User Comments - changye

Posted on: Flexible, Not Reflexive

Hi starky

Both 互相 and 相互 are used as an adverb, but 相互 can also be used as an adjective and modifies a noun, so you can say, for example, 相互关系, but not 互相关系.

Posted on: 扎着麻花辫的女孩

Hi calicartel

Grammatically, “侧过身” is the same as, for example, “见过面” or “结过婚”. Their original forms are 侧身 (verb, lean to one side, incline)，见面 (verb, to see, meet) and 结婚 (verb, to marry) respectively. The 过 is a particle that indicates an action already completed in the past, and in this case it is placed after 侧 (but not after 身) since the verb 侧身 has a "verb (侧) + object (身)" structure. So I don't think that "pass her by" is an appropriate translation.

For the record, 侧身而过 means "edge one's way through".

Posted on: Flexible, Not Reflexive

Hi timlb

You can also say "我爱自己", but as you said, I also feel "我爱我自己" might be more expressive, or at least the second "我" can emphasize the meaning.

A personal pronoun such as 我，他 are added to 自己 when it's needed, in other words, when you need to specify who is the "自己", or when you want to emphasize the word "自己".

Conversely speaking, you don't need to add a personal pronoun when “自己” is used in a general sense, or it's obvious who the "自己" indicates from context. 

So both "你自己说吧" and “自己说吧” are OK.

Posted on: Flexible, Not Reflexive

Hi mark

Let me elaborate a little more on the usage of "彼此" (bi3ci3).

As I said above, this word is a pronoun, like 我，我们，咱们，他，这 and etc, while “互相” is an adverb. The characters “彼” and “此” respectively mean "that" and "this", and therefore the most basic meaning of “彼此” is "both sides".

So "彼此" is often used as the subject of a sentence, just like...

彼此都很熟悉  (both) know each other well
我们彼此都很熟悉 We (both) know each other well. 
我们彼此相爱 We (both) love each other.

The two examples below virtually have the same meaning, "respect each other", but confusingly they have different grammatical structures.

彼此尊重 = 彼此 (subject) + 尊重 (verb)
互相尊重 = 互相 (adverb) + 尊重 （verb）

Therefore, you can even say .....

彼此互相尊重 = 彼此 (subject) + 互相 (adverb) + 尊重 (verb)
Both sides respect each other.

“彼此” is interchangeable with “互相” in some cases, but basically they are grammatically very different from each other. I recommend you learn the proper usage of the two words separately.

P/S. 我们互相爱着对方 = 我们彼此相爱 = 我们相爱

Posted on: Flexible, Not Reflexive

Hi yueshuya

I think your explanation is correct. "互相" should be translated as "each other/mutually", and "一起" as "together". So "互相学习" and "一起学习" are two different things. The former is "teach each other", and the latter simply means "study together".

Posted on: 谋杀案三

我认识的一位中国法院副院长曾对我这么说过。在审判中对重大犯罪嫌疑人最重要的是如何避免死刑，关键就在两个字-“贿赂”。被告人家属为了躲避死刑尽量跟法官“私下交易”，换句话说，在中国法庭上财力往往决定人的生死。死刑和无期徒刑有天壤之别，因为无期徒刑还有“交易”余地。囚犯家人可以为了获得减刑跟监狱长进行“交易”。据说很多中国法官和监狱长或多或少都是富翁。中国有句俗话说，“有钱能使鬼推磨”。总之，没钱就没命！

Posted on: Flexible, Not Reflexive

Hi mark

It's not a good answer, but all I can say is that “互相” is an adverb, "mutually", and “彼此” (bi3ci3) is a pronoun that means "both sides, you and me, each other etc".

Posted on: Common Measure Words

Hi marchon

现代汉语量词研究 （yan2jiu4, research, study, work on, look into）

As for 几张纸/几张纸？，your interpretations are correct. The character "几" (ji3) mainly has important meaninsgs, "a few, several" and "how many?", and "几" is basicall used when talking about (or expecting) small numbers, usually less than ten or so. Of course, there are 几个 (some) exceptions, and you can 研究  them later!

Posted on: Yang Jie's Diary: Everyone Is Dating

Hi angiebadger

“每 (each) ～ 都 (all)” is a kind of set expression in Chinese, such as 我每天都和他一起吃饭 and 大学里每个人都在谈恋爱 in the lesson dialogue. The "都" (all), which is basically optional, emphasizes the meaning of "每 (every)".

Posted on: 扎着麻花辫的女孩

Hi elliepanda

The word "任课老师" literally means "a teacher who teaches a class", so this phrase itself is a little superfluous, hehe. Just saying "有些老师" (some teachers), instead of "任课老师", would virtually make no difference in the monolougue.

I don't know an appropriate English translation of "任课老师"..... probably it should be "a subject teacher" or something like that. In Chinese schools, the term "任课老师" is usually used as the antonym of "班主任(老师)" (a homeroom teacher).