User Comments - John
John
Posted on: Addressing Family Members
December 30, 2009 at 10:02 AMbodawei,
Yeah, that's a good point. In my own personal interactions, I've used 您怎么称呼 (nín zěnme chēnghu) most often in somewhat formal occasions where I know I should use a title for someone, but I'm really not clear what their title might be. For these people, 女士 (nǚshì) or 先生 (xiānsheng) doesn't go far enough.
Of course, if you ask them directly, they'll almost certainly give you a much more modest way of addressing them than most other people will use... So to be most respectful, it's even better to ask a knowledgeable third party.
Posted on: Addressing Family Members
December 30, 2009 at 9:44 AMxiaophil, paulinurus,
No need to jump to negative conclusions. There was a recent rash of all-Chinese comments from non-learners, and I was simply trying to stem that. It's all about maintaining an atmosphere of learning for each level.
Posted on: What have you done in 2009?
December 30, 2009 at 7:59 AMshanghaichanges,
It's 多汁 (duōzhī). I can't remember exactly the context I used it in. In Chinese, the word isn't strictly for fruit (do an image search and you'll see what I mean), but I'm not sure how different the usage is there.
Posted on: Addressing Family Members
December 30, 2009 at 4:45 AMbababardwan,
This use of 搞 (gǎo) is quite common, and actually easier to use than the transitive verb form meaning something like "to do" or "to make."
Posted on: Addressing Family Members
December 30, 2009 at 4:43 AMGuys,
[comment edited]
This is not a Newbie or Elementary lesson, so not all the same rules apply, but please remember that posting Chinese and English is much better, and adding pinyin after Chinese is saintly. Thanks.
Posted on: Express Train or High-speed Train?
December 29, 2009 at 8:03 AMjackiechan,
Not sure exactly what you mean... Do you mean break Chinese characters down into their component parts? We don't do that.
Do you mean search for more words using the same characters? You can try searching the glossary (use the drop-down next to the search box at the top right).
Posted on: What have you done in 2009?
December 29, 2009 at 3:45 AMbangtang,
To help (and encourage) the learners, please don't leave comments in Chinese only on Newbie or Elementary lessons.
[He asked if Chinese people really say "要跟二零零九年说再见了" (Yào gēn èr-líng-líng-jiǔ nián shuō zàijiàn le).]
Frankqiu answered your question, but we also address this issue in the podcast itself. It's a legit sentence.
Posted on: Addressing Family Members
December 31, 2009 at 4:08 AMxiaophil and others concerned with the commenting policy,
I've created a post to explain and discuss this further if you'd like.