User Comments - John
John
Posted on: Making Plans for the Day
November 8, 2011 at 1:17 AMGlad you liked it! Let us know if you have any questions.
Posted on: Raising the Rent
November 2, 2011 at 6:35 AMIf you're in China (especially Shanghai), and your lease is ending soon, this is definitely a good lesson to study ahead of time. Rent is going up like crazy in this city...
Posted on: 过(guo)
November 1, 2011 at 7:09 AMIt's hard to find a hard and fast rule on this, but I'd say that when you're using both, the 了 adds a feeling of "already." This kind of goes well with the idea of "habitual actions" as well. The English translation "have you eaten already?" for 你吃过了吗？ also works quite well.
Posted on: Passive Verbs and 被
October 25, 2011 at 6:45 AMThat's a pretty safe bet.
But you can also boldly experiment with 被 (and be on the lookout for funny reactions).
Posted on: Hospitality Series 3: Slippers, Toothbrush and Toothpaste
October 25, 2011 at 6:43 AMActually, a lot of American hotels have them at the front desk if you ask.
I've been using the water to brush my teeth for over 10 years, and no major problems yet! (And I use hotel toothpaste too... it's just too convenient not packing a toothbrush.)
Posted on: Buying on Taobao
October 25, 2011 at 5:54 AM上面 refers to 淘宝上(面). You could think of it as meaning "on it" ("it" being Taobao, of course).
So we're talking about a lot of the vendors on Taobao having physical stores.
Posted on: Passive Verbs and 被
October 25, 2011 at 5:51 AMThere are no hard rules, but if there's no negative connotation, 被 seems to be used frequently with certain words (like the ones Jiaojie provided). Often, it's because the "doer" of the action is unclear or too much hassle to express (as in the 评为 example).
I wouldn't say you "have to learn a list of applicable ones," but if you keep your eyes open for which neutral or negative words tend to be used in the 被 pattern, you'll start to get a feel for it over time.
Posted on: A Disappointing Delivery
October 25, 2011 at 2:01 AMA picture of clothing would have been less misleading, huh?
Posted on: Retired Life
October 14, 2011 at 2:58 AM“I'm going to die from boredom”这个翻译也可以！
Posted on: Raising the Rent
November 8, 2011 at 7:44 AMSorry, that should be "the noun following 把 is the object of that verb." We'll fix it right away.