User Comments - si1teng2

Posted on: The 着 (zhe) Chronicles: Verbs as States

Great series! I'd like a series on The 了 (le) Chronicles. I know you have explained the use of 了 to indicate change of state (which is really a lot easier to understand than teachers often think), but there is a usage of 了 that tends to be overlooked by teachers, perhaps because it appears to be simpler than it really is: the one that indicates a completed action.

At first blush, this looks like it should be easy to understand and use, but in fact, it is the most difficult one to get the hang of for speakers of tensed languages. I find myself baffled by it. It sounds like a straightforward past (preterite) tense, but in fact is not. I have noticed when reading stories set in the past that MOST verbs are tenseless. SOME involve the use of 了, but I can't for the life of me see what motivates this difference. Often, verbs that I would say indicate a completed action do not take 了, and vice versa.

PLEASE help alleviate this mystery, and give us a Qing Wen on the "completed action" use of 了, with copious examples of when it is absolutely necessary, and when (if ever) it is optional.

Posted on: Merry Christmas!

Love it! A radio magazine from ChinesePod. And you made it accessible and interesting to all levels. Ingenious!

Posted on: A Special Christmas Gift

I know you should never give a clock (zhong 鈡) as a gift in China: the word for "clock" sounds like the word for "end" (zhong 終), so the gift is considered inauspicious.

Am I right in concluding from this lesson that the taboo doesn't extend to wrist watches? If so, are there other kinds of timepiece that can be given as gifts without fear of offending the recipient? (Pocket watches, electronic alarm clocks, etc.)  

Posted on: Blind Massage

Towards the end, John refers to male "masseuses"! The term for a male is "masseur". :) I'm sure you just misspoke, but it gave me a giggle.

Posted on: The Hunan Accent

I once told a Taiwanese friend's father that I was interested in Chinese philosophy. He mentioned 'Huo2jiao4' as a very widespread religion, and I was baffled that I had never heard of it. It wasn't till he pronounced 'fa1sheng1' (發生, "happen") as 'huaseng' that I realized it was he was pronouncing 'f' as 'hu'. He had been talking about 'Fo2jiao4' (佛教, "Buddhism"). His daughter, on the other hand, always uses standard pronunciation.

Posted on: Working in the Countryside

well, you'd find them in the leftover pile on the other side of the universe. (apologies to people with no friends at all)

...and while I'm here: What happened to the lesson pop-out window? I found that so convenient.

Posted on: Insecticide

very seasonal lesson. 現在夏天開始了，到處都是蟲子。

Posted on: Traditional Chinese Paintings

不客氣！:-)

Posted on: Traditional Chinese Paintings

Hi alexyze,

I see that no native speaker has answered your questions in the last 21 hours, so I'll give you my best response. (I defer, of course, to the corrections of any native speaker.)

收藏 means that the collection is kept or held in a certain place, and though it does not explicitly mean that the collection is exhibited, it does not necessarily imply that the collection is hidden from view either. 藏 does mean 'hide' but can also simply mean 'to store'.

鉴定 is a very specific technical term and means 'to appraise/authenticate'. 证明 as a verb is more general and simply means 'to prove something to be correct'.

In the discussion Jenny explains that 纸张 is a word in itself, more formal than 纸. The 张 in this compound word is not being used as a measure word.

Posted on: 壹周立波秀

我聽説日本大學中國大學都嚴進寬出。“演出”還是“寬出”我沒有經歷。可是也許可以說是嚴進“寬經”嚴出的嗎？