User Comments - memmifer
memmifer
Posted on: More than 50 kuai!
June 2, 2008 at 2:08 AMAnd for a number very close to 20, both above & below, you can say: "About 20," "20 or so," "approximately 20."
"Just over 20" is not very specific, but could probably mean 21, 22, 23, probably not beyond that.
"Close to 20," "nearly 20," "just about 20" would be maybe 17, 18, 19...
Posted on: One-on-One Basketball
June 1, 2008 at 12:06 AMJust wanting to get things really clear here, enough with the inuendo... The phrase 有种, are you guys softening it by translating it as "you have guts" -- something which could be said to a woman, or is it strictly something a guy would say to another guy? (I.e., more explicitly anatomical...).
Can it be used in polite society? Mixed society? Could a man use this phrase to complement a female colleague who just did something really impressive/bold in an office situation?
Posted on: One-on-One Basketball
May 31, 2008 at 11:42 PM@Jenny, I'm glad to hear that women play BB. During 2 semesters at Shanghai JiaoDa, I never saw a single woman on the bb courts. I was wondering if girls/women in China exercise at all!
I also thought it was sad - the courts were locked up until sometime mid-afternoon every day! And the guys would play into the night, by the lights coming out the dorm windows.
Posted on: Valentine's Day
May 31, 2008 at 6:29 AMI'm glad to learn about collocation! Very helpful.
Posted on: Bumming a Smoke
May 31, 2008 at 4:01 AMauntie68, loved your "off-topic" President Ramos story, thought it was totally appropriate!
Posted on: I Have Class
May 31, 2008 at 3:18 AM@AuntySue, here's another one for you:
I'm American, my other half is British. If his dad is sick, his dad has to "go TO hospital," or he "is IN hospital."
If my dad is sick, he has to "go to THE hospital," or he "is in THE hospital."
Go figure.
Posted on: More than 50 kuai!
May 25, 2008 at 9:53 PMWow, this REALLY helps solidify things for me! When going through it in class, even in spite of the corrections I received, it didn't really sink in. I knew there were some issues with the 多 placement, but missed out on the finer points. Always hoped I would just figure it out later. Great Qing Wen, and great clarifying questions & answers! Thanks everyone! Yeah! @Auntie68, I missed the story about the clothespin gag on stunt toddler -- where do I find that??? :)
Posted on: Ending your sentence with 啊 & 呀 (a & ya)
May 14, 2008 at 4:33 PMThanks for a great lesson. My language books in Shanghai used this a lot, but never mentioned the female bias! The use of this that I really picked up was after thanking someone: 谢谢啊！(xie4 xie4 a.) And the "a" tended to be fairly drawn out. I felt very local when I picked that one up. Didn't know I was being cute too!
Posted on: Signing up for Art Class
May 6, 2008 at 4:42 PMThanks amber. More questions though :) What are the rules around "no 在"? When can you drop it? Is it ok to say: 我电影院看过Spiderman-3. I watched Spiderman-3 at the movie theater. 我医院看了（过？）病。 I saw the doctor at the hospital. 我路上碰到了朋友。 I ran into a friend on the street. Before seeing this expansion sentence, I would have always included a 在. I was going to say I studied Chinese with a tutor, I wouldn't use the same structure, would I? I wouldn't say: 我在辅导学过汉语。 Rather, I would say: 我跟辅导（老师）学过汉语。
Posted on: The 又...又 (Yòu...Yòu) Episode
June 10, 2008 at 2:43 AMI was doing great until I read the comments.
Why is it ok to say 那个女孩儿又哭又闹。But not OK to say 又学又笑? (Which has to be changed to 我喜欢一边学一边笑。