User Comments - changye

Posted on: Bad Cell Reception

Hi bababardwan

That said, for example, in the case of "我拿这个，你拿那个吧", both 拿 usually means "hold/take", probably. In short, it depends on circumstances, anyway.

Posted on: Bad Cell Reception

Hi bababardwan and paulinurus

The character 拿 means "hold, take, get, pick up, carry, etc". In the case of "麻烦你帮我拿一下那个", the 那个 implies that the thing you want is not within the reach of you, so it naturally means "Can you get that for me?". On the other hand, "麻烦你帮我拿一下这个" usually means "Can you hold this for me?"

Posted on: Bad Cell Reception

Hi bluealvarez

As lujiaojie explained above, the character 读 basically has both meanings, "read aloud (=念书)" and "read silently (= 看书)", and there are also words such as 朗读 and 默读 to clearly distinguish the two usages.

As for 再读一遍, its meaning will depend on circumstances. I guess that the phrase usually means "read out again" when used by a teacher in class. Of course, you can also say "再念一遍" in this case.

For the record, 读 has another interesting usage, that is to say, "study at school", just like 他在大学读书 (He studies at college = He is a college student). And, 他在大学教书 means "He teaches at a college".

Posted on: Bad Cell Reception

Hi reed54

Both 再说一遍 and 再说一次 basically have the same meaning, and native guys use them interchangeably. Exactly speaking, 遍 connotes slightly more "carefully" because the original meaning of this character is "thorough/from beginning to end".

And therefore, theoretically speaking, 这本书你读了几遍? (How many times did you read this book?) might be a little more appropriate than "读了几次？", which I think is the reason why Jenny says "对话，第一遍" in every lesson.

You can say "您是哪位?", but "你是哪位？" is more commonly used. I guess that you can use the former one when your visitor is apparently "a big shot", haha. Maybe 您 is less used in China than learners might think.

For the record, just saying "你是谁？ (Who are you?)" would be also OK when you answer a phone call, which is not regarded as impolite because you still don't know who the caller is.

By the same token, Chinese people just say "谁呀？" when your visitor is still on the other side of the door. And, "你是哪位?" is used after the door open.

Posted on: Bad Cell Reception

Let me elaborate a little more on ilearnben2's very to-the-point explanation. 听不见 and 听不到 are often interchangeable and both basically means "can't hear at all" as ilearnben2 explained. 

听不见 simply means "can't hear (physically)", so it can be used like this, 我耳朵背，听不见 (I have poor hearing, so I can't hear it) or 这里太吵了，听不见 (It's too noisy in here, I can't hear it)

And, as ooka pointed out, 听不到 often implies that you can't hear something due to a long distance, in short, the sound can't reach (到) you. So when you are speaking with someone far away, you can say "我听不到！" Of course, 听不见 (or 听不清) is also OK.

Additionally, 听到 has extended meanings "catch the news, hear about, learn of, pick up the sound, get wind that ～, etc", just like 我还听不到老王的消息 (Mr.Wang's news) or 还听不到胎心 (still can't hear the fetal heartbeat). They all come from a "distant" place!

Posted on: Saved by the Gong: Cutting Open a Frog

"剖" is the only character that has the sound "pou" and is commonly used in modern Mandarin.

Posted on: Stopping at a Friend's Farm -- 过故人庄

There is a discussion about "how to read 斜 in classical poems" in China. Some say it should be pronounced "xie2" based on modern sounds, and others say "xia2", a middle Chinese sound, to make it rhyme with other characters, for example, such as 家，麻，花 in today's poem.

The problem is that "xia2" is usually not shown in modern Chinese dictionaries, unlike the character 衰 （shuai1/cui1）, which is seen in 回乡偶书 you enjoyed before in other "Poem with Pete". Modern dictionaries show you that there are two pronounciations for 衰, but not for 斜.

Some insist that 回 should also be pronounced "huai" (not "hui") when used as a rhyming character. Personally I don't oppose the idea of using ancient sounds for rhyming, which enables students to have further knowledge on classical poetry, its traditional rules and the transition of Chilnese sounds.

唐诗中"斜"字究竟读xia还是读xie
http://www.zcjy.net/Article/Class137/200506/641.html

Pete, I believe you would find the article interesting.

Posted on: Stopping at a Friend's Farm -- 过故人庄

Hi bababardwan

The yin-yang symbol is used for the design of ROK national flag.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_South_Korea

Posted on: Too Heavy!

Hi rich

To tell you the truth, I sometimes can't remember how to pronounce (or write) a Japanese kanji, while I know how to read it in Chinese and Korean. It seems they are all mixed up in my head....

As for readings of kanji, actually it's a long story. Phonological relationship between Chinese characters and Japanese kanji is one of the highlights in historical linguistics in east Asia.

Roughly speaking, kanji readings are basically based on middle Chinese sounds (the 6th - 10th century), and they were a little modified (or simplified) according to Japanese pronunciation system in those days.

P/S. A Japanese kanji usually has several readings.

Posted on: Too Heavy!

Hi paurinurus

重 also has the meaning "weight" (noun), and it's used like 这个有几斤重? (How much does this weigh?). Probably the 重 you heard is an abbreviation of 有多重？.....(?)

The transitive verb "weigh" can be translated as "称 (cheng1)" or "约 (yao1)", and they are often used like 称一下，称一称，约一下，or 约一约. "约 (yao1)" is a colloquial word.