6
votes
Accepted
To 的 or not to 的
From my answer to this question: Why no 的 in this sentence?
The possessive '的' after a subject is usually kept, if it is a 'true possessive'(something you actually own)
For example:
The possessive ...
- 78.8k
5
votes
Accepted
人无千日好: Literal Translation Is Completely Different
It's an old Chinese proverb, that's why there are some words missing.
In old times, as long as people can understand what you mean, you can omit as many as words you want.
The whole sentence is
...
- 161
4
votes
Accepted
这 vs 这里, 我家 vs 我的家 to translate ”this is my home"?
这里 (here) refers to the 'location of the home' (an address, a place)
这 (this) refers to the 'physical home' (a house, a cardboard box) 这 can also be short for 这里 (here) in this context
As for 我家 vs. ...
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3
votes
Is there a difference between "这里 的 天气跟 我 老家 一样", and "这里 的 天气跟 我 老家 的 一样"
Well actually not so big difference as we could use either of them in daily conversation. Maybe in your writing it would be better to use the latter but we usually save characters in chat as long as ...
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3
votes
没有人不喜欢自己的。 what does 的 imply here?
@Stan's reference to NS.X's answer gives a good explanation. 是...的 construction doesn't necessarily imply past action. It's just for emphesis. It's easy to give some examples for this usage.
I will ...
- 545
2
votes
How can I use 其 properly?
其, in ancient Chinese, is used as a personal pronoun: he, she, it, his, her, its. nowadays, in Chinese, we partially inherited its usage. That means it will only make sense in some fixing words, ...
- 24k
2
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人无千日好: Literal Translation Is Completely Different
According to this:
“人无千日好，花无百日红”比喻好景不长或友情难以持久。现指人生不是一帆风顺的，会遭受大大小小的挫折与磨难，英雄自古多磨难。同时会有许多落魄的凤凰不如鸡，更会有虎落平阳被犬欺的人生之路。
It seems that the proverb connotes more meanings:
it expresses friendship could ...
- 24k
2
votes
Do you let go of some 的 when there are multiple?
It's more native to say
他们老师的名字
我爸爸的手表
Generally, when the expression is his/her/my/... + people's + a thing, we tend to only use the last 的
However, I think this usage is more often determined &...
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2
votes
Accepted
Is there a difference between "这里 的 天气跟 我 老家 一样", and "这里 的 天气跟 我 老家 的 一样"
There are big difference between “这里 的 天气跟 我 老家 一样” and “这里 的 天气跟 我 老家 的 一样”
“这里 的 天气 跟 我 老家 一样” = The weather here is like my hometown
“这里 的 天气 跟 我 老家的 一样” = The weather here is like my hometown's (...
- 78.8k
2
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Why is 的 at the end of phrases such as 那是他们的 and 钱他们的?
他们的钱 isn't a sentence but a nominal phrase, meaning their money.
钱他们的 could be taken as the shorthand of 这钱是他们的.
那是他们的 is correct. However 他们的是那 isn't. You need a measure word there. E. g. 他们的是那个。...
- 24k
1
vote
Why is 的 at the end of phrases such as 那是他们的 and 钱他们的?
他們的 means "theirs".
他們的是那。 is not correct. If you want to put 那 on a latter place, use 他們的是那一個。 or 他們的是那一件。.
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Why is 的 at the end of phrases such as 那是他们的 and 钱他们的?
Shandong people like me tend to reverse the order of some sentences in spoken language. For example: 山东人我是. The sentence is definitely not grammatical. I admit it is a bad habit, but it is very ...
- 2,626
1
vote
Do you let go of some 的 when there are multiple?
Usually, we do not use so many "的" in a single sentence, we will just break it apart. There are always many ways of saying one thing, using many "的" in a single sentence is not a habit in Chinese.
...
- 3,089
1
vote
Curious structure with 的 in conversation
The link you attached has well explained 是....的 structure.
Basically, 是......的 structure connotes past tense when used in the interrogative sentence.
Say 你什么时候去？ vs 你是什么时候去的: the former means when ...
- 24k
1
vote
Accepted
How can I use 其 properly?
One challenge of Chinese is that the same characters may have literary/classical uses as well as contemporary uses. Often in modern usages, characters that are used as stand alone words only appear as ...
- 433
1
vote
没有人不喜欢自己的。 what does 的 imply here?
It's very simple: 的 converts the predicate to an adjective phrase.
Let me explain:
Atmega328's answer was on the right track. 没有人不喜欢自己的 is an informal abbreviated form of 没有人是不喜欢自己的 where 是 is ...
- 11
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