User Comments - John

Posted on: Whatever...

Hebert,

打算 (dǎsuàn) is used to say "to plan to (do something)," but not "to plan (something out)." So in this case, it's not the right verb.

The best verb for this case is 安排 (ānpái), meaning "to arrange." It's frequently used for activities, social events, and travel.

So this sentence you want is:

我会安排我们的约会。 (Wǒ huì ānpái wǒmen de yuēhuì.)

Posted on: Organic Food

What city are you in?

Posted on: Philosophy: a Useless Major?

Heh, I was thinking the same thing... I think maybe the kid was carefully selecting his sources of information. :)

Posted on: The First Tone

That's correct.

Posted on: NGO Guy

Great to hear! I once had a similar experience myself, which is why we work this kind of content into the lessons.

Posted on: Check Your Spam

Very authentic image for this lesson. :)

Posted on: Tattoos, TV and the Stock Market

Sorry, not sure... she was a friend of Amber's. You'll have to get in touch with Amber to find out.

Amber is still in NYC, living a glamorous international existence. :)

Posted on: Directions with a Map #1

Chinese doesn't have an exact equivalent of this phrase. To express this idea, I recommend you just use the verb 靠近 (kàojìn), meaning "to be close to."

So you could just say X路 靠近 Y路 (X lù kàojìn Y lù).

[Note: I see you're using traditional characters. All the characters I used above are the same in simplified and traditional. :)]

Posted on: The First Tone

This is quite a difficult question, but I'll answer as simply as possible. There are two main points here:

1. 很 (hěn) does not always mean "very." I know this seems weird, but especially in very simple sentences of the "Noun is Adj." variety, the default Chinese sentence structure is "Noun 很 (hěn) Adj." This 很 (hěn) is basically a space holder, because if you dropped it, there is an implied comparison (implying that Noun is Adj-er than something else).

The important point is that "Noun 很 (hěn) Adj." is the default sentence form to express "Noun is Adj.", and that there is no inherent "very" meaning in his pattern. There is also no special emphasis; it's very neutral in tone.

2. The "是 (shì)... 的 (de)" pattern is used to emphasize a point. This is the key difference. If you used this pattern exclusively, it would seem weird. It's often used as a response to other people's comments, to stress certain information.

Can you combine the two? Yes. Then you'd get the pattern "Noun 是 (shì) 很 (hěn)... Adj. 的 (de)". Now you've deviated from the simple pattern I outlined in point #1 above, so the 很 (hěn) does mean "very" here, and the "是 (shì)... 的 (de)" pattern is also emphasizing. So now you're being very emphatic, perhaps to contradict a statement someone else has made.

So, to answer your final question, 衣服是很轻的 (yīfu shì hěn qīng de) is a correct sentence, but it sounds a little like you're arguing with someone who's claiming they're heavy.

Posted on: Outdoor Survivors (Part 1)

Interesting! That's a use of Google Maps I haven't seen before.

It's hard to tell how a lot of those points on the map are actually using 健行, though. It looks like a lot of them are not "hiking," though I agree Taiwan seems to be a place where it's more commonly used to mean that.