User Comments - John

Posted on: Keeping 收 and 受 Straight

So we did. Good one!

她很受欢迎。 (Tā hěn shòu huānyíng) She is very popular. (Lit., "She really receives welcome."

Posted on: Meeting ChinesePod's Teachers

No, 三八 the insult did not come from 三八妇女节 (I used to think this too).

三八 the insult came from Taiwan long ago. 三八妇女节 came from the west and was introduced to China by the Communist Party.

It's a coincidence.

Posted on: Let's Just Be Friends

There's something universal in the "let's just be friends" strategy used in every language to break hearts all over the world... You're not going to change it, but you at least have to recognize it when you hear it! :)

Posted on: Waiting for Food

bababardwan,

It's mostly context, but tone of voice helps too. You'll notice that 饿死了, used as hyperbole, is often said in a whiny way.

饿死了 is actually easier to understand than many of the other -死了 constructions because it's really exactly the same as "starving" in English. You can say, "I'm starving" in English (as hyperbole), and you can also say, "People are starving in that country."

Posted on: Waiting for Food

xiasi,

Thanks!

Please see the blog for the latest updates, including Ken's whereabouts.

Posted on: Waiting for Food

Yes, you can.

The difference is not huge, something like the difference between "why isn't my food here yet?" and "why hasn't my food come yet?" in English.

Posted on: Cycling

go_manly,

些 (xiē) is a special kind of "plural measure word." Since it's a measure word, you don't combine it with other measure words, because one measure word is enough.

So, yes, 些 (xiē) often comes before nouns, just as other measure words can. And yes, 哪些 can come before nouns in questions. The noun can also be omitted; 哪些 by itself means "which ones".

You could say that 哪几 (nǎ jǐ) can come before measure words, but it's probably not the best way to conceptualize it. Think of 几个 (or 几 + MW) as being equivalent to 一些 (or 哪些 in a question). You're being more linguistically precise when you use the measure word, and more vague when you use 些.

哪些颜色 (nǎxiē yánsè)？"which colors?" is correct.

哪几个颜色 (nǎ jǐ gè yánsè) "which colors?" is also correct.

哪几颜色 (nǎ jǐ yánsè) "which colors?" is technically missing a measure word, but measure words are sometimes dropped in the wild.

Posted on: Why is everyone looking at me?

Ha ha, are you serious?? Jenny, inspired by Mitch Hedburg?? I love Mitch Hedburg, but that's a connection I never would have made... I'm going to have to listen more carefully! :)

Posted on: Cycling

"Which types" is perhaps "more correct" but we also say "what types."

We don't say "what several types" in English, normally. :)

Posted on: Cycling

go_manly,

To understand the use of 几 (jǐ) here, it's important to know that 几 has two different uses:

1. Meaning "how many" in questions, e.g. 几个？一个。两个。(Jǐ gè? Yī gè. Liǎng gè.)

2. Meaning "several," normally in statements, e.g. 给我几个 (gěi wǒ jǐ gè).

So you can say, "there are several types" this way: 有几种 (yǒu jǐ zhǒng).

This sentence, then, is taking that second usage and turning it into a question, meaning, literally, "which several types are there?": 有哪几种？ (yǒu nǎ jǐ zhǒng?).

I hope that clears it up.