User Comments - shiatk

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shiatk

Posted on: Having Spare Keys Made
July 15, 2011 at 1:31 PM

What are suozai and wuzi?

Posted on: Eating Idioms, Part 1
February 13, 2011 at 7:55 PM

I've actually previously heard that it is. Perhaps for some people it is.

Posted on: Possible, Possibly, Possibility
December 10, 2010 at 4:22 PM

oops, sorry about that repeat. i thought i deleted the first (and incorrect) comment and the one below.

Posted on: Possible, Possibly, Possibility
December 10, 2010 at 1:35 AM

I've been told that duo ban, literally translated as "more than half", can be used to mean likely. However, as mentioned below about the use of keneng to mean "probably" rather than "maybe" as a response to a yes/no question, I've gotten the impression that keneng can sometimes mean probably or maybe in ways that wouldn't directly correspond to English usage.

Posted on: Possible, Possibly, Possibility
December 9, 2010 at 9:33 PM

I found from a friend that one way to say probably is dou ban... roughly translated as more than half. But as mentioned below, keneng seems to sometimes also mean probably in certain circumstances. Guess you only get proper usage from practice practice practice!

Posted on: Possible, Possibly, Possibility
December 9, 2010 at 9:31 PM

I found from a friend that one way to say probably is dou ban... roughly translated as more than half.

Posted on: Possible, Possibly, Possibility
December 5, 2010 at 10:17 PM

I have a problem with the distinction between communicating that something "might" or "possibly" might happen, vs. "probably" or "likely" will happen. This lesson was great in that it went into the more technical uses of probability and such, but I feel there is a decent difference between the use of "probably" and "maybe" in casual English conversation. If there were a 50% of rain tomorrow you could say it would possibly rain,  but I wouldn't say probably. If it were a 30% chance of rain, I would say it would possibly be rainy or sunny, but probably wouldn't rain and probably would be sunny. not involving mathematical prediction models (will the break up, will she get a promotion, etc...) I think in English the difference in meaning when replying with either "probably" or "maybe" may overlap, but are definitely different. How would one communicate these differences in casual (not math-oriented) converation?