The pattern "A is so B that you can C"

akalovid
 September 17, 2012, 03:14 PM posted in I Have a Question

I am wondering how to say, "In Heidelberg they've got a wine barrel, so big that one can walk around on it", or "My brother is so big that he can carry you". Or more generally the pattern: A is so much B that one can C

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toianw
 September 17, 2012, 03:27 PM

Hi mate,

This lesson is a good place to start:

Qing Wen - So (adjective) that...

Maybe you can study this and then have a go translating these sentences yourself :)

Good luck...

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akalovid

Thanks! I hadn't thought of putting (adjective) in the search engine. I will definitely try and post the result!

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akalovid

My attempts:

在海德堡有一个大桶，它大得人能在它上行走！(In Heidelberg they've got a wine barrel, so big that one can walk around on it")

我弟弟高得他能带你！(My brother is so big he can carry you).

我愛她真得我并没有表露出来我的悲楚。(I love her so truly, I didn't show my grief at all).

Any improvements?

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toianw

Hi akalovid,

I hope I didn't give you the impression that I had definitive answers to these :) But as I set the challange, I guess should have a go. Don't know how natural these are (hopefully a teacher can help us???)

在海德堡有一个酒桶, 大得人都能在上面散步。

(In Heidelberg they've got a wine barrel, so big that one can walk around on it")

我弟弟身材高大，大得能把你抱起来。

(My brother is so big he can carry you).

I'm not quite clear about your meaning on the third one.

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akalovid

Thank you! I find it so hard to differenciate right from wrong sentences. Perhaps a Chinesepod person could give some tip?

A very good thing that I learn from these examples, is that you don't need to repeat what you are talking about. Like:

在海德堡有一个酒桶, 大得... instead of

在海德堡有一个大桶，它大得...