User Comments - changye

Posted on: Measure Words for Counting People

Hi sirup,

One of my dictionaries gives an interesting explanation about the usage of 对 and 双. As a general rule, 双 is used for something that is originally a pair, such as 一双鞋，一双手，一双腿，一双胳膊, and so on. On the other hand, 对 is used for things that are made a pair “tentatively”, such as 一对夫妻 (How hilarious!), 一对情侣，一对鸳鸯，一对花瓶 etc. Confusingly enough, you can use both 双 and 对 for 眼睛 and 翅膀. Be noted that “a pair of glasses” is not “一双眼镜”, but “一副眼镜”, in Chinese. Anyway, 量词 is really a headache for us learners of Mandarin.

Posted on: Measure Words for Counting People

More confusingly, sometimes a few measure words are interchangeably used to refer to the same thing, for example, my chubby dog is "一个胖狗，一只胖狗，一条胖狗" in Chinese. Of course, my dog always claims that 一条胖狗 is the most appropriate classifier for her becasue she has a long tail (一条长尾巴)！

Posted on: Ping Pong Nation

Hi auntie68,

听说中国人很好客，但是看样子中国在这届奥运会上不给外国客人面子啊...哈哈！

Posted on: The 是...的 (Shì...de) Pattern

I suppose that the 是～的 pattern is far more important than we learners think. You can almost always use (or need to use) this pattern when you ask or explain about reason, time, place, method etc. of something going on or happened in the past.

a) 他来中国了。
b) 他是为什么来中国的？
a) 他是为了学中文来的。
b) 他是从哪儿来的？
a) 他是从日本来的。
b) 他是什么时候来的？
a) 他是昨天来的。

Posted on: Measure Words for Counting People

Hi cassie,

How about 一队人 (yi1 dui4 ren2, a team of)? And, does 一对人 (yi1 dui4 ren2, a pair of) make sense in Chinese (or is it natural)?  I know that you can say 一对夫妻 or 一对男女, though. Thanks.

Posted on: Measure Words for Counting People

人口 (ren2 kou3) = population (in modern Chinese)
食口 (shi2 kou3) = population (in old Chinese)

Interestingly, they still use the word "식구"　(= 食口) in modern Korean, but in this case it means "the number of family member". In modern Japanese, 人口 (jin-kou) means "population", too.

Posted on: Chinglish in Reverse and University Culture

Hi thriple,

Thanks for introducing Cangjie (仓颉) input method, which seems to be very interesting to me. This idea just reminds me of 五笔输入法 and 四角号码, both of which are also based on the shape of Chinese characters. It seems to me that 五笔输入法 is faster than 仓颉输入法, am I right? Anyway, I lguess even 仓颉, a legendary inventor of 汉字 who had four eyes, didn't expect that his name would be used for a character input method in the computer era.

戈十金金, 火一月金 = IJCC, FMBC = 麻，烦 = ma2 fan2 = ㄇㄚˊ ㄈㄢˊ

Posted on: I Want This

Hi Sourmangoo,

Here is a supplementary explanation to xiaohu’s comment. Some scholars say that 这个 (zhei4 ge) might be a shortened form of 这一个 (zhe4 yi2 ge), and the same goes for 那个 (nei4 ge) and 哪个 (nei3 ge).

谁 (shui2, who) is almost exclusively pronounced as “shei 2” in daily conversation. In this case, you can’t apply the above “这一个” theory. Anyway, people tend to adopt easier pronunciations in conversation.

Posted on: I Want This

There was another Chinesepod (Japanese-version) presented by Praxis a few years ago, but it was commercially unsuccessful, probably because the market was too small. So I don’t think Chinesepod taught in languages other than English will be feasible.

Having said that, I guess that there was one more possible reason for the failure. In Japan, as well as in China and Korea, most people (me included!) are still not accustomed to paying for information offered from the Internet. I love a free lunch too!

Posted on: I Want This

Hi cagster,

Please look at the Chinese character 八. You can see that it broadens toward the lower end, and it connotes “development” or “prosper”, and that is why 八 is regarded as a lucky number both in China and in Japan. Furthermore, 八 is an even number, which is also favored by Chinese people.

Hi qiren,

Hehe, I think that 气人 is better than 乞人, at least. There is another option for you, 奇人 (qi2 ren2, a strange guy), although I don't strongly recommned it.