Duration
darkstar94
May 17, 2012, 02:19 AM posted in I Have a QuestionI just realised that I don't know how to express duration in Chinese, the sentence that I want to say is:
"This event lasts for a few days"
I don't know the most natural way to say this, can someone help me? I sure there is more than one way to say this.
couchboy
May 18, 2012, 12:36 AMtry this:
http://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_Duration
darkstar94
Thanks for this, but this is expressing duration with a specific verb which is already easy enough, but I want to express something "lasting for". In English we have the verbs "to last for" or "to go on for" which express a duration, I was just wanting to know if Chinese has an equivilant.
jennyzhu
"要". 这个活动要5天。
darkstar94
谢谢！也可以用“要”在比较正式的情况下吗？比如在旅行宣传册里面
jennyzhu
正是的说法是"为期"。此次活动为期五天。
xiaophil
我写的是对的，我很得意，（我知道应该谦虚点，哈哈）
lujiaojie
对，正式些可以说“持续”。
xiaophil
May 17, 2012, 09:59 AMI don't know if it is the best way or even correct, but I would say 这个活动要几天.
I do know that Chinese would say 开车要五分钟 (it takes five minutes by car). But somehow it seems like your example is just different enough that it might have another way.
I bet you could say 我们要举行几天活动 (we are holding an event for several days), but of course this won't work if you want to avoid saying who is holding the event.
Just had an idea, 这是一个几天举行的活动.
Yeah, this is a hole in my knowledge too. I'm just firing blind shots. I hope someone gives you the correct, definitive answer.