User Comments - changye
changye
Posted on: Drinking Game
July 21, 2009 at 12:13 PM姐妹们 姐妹儿们
Posted on: Job Interview
July 21, 2009 at 11:58 AMJob performance 工作表现，工作效率，工作业绩
Maybe 工作表现 is less formal than 效率/业绩.
Posted on: Drinking Game
July 21, 2009 at 2:50 AMHi xiaophil
That's an intriguing question. Let me try to answer it.
(a) 昨天我没去看电影。
(b) 我好久没去看电影了。
Both (a) and (b) are correct Chinese. As you said, you can't place 了 at the end of sentence (a), Now, the problem is why you can use 了 in sentence (b)？
It's because the 了 in (b) indicates that the situation of "我没(不)去看电影" has continued over "好久" time. Pls look at sentence (b) this way, (我好久没去看电影)了, but it's not 我好久【(没去看电影)了】。
By the same token, you can say （已经多少年没见）了？
P/S. I agree with phchenery's concise explanation!
Posted on: Bringing it All Back Home With 回去 and 回来
July 21, 2009 at 12:41 AMHi siteng
I don't think our teachers' explanation on 回 contradicts what we think about 回. They are only saying that you can't use 回, for example, when you travel to Vietman and it's the first visit to Vietnam in your itinerary. For the second visit in the itinerary, you can say, e.g. "我们再回越南一次吧，我还想吃越南菜！". “重返” (chong2fan3) also means "return to", and it's more formal than 回.
Actually, I'm also a little confused now, hehe.
Posted on: Christmas Presents
July 20, 2009 at 1:12 PMHi desluo929
圣诞节你想怎么过？ = 你想怎么过圣诞节？
你(you)想(would like)怎么(how to)过(spend)圣诞节(Xmas)？
Posted on: Saved by the Gong: Tai Chi
July 20, 2009 at 1:07 PMHi xiaophil
There is the right chengyu for "May you get what you ask for", i.e. 自作自受.
Posted on: Bringing it All Back Home With 回去 and 回来
July 20, 2009 at 12:59 PMHi siteng
The basic meaning of 回 is "return/go back to original location", and this is the reason why the words 回去/回来 are often used when talking about someone's "home country", but actually the usage of 回 is much more flexible than you might think. What is "original location"? It depends on the situation.
For example, I'm a Japanese guy who stay in the PRC, and I would say to my Chinese friends, “我明天回日本去，打算下个月再回来。” because 中国 IS also my "original location". The "Paris" is your "original location" too since the city is the place where you (physically) came from. "Return to starting point" is "回到起点" in Chinese.
By the way, 囘 in your comments is a variant form of 回. Is it still used in Taiwan?
http://140.111.1.40/yitia/fra/fra00727.htm
Posted on: Caught in the Act
July 20, 2009 at 8:19 AMHi desluo919
In general, you don't need to add 了 in "刚/刚刚" sentences, although I don't know why for sure. Perhaps it's because "刚/刚刚", which connotes "just happened", already contain the nuance of 了.
As for your second question, "Who are you talking to?" should be translated as "你在和谁谈话呢？" or "你在和谁说话呢" in Chinese. You can use 跟 instead of 和 in these sentences.
Posted on: I'm Not Here
July 20, 2009 at 7:24 AMHi bababardwan
There are some more formal "if" in Chinese, such as 假如 （jia3ru2）， 假使 (jia3shi3) and 倘若 (tang3ruo4). They can all make a "～的话" structure, and the "的话" is optional just like that in the "要是～的话" structure.
Posted on: Bringing it All Back Home With 回去 and 回来
July 21, 2009 at 1:03 PMHi paulinurus
You can say 到来, like 春天到来了, but I can't think of a good example for 到去 .......