User Comments - suxiaoya

Posted on: Earlier and Later than Expected: 才and 就

This was a very helpful lesson! I've tried to use the rules in the below sentences. Corrections gratefully received!

1) 今天才星期一，我就已经这么辛苦了.
jintian cai xingqi yi, wo jiu yijing zheme xingku le.
It's only Monday, but I'm already exhausted from work.

2) 你晚上才来，当然票已经卖完了！
ni wanshang cai lai, dangran piao yijing mai wan le!
You came in the evening, of course the tickets are already sold out!

3) 明天上海到香港的票就已经都卖完了！怎么办？
mingtian shanghai dao xiang gang de huoche piao jiu yijing dou mai wan le. zenme ban ne?

All tickets for trains going from Shanghai to Hong Kong tomorrow are already sold out! What shall we do?!

Posted on: Lili and Zhang Liang 11: Confiding in a Conniving Friend

太好了, 谢谢你!

Posted on: How many family members do you have?

I forgot to mention, jaimemayo, you can also say:

zhe4 ge zhuo1zi
(this table)

na4 ge zhuozi
(that table)

The measure word is included before the noun, even if the quantity is just implied.

The latest Qing Wen lessons cover measure words. Check out this one for food nouns: http://chinesepod.com/lessons/measure-words-for-food

Posted on: How many family members do you have?

Hey jaimemayo

I am sure someone can offer a better explanation but, until they do, I hope this will do:

Measure words in Chinese are attached to nouns and help indicate how much/many there is/are of the noun in question. Even if there is just one noun (one table, one chair etc.), you would use the measure word.

So, it works out like:

quantity + measure word + noun
1 + measure word + table
yi1 + ge + zhuo1zi
(one table / a table)

"ge" is the most common measure word but there are very many of them (it can be confusing!). So, if ever in doubt, just use "ge" and it should see you through okay.

"kou" is a measure word for people in the family:

quantity + kou3 + family member/persons
liang3 + kou3 + ren2
(two family members)

You can see how the measure word, then, helps identify the noun too (ren2 means person, but with this measure word you know it's people in the family).

Connie mentioned above that ge/个 rather than kou3/口 is used a lot in the south for family members, so you can see how common it is!

To get better acquainted with measure words, I'd check out the latest Qing Wen lesson and keep an eye out for them in all Newbie lessons.

Hope that helps...?

Posted on: Lili and Zhang Liang 11: Confiding in a Conniving Friend

关心他一下

I find it a bit awkward to use a verb + subject + "一下" structure. I've previously only used verb + "一下", I guess.

Could I say, "开导他一下"?

Posted on: Amusement Park

Changye,

Thanks for these examples, really helpful!

Posted on: Amusement Park

Thanks, Changye.

I first understood the use of 再 in the way you have explained it; it was the English translation that threw me.

What I mean is, had I wanted to say: "I want to rest before I do anything else", I would have tried to find a phrase to express that I don't want to do anything until/unless the resting is complete - something along the lines of:

"休息以后我们才区玩吧" / "xiuxi yihou, women cai qu wan ba"
OR
"我要休息，什么都不想做" / "wo yao xiuxi, shemne dou bu xiang zuo"

(I'm sure there are better ways to phrase it?!)

The phrase in the dialogue seems just to express the desired order of X and Y, rather than Y being dependent on X. I guess I just didn't realise that the simpler construction would be ok here...

Posted on: Amusement Park

我要休息一下再去玩
wo yao xiuxi yi xia zai qu wan

This last phrase in the dialogue is translated as "I'd like to rest a bit before we do anything else".

However, I'd probably have translated it on my own as meaning "I'd like to rest a bit, then go back for more fun."

These are two potentially significantly different meanings.

What other ways could I use to express "X needs to happen before Y"
Should we use 才 (cai)?

Maybe I'm just over-complicating things...

Posted on: Scary Clown

@Chris

"我最怕一个人在家"
wo3 zui4 pa4 yi1 ge ren2 zai4 jia1

- I'd guess that the syntax of the expansion sentence you mention helps emphasise the importance of there being only one person in the house.

Hopefully someone will confirm this..?

Posted on: Dog Personalities

Aaah 明白了！　谢谢, Connie！:-)