User Comments - kangleilei
kangleilei
Posted on: ...都 (dōu): The Bryan Adams pattern
September 26, 2008, 05:06 PM可不可以说：”灿烂的东西不都是黄金“？
"All that glitters is not gold", but really, it should be
"Not all that glitters is gold" (but then the meter wouldn't work).
I guess the first would be ”灿烂的东西都不是黄金。“
Is that right? Should I throw in a 什么？
Posted on: 还是 háishi OR 或者 huòzhě
November 02, 2008, 12:08 AMSorry, this is a little involved--I've had a question about this distinction for a long time, one that I've asked many times, and to which I've received contradictory responses: Can you *ever* use huozhe in a question? For example, if the question is not about the alternative choice but really a "where" question (or yes-no question) about a declarative "or"? That sounds a little abstract, but, for example, suppose we're discussing a few different stores. I say: "I really need to get either wine or beer. Where can I find wine or beer?" Do I still use 还是 in this question?
I'm starting to feel crazy, because I've never had a teacher who understood what I'm saying when I ask this, or my claim that sometimes "or" is a part of question, but is not functioning as a question word. In my second question above, "where" is the question word, not "or". So, if "or" is not the question word, but it's still in a question, do I have to use "haishi"? Because my gut wants to use huozhe.
Another way of asking the same question, or something closely related: is it normal to respond to a haishi question by saying "no"? If I ask somebody a favor, and I say, can you give me a cigarette 还是 some rolling tobacco, is that presumptuous (does it assume a yes answer to one of the alternatives)?
谢谢
Kang Lei