User Comments - John
John
Posted on: Useful Phrases #1
February 1, 2011 at 2:37 AMSorry, but it works for us. Temporary network issue, maybe?
Posted on: 温州人
February 1, 2011 at 2:32 AMSorry, but we felt that it's just very useful to know this, especially if you're Jewish. Believe me, we toned down the stereotype a bit for this dialog!
Posted on: You've been everywhere!
February 1, 2011 at 2:31 AMOut of context, "不要做” must likely means "do not want to do," and "不会做" could either mean "will not do" or "do not know how to do."
It's hard to explain why not, but in Chinese, you don't usually find yourself trying to express things like "will not have done it."
Posted on: Registering for a Dating Website
February 1, 2011 at 2:27 AMLet's just say it's much easier for a man to find a wife if he has a good job, a condo, and a car. It's not absolute, though. Poor people still find love too!
Posted on: Switching Seats on a Plane
February 1, 2011 at 2:24 AMAs jimijames mentioned, it's mainly formality.
太太 is formal and polite.
老婆 is informal.
One other difference is that you can use 太太 to mean "wife of." So if you want to refer to Mr. Zhang's wife in a polite setting, but you don't know her surname (remember, Chinese women keep their own surnames when they marry), you can refer to her as 张太太 and it's still totally polite.
Posted on: The Various Guises of "Until"
February 1, 2011 at 2:20 AMThat's not an easy question to answer. It does seem like 直到 is more often used in hypotheticals ("until death do us part"), or in situations when the "endpoint" is rather abstract (e.g. "knowing what love is"). 等到 is very likely to be "wait until (a specific time)" or something like "once (X happens)...."
I hope that helps! As with most grammar points, more exposure helps a lot.
Posted on: International vs. Local Schools
February 1, 2011 at 2:12 AMYou noticed the parallel structure, right?
上本地学校吧，……上国际学校吧，……
It's an informal usage, so I'd translate it as something like "Say you [do A].... Say you [do B]...."
This parallel structure wasn't emphasized in your translation because 吧 is such a common particle that it doesn't feel like it warrants special treatment in the translation. But that's the feeling.
Posted on: What's in a name?
February 1, 2011 at 1:50 AMHey guys! I'm answering comments today, while most of the Chinese staff are gone on Chinese New Year holiday. So unfortunately, that means there's no one around to gave native speaker impressions of your Chinese names. They will all be back after CNY, though!
Posted on: What's in a name?
February 1, 2011 at 1:28 AMIt might also be a (rather older) Taiwanese teacher with very different taste from modern young Mainlanders.
Posted on: Good Morning!
February 1, 2011 at 2:42 AMSorry, but it's working fine for us. Try again?