User Comments - sienareyes
sienareyes
Posted on: Hiking
June 09, 2008, 07:11 PMJenny - 1.3 billion people, 7 days? I pity the poor 长城...
Posted on: Hiking
June 09, 2008, 07:02 PM@tucsonmicheal Let me preface this with an apology - I'm not expert in Chinese, so I might be way off the mark.
"运动 vs. 锻炼" The first one seems to be any exercise, the second connotates actual training. Both can probably be used for working out, but first one is more general .
cai2: Two examples /
那本书我看了两次才懂. (I had to read that book twice to understand it)
他做完了功课才睡觉. (She finished the assignment, only then she went to sleep)
You might say action A "until" B. But here's where the "only" comes in - an alternative translation would be A "only then" B, or even "only when" A completed then B. So it signals a relationship of sequence. If there is one verb, cai2 means "only" like in the following phrase: 这个女孩子才三岁. I also think cai2 cannot occur in a negation.
zhi3 -
it is interchangable with jiu4 to express "just"/"only". 我只有五快面包. (I have only 5 slices of bread.)
So in our nutitious example, cai2 could be used in the following way 我有找了快面包. [i have merely found five slices of bread] Hence, it seems cai2 is used with actions, zhi3 with items.
@oolong
"我学了几年汉语" I remember a CP lesson (Dealing with Praise) that uses a similar construction (我自学了....+ time) to express an action that is still in progress. (The speaker's reply indicates that she has studied CHinese for some time, so it should be perfect tense.) Perhaps the second 了 makes it more like "has been doing sth."?
I've got a question concerning this last example - why is the object 汉语 positioned at the end?
And a very important remark - Jenny rocks!
Posted on: I Don't Have the Strength (... 不动）
June 03, 2008, 09:48 AMI really liked this QW, this was a counstruction I hadn't been able to wrap my head around.
But: "If your not, its time"? Grammar, guys? ;-)
You can always blame the 酒.
Posted on: Iron Your Clothes
June 10, 2008, 06:42 PMAmber, you wrote |when you are at a loss for words, don't know what to say.| So could I use 真是服了你 if something so weird has occurred that I would know what to say or even for awkward pauses in a conversation (e.g. due to an odd comment)?
The male *protagonist* of this dialogue is absolutely hilarious!
In fact, during my time at the university, I would actually iron my clothes on the bed, or up against a wall. It was sufficiently convenient.
I|m just wondering, is 200RMB really that 便宜? Nowadays, one can get a relatively good 电熨斗 for as little as $10...
I|ve got a question about English as well (very on topic!)> Does the term ^domestic war^ actually exist or is this a Chinese/English expression a la ^Are you free^?