User Comments - connie
connie
Posted on: Bringing it All Back Home With 回去 and 回来
July 22, 2009 at 3:25 AMHi siteng
Sorry for the late reply.
回 can not only be used for returning to one's home, but also used for returning to the original place or the place you have been to, for example "back to the starting point", is 回到起点。
Let's see your example, "I went from London to Paris, from Paris to Madrid...?" It's ok to say "我又回到巴黎了。"
Posted on: Bringing it All Back Home With 回去 and 回来
July 22, 2009 at 2:04 AM“到去” can't be used together, They shoud be seperated. It's ok to use “到+place+去” , 他到美国去了。
今年二月我到中国去旅行了。我先到了上海，再从上海去了武汉、成都、西安和北京，最后又回到上海了。
Jīnnián Èryuè wǒ dào Zhōngguó qù lǚxíng le. Wǒ xiāndào le Shànghǎi，zài cóng Shànghǎi qù le Wǔhàn, Chéngdū, Xī'ān hé Běijīng，zuìhòu huídào Shànghǎi le.
Posted on: Chinese Seasonings
July 22, 2009 at 1:49 AMHi desluo919
Yes, we'll fix the expansion translation when the new AMS is stable. Thank you!
Posted on: Chinese Seasonings
July 21, 2009 at 9:16 AMHi desluo919
Question 1
请问还需要什么饮料吗？
请问还需要什么饮料？
These two sentences are both OK. But they have different meanings. The first one is a yes/no question, "什么" isn't a question word here. The sentence means "Would you like any other drinks?" The answer should be "需要" or "不需要".
In the second one, "什么" is a question word. The sentence means "What other drinks do you want?" The answer should be "还要 + names of drinks" or "不需要".
Question 2
火锅里要放些什么比较好吃？
些 is the shorten form of 一些， which means "some". So in this sentence, he asks some(plural form), not just one. If you leave out "些"， it could be one or some. eg,
你想买什么东西？ (single or plural)
你想买些什么东西？ (plural)
Hope that helps!
Posted on: Bringing it All Back Home With 回去 and 回来
July 21, 2009 at 8:38 AMHi paulinurus
Yes, you're right. The words in your list "进，到，出，过，上，下" followed by "来" or "去" indicates the direction is towards or away from the speaker.
Posted on: Calling in Sick
July 21, 2009 at 8:18 AMHi desluo919
正在 and 在 have same meaning. They are interchangeable in most situations. eg,
我正在见客户。Wǒ zhèngzài jiànkè hù.
我在见客户。Wǒ zài jiànkè hù.
他正在上课。Tā zhèngzài shàngkè.
他在上课。Tā zài shàngkè.
"在" also indicates continuous and long term action, but "正在" doesn't. eg,
他一直在等你。Tā yīzhí zài děng nǐ.（can't use 正在）
Posted on: Athlete Injuries
July 20, 2009 at 2:52 AMraygo, thanks for your good explanation. Using 上 here sounds illogical to an English ear, but it's necessary in Chinese.
Posted on: Bumming a Smoke
July 20, 2009 at 2:45 AMThere are two ways to make a yes/no question in Chinese. They are same.
you3 ... ma5? = you3 mei2 you3 ...?
yao4 ... ma5? = yao4 bu5 yao4 ...?
you3 yan1 ma5? = you3 mei2 you3 yan1?
yao4 huo3 ma5? = yao4 bu5 yao4 huo3?
Posted on: I'm Not Here
July 22, 2009 at 7:39 AMHi tucsonmichael
我给你买 and 我买给你 are both very common.
我在公司 is more common than 我在办公室。