User Comments - pearltowerpete
pearltowerpete
Posted on: I want coffee!
December 12, 2008 at 3:05 AMHi dundkerlumpen
There are two ways to use 了. The first is to put it after a verb to show completion. The second is to put it at the end of a sentence, where it finishes the sentence.
For 我吃了鱼, the 了 shows that the act of eating has finished. With the second half 就去看电视了, the 了 shows that the act of watching TV has also finished.
我吃了鱼就去看电视 could mean that I am currently eating some fish and that I plan to go watch TV when I'm done.
我吃了与就去看电视了 shows that the entire situation has finished-- maybe it took place yesterday.
Thanks again for Jiaojie's patient explanation.
Posted on: Borrowing Money
December 12, 2008 at 2:24 AMHi shanny
Good question. The 先 xian1 you're talking about literally means "first or before." It is often used in the construction 先(verb)...再（verb) which means "first do X，then do Y."
我要先看书,再看电视 I'm going to read, and then watch TV.
In this translation, it adds an implication of "give me the money back first so that I can go use it elsewhere." But I did not directly translate it because it was just too Chinglishy. In English, the meaning is more implicit.
Posted on: What's your type?
December 12, 2008 at 2:10 AMHi stanimal
In our small way, CPod is trying to make up for 5,000 years of 重男轻女 (zhòngnánqīngnǚ) male chauvinism ；-)
Posted on: Table for Three
December 12, 2008 at 2:08 AMHi sushan
Almost-- you can say 订座， ding4zuo4. The pronunciation is the same as 定座.
Posted on: Borrowing Money
December 11, 2008 at 8:57 AMHi everett
Thanks for noticing. I have made the correction.
Posted on: I want coffee!
December 11, 2008 at 2:57 AMHi light487
咖啡店 ka1fei1dian4 is OK, as is 咖啡厅 ka1fei1ting1.
These days, people are just as likely to say the specific place：星巴克 Starbucks or 上岛咖啡 SPR.
Posted on: I want coffee!
December 11, 2008 at 2:55 AMHi dundkerlumpen
Good questions. I talked them over with Jiaojie and this is what we came up with:
"verb+过+object " 我吃过鱼。I have eaten fish before. It emphasizes that this happened in the past. It's like "我去过中国”。I have been to China before.
"verb+了+mesure word+object" shows that an action has been completed. 我吃了一条鱼。
I had fish.
你早上去过哪儿? Where did you go this morning? With this specific time word (morning) it seems like a police investigation, and so people wouldn't usually say this. They would use 了 instead.
If some one asks, 你去过香港吗？ Have you been to Hong Kong? They're asking if you've ever been there.
If you just say “我吃了鱼”，it feels like the sentence is incomplete. You would want something else, like 我吃了一条鱼 or 我吃了鱼就去 do something. For example 我吃了鱼就去看电视了。After eating some fish I watched some TV.
Posted on: The Good Husband
December 11, 2008 at 2:46 AMHi decdecdec,
Yes, 好不 is a shortened version of 好不好. This kind of shortening is pretty common-- eg. 你吃饭了没（有） etc.
挣 is a 多音字 (character with multiple readings). Talking about 挣钱 it's fourth tone, but in the word 挣扎 (to struggle) it's a first tone.
Although it's in Cantonese, Pete's musical recommendation of the morning contains this word--
光辉岁月 by Beyond
Posted on: The Good Husband
December 11, 2008 at 2:43 AM随着经济发展，目前很多家庭已经不是“男主外，女主内”的形式了。
不知道我们poddies有多少是父母都在外面干活，甚至是妈妈或老婆在外面干活，而爸爸当家。
Posted on: I want coffee!
December 12, 2008 at 3:18 AMHi all,
It's great to see so many poddies working so hard to master Chinese grammar.
As the CPod translator, maybe I shouldn't even say this publicly, but in the interests of reassuring anxious students, I will make a confession: I sometimes misuse 了. I've lived in China for years, am fluent in the language, and in fact make my living with my Chinese skills.
But 了 is just a damn tricky thing to use properly. I have improved a lot over the years, and my mistakes don't affect communication in a serious way, but of course it's frustrating not to have a 100% mastery of such a significant bit of grammar.
All of our native languages have some grammatical points that are nearly impossible for non-natives to grasp. All we can do is keep trying.
My point is, don't lose your self confidence. If as a beginning student you are trying to budget your study time, I strongly recommend you build vocabulary and listening skills instead of trying to master the intricacies of 了. In terms of Chinese progress per hour, you will be much better off studying other stuff. 了 will come as you get a better feel for the language.
Finally, let me add that anytime you see me answering questions about 了, it is only after thorough conversation with our legendary native speakers, Jiaojie and Connie. Of course if my explanations are unclear it is my own fault. But poddies can read my posts confident that you are getting the "official" position on 了.