User Comments - John
John
Posted on: Discussing Eating
September 10, 2009 at 11:08 AMnudeaintrude,
To be fair, all languages have certain ambiguities. English has its share as well.
I think in real life, Chinese people are most likely going to say that they're gong to 吃饭 (chīfàn) or to 吃中饭 (chī zhōngfàn). 中饭 rarely takes on the second meaning of "Chinese food."
Chinese people are crazy about their national cuisine, so unless specifically stated, you can pretty much assume that Chinese people in China will be eating Chinese food every meal of the day!
Posted on: Star Trek
September 10, 2009 at 10:55 AMthemainman,
The implication here is "拉着我去", literally, "go, dragging me along."
We often see the pattern "V1着 V2," where "V1着" is the manner in which V2 is done, like 站着吃 ("eat standing up").
So it's not that 拉我 is wrong, it's that the emphasis is a bit off. She's not just asking why he insists on taking her. She's saying, if you want to go, go, but why do you have to drag me along while you're at it?
Not sure if that helps. It's a somewhat subtle distinction.
Posted on: Pinyin Section 16
September 10, 2009 at 8:33 AMcrazedwok,
Great to hear it! I think pinyin sometimes gets a bad rap for "not making sense." It's definitely not perfect, but it does make sense in its own way. Glad we could help you see that too.
Posted on: Star Trek
September 9, 2009 at 9:52 AMxiaophil,
The "no splitting infinitives" rule is so passe and prescriptivist... We liberal linguists scoff at such things.
Oh, and William Shatner is my MySpace frind too! :)
Posted on: 游大观园
September 7, 2009 at 9:48 AMfacepackbeijing,
The male host in this podcast is the same guy that was in one of our video podcasts before: What's the Story - 秋游.
Posted on: Chinese Idol
September 4, 2009 at 8:32 AMLi4wei3,
Great to hear about your progress! Don't worry, it will keep getting easier. 加油！
Posted on: Grammar Lesson
September 2, 2009 at 4:07 AMiena,
I hear 有意思 (yǒu yīsi) all the time in casual speech here in Shanghai, more often than 有趣 (yǒu qù). It's not just for written language, by any means!
Posted on: Pinyin Sections 13-14
August 29, 2009 at 9:05 AMOK, thanks for all the feedback, guys! We already have a supplemental "Pinyin Program" lesson planned to tackle the final R issue.
Posted on: Farewell, Sweet Pete
September 13, 2009 at 2:54 AMPete was a great complement to our existing team. We'll miss him.