User Comments - risingdamp

Posted on: Christmas Presents

I really don't understand how the expansion sentence

圣诞节你想怎么过？ Shèngdànjié shì xiăng zĕnme guò? How would you like to spend Christmas?

leads to the given translation.

Posted on: Chinese Seasonings

In the expansion sentence,

请问还需要什么饮料吗？Qĭngwèn hái xūyào shénme yĭnliào ma? Excuse me, what other drinks do you want?

should the  吗  be included?  I thought  吗  was used only for yes/no or true/false sentences where no other question word is included.  Isn't  什么  the question word here?

I'm also having great difficulty getting my head around the sentence:

火锅里要放些什么比较好吃？Huŏguō lĭ yào fàng xiē shénme jiào hăochī? What tastes good in hotpot?

In particular, the use of  些,  but also how to read that meaning into it.

Posted on: Job Interview

@raygo

Assuming your comment was to me, I am a little confused as to how it in fact relates to my final sentence. In it, I was referring to the relationship between the learning medium (fast dialogs) and the final result (being able to say something related to the dialog, yet original and suited to the speaker's own purpose). I can't really see a connection between this and the reason for learning. Of course 'learning good Chinese IS a skill of immense value' - that's why most of us are here - I just think you missed my point - or have I missed yours?

Posted on: Caught in the Act

Thanks again Pete.

Posted on: Caught in the Act

Thanks changye and Pete for your responses.

However, changye, the third expansion sentence in that set does include the 了:

他刚刚打电话给我了。 He just called me.

What is different about this sentence that requires the 了 ?

Posted on: Job Interview

Speed and fluency is something you pick up after you learn the vocabulary and structure. An Intermediate student should be able to handle quite fast Newbie dialogs, and be in the process of practising speed listening on Elementary dialogs, while slowly studying Intermediate work. Fast dialogs relating to newly learnt work are simply listened to over and over by the listener until they learn those exact phrases off by heart. I bet most will not be able to adapt the sentences they have learnt in any useful way to suit themselves.

Posted on: Cheering

Regarding the phrase  不一起  in one of the expansion sentences:

The tones of  不  and  一  are altered by the tones of what follows.  So do I assume that the  起  turns the tone of the  一 into a 4th tone,  which in turn changes the tone of the  不  into a second tone?

Posted on: Checking Baggage

In the Expansion sentence:

我有很多行李，挺重的。 Wŏ yŏu hĕnduō xíngli, tĭng zhòng.  I have a lot of luggage, it's quite heavy.

what is the exact meaning of  挺 (tĭng).  My online dictionary says it means 'rigid' or 'upright', but this doesn't make sense here.

Posted on: Caught in the Act

In the expansion sentences:

我刚刚到家。Nĭ gānggang dào jiā. I just arrived home.

比赛刚刚开始。Bĭsài gānggang kāishĭ. The match just started.

I am not sure why they don't finish with the  了  particle.

Also, in the expansion sentence:

你们在说谁？Nĭmen zài shuō shéi? Who are you talking about?

how do we know the meaning is not "Who are you talking to ?"

Posted on: Calling in Sick

Referring to the Expansion sentence:

我正在见客户。Wŏ zhèngzài jiàn kèhù. I'm meeting a customer.

Are there occasions when  正在  is more appropriate than simply  在,  and vice versa?

Do they mean exactly the same thing?