Comments on: Elementary Lesson #39 - A Chinese Ghost Story

by: Echo

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 22:52:26 +0000

@麥向敢,

对，你的例子都对！“在＋v“和”v着“都是进行时，意思一样。

–Echo

by: 麥向敢

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 19:56:47 +0000

你好
那我可以说，说着话或讲着话。你们说吃着饭。我总听说，他们在说话或在讲话。都是对的吗？挺含糊的。我打着篮球。我学着习。睡着觉。打着字，等等。写对了吗？

by: Sakura

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 10:49:35 +0000

Hi,

Do you know what type of company is Gingo Biloba?

by: zhouli

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:02:55 +0000

@蓝大卫，
sorry, this is a mistake, the correct word is èmèng噩梦。some people may use 恶梦，but it’s wrong .
now it has been fixed.
thank you very much for reminding us.

by: 蓝大卫

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:24:15 +0000

In the vocabulary expansion section there are two sentences that use 噩梦 èmèng:

我做了一个噩梦，很害怕。
Wǒ zuò le yī ge èmèng, hěn hàipà.
I had a bad dream and am very scared.

and

最近我常常做恶梦。
Zuìjìn wǒ chángcháng zuò èmèng.
Lately, I’ve had a lot of nightmares.

The first sentence uses 噩梦 and the second uses 恶梦, both pronounced “èmèng”.
I ran both through Adsotrans so I see that this is no error. I find this very curious.
How is it that Chinese has two different characters for “è” and still come out with the
same translation?

谢谢！

by: zhouli

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:17:26 +0000

@gingko7,
in oral languafe we seldomly put 着 and 在 together in continuous. but we can, like:他(tā)一直(yīzhí)在(zài)等着(děngzhe)你(nǐ)。我(wǒ)在(zài)干(gàn)着(zhe)活(huó)。

by: gingko7

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:41:08 +0000

I’d like to understand the usage of 着 and 在 for continuous action with a few more examples. I understand them when I see them but really don’t have it clear in my mind.

I’ve heard 着 is more for a “state” such as “看着我，他说。。。。“ showing a state while doing something else that’s stated or implied. 在 describes action, not necessarily while doing something else. Can you use both 着 and 在 in the same sentence? Please give some examples where you’d definitely use one or the other.

Thanks!

by: zhouli

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:40:42 +0000

@蓝大卫,
yeah, this is really different from english, i never noticed that!
so the chinese people MAKE a dream when they are sleeping , we dont say i HAD a dream.

by: 蓝大卫

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:34:24 +0000

In the expansion section, there is a sentence:
我做了一个噩梦，很害怕。
Wǒ zuò le yī ge èmèng, hěn hàipà.
I had a bad dream and am very scared.

In English I would not “do/make” a dream, I would “have” a dream.
Could I say: 我有了一个噩梦，很害怕。 or would that sound strange?

by: 蓝大卫

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:24:47 +0000

“There be” sounds like pirate talk in the movies!
Arrrgggghhh!!!

Seriously, thank you for expounding on the range of meanings for 有.

by: zhouli

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:44:46 +0000

@蓝大卫，
you can say 我(wǒ)信仰(xìnyǎng)上帝(shàngdì)。
sometimes 有(yǒu) in chinese means THERE BE, for example:
有鬼(yǒuguǐ)!-there is ghost.
if you don’t understand the 有(yǒu) in a sentence, then change the meaning to THERE BE.

by: 蓝大卫

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:19:13 +0000

In the sentence 你怎么相信有鬼？What is the function of 有？

Literally “You how believe (in) have ghost? If I were to attempt to
articulate this idea with my current knowledge of Chinese, I would
have never thought to use 有。

How would I say “I believe in God”? Does the same term 相信 apply?
谢谢！

by: zhouli

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:42:19 +0000

@蓝大卫，
actually, i am not sure… i think both english and chinese are complicated in making up words actually…

by: 蓝大卫

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:09:06 +0000

谢燮,zhouli.

In this case it sounds like the Western concept is revolves around the thing
and the Chinese revolves around the purpose. I wonder if this is typical?
An interesting insight to the mindset.

by: zhouli

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 01:15:48 +0000

@蓝大卫，
床 is a noun, but for 卧室：
卧 is a verb means to lie in bed.
室 is a noun means room.