I need help creating/editing sentences
pretzellogic
June 30, 2009, 04:08 AM posted in General DiscussionIn my effort to study mandarin better, I wrote out some sentences. These sentences try to use some of the ideas we learned in Qing Wen (shi4...de, ...bi3..., you3 shen2me..., lian2....dou1 as well as the travel lessons. I know some of them are totally wrong, but I would greatly appreciate any kind of help in correcting what is wrong with what I wrote. Especially helpful is knowing why it's wrong. Forgive me, but I don't really know characters, and my pinyin is not that great, but any help is appreciated.
I'm going to complain.
Wo3 shi4 yao4 qu4 tou2su4 de.
When did you file a compliant?
Ni3 shi4 shen2me shi2hou4 tou2su4 de?
I usually don't set up these kinds of meetings. They're too important.
Wo3 yi1ban4 bu4 an1pai2 zhe4 zhong3 hui. Ta1men2 shi4 tai2 zhong3 yao4 de.
This road is under construction.
Zhe4 tiao2 lu4 shi4 zai4 xiu1 de.
No one can afford to speak irresponsibly.
Mei2 you3 ren2 bu4 yao4 luan4shuo1 de qi3
pretzellogic
July 05, 2009, 03:09 PMThanks Clara_heidfeld. It turns out that as I mentioned earlier, "de qi3/bu qi3" isn't as versatile as I thought it was from the qing wen lesson of last year. I would probably do as you suggest and not use "afford to spend" in the way I was using it in the example. I was trying to use "afford to spend" in the context of time:
"We can't afford to spend 5 days in San Francisco. We have to get back to Chicago in 3 days or we will lose our hotel reservation there."
clara_heidfeld
July 01, 2009, 10:20 AM"shi...de".It's hard to explain when/how to use them.Here I 'll give you some examples.But my English is not very good,so I'm not sure whether you can understand.
1.This is mine.
这是我的。zhe4 shi4 wo3 de.
2.Whose is it?
这(or它）是谁的？ zhe4 shi4 shui2 de?
3.The flowers are red.
花是红的. hua1 shi4 hong2 de.
sth（noun/demonstrative）+ is/are+ adjective --->sth +是（shi4)+形容词（adjective）+的.
These are all I can think of now.:)
clara_heidfeld
July 01, 2009, 10:57 AM·No one can afford to speak irresponsibly.
Mei2 you3 ren2 bu4 yao4 luan4shuo1 de qi3
This sentence is a little hard to translate..= =
‘afford' translate into Chinese means '提供;花费,负担得起'(ti2 gong4;hua1 fei4;fu4 dan1 de qi3),and it often links with time or money.
for example:
·He can afford（to buy )this car.
他能够买得起这辆车. ta1 neng2 gou4 mai3 de qi3 zhe4 liang4 che1.
here 'afford'means'买得起’(mai3 de qi3/have enough money to buy..)
but sometimes(like which in your sentence) 'afford' means"负担得起/can take the responsiblility for.."
now back to your sentence.It may translate like this.
·No one can afford to speak irresponsibly
没有人能够不负责任地乱说话.mei2 you3 ren2 neng2 gou4 bu2 fu4 ze2 ren4 de luan4 shuo1 hua4.
here afford means' 负担得起'，but we often don't put it into the sentence,just you can know the meanings here from this sentence.)
T-T for my poor English..
pretzellogic
July 02, 2009, 10:49 AMclara_heidfeld, thank you so much! As I created more sentences, it appeared that you couldn't use them as flexibly as was implied in the qing wen lesson. I guess this is the benefit of writing out the sentences. Your comment regarding the use with time and money makes sense in English as well. if I just use "de qi3/bu4 qi3" for time and money, then I think I know how to use them. It's just that in English, we can say things like, "we can't afford to lose (a game)".
clara_heidfeld
July 02, 2009, 12:28 PMThough I am a Chinese,I 'm often confused by the meanings and pronunciations of so many similar words.It faints me to think about my Chinese examination.It's too terrible..>o< And the best way to remember a new word is to put it into a simple sentence,then remember the whole sentence or main phrases.That's how I learn English,and I think it may also work in Chinese learning.:) The most importantly,as my teacher said, "the more you speak,the better you'll be".So don't be shy,and don't be afraid of making mistakes whick can help you progress a lot. 张大嘴巴说中文吧!
Good luck.
ps:Can you help me with my English?I did'nt do well in my English exam yesterday,so I'm a little dejected now.T-T
pretzellogic
July 02, 2009, 01:00 PMmei3 wen4 ti2
It seems to me that your English is pretty good. I'm hoping to be as good in Mandarin as you are in English. That's a ways away from where I am now. But since you asked, I will mention that i'm unclear about your use of the word "faints". It's possible that you might want to say:
"It pains me to think about my Chinese Examination"
or
"I shudder to think about my Chinese Examination".
In American English, we don't really use "faint" that way.(maybe they do in British English. or Australian. or Canadian)
One more thing, the tenses need to be the same in the following sentence. It currently reads,
the best way to remember a new word is to put it into a simple sentence,then remember the whole sentence or main phrases
The last part should probably read, ... the whole sentence or main phrase." or "...remember whole sentences or main phrases". The idea is that the words "sentences" and "phrases" have to agree when they are in the same sentence together.
By the way, i'm happy to help you, but i'm actually not that good in English. I can tell you that that's what was wrong with that sentence from a native speaker standpoint, but not in the subject/verb/adverb/adjective grammar standpoint (and to think I write professionally!!!)
clara_heidfeld
July 02, 2009, 02:17 PMThanks a lot for your helpful suggestion.:)
But I still don't exactlly know how/when can I use the word 'faint' .I looked it into the E-dictionary just now，and there was an example sentence like this:
'It faints me to think what follows.'
Is that right?I'm confused ×2..=_=
The last part should probably read, ... the whole sentence or main phrase." or "...remember whole sentences or main phrases". The idea is that the words "sentences" and "phrases" have to agree when they are in the same sentence together.
What I want to ask is that if there are more than one main phrase in the sentence,then how could 'the last part' be?Still like'... the whole sentence or main phrase.'?or...?
pretzellogic
July 02, 2009, 02:29 PMOn "faints", put that in the "correct, but we don't say that" category. Americans tend to use the word "faint" as verb, and that's it:
She fainted.
The woman almost fainted.
After admitting his affair, the governor fainted, and as he fell, landed on his very upset wife.
pretzellogic
July 01, 2009, 05:11 AMjckeith, thanks for your help. I was thinking similarly about the emphasis through "shi...de", but not quite clear on when/how to use them.
clara_heidfeld
July 03, 2009, 02:45 AMClear now.Thank you so much!!
And pretzellogic ,do you learn Chinese at school or just on the website for fun?I'm interested in your Chinese exam very much.Maybe it can also be hard for me,haha..:)
pretzellogic
July 03, 2009, 07:37 AMclara_heidfeld, Right now, i'm just learning on cpod. But i'd like to study at a university. What I really need is the time to study. I'm already working at a job, so i'm not as lucky as you are to have study as my main job :)
pretzellogic
July 03, 2009, 10:04 AMMore sentences for translation/correction:
In the past 5 days, my itinerary changed everyday.
mei3tian1 wu3tian1 yi4qian2, wo3 de xing2 cheng2 gai2 le.
Even I can use a wrench.
Lian2 wo3 dou1 neng2 yong4 ban1shou.
Even my family likes to travel.
Lian2 wo3 de jia1 dou1 xiang3 qu4 lu3 xing2.
clara_heidfeld
July 03, 2009, 11:05 AMIn the past 5 days, my itinerary changed everyday.
mei3tian1 wu3tian1 yi4qian2, wo3 de xing2 cheng2 gai2 le.
past :过去的（guò qǜ de)
in the past # days: 在过去的#天里（zai4 guo 4 qu4 de wu3 tian1 li3)
change: 变；改变（bian4;gai3 bian4)
So it will be better if you translate like this:
在过去的五天里，我的行程每天都在变。
zai4 guo4 qu4 de wu3 tian1 li3,wo3 de xing2 cheng2 mei3 tian1 dou1 zai4 bian4.
Even my family likes to travel.
Lian2 wo3 de jia1 dou1 xiang3 qu4 lu3 xing2.
family: 家庭；家人（jia1 ting2;jia1 ren2)
In this sentence,'my family' means 'the members of my family(家人)'. But in Chinese 我的家（wo3 de jia1) usually means 'my home/house'. So you'd better put a '人(ren4)' behind '家（jia1)'.That is:
我的家（wo3 de jia1) —>我的家人（wo3 de jia1 ren2)
These are my ideas about your sentences,and the teacher here will give you further help.
And my question: 'like to' means ' 想去（xiang3 qu4)' not '喜欢（xi3 huan10)' ?
pretzellogic
July 03, 2009, 12:36 PMthanks clara_heidfeld, you're a great teacher!
xie4 xie, clara_heidfeld, ni3 shi4 yi1 ge hen2 hao3 de lao4shi1!
pretzellogic
July 04, 2009, 05:22 AMclara_heidfeld, I'm not quite clear on xiang3's use myself. I know you can say, "I like to go to Chicago", or "I like Chicago". Both can mean the same thing. It seems the distinction is stronger in Chinese than in English between xiang3 and xi4huan1.
If there is a distinction between "I like to go to Chicago" and "I like Chicago", then the distinction might come in further conversation.
Someone might say,"I like to go to Chicago", and mean they like the plane ride into o'hare airport, the taking the taxi ride into the city from the airport, and then staying at a downtown hotel.or they like driving in from Milwaukee and seeing the cornfields as they drive from Southern Wisconsin to Northern Illinois. Maybe here, you're saying, "wo3 xiang3 qu4 Chicago"
If they say, "I like Chicago", that might they just like the city itself, and not the trip it takes to get there. But that again is context related. Maybe here, you're saying, "wo3 xi4huan1 Chicago".
Make sense?
pretzellogic
July 04, 2009, 05:44 AMCan you say, "I can afford to spend 5 days in San Francisco": "wo3 dai1 de qi3 zai4 Jiu4 Jin1 Shan1 dai4 si4 tian1"?
clara_heidfeld
July 05, 2009, 11:21 AMThanks for your explanation.You are a good teacher too!:)
And something about 'xiang3':
想xiǎng :①think;②miss;③want;④would like
·①think
I think you're right. 我想你是对的。
wo3 xiang3 ni3 shi4 dui4 de.
·②miss
Mum,I miss you. 妈妈，我想你。
ma1 ma,wo3 xiang3 ni3.
·③want
Do you want to watch the film? 你想看这部点电影吗？
ni3 xiang3 kan4 zhe4 bu4 dian4 ying3 ma1?
·④would like（想；想要/xiang3;xiang3 yao4)）
I would like to send this letter to Jack.
我想把这封信寄给Jack. wo3 xiang3 ba3 zhe4 feng1 xin4 ji4 gei3 Jack.
I can afford to spend 5 days in San Francisco.
wo3 dai1 de qi3 zai4 Jiu4 Jin1 Shan1 dai4 si4 tian1.
...得起（..de qi3) :We often use this phrase like "买得起 mai3 de qi3(买得起这辆车 mai3 de qi3 zhe4 liang4 che1/afford this car)；经得起jing1 de qi3（经得起考验jing1 de qi3 kao3 yan4/bear examination)"and so on,but these two are most popular.
It may be easier to translate this sentence by meaning than by words.But I have some wonders in its meaning.What does "afford" mean? "have enough money" or "have enough time"?If the latter,the sentence can translate like this:
我可以在旧金山（San Francisco）呆五天。
wo3 ke3 yi3 zai4 jiu4 jin1 shan1 dai1 wu3 tian1.
呆：①foolish/stupid(a.);②stay(v.)
①foolish/stupid
He is a foolish man. 他是个呆子。ta1 shi4 ge4 dai1 zi.
(呆子 foolish man 胖子pang4 zi /fat man)
②stay
Don't move.Just stay there!
别动！就呆在那儿。
pretzellogic
July 02, 2009, 02:57 PMWhat I want to ask is that if there are more than one main phrase
should be ".... if there is more than one main phrase..."
plus, i'm not quite clear on what your question is. When I was saying "the last part", I meant the last part of your sentence ending with, ...the whole sentence or main phrase." I was really referring to the fact that you had a singular noun and a plural noun in the same sentence. So the total sentence should have read:
the best way to remember a new word is to put it into a simple sentence,then remember the whole sentence or the main phrase.
or
he best way to remember a new word is to put it into a simple sentence,then remember whole sentences or phrases.
Hopefully, that's a bit clearer.
jckeith
June 30, 2009, 05:02 AMI believe that this sentence should be "Wo3 yao4 qu4 tou2su4" or "Wo3 yao4 tou2su4".If I remember correctly, the "shi4...de" pattern is used to emphasize the state or situation of a noun phrase or completed action. Also, when "shi4" and "de" occur together, they indicate that the action has already been completed (i.e. past tense). So, if you want to say "I'm going to (do something", then simply say "wo3 yao4 (do something)".
I think this should simply be "Ta1men tai4 zhong4 yao4", for similar reasons as in my previous explanation. "Too important" isn't really a state or situation, just a characteristic.
Somebody else will have to step in on the rest of the sentences because they seem okay to me. Hope this helps :)