User Comments - boran
boran
Posted on: Moscow
July 5, 2008 at 2:49 PMRegarding the intro promo: Is a wiggity, wiggity week the same as a regular week? Kris Kross? really? heh heh
Posted on: Moscow
July 5, 2008 at 2:45 PMFrom the dialog, why does the line "他去那儿旅游 (tā qù nàr lǚyóu)" get translated into a question. It seems it would get translated as "He went there to travel". Is it a question based on the context?
Posted on: China Fruit and Pre-Marital Sex
June 21, 2008 at 11:36 AMThis weekend's Wall Street Journal has an article about durians and how a certain variety are selling for $200 a piece in Thailand (see A Stinky, Pricey Delicacy). It also includes a recipe for durian ice cream - an "acquired taste".
Posted on: How many people are in your family?
June 19, 2008 at 6:11 PMeastcoastyankee,
jiā (家) can mean family or home (the place where you live) so when you see zài jiā (在家) it usually means "at home". For example:
wǒ zài jiā chī wānfàn (我在家吃晚饭). - I eat dinner at home.
Posted on: I'm hungry!
June 18, 2008 at 6:25 PMmattahmet,
Time words like 现在 (xiànzài)，今天 (jīntiān)，每天 (mēitiān) generally occur before the verb. Chinese does not allow placing it at the end of the sentence. So your first sentence would be 现在我很饿 (xiànzài wǒ hěn è) or 我现在很饿 (wǒ xiànzài hěn è). Other than that, your sentences are correct.
Posted on: Missing Luggage
June 18, 2008 at 10:40 AMThanks pulosm & AZERDocMom. I understand the difference now. I think what was confusing was the English translations for the sǐ..le statements that were given didn't pick up on the subtely (all the translations used "I" as the subject).
Posted on: Missing Luggage
June 17, 2008 at 1:40 PMI was confused on the location of 我 (wǒ) in the phrase "急死我了 (jí sǐ wǒ le)". Looking at other sǐ...le patterns here, I found:
- "气死我了 (qì sǐ wǒ le)" - "I'm so stinking mad"
- "我饿死了(wǒ è sǐ le)" - "I'm so hungry"
Is there a reason the subject, 我 (wǒ), occurs before the pattern sometimes and in the middle of it other times?
If you wanted to ask "Why are you freaking out?" would it be "急死你了为什么 (jí sǐ nǐ le wèishénme)?"
Posted on: Mosquitos and Olympics
June 15, 2008 at 1:02 PMAn article in Friday's Wall Street Journal discusses the prominence of Chinese women in the Olympics (see The Great Women of China).
In particular, they note that the Chinese women have won more gold medals than the Chinese men over the last two Olympics and that China is the only country that gives equal funding to both men and women athletes. One of the reasons given by a coach for the women's dominance is that they know how to 吃苦 (chīkǔ), "eat bitterness" or endure hardships.
Posted on: I Can/Can't Afford it (...得起 & ...不起）
June 10, 2008 at 10:58 AM我比较穷, 打不起电话.
wǒ bǐjiào qióng, dǎ bu qǐ diànhuà.
bill_gates says
我买得起你们的灵魂.
wǒ mǎi de qǐ nǐmen de línghún.
Posted on: The Mean Boss
July 5, 2008 at 3:13 PMThis reminds me of the very first lesson I listened to - Phone Call for the Boss. In that one, the boss was a bit clueless.
ChinesePod - appealing to our basic attitude towards authority figures!