User Comments - amber
amber
Posted on: Riding the Subway
October 8, 2008 at 6:24 AMhi china4me,
一下 just softens the tone of a sentence
In the sentence, 给我两个硬币 the 个 is a measure word. To find out more about measure words in Chinese, check out this Qing Wen episode.
In the sentence, 去北京的火车票多少钱一张？ The use of 的 (de) here is the grammar structure in which an adjective is connected to the noun it is describing with the 的 (de), i.e.(adj + 的 + noun)
And there are many uses for the particle 了 (le), which as you go on you will learn. I can't really sum it up in an explanation here, but keep listening to the podcasts and you will start to encounter 了 (le) in its many forms.
To learn more about the particle 吧 (ba), check out this Qing Wen episode.
Posted on: Riding the Subway
October 8, 2008 at 5:05 AMhi williamp,
你想坐自动扶梯还是电梯？
Nǐ xiǎng zuò zìdòng fútī háishi diàntī？
自动扶梯 (zìdòng fútī) is the technical term for escalator, its just seldom used in everyday speech.
Posted on: Clearing the Table
October 8, 2008 at 2:45 AMhi wande,
收拾碗筷 (Shōushi wǎn-kuài) is not commonly used.
Posted on: Clearing the Table
October 8, 2008 at 2:42 AMhi frances,
Can you help me carry this?
Can you help me out and carry this?
Both of these in Chinese would be expressed as:
可以帮我拿一下这个吗？
Kěyǐ bāng wǒ ná yīxià zhège ma？
The next two sentences would be expressed as follows:
He will help us to learn Chinese.
他会帮（助）我们学中文。
Tā huì bāng(zhù) wǒmen xué Zhōngwén.
(here 帮助 bāng(zhù) is a verb, but the 助 can be omitted)
He will help us by learning Chinese.
他学中文对我们有帮助. (here 帮助 is a noun.)
Tā xué Zhōngwén duì wǒmen yǒu bāngzhù.
Posted on: Clearing the Table
October 8, 2008 at 2:31 AMhi rjberki,
帮我们收走吧
Bāng wǒmen shōu zǒu ba
Is very commonly used. There are a couple other variations you might hear as well, such as:
把这个收走吧。
Bǎ zhège shōu zǒu ba.
收一下这个吧。
Shōu yīxià zhège ba.
Posted on: Office Policy: Internet
October 7, 2008 at 9:47 AMHi inland,
Yes that pattern is used for describing specific periods of time, like:
在工作时间 (Zài gōngzuò shíjiān)
在休息时间 (Zài xiūxi shíjiān)
It's not commonly used in combination with months, although it is not incorrect to do so.
Posted on: Chinglish in Reverse and University Culture
October 7, 2008 at 5:31 AMshiwuqingren,
hehe I use that one all the time too!
Posted on: Clearing the Table
October 7, 2008 at 5:29 AMhi mikenotinjubei,
这个吃好了, 帮我们收走吧！
Zhège chī hǎole, bāng wǒmen shōu zǒu ba！
The way that 帮 (bāng) is used in Chinese in this kind of a sentence, I have always thought of more as the equivalent of this in English:
We've finished eating this, please take it away for us.
When you want to ask someone for a favour, you can also use this kind of a structure:
你可以帮我拿这个袋子吗？
Nǐ kěyǐ bāng wǒ ná zhège dàizi ma？
Can you hold this bag for me?
The 'help' part is implied, but doesn't necessarily directly translate over.
Posted on: Clearing the Table
October 7, 2008 at 4:52 AMhi cmyap67,
Yes you can also say:
请把这些收一下
Qǐng bǎ zhèxiē shōu yīxià
Posted on: Rating Restaurants on Dianping
October 8, 2008 at 6:27 AMhi henning,
Nope! you can't!