Jet Lag Questions
tamutom
September 01, 2010, 06:49 PM posted in General DiscussionHi Helen,
I don't know if you mind more than one question in a single post, but here are the questions/thoughts I had during the Jet Lag class.
?--> What makes 你一下飞机就来公司了？ a question? Is it just the context and the slight rising tone layered onto 了?
I see the 差 chā (difference/discrepancy/to differ/to err/to make a mistake) is the same character 差 as in 差不多 chàbùduō (almost/nearly/more or less), but with a different tone. So差不多 literally means “difference not much.”
?--> It sounds to me that the un sound in 头晕 tóuyūn (to be dizzy) has the eeyn I would expect, but in 困 kùn (sleepy) it is pronounced more like an English un sound. Are there two correct ways to pronounce un? In 伦敦 Lúndūn (London) I think I hear a slight bit of the eeyn sound.
?--> I was surprised by the placement of 我 in 拿这么多东西，累死我了。Why is it not 我累死了? Is it because the carrying MADE ME tired?
?--> I don’t think I understand why there is a 了 at the end of 我要下车了。Is it indicating that there will be a change from my being in the car to my being out of the car? Or perhaps it means that I started wanted to get out of the car and that wanting is still happening?
?--> The expansion sentence 上海有哪些好玩的地方？is translated as “What fun things are there to do in Shanghai?”But I would have thought it was saying “What fun places does Shanghai have?” Just what is 的地方 doing in this sentence?
?--> The sentence 十点了，你快叫醒他。uses the 叫 jiào (to call/to yell/to be called /to order) that was in this week’s Qing Wen. So how do we know whether this says to call him to wake up or to make him wake up? Or maybe the jiao is ordering me to wake him up.
helencao_counselor
September 02, 2010, 10:04 PMQ3:I was surprised by the placement of 我 in 拿这么多东西，累死我了。Why is it not 我累死了? Is it because the carrying MADE ME tired?
A: 你说得对！
Some more examples here:
热死我了！
气死我了！（something/someone made me really angry）
烦死我了！（something/someone made me really annoyed)
Q4:I don’t think I understand why there is a 了 at the end of 我要下车了。Is it indicating that there will be a change from my being in the car to my being out of the car? Or perhaps it means that I started wanted to get out of the car and that wanting is still happening?
A:要。。。了 is a pattern that indicating something will happen soon, or a time/festival is coming soon.
For example, 中秋节要到了--- literally, Mid-autumn Festival is arrived soon. (Mid-autumn Festival is coming soon)
helencao_counselor
September 02, 2010, 10:44 PMQ5：The expansion sentence 上海有哪些好玩的地方？is translated as “What fun things are there to do in Shanghai?”But I would have thought it was saying “What fun places does Shanghai have?” Just what is 的地方 doing in this sentence?
A：In this sentence, 好玩的modify 地方 （place）, which means places that are fun. Other examples like:
好吃的菜--dish/food that is good to eat (tasty)
好喝的酒--alcohol that is good to drink
好看的电影--movie that is good to watch (good movies)
好听的歌-- song that is good to listen (nice songs)
Q6 The sentence 十点了，你快叫醒他。uses the 叫 jiào (to call/to yell/to be called /to order) that was in this week’s Qing Wen. So how do we know whether this says to call him to wake up or to make him wake up? Or maybe the jiao is ordering me to wake him up.
A: "to call him" is "打电话给他", if it's to wake him up by call, that should be "打电话叫醒他".
In the sentence 你快叫醒他,（ literally, "you quick call awaken him"）the subject is 你，object is 他, 叫is to call, 醒 is a result complement to the action verb 叫. The 叫 here is not an order. I can give you an example when 叫 is used to show an order here:
妈妈叫他不要出去。Mom ask him not to go out.
老师叫我打电话给他。Teacher ask me to call him.
Hope that make sense.
Talk to you soon,
Helen
helencao_counselor
September 02, 2010, 09:43 PM你好Tom!
没关系! :)
Q1:What makes 你一下飞机就来公司了？ a question? Is it just the context and the slight rising tone layered onto 了?
A: Yes, you're right.
Q2:I see the 差 chā (difference/discrepancy/to differ/to err/to make a mistake) is the same character 差 as in 差不多 chàbùduō (almost/nearly/more or less), but with a different tone. So差不多 literally means “difference not much.”
A: 对，差不多 literally means “difference not much.”
In Chinese, there are some words that has more than one pinyin. We call it "多音字（polyphone）".
For example, 好 (hao3) means good, 爱好（ai4hao4）means hobby.Here 好 with forth tone means "like". 看 also has two prounciation-- "kan1" and "kan4".