User Comments - jennyzhu

jennyzhu

Posted on: Whatever...

July 19, 2010 at 7:50 AM

They mean the same thing "whatever", "anything will do". But 随便 can be used with verbs, e.g. 随便看看/suíbiàn kànkan/look casually, browsing. 无所谓 can't be used in such ways.

Posted on: Some uses of 些

July 18, 2010 at 7:32 AM

It works for me here. If you are experiencing it with other podcasts as well, it might be your internet problem. Do you have problem accessing media files from other websites?

Posted on: Requesting a Napkin

July 18, 2010 at 7:28 AM

Glad that you like the lessons. Are you saying 有 should be "to have some "? It is not what the Chinese means though. Am I misunderstanding you? Re translation in general, we give naturalistic translation in the full dialogue translation, which means the English might not literally mirror the Chinese word by word. But it's the most appropriate reflection of the full sentence. However, what you see in the mouse-over is the precise meaning of the individual word.

Posted on: Ordering Noodles

July 18, 2010 at 7:22 AM

Yes, the ability part is implied here because in a sense "do you eat spicy food" means "are you able to eat spicy food?". But in this sentence, it's better to use "能”，你能吃辣吗？/Nǐ néng chī là ma?/Can you eat spicy food? because 能 is more appropriate for natural abilities, whereas 会/huì is used more for things that you learn and acquire, e.g. 你会说中文吗？/Nǐ huì shuō zhōngwén ma?/Can you speak Chinese? In terms of omitting "会" or "能", you can do it with most sentences, e.g. 你说中文吗? /Nǐ shuō zhōngwén ma? implies "can you speak Chinese?" or 你喝酒吗?/Nǐ hējiǔ ma?/Can you drink? (Do you have a high tolerance for alcohol?)

Posted on: Which friend?

July 18, 2010 at 7:14 AM

"起" and "出" can not be used interchangeably in these cases. "我想不起来"(wǒ xiǎngbùqǐlái) means "I can't remember". But "我想不出来”（wǒ xiǎngbùchūlái) means "I can't think of any" as in "I am out of ideas". With both "我听不出来" (wǒ tīngbùchūlái) and "我看不出来"(wǒ kànbùchūlái), you can't use 起 because there are no such expressions.