User Comments - jennyzhu
jennyzhu
Posted on: Student or Teacher?
June 15, 2009 at 4:18 AMThis can actually get confusing. Many teachers in average universities in China are fresh graduates themselves, i.e. in the same age bracket as the students they are teaching. How can you tell the difference?
Posted on: To do
June 15, 2009 at 2:38 AM@xiaophil,
The pattern（主语）把 （宾语）弄/搞+形容词 is correct. But there are mistakes with choice of words in your sentences.
- 我把我的车弄红了。(I painted/made my car red.) should be 我把车漆红了(漆 means to paint (in the case of using paint) You can't use 弄 here (see explanation at the bottom).
- 他把问题搞模糊了。(He made the problem confusing.) should be 他把问题搞复杂了 (复杂 is a better word to use here to mean 'confusing')
- 她把午饭弄烧了。She burnt lunch. should be 她把午饭弄焦or弄糊了。(焦 and 糊 means 'burnt food')
- 这个问题把我的脑子搞疯了！(This problem drove me crazy) should be 这个问题把握搞疯了or弄疯了or 逼疯了 like Raygo suggested).
As the above examples illustrate, sometimes there are no hard rules for certain usage. In Qing Wen, we try to give constructions and patterns that can be applied with rules or common collocations. As in the case of 弄 and 搞, the safest is to use 搞 to describe job and use 弄 in the case of solving a problem or resulting in a problem.
Posted on: To do
June 15, 2009 at 12:38 AMIn addition to Changye's great post on 做 and 作, grammar books say that 作 has almost extinct to exist as an independent verb. 做 has taken the place to be used in most cases. But 作 is used in words like 作文，作词，作曲，作家 and 作业. In addition, 作 has a connotation of creating and innovating things, as proven by these words above.
Posted on: The Final Show
June 12, 2009 at 5:54 PMLike John and many others have said, let's focus on learning Chinese and leave it at that. But I'd also like to say that I think the primary reason that draws a listener to a podcast or a host is the language they are learning rather than the individual's 'star appeal'. There is a team of people doing work behind the scene to make it happen, including the academic developers, sound engineers, tech developers, PR and marketing and more. In some ways, it somehow feels out of balance for a host to get most of the glory. But that's the nature of the job. Therefore it's important for a host to know why people listen to us.
Posted on: What's Your Surname?
June 12, 2009 at 10:41 AM@alexye,
Your question made me think about where we draw the line for relatives. In China, the family is a big extended concept that includes people you will never meet. But as long as they are married into your family, that makes them related to you. For example, the old couple you mentioned, we'd consider them to be relatives and quite close ones. We also have gazillion terminologies to address a plethora of relatives.
Posted on: Dubai
June 12, 2009 at 10:21 AM@vikram,
Man made is 人造/ren2 zao4. We call women who have had plastic surgeries 人造美女/ren2 zao4 mei3 nv3.
Posted on: Dubai
June 11, 2009 at 3:02 AMDear Poddies,
We fixed the dialogue and edited out the mysterious sound. BTW, I think the sound resembled the sound made by a seagull. Umm, fits with Dubai.
Posted on: Student or Teacher?
June 16, 2009 at 1:18 AM@mudpud,
Nanzhen's answer is correct.