User Comments - changye

Posted on: Birth by Chinese Zodiac

Hi pete,

You are just genius!!!

Posted on: Birth by Chinese Zodiac

Hi lydia1981,

Please put this sentence at the end of the intro.

"Use your mouse (鼠标) to click the subscription button NOW!"

Posted on: Birth by Chinese Zodiac

I still don't know exactly how to translate "by the way“ and "incidentally" into Chinese. Maybe there are several Chinese words/phrases that means them, depending on the circumustances.

I sometimes use "对了" in the sense of "by the way", especially when I suddenly remember something. My dictionaries show you "那个/这个", like "那个....，她最近身体好吗？" and "这个....，有件事和你商量一下。"

Thanks, henning. I think 顺便提一下 (or 顺便说一下) would be very useful, however, I still don't know how to translate the "btw" in "btw, 我属鸡"！ The best tactic might be "not translate it", in short, you just say "我属鸡", hehe.

Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 4: Communication in the Office

Hi chistudent,

The following sentences are all correct.

(A) 你想说什么？ What do you want say?
（B） 你想说什么吗？ Do you want to say something?
（C） 谁能回答？ Who can answer the question?
（D） 谁能回答吗？ Can anyone answer the question?

And "你知道他是谁吗？" (Do you know who he is?) is definitely correct. At stake is whether or not you can also say "你知道他是谁？" (Do you know who he is?). Is this grammatically correct?

Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 4: Communication in the Office

Hi sinolog,

Let me take "你知道他是谁" as an example.

(A) 你知道他是谁。 You know who he is.
（B） 你知道他是谁吗？ Do you know who he is?
（C） 你知不知道他是谁？ Do you know who he is?
（D） 你知道他是谁？ Do you know who he is?

I think that (A), (B), and (C) are grammatically correct, but I'm not so sure about (D). As far as I know, native Chinese actually use type (D) structures. Look forward to other guys' opinions!

Posted on: Birth by Chinese Zodiac

Hi wxgcathy,

Thanks a lot for pointing it out.

My dictionaries also show 我属马 as a correct example. Probably not using 于 is a natural way when meaning "My Chinese zodiac sign is horse" or "I belong to the horse zodiac sign."

Incidentally, would you please tell me which is a better Chinese translation when saying "What is your sign of the Zodiac (constellation)?", 你属于什么星座？ or 你属什么星座？ Thanks！

Posted on: Birth by Chinese Zodiac

我属于猪。中国俗话说，“人怕出名，猪怕壮”，可是我不怕出名，只怕没出息！

Posted on: When 比较 (bǐjiào) becomes 更 (gèng)

Hi pinkjeans,

Looks like the problem is a little more complicated than I thought. It seems that I should have said “比较” (adverb) doesn’t necessarily imply “comparison with something.” I understand well what you would like to say.

I like your clever example “现在我跑得比较快”, but I still don’t think the “比较” in it connotes “compared to me in the past”, because “现在我跑得比较快” is just one of choices such as “现在我跑得非常快”, “现在我跑得很快”, “现在我跑得相当快” and so on.

I think that they all indicate “degree”, but not necessarily indicate “comparison with something”. For the record, you can say “现在我跑得比以前快” to emphasize “compared to me in the past.”

Having said that, I know there is an expression such as “A和B相比，哪个比较好？”, where the “比较” actually implies “comparison between A and B”. In this sense, the “比较” in your “我跑得比较快” might also imply “comparison.” I’m a little confused!

Take “我的孩子比较喜欢学习” as an example. This “比较” means “somewhat, relatively, to some extent”. And there is a good likelihood that 孩子非常喜欢学习, but the speaker used the word “比较” to show modesty. By the same token, our John would say “我汉语说得比较好”, although everyone knows 他汉语说得非常好！

Sorry, no conclusion, haha.

P/S 狮子追不上兔子。我跟不上他的速度。

Posted on: When 比较 (bǐjiào) becomes 更 (gèng)

Hi pinkjeans,

Let me allow to nitpick, please! In the case of "我跑得比较快", the "比较" is an adverb that means "relatively", and the Chinese sentence should be translated as "I run relatively fast." Actually, the adverb "比较" (relatively) has less to do with "comparison".

Posted on: Buying a Plasma TV

Hi su1xiao3ya3,

(A) 我的新液晶电视在那里放着。
(B) 我新买的液晶电视放在那儿了。

I think that both basically mean the same thing. Very exactly speaking (?), their nuances might be a little different. The example (A) probably slightly emphasizes "continued state", and (B) emphasizes "I have just put it over there".