从 or 从中
billglover
March 26, 2008, 09:54 AM posted in General DiscussionHi all,
I tried to be too clever for my own good and write a blog entry in Chinese. I sat down and put together a few sentences using some of the recent lessons I had covered and then translated them into Chinese. I won't paste the full child-like entry here, but I do have an outstanding question:
从中 or 从
I wanted to say that my brother and sister returned from university (今天我的弟弟和妹妹从中大学到家了。). Originally I used 从中 but have been told that it should be 从 instead. They both seem to mean "from" and I haven't been able to find out why one should be used in preference to the other. Any takers?
The full shamefully simple entry can be found here: 上个星期
Thanks in advance.
billglover
March 26, 2008, 11:26 AMCassie thanks for your examples. Maybe I am looking for something that isn't there, but I'm looking for something common to when you use one and not the other. In your examples: 1) 从中 refers to transfer of knowledge 2) 从 refers to duration of time 3) 从 referes to transfer of knowledge 4) 从 refers to a distance Am I right in thinking that 从 is used when refering to measurable quantities, time distance, size etc 从中 seems to be a little more confusing. Examples 1 and 3 both seem to refer to learning "from" someone or something. I can't see why 1 should be 从中 and yet 3 should be 从. Am I being too analytical here or is just one of those things that you pick up with practice. Thanks for the tip about leaving out the 的 in the final sentance. It did sound odd, but I guess that including the 的 is not technically incorrect but one of those things that isn't done in common everyday language.
rich
March 26, 2008, 12:38 PMBill, I believe that #3 does use 中, there is just a noun between 从 and 中：你可以从他的作品中了解他的观点。 I never even thought of 从中 as a word before, so I'm learning something new, but when it is used to kind of mean "from within" then you get the 中：You can from within his works learn about his opinions. #1: 中文博客的课文太棒了，我从中学到很多东西。 The ChinesePod lessons are awesome, within (them) you can learn a lot of things. We, in English, just put the preposition before from which we get it from, where as in Chinese after the noun. So I'd say #1 and #3 is talking about from which we get something out of, #2 and #4 is just from A to B (time, distance, etc.) Definitions: 从中 cóngzhōng, adv. ①out of; from among; therefrom ②in the process (of doing something) ③from the inside (of something) ◆v. intervene 从 cóng*, cov. from; since; through ◆adv. always; at all times (usu. in negative) ◆b.f. ①follow (跟从) ②obey; comply with (服从) ③join; be engaged in (从事)
billglover
March 26, 2008, 01:56 PMThanks Rich and Casie, I think together you have managed to solve the puzzle for me. As always, a lot of the confusion comes from my lack of understanding of the original English expression. I often feel like I am learning Chinese but at the same time learning more English. :)
cassielin
March 26, 2008, 02:14 PMoops, I typed the wrong chinese words for chinesepod. It should be中文播客！ And the word 博客bo2ke4=blog， it is very popular here these recent years. People like to write diaries on the web site and share with friends, everyone can comment on your blog.
rich
March 27, 2008, 06:58 AMAnd I just blindly copied-and-pasted Casie's sentence, so yeah, the typo is all her fault. ;) heehee
cassielin
March 26, 2008, 11:06 AMHi billgloveruk, yes, it should be从not从中，今天我的弟弟和妹妹从大学回到家里。And i think “明天是星期日，我们将要到/去我父母家吃午饭。” Here are examples for you to distinguish 从中and从 1. Chinesepod's lessons are awesome, I learned a lot from them. 中文博客的课文太棒了，我从中学到很多东西。 2. It's free of charge from 5pm to 8pm.从下午5点到8点免费。 3. You can learn about his opinion from his works.你可以从他的作品中了解他的观点。 4.It is about an hour from my home to my school.从我家到我学校大概一个小时时间。