User Comments - toianw
toianw
Posted on: Making the Most of 最 (zui)
January 29, 2011 at 3:55 AMCPod made some lessons about tones . I've never listened myself, but I'm sure it'll be useful if your just starting out. Good luck
Posted on: How was Your Date?
January 28, 2011 at 3:27 PM"high calibre" was 素质高 (sùzhì gāo)
Posted on: How was Your Date?
January 28, 2011 at 12:41 PMhi derricks,
I suspect the word your looking for is 幸运 (xìngyùn) - lucky/fortunate
Direct is 直接(zhíjiē)
Not sure about high-calibre, but I'm working back through the intermediate lessons myself so I'll have a listen later.
Posted on: I Changed My Mind
January 28, 2011 at 11:35 AMYes. 哥们儿 can be singular.
It's also often (at least in Beijing) used as a way to address a friend (among males), like how Australians and English might use "mate" and Americans (I think - I don't really speak American) might use "buddy" .
Posted on: Using 'Almost'
January 26, 2011 at 7:51 PMA good question. I'll have a stab at an answer, based on the situations I've come across these terms (so don't treat these as definite rules!). Hopefully, someone can add/correct/clarify if necessary.
差一点 (差点儿) is generally (perhaps always?) used to refer to events IN THE PAST that nearly/almost happened (plenty of examples in this lesson).
快...了 describes something that you expect to happen soon (after the time of speaking)
我们快到了 (We've almost arrived/we're nearly there)
快过年了 (It's almost New Year)
我快没钱了(I'm almost out of money)
他快三十岁了(He's almost 30 (years old))
我快吃饱了 (I'm almost stuffed) - I guess you could say 我差不多吃饱了 for this too with a similar meaning.
几乎 seems to be able to take on a 差不多 or a 差点儿 feeling depending on the context.
我几乎迟到了 = 我差点儿迟到了 (i was almost late)
我几乎每天都来 = 我差不多每天都来 (I come almost every day)
Posted on: International vs. Local Schools
January 23, 2011 at 4:35 PMHi baba, good work!
Dilu： 嗯，这个好像可以吧， 没有特别的【显着？】
I'm pretty the last bit of this is 没有特别的限制 (there aren't any particular restrictions)。
The 届 I hear as 些 （i.e. 这些)
One more - In the middle,
John： 啊，明白了。那，反过来呢？你是外国人，你想想本地学校可以吗？
the 想想 sounds like 想上 to me.
Posted on: Yang Jie's Diary: Date with a Nerd
January 21, 2011 at 5:06 AMHi mo_han,
This 了 goes with the 马上就要 to indicate something is about to happen soon.
The patter is 马上就要。。。了 where the thing in the middle will happen very soon.
For eaxample: 马上就要下雨了 - It's going to start raining.
马上就要到了 - about to arrive (will arrive soon).
Check out this old Qing Wen lesson to learn about this pattern.
Posted on: How to Address Someone
January 21, 2011 at 4:57 AMHi Zhenliang,
I know what you mean and agree it's to do with recognition (knowing because you've seen something/someone or been to some place before) without necessarily being equivalent to the English verb "to recognise". I was going to suggest "be familiar with" as an alternative, but when I think about it I don't think 认识 necessarily always carries this feeling. The problem is that English simply doesn't make the distinction - it's just "to know". Interesting that French has a better equivalent - BTW, How many languages do you know?
Posted on: How to Address Someone
January 20, 2011 at 8:00 PM认识 (rènshi) seems to have a broader use than just for people. Probably best just to remember the situations it's used in as you come across them. Translating it as recognise works quite well for characters, but then I'd say you could 认识 (rènshi - know/have met before) a person but not 认出 (rènchū - recognise) them on some occasion.
I often hear 认识 used with places as well (for example, if a taxi driver doesn't know the place you want to got to, he'll use 不认识).
Posted on: Registering for a Dating Website
January 29, 2011 at 7:50 AMI'm curious about this sentence from the expansion examples:
只要有护照，就可以申请出国旅游。
I know it's just an example sentence, and perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but does it mean Chinese citizens who hold a passport still need to apply for permission to leave the country to travel? What's this procedure involve? Or is it just applying with an agency to book a holiday abroad?