User Comments - mormon88

Posted on: About Face! A Multi-faceted Look at 面子

Execllent lesson and grammatical explanation.  But I found the consipicuous consumption aspect of this lesson kind of gross.  Yuck.  I'm I the only one that thinks it might be problematic when a country of 1.3 billion people decides that deilberate waste is the best way to impress people?

Incidentally, at around 7:15, Pete says something like bènr 有面子！ What did he say?

Posted on: Stinky Feet

I have a question about 真. What's the difference between 真 and 真的?  I feel like you need the 的 if it's modifying a verb clause, but not if it's modifying an adjective.  Is this correct?

Thanks.

Posted on: Reporting a Loss

I'm curious about the 挂 in 挂失.  I thought it meant "to hang".  Is there a reason for this collocation?  Other uses of 挂?

Posted on: Keys, Wallet, Phone

Is it me, or does A's second line sound like

在桌子上嘛。

That is, "They're on the table right?"  How do you distinguish between the 吗 and the 嘛 particles?  Especially in situations like this where they both seem to be usable.  Am I wrong in thinking that 嘛 sounds more drawn-out and falling (like the woman's voice in the dialogue)

Thanks!

Posted on: Ending your sentence with 嘛 （ma)

How do you distinguish between the question ma and the statement of the obvious ma?  It seems to me that 嘛 seems to fall in tone.  Is this accurate?

For example, aren't there minimal pair sentences that could go either way:

他是老师吗？ "Is he a teacher?"

他是老师嘛  "He's a teacher (so obviously he doesn't drink at work etc.)"

Would these two sentences sound phonetically identical?  If not, how are they different?

Thanks!