7
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'it cant be helped' translation in cantonese
(件事/佢)冇得救: (the thing/he) cannot be salvaged (literally 'rescued')
(我)想幫都幫唔到: even if I want to help, I cannot
(我)冇計/冇辦法: literally, I do not have any tricks for / solutions to a problem
我都愛莫能助: ...
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I wonder is there a Mandarin term for " jump the shark"
That should be "江郞才尽"
"江郎才尽" means someone was always writing good articles, but one day, his article is not that good anymore.
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Care yields fine products
I believe 慢工出细货 is good enough.
Although it doesn't mention about care explicitly, it is strongly implied as much care have to be given to produce a delicate product (as 细 means 细緻 here),
and it ...
- 101
4
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Mandarin equivalent of 返 in Cantonese? Is it 回?
As a verb particle, the Mandarin equivalent of 返 in Cantonese is indeed 回
俾返你一啲好處(C) = 給回你一點好處 (M) = give you back some benefit
Edit:
First, the term 還返 is uniquely Cantonese, "我要還返本書俾佢" in ...
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4
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Why is 我的朋友今年住在美国 translated to both "my friend [is living in / lived in] America this year"?
Chinese language doesn't have tense. To indicate event happened in the past, you need to add time reference in the context or verb particle that indicate past verb
Example:
我的朋友今年在美国(住过) = My friend ...
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4
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Why is 我的朋友今年住在美国 translated to both "my friend [is living in / lived in] America this year"?
My friend is living in America this year.
我朋友今年住在美国。
My friend lived in America for a while this year.
我朋友今年在美国住了一段时间。
Does 'for a while' count as extra info??
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Would it be considered rude to describe my Australian passport as having 优势 ("superiority"), and is there a better phrasing?
To be more 委婉, I may use 方便 (convenient) instead of 优势.
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Does 慢一点 mean "be careful" even in a general context?
I don't think that 慢一点 is the same as 小心一点.
I am from Manchuria, and as far as I know, sometimes when people are gonna leave each other, a person may say 慢走 or 慢点走 as an expression for "Goodbye". ...
- 346
3
votes
How to translate “路人缘” or “观众缘” in English
Edit:
After reading my take on the comments, I have convinced myself that 观众缘 means audience appeal
人缘(n) = popularity
路人缘 = general appeal /popularity among common folks
观众缘 = audience appeal / ...
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3
votes
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来不及爱你 Too late to love you
The break down:
「來」(come )
「及」implies 「及時」 (in time) here.
「得」or 「不」 are the two potential particles that indicate " "able , or "unable"
*You either able or unable to come in time. That's why ...
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3
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3
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3
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What is the most succinct way of explaining that I have an older sister and a younger sister?
我有一个姐姐和一个妹妹
This is good.
我是三个姐妹中中间的一个
This is usually expressed in another way: "我家一共姐仨，我是老二", or "我妈(我爸)有三个闺女，我是老二".
我有两个姐妹
It might work, but I don't often hear it.
And by the way, maybe ...
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2
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Phrase "to make your bed" in Chinese?
We can use 拾牀. This means "Pick up your bed" as in pick up after yourself. This is good for cantonese and mandarin.
整理 is also ok. That means to sort clean up/take care of. So if you use this, you'll ...
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Phrase "to make your bed" in Chinese?
整理床 or 理床 is both appropriate to use in your case, but be careful when using the second one, although they present the same meaning, 理床 is more likely to get people confused with other words since it'...
- 299
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Idiomatic translation of "passive aggressive"
To literally translate " passive aggressive" as 「被動攻擊」or 「消極攻擊」cannot capture the essence of this phrase. It is better to use interpretation that truly express the meaning of it.
My choice is " 陰損"
...
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2
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What are some well-known "magic" terms, phrases, or incantations in Chinese?
about incantations / mantras / "咒", there's no confucian counterparts. meanwhile, there're numerous in taoism and buddhism. only those of taoism are native chinese, when relevant ones of buddhism are ...
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2
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How to translate “路人缘” or “观众缘” in English
缘 here means an ability or qualification to build up a good relationship. 观众缘 can be an ability or qualification to build up a good relationship with the audience.
I don't know if you can find a fixed ...
- 24k
2
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Some doubts about "copulative sentences" in Chinese
The same structure exists in Chinese
Jenny (is) Jenny --> 珍妮(就是)珍妮
Money (is) money --> 錢(就是)錢
~
She's (not being/ not like) herself today --> 她今天(不是/ 不像是)她本人
Silver and coin (was ...
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Does 慢一点 mean "be careful" even in a general context?
There is a particular context in which 慢一点 may be interpreted (functionally) to be the equivalent of 小心一点. As is often the case with languages, a lot of the nuances comes from the way the speaker and ...
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What are the normal forms of valediction (signing off letters and emails) in Chinese?
Maybe is a late answer to this question. But I'd like to add more details based on deutschZuid's answer.
此致
敬礼！
is the most common and always right like regards in English. But usually it's for ...
- 1,307
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Accepted
What did you think? 你觉得呢 vs 你觉得啥
No they don't mean the same thing.
你觉得呢？
This translates to "What do you think? (about the topic we just talked about)"
你觉得啥？
This does not sound natural. It can mean "What did you just say (about ...
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Ordering the same thing again, would I use "再來"?
To order the same thing again, the basic form is [再來(again/ additionally)+number+classifier+noun], therefore, 再來一杯拿鐵 is correct
You can often omit the object in conversation, so 再來一杯 would be enough.
...
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2
votes
Accepted
Exact Meaning of 左挑右选 and 前看后看
While...imaging he is in a free market (yes, there used to be free market in the old time I believe), and in front of a shoes peddler's booth that have all the shoes displayed there.
左挑右选 means he ...
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Exact Meaning of 左挑右选 and 前看后看
左挑右选 and 前看后看 - Pick up the item on the left, pick up the item on the right, look and examine the item in the front, then look and examine the item on the back.
Depending on the situation, it can mean ...
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vote
Some doubts about "copulative sentences" in Chinese
I don't get the meaning of syntactic structure but I guess yes there is equivalent in Chinese:
(1) Jenny 就是 Jenny
(2) 你/她不太像你/她(it's not that like you/she)
(3) 是他们吗？
(4) 他是我，她是你（but we would ...
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Does 慢一点 mean "be careful" even in a general context?
慢一点 means take it easy or slow down on what you are doing.
Eg. 做慢一点。
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What is the equivalent phrase of the figurative 'red meat' in Chinese?
I believe the verb 「挑動」, 「煽動」 or 「蛊惑（人心）」 might match the definition "to stir the emotions" in your dictionary, if you need derogatory terms.
「投其所好」 and 「奉承」 are about flattering someone.
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vote
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What does the "hào" mean in "àihào" for "hobby"?
When a character have multiple similar pronunciations, such as 好 with different tones, it can means different part of speech for the same/similar concept. This phenomenon is called 四声别义. For example:
...
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