: It's a thing/ person that... Wait, in Chinese you must say the description first ...
  • 850
1 vote
2 answers
91 views

How to proceed after forgetting to include time-when/location/adverb phrase before main verb?

In English (and other languages), I commonly do this in conversations: I'll say a short + simple sentence (subject-verb-object), but moments later, I'll want to add a detail to the statement. ...
3 votes
2 answers
370 views

"学大汉,武立国"? Is it not "国立武汉大学"?

What is the point of "learning from the Grand Han Dynasty and Establishing the Nation by Military"?
  • 1,985
3 votes
6 answers
370 views

Why do so many people pronounce "馄饨" as hún dùn?

According to dictionaries, the correct pronunciation of "馄饨" is hún tún, but I have never heard any native speakers pronounce the word this way; instead, almost all native speakers say hún ...
  • 1,985
1 vote
2 answers
62 views

Are there any circumstances in which 弈 (yì) could be mistaken for 野 (yě)?

I understand the sounds and inflections are distinct, and that the only commonality is the initial consonant. But what if it were a conversation between two speakers with different native dialects, ...
  • 185
1 vote
2 answers
208 views

How important are tones in comparison with vowels or consonants in Mandarin?

Tones are of course essential to distinguish meaning in Mandarin. However, how important are they if you compare with vowels or consonants? For example, to a native, what sounds "more wrong" - to ...
  • 35
0 votes
1 answer
123 views

Can someone please check this piece of writing? [closed]

I don't know if this is the right place to ask for a correction, but I will try. Can someone please check this piece of writing and tell me if there are any mistakes? Thank you so much for the help. ...
4 votes
1 answer
5k views

What software can check for grammar mistakes?

I need some software that can check the grammar of some Chinese passages. Are there any programs capable of identifying grammar problems? I'd prefer something for Linux, but other platforms would be ...
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10 votes
6 answers
1k views

Where can I find a list of commonly mistaken characters?

I want to quickly identify potential mistakes created by OCR software. Where can I find a list of all Chinese characters that visually look very similar and might often be confused?
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