User Comments - toianw

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toianw

Posted on: The Wives of Gay Men
January 18, 2013 at 6:24 AM

Interesting lesson! Can anyone help me out with what John says at 12:21 "很sanba“??? Thanks.

Posted on: 选择：大城市还是小城市？
January 18, 2013 at 5:47 AM

Hi Guolan, From nciku 词典

各有千秋 [gèyǒuqiānqiū]

各自有其长久存在的价值。指各有特点，各有所长(千秋：指事物的特色和长处)。

Posted on: Welfare Lottery
January 17, 2013 at 4:17 PM

哇，这么简单！谢谢Flo， 现在能听得很清楚。

Posted on: Welfare Lottery
January 17, 2013 at 1:47 PM

Can anyone help me out with what Jenny says at 7:30?

...因为买了很多 _ _ 。

Thanks!

Posted on: Arrival in Jizhou
January 17, 2013 at 7:49 AM

Thanks RJ! Now I feel guilty that you’ve been so kind as to compensate for my laziness. :) Hopefully Cpod will still consider numbering them so others can enjoy more easily. And “Happy reminiscing!” to you, Tal.

Posted on: Where Have All the Videos Gone?
January 17, 2013 at 7:45 AM

你可以先存着

Posted on: Arrival in Jizhou
January 16, 2013 at 12:07 PM

Hi Cpod,

Any chance this Jizhou series could be numbered like the the other lesson sets so we can see the right order from the lesson title? Thanks...    

Posted on: Where Have All the Videos Gone?
January 16, 2013 at 12:03 PM

Thanks for the replies folks. :)

Posted on: Where Have All the Videos Gone?
January 15, 2013 at 2:12 PM

Hi Tal - You just need a VPN with a UK IP address. Then you can fool the BBC iplayer that you are really in the UK and watch anything within 7 days of the broadcast date.

Posted on: Washing the Sheets
January 15, 2013 at 2:11 PM

My 2 fen:

(1) The passive construction is much more common in English than "被 sentences" are in Chinese.

(2) The 被 construction tends to be used for situations that are BAD NEWS or have some kind of NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES for the speaker. If this is not the case, Mandarin often uses a "topic-statement" structure (as in 厨房打扫了吗？) or some other method (e.g. 是...的) to express concepts we would use passive voice for in English.

I think this is probably a pretty good rule of thumb for deciding whether or not 被 is appropriate, though, as with most grammar issues, we get a better feel for what's right or wrong as we listen to more Chinese.