User Comments - John
John
Posted on: Using 又 (yòu) and 再 (zài)
July 25, 2011 at 9:46 AM重 is for special cases. Think of it like the prefix "re-" in English.
So, for example, we can say "redo" (重做), but we don't say "*re-eat" (*重吃), in Chinese or in English. Why not? It's just not something we say. These are mostly established by convention.
So while "again" can apply to basically anything, 重 is something you want to tackle on a case-by-case basis.
Posted on: The Seven Year Itch
July 22, 2011 at 3:21 AMHey, good to see you here!
No, I've only been married 4 years. Not itchy at all. :)
Posted on: BBQ and the Little Trumpet
July 21, 2011 at 3:13 AMI think you most often hear 区 when referring to parts of a city, so it's good to remind ourselves that it can also refer to a much smaller area at times.
长宁区 is the Shanghai district where the ChinesePod office is, and also where I live (and maybe where Jenny lives too? not sure...).
Posted on: We're lost
July 18, 2011 at 2:54 PMI always get lost in the French Concession.
Posted on: Answering the Door
July 12, 2011 at 9:33 AMIf you're not ready for the zombie apocalypse, you're going to end up as a zombie, Dilu.
Posted on: Politely Declining an Invitation
July 12, 2011 at 6:13 AMYaomung,
The short answer you want is, I think, "yes." But in actuality, Mandarin doesn't have grammatical tenses the way that European languages do, so it can't change tenses. Mandarin acts in a self-consistent way, but its rules are a bit different.
I once wrote about tense vs. "grammatical aspect" (what Mandarin has) here: Aspect, not Tense.
Posted on: Politely Declining an Invitation
July 12, 2011 at 6:07 AMYaomung,
Yes, those are good examples of changes of state.
One quick note, though: "Bù xiàyǔ le" actually means "it's not raining anymore." The "le" indicates a change of state, so if the new state is that it's not raining, then it must have been raining before.
Posted on: Answering the Door
July 12, 2011 at 6:01 AMAh, OK, I get you now! Without tone of voice, that was hard to follow.
Sorry, it doesn't really work in Chinese. You would just say, 你是谁？ (Nǐ shì shéi?)
Posted on: Detective Li 4: The Circus Troupe
July 12, 2011 at 5:43 AMYou're right; burglary actually means illegal entry, which makes the most sense to do when no one is there. It's definitely distinct from robbery.
Posted on: Words with Heart
July 26, 2011 at 1:43 AMActually, that's more like flirty / flirtacious. It's not used as a verb.