Well I started this thread cause I just started Chinese again in School, and some how forgot that is was very hard. We are working on sentences with the "Ni zenme" being used. I tryed these traslations and got caught on a few, and was hoping you could just confirm them for me. I probaley will have alot of questions in the future.

昨天的电影很好你怎么没去看？
Yesterday's movie was very good, how come you didn't watch?

十点上课你怎么十点半才来？
Class is at 10:00, how come you came at 10:30?

昨天是小高的生日你怎么没有来
Yesterday was little Gao's birthday, how come you weren't there?

今天的考试很容易你怎么考的这么不好
Today's test was very easy, how come this test is no good?

明天有考试 你怎么没有复习
Tomorrow you have a test, how come you haven't reviewed?

高小音在图书馆工作你怎么不认识她
Gao lives and works at a library, how come you can't understand her?
I am pretty sure this translation is wrong.

八点半才上课你怎么七点就 来了
Class is at 8:30, how come you are here at 7:00?
could someone explain this one, I felt I translated it right, but I kinda
guess just by the structure of the sentence.

今天是星期一你怎么没去上课
Today is monday how come we have to go to class?


Any thing at all I would love to know about the translations.

I assume you're supposed to translate from Chinese to English as all the Chinese sentences are perfect.

Today's test was very easy, how come you didn't do (考 / to take the test) so well?

考試 is a VO (Verb Object), so when you're talking about the action, you only use the verb part.


Close.

Gao Xiaoyin works at the library, how come you don't know (认识 / to know someone) her?

You got it right, what do you not understand?


Today is Monday, how come you didn't go to class?

---

BTW, don't be afraid to ask questions (not that I'm saying you are). I used to be a Chinese tutor at my university and I love helping others. :)

1. This is use of de/得,

Verb + de/得 + compliment. Is how they say it is supposed to be used.

他考得很好
He takes tests very well
小高昨天睡得很晚
Little Gao went to sleep very late? I don't see how the de/得 is used in
this sentence.
那个学生预习得不错
That student reviews pretty good? Again I don't see where the de/得 come
in.
我弟弟吃得很多
My little brother eats a lot.
老师来得很早
My teacher comes very early.

I understand this sentence the best cause, the "ly" on early makes sense,
cause that is an adverb. Its been explained to me that de/得 makes an adverb, am I looking at the translation to literal?

2.
Verb + Object + Verb + de/得 + Complement

王朋说话说得很快
Wang Peng speaks quickly
小白喝啤酒喝得很多
Little Bai drinks beer oftenly
他念课文念得不错
He reads the lesson well
我写中国字写得不太好
I write Chinese Characters pretty bad
你妹妹唱歌唱得很好
Your sister sings songs very well


Over all I'm not really sure what De/得 does can anyone explain?

Simple, you always use 得 after a verb.

"Subject Verb 得 Adverb" would be a typical formula.

look at all the examples you provided.

My trasnaltions are right? And also the reason I get confused is alot of my tranlstions aren't ending in an Adverb.

老师来得很早
老师来很早

How are these sentences different?

老师来得很早 is grammatically correct.

老师来很早 isn't.

Similar to how "I ate the cookies" is grammatically correct in English but "I ate cookies" isn't, although understandable.

I am reading Passions of the cut sleeve and I wanted to know the word for bi-sexaual? I already know the word for homosexual which is tongxinglian.

would it be 半同性恋?

wouldn't that literally mean like half gay or somthing?

bi-sexaual should be 双性恋 shuang xing lian.

Ohh, I see but if was that I don't see why it wouldn't be:

两性恋
or
二性恋

But it makes sense so I won't question it.

Also Han Aidi had a lover named Dong Xian, I am writng a report about him, does anyone have his characters? I could guess that Dong is this 董, but this is strictly a guess.

i have no idea. i guess 两 is like two, 二 is like second, 双 is double.

========

董贤

I know the story behind it, but would you consider it an idiom?

Also I can't find the characters for his lover. Duke Ling of Wei (534-493 B.C.) anyone know his characters? I wouldn't be surprised if it was in the Shiji, I mean come on it has to be could someone please give me the characters.

it looks like an idiom, but i never heard it.

we usually use 龙阳之癖 (long yang is a name) and 断袖之癖 to describe homosexual. i think that's about it.

Well MY schools homecoming is this weekend and my Chinese Club needs to get into spirt. So wanted a quick little help on these words.

My laoshi said that for the word "cool (not like cold but like in style)" the Chinese just say like an chinese word that sound like it, she said it and it sounds like "coo", but when going to write the character, I looked it up on a translator, and it came up with this 凉快. Someone must know the anwser.

Now I'm not sure it the Chinese even have homecoming, but does anyone know if there is a Chinese Word for it?

中文俱乐部 Also would this be the proper translation for Chinese Club? This Chinese girl said it was correct but wordy, is this proper and is there a short way to say it.

Also when I tryed to talk to that Chinese girl, I said Ni hao ma, to her and it wasn't till I repeated my self did she even understand what I was trying to say. I was trying to figure out how to say whats up, and the best I could come up with was "You shi ma?" does that mean whats up? How would you say whats up or what happening or whats going on somthing to that extent.

How would I ask "What did you do this summer?"

Whats the word for cell phone?

Any help is wanted real bad.

cool, is 酷(ku4). it's a translated word, both meaning and sound are close to english. it's a prefect translation.

i never thought about the translation for homecoming when i was in high school. what do people do? i wasn't very active in high school, lol.

Chinese Club should translate to 中文俱乐部, chinese as in language. the short way is 中俱部. if chinese as anything or everything in chinese, maybe you should consider chinese culture club 中国文化俱乐部.

"You shi ma?" is not right.
"Ni hao ma" sounds very strange to me as a northerner. when you pronounce "ma" you actually pronounce it something between "me" and "mo"(both "me" and "mo" in pinyin, not english pronunciation). or simply "ni hao". you also can say "ni3 zen3 me0 yang4"(你怎么样 how are you) . note:this "ni3 zen3 me0 yang4" is not as formal as english, so you can use it like hi.

"What did you do this summer?" ni zhe ge xia tian zuo le xie shen me 你这个夏天做了些什么.

cell phone, 手机(shou3 ji1, hand phone) or 移动电话 (yi2 dong4 dian4 hua4, mobile phone, this one is rarely used in chatting since it's too formal)

I just came back from my school's homecoming game. It was just like a normal game, but with more people watching and cheering. Oh, and the half time show..

Well Shadowfax I was hoping that if there was a word you would know it (because your in High School). I asked my Chinese Teacher and there is no word for it she said.

Homecoming was created for People who guradated to come back to that School in Homcoming week. And then like Shadowfax said we then have games in honor of it, have a dance and so on.

校友会. school friends meeting(or use week 校友周). 校友 means people who guradated from this school.

你的电话号码什么？
Is that how you ask "Whats your phone number?"

你的电话号码是什么？

你写字写得快吗？
You write characters quickly?
我写得快。
I write quickly.

你妹妹唱歌唱得好吗？
Your sister sings songs good?
我妹妹唱得不好。
My sister sings no so well.

你哥哥打球打得好吗？
Your older brother good at playing ball?
我哥哥打得好。
My older brother is good at playing ball.

她跳舞跳得怎么样？
You dancing or what?
我跳舞得行
Me dance, ok.

你说中文说得怎么样？
You speak Chinese well?
我说得好。
I speak it well.

你的老师念课文念得怎么样？
Does your teacher read the lesson to you?
我的老师念得好。
My teacher reads the lesson well.



I think once the zenmeyang was thrown in there I was off on the translations. What are the corrections? PS. I typed all this accepect for the Chinese Questions.

你写字写得快吗？
You write characters quickly?
我写得很快。
I write quickly.

你妹妹唱歌唱得好吗？
Your sister sings songs good?
我妹妹唱得不好。
My sister sings no so well.
不好= no good, 不太好=not so well. i think.


你哥哥打球打得好吗？
Your older brother good at playing ball?
我哥哥打得很好。
My older brother is good at playing ball.


她跳舞跳得怎么样？
You dancing or what?
我跳舞跳得还行.
Me dance, ok.

你说中文说得怎么样？
You speak Chinese well?
我说得很好。
I speak it well.

你的老师念课文念得怎么样？(how well does your teacher read the lesson to you.怎么样=how well/good)
should be 你的老师给不给你们念课文?
Does your teacher read the lesson to you?
我的老师念得很好。
My teacher reads the lesson well.

i added some 很(very), otherwise those sentences sound strange to me. sorry, i can't explain it.

Sorry, I don't have a chinese input program on my current system, so I shall have to participate in the discussions using English and PinYin...

A suggestion to help you improve, GOH, is not to use the common and uncreative "hao3" or "bu4 hao3". You could use substitutes like "cha4" (meaning bad) or "bu4 cuo4" (meaning not bad). There're thousands of descriptive words to use in the language. I guess you'll have to read more to familiarise yourself with them. Reading is a very, very good way to improve your language skills. Especially for such a confusing (for those who're new to it) language like Chinese, it's hard to teach "grammar". In fact, we don't really bother about grammar. We say what we feel is right. There are various ways of arranging and expressing the same meaning using the same words. You will be able to know them if you read. Also, check the dictionary. It's a very good and fast way to learn. =)

*cough* I seem to have found someone at school who I am interested in *cough*

I'm more worried about the prenounciation than anything.
Hi, would you like go to watch a movie at the theater and catch something to eat afterwards?
Ni hao ?????????

Aahh.... Hehehe...

Well, first of all, a greeting doesn't always have to start off with a "ni3 hao3". It's too formal in this case if you want to get a girl to go out with you. I'm not an expert at wooing girls, but maybe I can help you out with the translation.

First, to sound more friendly, you could just say "hi" instead of "nihao". In Chinese pinyin that would be "hai4".

You could then go on and ask if she wants to go out to a movie with you by asking:
"bu4 xiao3 de2 ni3 shi4 fo3 yao4 he2 wo3 yi1 kuai4 er qu4 kan4 xi4?"
(I wonder if you mind going out for a movie with me?"

"huo4 zhe3, wo3 men2 ye3 ke3 yi1 kuai4 er chi1 dun4 fan4"
(Or, we could just go out for a meal.)

"wo3 qing3 ke4!"
(I'll treat you to it!)

Of cource but I heard that you are to try to be extremly formal in chinese language or it often comes out wrong is that true?

Well, no... What makes you think so?? Plus, trying to sound formal will spoil a date for sure. IMO in this case, being friendly is more important than correct syntax.

Well thank you Xeenslayer, I had known the word "bu cuo", but I didn't know the word "Cha" (well I knew it meant tea, but not the meaning you knew). If you want to have chinese Characters here's a nice program for them:

http://www.simtel.net/product.download.mirrors.php?id=79194

Thanks for the link. =) Actually, I just got NJStar this morning and am already using it.

Anyway, here's the word I meant, in case you haven't checked it out yet: 差

Ghost_of_Han is the one who said so........

What Charater(s) does this come out to? (Traditional Characters preffered)

Lü Yi (Jiyang)


Also if some of you get a huge amount of freetime


Would it be possible to get name/style Hanzi for the following officers? (Traditional Characters preffered)

>> Bao Zhong (Served Bao Xin, his brother. Allied against Dong Zhuo.)
>> Bian He (Discovered the Imperial Seal in ch. 6)
>> Bian Rang (Governor of Jiujiang, Reinforces Tao Qian against Cao Cao in ch. 10.)
>> Cai Yong (A counsellor in Emperor Ling’s court. Opposed the eunuchs.)
>> Cao Anmin (Cao Cao’s nephew.)
>> Cao De (Younger brother of Cao Song, uncle of Cao Cao.)
>> Cao Jie (One of the Ten Regular Attendants.)
>> Cao Song (Adopted son of Cao Teng and father of Cao Cao.)
>> Cao Teng (Han court eunuch. Adoptive father of Cao Song.)
>> Cen Zhi (Gongxiao) (One of the Eight Paragons of Jiangxia.)
>> Chen Fan (Imperial Guardian)
>> Chen Xiang (One of the Eight Paragons of Jiangxia. From Runan.)
>> Chen Kuang (One of the Ten Regular Attendants.)
>> Chong Fu (Served Han as Minister of Ritual. Killed by Li Jue and Guo Si.)
>> Chong Ji (Changshui Commandant. Plans to oppose Cao Cao on behalf of Emperor Xian (20).)
>> Chong Shao (Court Counsellor. Collaborates with Ma Teng against Li Jue (10).)
>> Cui Lie (Served Han under Emperor Ling. Cui Yi’s brother.)
>> Cui Yi (Brother of Cui Yi. Served Emperor Ling.)
>> Cui Yong (Served Guo Si. Killed by Xu Huang.)
>> Ding Guan (Served Han as Imperial Secretary. Opposed Dong Zhuo’s change of Emperors.)
>> Dong Chong (Served Han as General of the Flying Cavalry. Lady Dong’s brother.)
>> Dong Huang (Served Dong Zhuo as Privy Counsellor. Dong Zhuo’s nephew.)
>> Dou Wu (Served Han as a Regent-Marshal under Emperor Ling.)
>> Duan Gui (One of the Ten Regular Attendants.)
>> Duan Wei (Served Yang Feng as General Who Purges Sedition.)
>> Fan Kang (One of the Eight Paragons of Jiangxia. From Bohai.)
>> Fan Neng (Served Liu Yao. Died after Sun Ce shouted at him in battle. ch. 15)
>> Fan Pang (Mengbo) (One of the Eight Paragons of Jiangxia. From Runan.)
>> Feng Fang (Father of Yuan Shu’s Empress.)
>> Feng Xu (One of the Ten Regular Attendants.)
>> Fu Wan (Served Han. Father of Fu De and Lady Fu. Suggested the jade girdle scheme.)

I've never even heard of half of them, plus, I don't have much time. Typing in traditional Chinese is a bit hard too... Haven't figured out how to do that with NJStar.

曹操 is cao cao. I love to break apart characters, but names are very hard so I can't translate it.

I was thinking about it and I thought that second cao(操)looked famiar.

洗澡means to take a bath, look at the character on the left its almost the same, but there is a different radical in front of it. does anyone one know what that is?

澡 操

It's the character "hand" 手, written in radical form.

手/扌 (shou)

水/氵 (shui) -means water

humm, notice how they cut a stroke off it. Does anyone know what the other part means?

重男轻女, is this an idiom? (reguardless could you explain what it means?)

Pronounced as "Zhong4 Nan3 Qin1 Nu3", it's an idiom meaning "placed more importance on male while less importance on female". It's an idiom to criticise someone for being male chauvanistic.

This usually describes a male chauvanism society in which male is looked upon as more 'important' or 'greater' than a female. The traditional chinese society is quite chauvanistic where the male or the 'son' is usually 'more important' than the female or daughter (b'cos a son can pass offspring to the next generation for the family).

Very often, in today's chinese family, the father is often criticised using this idiom if he gives more favour to a son instead of daughter.

criticized or it's a tradition? there are many more males than females in china, the unbalance of gender ratio will cause a huge probelm. i hate to say it, but china will have to have brides from other "poorer" south east asian countries or north korea.
==
basically, any word contains 4 characters must be an idiom.

Also, in the past, only sons can inhereit family wealth. Not to mention that the Chinese society has historically been agriculture-based, much like all other ancient civilizations, therefore having more boys means having more manpower.


重男輕女 is something that most Chinese see as "bad", but not all are against it in reality. It's a trend that those who strongly prefers boys over girls tend to live in rural areas where families still heavily depend on growing crops and they can't afford heavy machinaries like American farmers, so they still very much prefer boys, who tend to be better fit for such jobs. However, those who live in cities and are better off tend to not care nearly as much. Also, often young couples may be pressured and/or influenced by their parents and/or even grandparents who came from farming families and still strongly prefer boys over girls. But needless to say, as Chinese get wealthier, this trend will slowly disappear.

As for marry foreign brides, this is also caused by more and more modern Chinese women prefering NOT to get married.


Hmm... that's not really true. I don't believe 重男輕女 is really an idiom, but just a saying. Usually idioms have a story behind it and a less literal meaning, like 過河拆橋 guo he chai qiao for example, which literally means "destroying the bridge after you've crossed the river" actually means something much deeper.

神工鬼斧

another idiom I don't understand. I recongized the gui (鬼) radical from my name, but when I saw the literal translation I got confused "God's work, Ghost's axe"? what does that mean? And I thought the word for god in Chinese was 上帝. Any if anyone has any history of it please let me know as well.

I've seen this idiom before but I've forgotten what it means.

"God", as in the Christian God is 上帝 shangdi. 神 shen is the general term for gods, just as 人 ren is the general term for "people", but you can have 男人 nanren (man), 女人 nuren (woman)... etc. 上帝 shangdi literally means "emperor of heavens".

---------

I found the meaning of 神工鬼斧 on google.

http://www.2881.com/chengyu/8616.html

神工鬼斧

拼音：shén gōng guǐ fǔ

释义：象是鬼神制作出来的。形容艺术技艺高超，不是人力所能达到的。

Definition:: "As if created by gods or supernatural beings. Used to describe great artistic skills. Something not able to be accomplished by men."

出处：《庄子·达生》：“梓庆削木为鐻，鐻成，见者惊忧鬼神。”《南史·谢惠连传》：“此语有神工，非吾语也。”元·吴莱《大食瓶》诗：“晶荧龙宫献，错落鬼斧镌。”

例子：二树画梅，题七古一篇，迭“须”字韵八十余首，～，愈出愈奇。（清·袁枚《随园诗话》卷六）

humm I understand what it means, I get where they got gods work from, but ghosts ax, I still don't get that part.

The radical in front of 操 denotes words that involve a hand action.So that word that you have posted is commonly used in the word Ti Cao(操) which means physical exercise.Too bad i don't have any chinese software for me.So can't type the word out for you.

Moose,

Please refer to this thread on how to input chinese characters for free:

http://www.chinahistoryforum.com/index.php?showtopic=982

you can use NJstar for free.

你好 Hi
你好 Hi
怎么好吗？ Whats Up?
我好，你呢？ I'm good, and you?
我不好, 不有块. I'm not so good, I have no money.
为什么? Why?
我去了买东西 昨天. I went shopping yesterday.
你买什么? What did you buy?
我买了很多衣服. I brought alot of clothes
酷! Cool!
虽然我爱买东西但是这是很贵.Although I love shopping, its very expensive.

I always thought the word for "true" was "gen" but I'm not seeing it on NJ star. This is a dialouge I have to make for School, so I have to use the "Suiran structure you see up there, and then also a 跟 ...一样. I wanted to say somthing like "Women are like Shopping they cost you money" how would I say that? 女人跟 买东西一样...? Help with the grammar and traslation would be greatly appreicated.

The Chinese word for 'True' is 'zhen' - but yeah, it's pronounced like you would pronounce 'gen' (as in 'general') in English.

Good to see you here again, GoH!

well thx, and I fixed my dialouge on my own so no help is needed now. Yeah, I'll slowly get back into the swing of working here.

Now thats funny you start to come back and I'm hit with programming classes. Well I'm happy to see one of us is not getting pounded with school work. My question is what is the longest chinese sir name ever is it 4 or 10 characters! I heard 3 is even uncommon.