User Comments - massine145

Posted on: Train to Beijing

Thanks for picking up on this. Zài seems to be one of these words that is so flexible that I wouldn't be surprised if it can be used about what has happened.

Obviously when it means 'again' it is implying something that is repeated whether in the past, present or future. Perhaps a better translation would be "Why did you eat and again come over?" To me that sounds a little less strange in English than using 'then' because 'again' could apply to repeating something that happened in the past whereas 'then' never has had such a connotation as far as I am aware.

Posted on: Bangkok

I get the impression it is common to use 'zhǎo' to mean to find as well as to look for in pǔtōnghuà.  I'd be grateful if someone could confirm this change of meaning for me so I will be more wary of it whenever I hear 'zhǎo'.

Posted on: Hospitality Series 1: Welcome to the Hilton!

Kěyǐ shuō "Nǐ zhēn huì shuō" wèi "You really can talk!", háishi yào zǒngshì shuō "Nǐ zhēn huì shuōhuà"? Xièxie.

Posted on: Hospitality Series 1: Welcome to the Hilton!

Wǒ juéde méntóng de yìsi yě shì 'bellhop' hé 'doorman', shì ma? Xie4xie.

Posted on: Taipei

I'm coming late to this discussion, but what does 'jiāo' mean here? I'm sort of joking a bit but does 'shuāijiāo' mean to fall a fall as John said in a Qing Wen lesson that 'shuìjiào' means 'to sleep a sleep'? Xièxie.

Posted on: London

Xièxie wèi 'nǚ'.

Posted on: Train to Beijing

Saying "Why don't you eat and then come over?" is obviously what is needed here in translation if one keeps everything in the present. Then 'le' in Mandarin puts 'chīfàn' in the perfect aspect and makes 'chī le fàn' a hypothetical completed action that the speaker is raising to suggest that the listener do & complete the action and then come over. It doesn't mean that the action has actually been done, whereas in English if the speaker says "Why did you eat..." it implies that the action has actually already been done. This is why "Why did you eat and then come over?" sounded awkward to me and not for the reason about compound sentences I gave. That reason is totally irrelevant because we can't even apply it to the English here. Yesterday I wasn't thinking well almost all day. Something preyed on my mind when I gave the reason about compound sentences. I see now what it was. I wasn't being logical because I was misapplying the rule about compound sentences. It doesn't even apply to the English sentence "Why did you eat and then come over?" which isn't even a compound sentence. It's just a simple sentence with a compound use of verbs both in the past tense. But since I was interpreting the Mandarin in the way I have described above, I had to take "lái" as being in the present and felt awkward having to see it interpreted in the past as the English translation "Why did you eat and then come over?" forces one to do. But since the context of the original Mandarin sentence is ungiven as to past or present, it can be translated in either past or present in English until one has a more clear determination as to, as poor Marvin Gaye would say, 'What's going on?'.

Posted on: Train to Beijing

The last expansion has an improper English expression. One just doesn't say "Why did you eat and then come over?". It should be "Why don't you eat and then come over?", or else "Why did you eat and then came over?". This is because you can't change verb tenses in a compound sentence from the first part of the sentence to the second. If you do, it sounds awkward. Obviously Mandarin doesn't have this problem since there are no verb tenses.

Posted on: London

Duìbuqǐ, I meant to say 'nǔshì dì yī' which I got from 'zhìān dì yī' in another lesson's expansion but the lesson's name & number escapes me for the moment. Unfortunately I added 'cì' from bad habit. Like you I can't put the

.. in for nǔ as lujiaojie has. Obviously 'xiān' is closer to 'yōuxiān' than 'dì yī'. Xièxie nǐmen.

Posted on: A Disappointment

I definitely think you have improved and my comments were not meant derogatorily in any way but in a constructive manner. Sometimes I get a little carried away with the immediate inspiration. I certainly have enjoyed your lessons with Ken no matter how little sticks. But learning is my responsibility.

Thank you for all your work and don't ever sell yourself short in your career as a teacher. One's profession is an enduring possession in the changing fortunes of time.