User Comments - GreyPhoenix
GreyPhoenix
Posted on: Ending your sentence with 啊 & 呀 (a & ya)
April 29, 2008, 07:19 PM@buckaroo - I believe I've heard guys use "hao a" before as well, but in a less cutesy-sounding way. I've never heard a guy use "shi a," but I have heard them use "shi4 ma1" with a similar sounding voice, meaning "really?" Interesting lesson. I hadn't thought about those particles being more feminine prior to today, but I had definitely picked up on using them from my Taiwanese (female) friends. Good thing I'm not a guy!
Posted on: Detroit
April 15, 2008, 06:53 PMWow - I never expected such a great lesson on a city so close to home! I'm about 45 miles west of 底特律. There's a beautiful city called Ann Arbor there with a relatively high Chinese population (over 5,000 I believe, due to the University of Michigan). Any "Blue" fans from A2 out there? Thanks, Cpod, for the useful lesson!
Posted on: Buying Batteries
March 13, 2008, 08:06 PMGreat lesson, and very useful. I saw it on my home lesson page awhile back but had been too busy to listen in lately. Then last night one of my students (an older Chinese) was talking about my electronic dictionary and used the word 电池. I flashed back to the lesson photo, complete with pinyin, and immediately recognized what he was saying - and that was BEFORE listening in! Thanks guys!
Posted on: Yang Jie's Fury
March 06, 2008, 05:29 PMI'm curious where the meaning behind 神经 comes from. Using the MDBG dictionary, I get the following results for individual characters: 神 (shen2): "God / unusual / mysterious / soul / spirit / divine essence / lively / spiritual being" 经 (jing1): "classics / sacred book / scripture / to pass through / to undergo / longitude / surname Jing" Could it be something like "to undergo mysterious symptoms," relating to the time before people understood such things? Hmm... does anyone know for sure or have other ideas? Thanks!
Posted on: 一...就... (yī...jiù...) pattern
March 04, 2008, 05:39 PM我一起床，就很累。你们呢？ Pinyin: wo3 yi1 qi3 quang2, jiu4 hen3 lei4. Ni3 men ne? English: As soon as I get up, I'm very tired. What about you? I wonder why this is...
Posted on: Behind the Scenes at the Beauty Pageant
February 23, 2008, 01:27 AMBababoo - I think what Amber was saying was that the 人 (ren2) in 男人 is pronounced here as a neutral tone, even though on its own 人 is a second tone. Amber - Thanks for the explanation. I knew something was different! I'm curious - can 人 always be pronounced neutral when it comes to the word 男人? Do Chinese often do this with terms that consist of two 2nd tones in a row? Thanks in advance for the help!
Posted on: You talking about me?
February 23, 2008, 01:20 AMHi Amber, Thanks! It seems I can use the "le" in these sentences to indicate an already completed action. I had wondered if that would work, but I wasn't quite sure, since 了 isn't always the simplest thing. ;- ) Thanks again for the help!
Posted on: You talking about me?
February 21, 2008, 10:45 PMI think I'm a little late on this lesson, but I just discovered it and love it! The "about" issue has been a question in my mind for quite awhile. This took care of most of the problem. I do still have one question: How can you say this in terms of having "talked about" or "told someone about" something in the past? For example, "I told my dad about the argument," or "Did you tell your mom about the book you lost?" Thanks in advance for the help!
Posted on: Behind the Scenes at the Beauty Pageant
February 21, 2008, 10:28 PMIn the expansion section, the last tone of the sentence "他是个不要脸的男人" sounds like it's pronounced as 4th tone to me. It could very well be I'm mishearing it, but I listened many times and it sounds like "nan2 ren4" rather than "nan2 ren2." If I'm right, and it is being pronounced nan2 ren4, is there a reason? Is it to give some closure or added emphasis? Is there a rule about two 2nd tones I'm unaware of? I thought I'd better ask and see whether I'm crazy, or just unaware - not ruling out both together, of course! :- D
Posted on: Ending your sentence with 嘛 （ma)
April 30, 2008, 12:39 AMHi daolin, Sorry I just saw your comment. I'm not from the cPod team, but part of my job includes teaching ESL to Chinese people in the states, so I speak Chinese with them quite a bit. In answer to your question, you are right, the pronunciation of "nei4 ge4" vs. "na4 ge4" is dependent on the person's regional accent. I used to always say "na4 ge4" to my students, who would look at me a second, then repeat it to the others as "nei4 ge4." Both are okay, though I believe "na4 ge4" is the more standard pronunciation.