User Comments - John
John
Posted on: Caught in the Act
August 25, 2008 at 2:06 AMshiqiangdan and pcmi7,
干吗 (gànmá) and 干嘛 (gànmá) are both OK for this usage. According to our Chinese teachers, 干吗 (gànmá) is somewhat "more correct," but it's not a big deal.
Posted on: On Location at the Beijing 2008 Olympics
August 23, 2008 at 11:47 AMHa ha, funny dig at Leo, Amber!
Posted on: The Panda's Secret Wish
August 21, 2008 at 4:08 AMuser20941,
This is not the easiest Elementary lesson. I recommend you browse some of the others.
Posted on: Best Friends
August 21, 2008 at 1:42 AMleonardo90,
没有 (méiyǒu) means, "to not have." In this lesson, it's used to mean "I have not," as in, "I have not gotten drunk."
了 (le) frequently adds the grammatical meaning of change of state. The original state was having, but the current state is not having. Thus, 没有了 (méiyǒu le) means "to not have anymore," or "to be out of."
I hope that helps clear it up.
Posted on: Here she comes
August 20, 2008 at 4:11 AMclarsen,
You're right that you can add in 是 to make it a complete 是……的 pattern, which adds emphasis to the "middle of the sandwich." (This is what was discussed on Qing Wen.) Just adding 的 (without 是) isn't exactly the same, though. Rather than amphasizing a certain point, it adds a tone of certainty.
So no, you're not way off! Good job.
Posted on: Good Morning!
August 19, 2008 at 1:50 AMlauradz,
早 (zǎo) literally means "early," but it's also short for 早上好 (zǎoshàng hǎo) or 早安 (zǎo'ān), both of which mean "good morning."
Posted on: Microsoft
August 19, 2008 at 1:48 AMmpace05,
厉害 (lìhai) can have negative connotations, but it's more often used to mean something like "impressive." You'll hear this word used in Chinese a lot, so the more Chinese you listen to, the better you'll get a feel for it.
Posted on: 日本人的起源
August 18, 2008 at 7:06 AM很奇怪，怎么没有人留言呢？我觉得今天的题目非常有意思，希望能看到Changye哥哥的留言…… :)
Posted on: Negotiating Price and Payment Terms
August 15, 2008 at 9:42 AMjteam,
For "reasonable" you could say 合理 (hélǐ), or, when referring to someone's opinion, 有道理 (yǒu dàolǐ). The opposites are, of course, 不合理 (bù hélǐ) and 没道理 (méi dàolǐ).
Posted on: Language Power Struggle
August 26, 2008 at 7:03 AMThis lesson was my idea, and while our Chinese teachers wrote the words, I pretty much dictated the content of the dialogue. Based on (many) true stories! (With perhaps a little exeggeration...)
Anyway, I'm glad you all enjoyed it.
thebigpicture,
Hehe... this is exactly why I included this line. I've heard it many tmes before, and it always bothered me a bit for the exact reasons you mention.