help on a chinese word

daynah

July 30, 2008, 12:49 AM

"Incorrect" or "wrong" is "budui."  If you press the "listen" at this webpage, you can here it pronounced: http://www.nciku.com/search/zh/detail/不对/2965  It more literally means "not right."

"No" is just plain "bu." If you press the listen button on this webpage, you can here it pronounced: http://www.nciku.com/search/zh/detail/不/1301193

But Chinese isn't like English in that you can just say it. You have to say the right sounds with the right inflection or tone. I suggest you listen to the Chinesepod lessons about tones. The ones in these words are the second and fourth tones, but there's only four so you might as well listen to all four lessons.

Good luck saying "no!"

xiaohu

July 30, 2008, 01:29 AM

DrDemon:

Conveying the meaning of "no" in Mandarin is quite a conundrum.

Think about the words "yes" and "no" in Mandarin as AFFIRMATIVE or NEGATIVE.

What I mean is that in Mandarin you affirm or negate the other parties verb.  I know that's about as clear as mud so I'll explain.

Let's say someone asks you  "Do you want to go see Batman with me on Saturday?"

In English we'd answer either, "yes" or "no", but in Mandarin it's a little more tricky, we'd answer (affirmatively or negatively) "want" or "don't want"

For example, the question "Do you want to go see Batman with me this Saturday?", in Mandarin, "zhe4 ge4 xing1 qi1 liu4 ni3 yao4 gen1 wo3 yi4 qi3 qu4 kan4 bian1 fu2 xia2 ma?" 这个星期六，你要跟我一起去看蝙蝠侠吗？

(Here the word "want" is yao4 要)

So either answer affirmatively "yao4"...要

...or negatively, "bu4 yao4" 不要 (and remember before the 4th tone the tone for the word "bu" becomes 2nd tone, bu2 yao4).

Apply this to almost any situation where someone is asking you a yes-no question. Be careful, because if you're talking about the past then the you can't use the word "bu4" for negative, you need to use the word, "mei2" 没

So if someone asks a question about something that happened in the past, "Have you seen Batman?" (Ni3 kan4 guo4 bian1 fu2 xia2 ma?) 你看过蝙蝠侠吗？

If the answer is "no" then say, "mei2 kan4 guo4" 没看过 (kan4 guo4 看过 here equates here to "seen")

I know it's very confusing at first and it takes a bit of getting used to. Don't worry, after a little bit of practice you'll get it!

Regarding the word "wrong"..."bu4 dui4" 不对 and "cuo" 错 are fairly interchangable, the word "bu4 dui4" literally means "not right" and the word "cuo" means "wrong", so you can apply those much the same way as you would in English, although I'd say the the word "cuo4" has a stronger tone than "bu4 dui4", so if someone said, "The actor who played Batman in the 2008 movie, The Dark Knight was George Clooney", and you know they're wrong, I believe you shouldn't say, "Ni3 cuo4 le", (you're wrong) you'd say, "Ni3 bu4 dui4" (you're incorrect).

But be very careful not to fall into the trap that so many English speakers so when the first start learning Mandarin to use "dui4" and "bu4 dui4" as yes or no!

For example, if a Chinese person asks you, "Ni3 hui4 shuo1 zhong1 wen2 ma?" (can you speak Chinese), you would NEVER answer back, "dui4"...heh heh, 'cause that'd just be crazy talk! ;)

If you have any other questions, feel free to post it on the boards or send me an e-mail through my profile!

Xiao Hu