User Comments - light487
light487
Posted on: Diet Coke
May 3, 2008 at 9:19 AMOops.. made a mistake.. So saying: "yīgè guàn de kělè" would most like be the correct way of saying it. Should be: yīguàn (de) kělè Not too sure if even the possessive de is needed either.
Posted on: Diet Coke
May 3, 2008 at 9:17 AM啤酒 is beer but I assume the measure word would be the same for all drinks. 一瓶子的可乐 (yī píngzi kělè) would be a bottle of cola.. So I can understand the yi ping reference working.. but not the ting reference.. After doing a bit of research, I think that 瓶 (píng) and 罐 (guàn) are the measure words in and of themselves. Just like you said originally.. "A _can_ of cola".. or "A _bottle_ of cola". So saying: "yīgè guàn de kělè" would most like be the correct way of saying it. Adding the tóu after guàn doesn't seem to be required.. as in this instance you are using guàn as a measure word rather than as separate object. So it would be correct to say "yīgè guàntóu" to say "a tin/can" but not "yīgè guàntóu de kělè". At least this is my current understanding of the grammar.
Posted on: Diet Coke
May 3, 2008 at 8:02 AMoops.. my silly English brain wrecked the first sentence.. I meant: Must be competent at being a customer?
Posted on: Diet Coke
May 3, 2008 at 8:02 AMMust be competent at being a competent? (because the staff aren't competent at being staff?) :) haha.. I could understand if this was the transliteration of a self-service buffet.. but not Pizza Hut :)
Posted on: Crosstalk and Labor Day Holiday
May 3, 2008 at 7:52 AMThe only shortcut I am aware of in anything is "Total Immersion". If the only thing you ever did from morning to night was speak, think, act and live in Chinese then you would find yourself learning quicker than if you are just spending the usual amount of study time that a full-time university student would. And since most of us that are on ChinesePOD don't even have that much time to spend, let alone an hour each day, we seem to be standing still compared to some other people. It's really a matter of immersing yourself fully in the work to learn something new. I spend pretty much every spare moment studying Chinese or studying music (my other love).. and I have found myself improving on the theory side of things with the Chinese but still have a major speaking hurdle to overcome because I don't have much exposure to speaking Chinese. When I do speak Chinese to the people I know, it takes them a moment to switch from their habit of hearing a westerner speak English to hearing a person speaking Chinese. When you live in an English based society, even the Chinese people expect you to speak English.. :)
Posted on: Diet Coke
May 3, 2008 at 7:29 AMExcept for English of course.. for some reason English makes things more complicated than it needs to be.. haha.. :)
Posted on: Diet Coke
May 3, 2008 at 7:25 AMI'm not too sure what the measure word is for drinks.. but like they say.. when in doubt, use ge. :) I guess if there were bottles and cans of cola on offer, you would have to specify that you want a can of cola so I guess you would say yīge guàntóu de kělè but I doubt it would be necessary if there was only cans on offer. The easiest and shortest way of saying something in most languages is generally the most used way.. :)
Posted on: Diet Coke
May 3, 2008 at 6:34 AMIn Australia we have had the Diet and Zero for a long time. I think it is a ploy to counteract against the Pepsi MAX brand really. We still have both Diet and Zero on the shelves over 2 years later.. so I don't think it will ever replace Diet here. I still prefer the taste of the original Coca-Cola though.. It's very sweet, just how I like it! :) However, I can't drink a lot of it like I used to when I was a teenager. I also like the Vanilla Coca-Cola too and my other favourite carbonated beverage, which I find hard to get, is Dr Pepper. Do you have Dr Pepper and/or Vanilla Coke in China? In the smaller towns.. what would you find then? Just normal strength (manly strength! haha) Coke and Pepsi?
Posted on: Months
May 2, 2008 at 9:23 AMParaphrased from "Chinese Phrases for Dummies": bù is used to negate something in the past or the present (or at least indicate that you don't generally do it any more), as well as aiding to negate something in the future. For example: Tā xiǎo de shíhòu bù xǐhuān chī shūcài. When he was young, he didn't like to eat vegetables. Wǒ búyào chàng gē. I don't want to sing. Wǒ bú huà huàr. I don't paint. Diànyǐngyuàn xīngqīliù bù kāimén. The movie theater isn't open on Saturday. Another negative prefix that also goes before a verb is Méiyǒu. With this one it only refers to the past and means that something has not happened or did not happen in that particular instance, For example: Wǒ méiyǒu kàn nèi bù diànyǐng. I didn't see that movie. Zuótiān méiyǒu xiàyǔ. It didn't rain yesterday. If you add guò after the verb you can indicate that it never has happened, for example: Wǒ méi qù guò Fǎguó. I have never been to France. Wǒ méi chī guò Yìndù cài. I have never eaten Indian food.
Posted on: Diet Coke
May 3, 2008 at 9:20 AMHa! You beat me before I could correct myself! :)