User Comments - John
John
Posted on: Rice First
March 15, 2011 at 9:45 AMYou could say:
你要什么吗？
(Do you want something?)
Or:
你需要什么吗？
(Do you need something?)
Or:
你知道你需要什么吗？
(Do you know what you need?)
Posted on: Separable Verbs
March 15, 2011 at 1:44 AMThanks for the questions!
(1) It serves several different purposes, but it's not normally strictly required. Sometimes it just sounds better. If you're a Newbie still, I recommend listening to more lessons. You'll start to hear it a lot, and it will make more sense.
(2) Many of the separable verbs consist of a "verb-object pair" in which one or both parts cannot stand on its own as an independent word. This property is the clearest case for why the simpler explanation isn't adequate.
Posted on: Food Poisoning
March 11, 2011 at 9:51 AMOops!
Posted on: Food Poisoning
March 11, 2011 at 9:49 AMI still can't eat 皮蛋 because of my experience in Hangzhou. I don't even think it was the poor 皮蛋's fault, but my stomach pinned the blame on it!
Posted on: Food Poisoning
March 11, 2011 at 9:48 AMA word to the wise... ;)
Posted on: Celebrating a Baby's First Month
March 10, 2011 at 2:49 AMwshoey,
There's something about the nature of our exchanges in the podcast that causes me to use "OK" more; I think it's the repeated confirmations I'm seeking.
I agree that I use it too much sometimes in the podcasts; I'm not normally so OK-crazy when I speak Chinese! I'll work on that.
Posted on: 中国通
March 8, 2011 at 8:05 AM不客气！
Posted on: Useful Phrases 2
March 8, 2011 at 2:16 AM你好！
It's definitely a casual greeting you can use between friends and family. It wouldn't be appropriate for your boss, for example.
Posted on: License Plate Characters
March 3, 2011 at 8:09 AM"To be shrouded in mist and clouds" is 被雾云笼罩. And yes, 被 works with verbs, but not adjectives.
Posted on: Hide and Seek
March 17, 2011 at 1:45 AMThe complement -起来 does indeed have different uses:
Qing Wen - Four Uses of the Complement 起来 (qilai)