User Comments - amber
amber
Posted on: Chinese Money Denominations
June 18, 2007 at 8:03 AMHi Anne, Thanks for letting us know, I didn't realize it was in the vocabulary section. It must be a bug. We are on it right now. Sorry about that!
Posted on: Lili and Zhang Liang 16: It's Over
June 18, 2007 at 7:51 AMHi idiotsavant, There are quite a few different usages of 了 (le). Please read on for a few examples of the most common usages: 了 (le) that expresses a completed action: 昨天我买了一件新衣服。 (Zuótiān wǒ mǎi le yī jiàn xīn yīfu.) 吃饭了吗？ (Chīfàn le ma?) 了 (le) that expresses a change in status, situation: 你最近瘦了。 (Nǐ zuìjìn shòu le.) 天气变冷了。 (Tiānqì biàn lěng le.) Now, another usage of 了(le) is as part of a sentence pattern that expresses that an action that is about to or going to happen, as in this dialogue: pattern: (要……了、快要……了、就要……了) (yào...le, kuài yào....le, jiùyào.....le) 就要下雨了。 (Jiùyào xiàyǔ le.) 我下个月要去中国了。 (Wǒ xià ge yuè yào qù Zhōngguó le.) Another 了 (le) is part of a pattern that expresses an exclamatory tone: pattern: (太……了) (tài...le) 你的小狗太可爱了。 (Nǐ de xiǎo gǒu tài kě'ài le.) 太棒了。 (Tài bàng le.) Phew... hope those help! The infamous 了!!
Posted on: Booking a Plane Ticket
June 18, 2007 at 7:18 AMhi dapork, 公务舱 (gōngwù cāng) and 商务舱 (shāngwù cāng) are both correct, and used interchangeably for "business class."
Posted on: Addresses
June 18, 2007 at 7:14 AMHi craigthebrit, 我的家里 (wǒ de jiālǐ) and 我家里 (wǒ jiālǐ) mean the same thing. The "de" can be omitted, and often is in less formal speech when speaking about things intimate to one's self, i.e. family, home, etc.
Posted on: Sweet Watermelon
June 18, 2007 at 6:29 AMchangye, I also don't like 西瓜 much, but not for the Bud bottle reason, more because of the taste. But, thank you, you've given me another good reason to not like watermelon now. :)
Posted on: Booking a Plane Ticket
June 18, 2007 at 4:30 AMhi erikalee, 改到 (gǎidào) means "to change to..." and must be followed by a date, or time. 改一下 (gǎi yīxià) is just a polite way to say "to change". It's doesn't have to be followed by a specific time. You are just asking to change it. 什么时候到 (shénme shíhou dào) In this case, the 到 (dào) means "to arrive." Why is it "当地的一个工厂" (Dāngdì de yī ge gōngchǎng) and not "一个当地的工厂" (Yī ge dāngdì de gōngchǎng)? Actually, it's just two ways of saying the same thing.
Posted on: Using 看 (kàn) and 看起来 (kàn qilai)
June 18, 2007 at 3:41 AMHi Man2Toe, The most common words for avatar in Chinese are: 头像 (tóuxiàng) 动画精灵 (dònghuà jīnglíng) 虚拟形象 (xūnǐ xíngxiàng) Maybe 具體化 (jùtǐhuà) is used as well, just perhaps not as common yet. lotuscloud, Good job! Almost perfect, just that 漂亮 (piàoliàng) is used to describe visual things, rather than music. So you can just simply say 好听 (hǎotīng), which means "pleasant to listen to." Here is the sentence: 请问的音乐厅起来好听. (Qǐngwèn de yīnyuè tīng qǐlai hǎotīng.) Glad you like it!
Posted on: Global Warming
June 18, 2007 at 2:59 AMhi Mark, The word used in this dialogue is: 降温 (jiàngwēn) lower the temperature; cool off You could also say: 气温下跌 (qìwēn xiàdiē) the temperature is falling
Posted on: Chinese Money Denominations
June 18, 2007 at 2:51 AMhi laihama, I've checked the sound files, they all seem to be working for me. Maybe try again!
Posted on: Sweet Watermelon
June 18, 2007 at 8:19 AMHi Bazza, You can say something about the person is sweet, for example: 她的声音很甜． (Tā de shēngyīn hěn tián.) Her voice is very sweet. 她长得很甜． (Tā zhǎng de hěn tián.) She looks very sweet. But you can't just say: 你真甜 - X (Nǐ zhēn tián.) - X To express that, in Chinese, you would have to say something more like: 你人很好． (Nǐ rén hěn hǎo.) 你真好． (Nǐ zhēn hǎo.)