User Comments - JasonSch
JasonSch
Posted on: Picking Up a Friend at the Airport
February 26, 2011 at 6:46 AM没错！不 is a 4th tone word, but according to tone change rules, whenever a 4th tone comes before another 4th tone like this, it's pronounced as 2nd tone. In addition, according to the rules of pinyin, tone changes are not reflected when marking tones.
Posted on: Funerals and Consolation
February 25, 2011 at 4:07 AMNope. 节哀顺变 is used exclusively for consoling the bereaved.
Posted on: No Hot Water
February 25, 2011 at 3:30 AMHi Brian,
In certain situations 你怎么没打... and 你怎么不打 here are interchangeable, and mean essentially the same thing, and can be translated as either why didn't/haven't you... In certain contexts, however, the 不 can indicate something like, 'Why don't you ever call me'. (i.e. you didn't before, you aren't now, and it's like you won't in the future)
Posted on: Second-hand Bicycle
February 24, 2011 at 3:19 AMHi guys,
That 可 should be understood as it is in the sentence-level translation (but). The 'really' pop-up, as Baba said, is just the default translation for 可 when it comes alone, and it slipped by.
Posted on: Annoying Ringtone
February 24, 2011 at 1:43 AMAisini,
In the mainland, the verb 要 is always used with meetings, so saying 我明天下午有开会 would sound strange. In Taiwan, however, this structure is commonly used. So, no difference in meaning, just an issue of location.
Posted on: Chinatown Diary
February 23, 2011 at 8:44 AMYou would think that! However, 小杰 could go either way - male or female.
Posted on: Grammar Lesson
February 23, 2011 at 8:09 AMSamyea,
大家 is like the English 'everyone', (大家好! 大家早!) whereas 各位 means literally 'each person', but like English is essentially the same thing as 大家/everyone. That being said, 各位好 is far less common than 大家好. Also, 各位 more often comes before nouns like 各位乘客, 各位朋友, 各位旅客 and is literally 'all passengers/friends/travelers', but in English is often translated as simply, 'passengers/friends/travelers'.
Hope that helps!
Posted on: Honeymoon Destinations
February 23, 2011 at 5:48 AMHi, jiak,
度 in general means to go on a vacation, or spend a vacation, this lesson specifically refers to going on a honeymoon, so we kept the 度 as 'to go on a honeymoon'.
峇里島 is the Taiwanese way of referring to Bali. Both are OK.
Posted on: Substitute Teacher
February 22, 2011 at 3:05 AMNo problem.
Your first sentence is right on.
The second sentence is a little more tricky. 了 does a few different things depending on where it comes in a sentence. When it comes at the end, like in your sentence, it implies a 'change of state', which then makes the sentence sound strange, like you haven't come back from Beijing.
The solution is to put it right after the verb and say 我三年前去了北京 , and it becomes clear that you went to, and came back from, Beijing.
There aren't any lessons specifically on this difference, but it comes up a lot. I think if you keep exposing yourself to examples, you'll just start to 'get it'. You can also search through some of our Qing Wens about 了 (there are a few).
Hope all that helps! Thanks for the suggestion and we'll see what we can do.
Posted on: Picking Up a Friend at the Airport
February 26, 2011 at 7:32 AMWoops, thanks for that. Yes, that tone change is exclusive to 不 and 一！(So, a word like 快速 kuàisù is not affect by any sort of tone change, but like 不用, 一个 is pronounced yígè.)
I'm not sure who specifically created the rules of pinyin, but there are definitely rules. Of course, most people don't learn them specifically,(or really need to) but they are there, and most Chinese teachers should know them. There are also rules about capitalization, spacing, etc. http://pinyin.info/readings/zyg/rules.html#x4.11