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1 vote
3 answers
189 views

Understanding 有上月了

I came across the following passage in a Taiwanese short story titled 水鬼學校和失去媽媽的水獺. 「哪時可以參觀池塘?」 「胖大媽,不急呢!」我們扛起水缸離去,說:「現在是戒嚴時期,學校遭小偷了,我們得先抓到賊呢!」 這事情有上月了,只是這三天很嚴重。 I’m having trouble understanding how ...
aguijonazo's user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
181 views

What is the difference between 把握and 掌握in Chinese

In college we were asked that questions and I couldn't get any answers till now
Habiba Rashwan's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
218 views

Is the construction 连A带B meaning "both A and B" a general construction or limited to fixed expressions?

The Pleco dictionary mentions the construction 连A带B meaning "both A and B" in the definition of 连, but I can't find any other discussion of this structure. I see it in fixed expressions like ...
Ben Jackson's user avatar
4 votes
5 answers
768 views

Why is 我的朋友今年住在美国 translated to both "my friend [is living in / lived in] America this year"?

Here I am trying to translate two different English sentences to Chinese. "My friend is living in America this year." He is still living in America at the point of stating this fact. Translation :...
aymusbond's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
692 views

What does 他得经历九九八十一难 refer to?

I was watching a 西游记 adaptation from Little Fox Chinese and I've come across a sentence with numbers I can't quite understand. I read the translation but yet it doesn't make sense: "观音菩萨吃惊地看着信使。“...
Danilo Pablo's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
166 views

How to say 反常识的 in English?

How to properly translate 反常识的 to English in academic writing? I want to express a surprising and unusual phenomenon that shouldn't appear in an experiment, which is not expected and against the ...
null's user avatar
  • 143
3 votes
1 answer
264 views

Usage and Grammar of 看我这脑子

Came across this phrase in episode 35 of Growing up with Chinese on CCTV. The father is having trouble sending an email and he says to his son, 咳,看我这脑子,我怎么把这事忘了。 Usage: I feel like 看我这脑子 would be ...
user239139's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
1k views

一方面...另一方面 Can you use it with a positive and negative idea?

A Chinese teacher once told me that you can only put two positive or two negative adjectives in this construction. Is this correct? So I couldn't say for example: 我哥哥一方面有名,另一方面不帅。 Many thanks! G
Gâr's user avatar
  • 154
4 votes
3 answers
4k views

How to say "see you this weekend?"

My Mandarin teacher told us “星期四见” to say "see you on Thursday." How would I say "see you this weekend"? “这个周末见” or “末见这个周”? Or something else entirely? This is being used to end a letter, so I don't ...
John's user avatar
  • 41
5 votes
3 answers
986 views

Meaning of 所 in "有所..."

As far as I know, 所 has the following meanings: a place, as in 派出所 (police office). a counter, as in 一所科學中心 (a science center). a passive voice indicator that pairs up with 被(為), as in 被(為)愛所糾纏 (...
Thomas Hsieh's user avatar
  • 3,297
5 votes
3 answers
1k views

Meaning of "不了" in "忘不了/喝不了/..."

I know that 了 after a verb means a completion or termination of a certain action, such as: 吃飽了 (I am) full. 開始了 (It) has started. 不動了 (It) is not moving anymore. But what about 了 ...
Thomas Hsieh's user avatar
  • 3,297
4 votes
3 answers
250 views

Is 得弄 one word or two in 首先得弄清楚我们需要什么?

I have 首先得弄清楚我们需要什么。 I see 得弄清楚 is a fairly common combination of words. Is 得弄 one word or 2 words here? Should I read de nong or dei nong? Should I translate the sentence to 'First we need to find ...
Pedroski's user avatar
  • 18.7k
3 votes
4 answers
329 views

differentiation of 交女朋友 vs 找女朋友

For some reason i have these two muddled in my head. Presumably cause they sound similar. Is it possible to 找了女朋友? or does it have to be 交了女朋友 can it be 找着了女朋友? Can someone clear this up for me. ...
Samuel Parsonage's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
2k views

How to use 如 to make comparisons or analogies

I see this come up sometimes in idioms, and I find it easy to understand but not easy to use(1) Is it used to spoken comparisons or analogies? Or is it only for literary, formal, fixed expression? If ...
tao's user avatar
  • 2,562
7 votes
4 answers
776 views

The mysterious role of 占 in 对占人口绝大多数的民众来说,还是觉得有钱应该省着花

I know that 占 means "to occupy/to take up". But in this following sentence, I can not figure out what it adds to the meaning as a whole: "对占人口绝大多数的民众来说,还是觉得有钱应该省着花" If I take "zhan" away, would ...
miree's user avatar
  • 421

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