New answers tagged grammar
4
yes, it is 或者是.
From the meaning, 或 alone is alright here. 或者 and 或 means the same in Chinese.
Sometimes the choice between 或者 and 或 is related to the rhythm of sentence.
然後讓更多的德國人[pause here]或者是歐洲人[pause here]認識這個琵琶。
Both 更多的德國人 and 或者是歐洲人 are with six characters/syllables.
Another reason is a historical one. 或者 is commonly used in Classical Chinese as ...
0
It's hard to write about the present, and very wordy. Try it.
In a story, how many events can you describe which happen simultaneously? How would your story go on? Then there is 'the Historical Present Tense.'
These sentences are definitely a description of things past.
车来了。
The bus came.
我坐车回家。
I got on and rode home.
我父母已经回来。
My Mum and Dad were already ...
2
I feel 中文没有人们想那么难 is grammatically incorrect because 想 is a verb, so we need to add a 的 afterwards. However, 想 is also an imprecise word choice since it has connotations of "wanting" something.
I suggest the following:
中文没有人们想象的那么难。
I changed 想 (to think) to 想象 (to imagine), and you can check online it's commonly used this way. Here, 人们想象的 ...
1
'不一样' (is not the same) is a set phrase, functions the same as '是不一样的' therefore 是 is redundant in '不是一样'
Either '这个跟那个不一样' or '这个跟那个是不一样的', but not '这个跟那个不是一样'
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2 - 8 are all correct (in question four, translate 'go bad' as '变坏' or '腐坏' is better than '变质'
The first problem in question one is the "and" between two verb phrases indicates the two actions occur one after another, therefore you should treat it the same as 'then'. Use '然后' instead of '和'.
The second problem is "for us" here doesn't ...
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When does 这个 modify a noun, and when does it not
Uhm... always? It is a demonstrative adjective.
Can 更 modify adjectives and verbs?
Only adjectives and the verb form of said adjectives, for example:
一家更好的公司 (a better company), 更好的 is used as an adjective
别去那家公司，那家公司很差。这家公司更好。更好 is used as a verb
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figure out the difference between 的，地，得（all are pronounce de but with different tone)
they are fixed expressions.
chinese adj + 的 + noun.
adj + 地 + verb.
adj + 得 + degree verb.
so in this case, 深深的 is an adjective, 深深地 is an adverb.
打 means to hit which is a verb, so 用力地打 is to hit hard.
and you can say 用力打 without 地 for it is a fixed expression.
for those ...
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There is no 'object', only an equality.
他的...成绩...一直....是..我们..班...最好的
His results always are our class best (results)
His results/grades are always the best in our class.
Get rid of unnecessary words:
他的..成绩...是...最好的
His results are the best.
His grades = the best (grades)
Turn it around:
我们班成绩最好的是他
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Because no subject actually do something to object.
His grade is always the best among that of our class.
是 denote something is true. Something in back of 是(他的成绩) have this property written in front of 是(我们班最好的). So people understand 他的成绩是我们班最好的.
Finally add 一直 directly in back of 是 to denote frequency.
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Grammar books seem to split the 是……的 grammar construct into a whole bunch of cases (and here and here) using jargon like distinguishing words. I prefer to simplify, and think about this grammar construct as meaning:
X 是 Y 的
X (noun phrase) has the property Y (adjective phrase)
It's perhaps linguistically imprecise, but all we're really doing is applying ...
0
大家早上好，
Buenos días a todos,
尽管有些不值得。
aunque, quizás no vale la pena (de decir esto).
¿un día tan malo?
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In "但是我也相对[得到]多少的[感动]。", "得到" is a verb for 'obtain' therefore, "感动" must be a noun for "sensation", and [多少的] would be an adjective for "some"
The problem is, "多少" is short for "多多少少"(somewhat) or "或多或少" (more or less) and it is an adverb, The author tried to add 的 to an adverb ...
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但是我也相对得到多少的感动。
The sentence doesn't sound right to me. I'd take it as a misuse of 多少. 多少 is used in a question or a exclamatory sentence. e. g. 你有多少钱？ 那得是多少钱啊！
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What 多少 means?
In this context it means "somewhat"
"Somewhat" is an adverb.
多少的感动 = "somewhat affected / moved / touched"
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大家早上好 -> Good morning everyone.
盡管有些不值得 -> Although it's a bit not worth it.
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You can use 深深 as an adverb without 地
From my answer to this question
Adverb with 地 emphasizes the 'manner of the action'. For example '大力地打'
Adverb without 地 focuses on the verb itself, with the adverb as an equal-weighted complement. For example '大力打'
A single character adverb doesn't usually use 地. For example '痛打'，'狠批' (never '痛地打'，'狠地批')
1
Simplest translation:
敢不敢？ ： Are you up to it (the challenge)?
迎接挑战 : meet a challenge
你准备好去迎接挑战了吗?
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你準備好挑戰了嗎？ There is no problem in your context.
e.g.
你準備好挑戰冬天在冷冰冰的河裡游泳嗎？
攀登世界第一高峰聖母峰，你準備好挑戰了嗎？
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The rule of thumb is the following.
When indexing it is yi1. For example
一楼 (first floor)
一声 (first tone)
第一 (the first)
一次世界大战 (World War I)
一来 (firstly)
When counting （the same rule as 不）
it is yi4 when followed by 1, 2, 3 tone
一呼百应
一毛不拔
一百
一扫而光
it is yi2 when followed by 4 tone
一蹴而就
一气呵成
For others, mostly yi1. For example
统一
均一
敬一丹（name）
As a ...
3
真的是个好问题，我原来总结过一些规律，但可能不靠谱。我感觉是根前后字（组合成的那个字）有关。
比如：
一二三四，读1声
一骑绝尘，读2声 （如果骑读作ji4的话）
一马当先，读4声
我发现，除了"一二三四"，如果"一"后面跟4声的词，"一"应该读2声，除了上面的例子还有诸如：
一箭双雕，一泄千里，一世英明……
如果"一"后面是1声、2声、或3声，"一"应该读4声，诸如：
一帆风顺、一尘不染、一鼓作气、一往无前……
也不知道准不准，欢迎提出反例。
1
我所有猜错了。 You can say 我所有的都猜錯了 我全都猜錯了 我全猜錯了
我所都猜错了。所都 doesn't make any sense. It's an incorrect phrase.
我全都猜错了。 Correct.
0
刚来一会: (I)'ve only been here for a bit since (my) arrival
他刚到十分钟: It has only been 10 minutes since his arrival.
If 刚 combines with a verb, the action is already performed.
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挑战 is more verb than noun in Chinese. So 你准备好挑战了吗 sounds like "are you ready to challenge others?" If you want to enforce 挑战 to be a noun, you can add a verb before it, also to indicate the direction, saying 你准备好 接受 挑战了吗
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我所有猜错了。try: 我猜错了所有的。
我所都猜错了。try：我把所有的都猜错了。
我全都猜错了。：Good!
1
Notation
删掉的内容
增加的内容
(注释)
首先，你必须 试探观察 你的对手，因为他的话 靠不住不可信。不要让他的想法弄垮 得稀巴烂 你的思想。其次，你应该每天选择自己的战斗 (not sure what you want to say here)。如果你有对交战的渴望，请不要冲动地行动，由于因为 交战的成本比仔谨慎 思考 的成本高得多。不仅 要 观察别人，还要记得他们的想法。因此，首先了解你自己的 难事难处 ，然后理解别人的努力。结果，最终 你 会 变得更加 熟练成熟，因此并且(因此 and 结果/最终 are duplicated) 将来你会超越自己。尽管看起来有些事情超出了你的能力，但别 放心担心(I don't known what you want to say here, but it ...
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要是你对交战的渴望，就别冲动的行动。
This is wrong too .you should say ,
要是你有对交战的渴望，就别冲动地行动。
0
把 is used to denote thing have been done something to.
To use 把.
First, find out what exactly is the thing have been done something to. In your example, 我昨天賣了我的電腦給他. The thing(我的電腦) had been done something(賣了) to.
Second, put the thing after 把. 把我的電腦
Third, try to refill the semantics you have lost. 把我的電腦 is not complete to express what original sentence(...
0
去 is not essential in this sentence. It is for emphatic in an imperative context. This is my personal view, so it might be wrong.
It sounds like "Go and do something"
e.g.
看电视吧(Watch TV). VS 看电视去吧(Go and watch TV).
给这个答案点个赞吧 VS 给这个答案点个赞去吧.
Upvote this answer. VS Go and upvote this answer.
There is a slang: 一边玩去吧. Go somewhere and play something ...
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Rodrigo said in his comment: English 'go to' is already double speak: you cannot 'go' except you 'to somewhere'.
Chinese is extra careful with prepositions and likes building double-barrelled prepositions, with the actual location between them.
Here you have: .... 到 .... 里去 for which 'to' suffices in Modern English translation.
If the speaker were in the ...
1
For your 2nd question about the city,
both 我什么城市也不想去 and 我哪个城市也不想去 are correct way of expressing I don't want to go to any city.
我哪个城市也不想去 seems more colloquial and native-speaker expression to me. 我什么城市也不想去 could subtly indicate he/she prefers stay in suburban/rural areas vs. 我哪个城市也不想去 indicates I prefer to stay as-is.
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There is no rule for this and is mostly based on preferences. If the verb for the two actions are the same, you can choose if you want to omit it. However, in China, often one way of expressing is more fluent and more widely used than the other. The exact rule is difficult to describe, but it is likely based on the rhythm and flow of the language.
For ...
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From C. Li, S. Thompson, Mandarin Chinese: A functional reference grammar:
This category of questions explicitly presents the respondent with a choice of two or more possible answers connected by 还是, which may be called constituents. The syntactic nature of the connected constituents may vary from question to question, but all such constituents within a ...
3
There are several ways to translate "Why are you asking me this question?".
Your first sentence is a correct way of expression.
In China we never use any of options A, B, C, D, or E.
The following are several otehr ways to express this in Chinese, but we rarely use it in daily expression in China:
你为何问我这个问题？
你问我这个问题的原因是什么？
你问我这个问题的理由是什么？
2
The first (我跟那件事一点关系也没有) is supposed to translate into “I have nothing to do with that.”
The second one (我跟那件事没有什么关系) should be translated into "I don't have much to do with that."
1
is good. A to D are not good. E is good.
Other ways to express: "Why are you asking me this question?"
你问我那个问题的原因是什么？
是什么原因让你这样问我？
1
"藏语呢我是略知一二"
As other posters have explained, this is a topic-comment structure and 呢 indicates what goes before it is the topic, also used as a filler, as if you are trying to take more time for what follows. And this is exactly why "是" is used in the second part. This sentence sounds unfinished. The speaker/writer is trying to explain ...
1
藏语呢, when I read to 呢 I understand that 藏语 will be used to describe something or people will describe more about 藏语.
Keep reading 我是略知一二, I observe that 我 and 略知一二 are on the left of 是 and right of 是 receptively and 是 is used to denote 略知一二 is true. 略知一二 means "know a little about". Because 我 is on the left of 是 so I interpret 我是略知一二 as "I do ...
1
It's common in Chinese to indicate the topic (or a change in topic) by beginning with "[topic]呢", which indicates something like "As for [topic], ..." or "What about [topic]? ...". I feel it's more common in spoken Chinese than written Chinese, and I've seen it used in particular during presentations.
I tend to think of it as ...
0
I think this dictionary definition of 是 is relevant to your example:
（联系两种事物， 表示陈述的对象属于“是”后面所说的情况）:
It was winter outdoors, but spring indoors.
院子里是冬天， 屋子里是春天。
我是略知一二 is saying 我 is in the state of 略知一二 about 藏语.
2
This sentence is quite colloquial.
For written, it would be '藏语，我略知一二'.
'是' confuses you here. I found it hard to translate as well. I think you'd understand this as 'As for the Tibetan language, I do know a bit'.
So '是' here, you can treat it as 'do'. But unlike 'do' here usually means emphasis. '是' here, and '略知一二', together with '呢', they all mean less of ...
3
It is a [topic + comment] sentence
Topic: '藏语呢' -- 'about the Tibetan language'
Comment: '我是略知一二(的)' -- 'I am slightly familiar with'
我是略知一二(的) is a relative phrase that gives a description/ comment on the topic/ object 藏语
SVO: '我對藏语略知一二' -- ''I am slightly familiar with the Tibetan language'
More example:
SVO: 我是不会再去这间餐厅的
T/P: 这间餐厅 我是不会再去的
in "我 是 (...
0
I would say that u make the chinese "把英文翻译成中文，这样你可以同时学两种语言”
The translate would then be "Translate the English into Chinese, so you can learn both of the languages at the same time"
0
May I take the chance to clarify several points involved here, which always bother my foreign students.
position of 了： here are 2 most popularly used: v+了 (perfect tense)， and at the end (stating a fact, usually simple past). When asked "which one to use", I always ask them to think about the difference between "I have done my homework,"...
1
疼痛 generally refers to physical pain.
痛苦 is a general term, it could be physical, mental, metaphorical.
player3236's example "學習中文很痛苦" is the best.
0
Have you gone shopping this week?
Have you gone shopping 【你去买过】 this week 【这周】?
你这周去买过东西吗？(Don't like 了 instead of 过 here)
Your sentence is a kind of double question: How many? and Have you?
English accepts:
This week how many times have you gone shopping?
How many times this week have you gone shopping?
How many times have you gone shopping this week?
...
2
听说 means "heard", but more in the sense of "heard through the grapevine". E.g.
我听说你和女朋友分手了。
I heard you and your girlfriend broke up.
In both English and Chinese, it doesn't imply you're literally hearing anything (e.g. you could have read it on Facebook). This is not the appropriate "heard" to describe the sound made when ...
1
The answer is "到".
if you use "說" , its meaning will become "It`s said that.. "
2
'到' is the correct resultative complement for indicating the verb '听' is successfully carried out (听 = to hear; 听到 = have heard/ successfully hear)
听 and 说 in "听说" are both verbs.
[听说] = [听 (indefinite object. e.g. 別人; 有人; 某人) 说] with the indefinite object omitted
You can use 听到 for any sound, but you can only use 听说 for human speech
5
买 is a transitive verb; 买东西 is a separable Verb-Object structure, so the number + measure goes between.
Examples:
to eat/ to have eaten a meal
吃飯/ 吃了一頓飯
to sing/ to have sung two songs
唱歌/ 唱了兩首歌
to shop/ to have shopped three times
買東西/ 買了三次東西
to tell a story/ to have told several stories
講故事/ 講了幾個故事
With intransitive, multi-syllabic verbs that cannot be ...
2
The typical form is [(v) + (measure word) + (n)]
Example: [买了 (v) + 几次 (measure word) + 东西 (n)]
你去那間超市买了几次东西?
But "买东西" is commonly treated as a single word for "to shop"
If we treat "买东西" as a single verb, the measure word would be placed after it. e.g. [(买东西) + (几次了?)] = [(shopped) + (how many time?)
你去那間超市买东西几次了?
...
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