User Comments - Grambers

Posted on: Detective Li 11: Final Mission (Part 5)

Brilliant. Thanks zhenlijiang. Now I understand.

Posted on: Detective Li 11: Final Mission (Part 5)

The alleged subtext, and of course, this is but airy speculation, is that John just might have been suggesting that it was right and proper that Detective Li should be retired at this juncture. Perhaps he felt the writer(s) needed a rest:)

Posted on: Detective Li 11: Final Mission (Part 5)

I had a quick language question on the not-so small manner of 了 (讨厌的'了'): 

What's the 了 doing in this sentence: 发现李探长早已消失在了人群中? 

I don't really understand why it comes after the 在?

Posted on: Detective Li 11: Final Mission (Part 5)

Did I detect a very, ever-so slight subtext to John's suggestion that 李探长应该休息? ;-) Nah, of course not. 李探长万岁！

Favourite episode? Definitely the grisly basement murder. What's a detective story without some exposed bone and ripped out intenstines? 

Posted on: Detective Li 9: Final Mission (Part 3)

Thanks GregE (and Bababardwan, above). I've yet to be convinced that, in lieu of spending an inordinate amount of time learning the arcane logic behind the scores of possible measure words, going with 个 isn't the best bet nearly ever time. I know, this is not very sophisticated of me, but conceptualising to this level (ie '股 being a number of 条 strands linked together') for a grammatical function that, arguably, isn't even necessary, seems silly. Or maybe I'm letting my frustration get the better of me!?! Thanks for your advice, nonetheless!:)

Posted on: How to Say "This"

You said that the three featured words don't really appear in casual conversation, but surely one of the most common uses of 本 which didn't make it into the lesson is, of course, 本地. Maybe this has become so common as to be regarded as a word in its own right, but if you break it down, and take the 本 to mean 'this' and the 地 to mean 'place', you get a pretty decent translation of 'local' (本地). 

Or is 本地 still quite formal? I hope not, as I've dropped it into casual conversation on a regular basis over the years!

Posted on: How to Say "This"

Echo the above. Great lesson. Maybe we could have a few more QWs which focus on more formal, or written forms of common words, eg. 则 for 就，or 之 for 的 etc.etc. Appreciate Qing Wen is normally more broad-brush, introductory stuff, but I personally, really enjoyed this lesson, and feel sure it will help with those who are moving on to reading in Chinese. Thanks!

Posted on: Detective Li 9: Final Mission (Part 3)

Sorry - another measure word question. Is it the case that for most nouns there is MORE THAN ONE possible measure word? I ask this after looking at the phrase '一股线' from the Grammar extension. I always thought that 条 was used with long, thin things. Are  股 and 条 equally appropriate here?

Posted on: The Seven Year Itch 2: Facing Divorce

Perhaps Chinesepod is just displaying an understandble Chinesepod 'modesty', but I was under the impression that the phrase 'seven year itch' had an explicitly sexual undertone (not to be confused with a 'sexually explicit' undertone!:)). To put it another way, I thought it refers to the phenomenon of cheating on one's partner after a long period of monogamy (seven years of it, in fact!). However, maybe I've misunderstood this phrase. Or maybe it has different resonances in different English-language cultures? Given I'm now into my sixth year of marriage, I should probably wise up!:) 

Posted on: Detective Li 9: Final Mission (Part 3)

I had a question about this sentence from the Grammar section:

凭着一股韧劲，他考上了一流的大学

It appears extremely strange to try to 'count' a personality trait in this way (ie. 'one piece of tenacity'). Would the sentence not work in Chinese if you just dropped the 一股 altogether? Or is the 一股 doing something else here which I've not understood.

Also, could you 'meausure' or 'count' other qualities: 决心，好意 etc.?