Answers
Answerer 1
Your Chinese is quite good! Let me offer some advice (one question at a time).
QUESTION 1.
I assume you mean 餐 (can1) and 菜 (cai4). Only having pinyin and no characters is ambiguous. The connotations are different: 餐 means "meal" or "cuisine" (早餐 zao3 can1 = breakfast; 西餐 xi1 can1 = Western cuisine). 菜 (cai4) literally means "vegetable", but it can also mean "dishes" or "courses" during a meal. You might be confused because 菜 (cai4) can also be used to refer to types of cuisine: 中國菜 zhong1 guo2 cai4 = Chinese cuisine. The difference is subtle: 餐 (can1) refers to the whole meal whereas 菜 (cai4) refers to individual dishes. So, it is possible to have a 西餐 (Western meal) but with one 中國菜 (Chinese dish).
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, answered by
Peter
Answerer 2
QUESTION 2.
Yes, both mean the same thing, but the focus is different. As a native Chinese speaker, I love using the "ba" construction! Please educate yourself, instead of ignorantly dismissing it as a "massive hassle". The difference between the two is a change of focus.
Generally, the different word orderings in Mandarin Chinese serve to emphasize different things. For example, the following three sentences are logically equivalent (S = subject, V = verb, O = object):
SVO: 他吃完了雞丁 ta chiwanle jiding - "He finished eating the diced chicken."
SOV: 他把雞丁吃完了 ta ba jiding chiwanle - "He BA diced chicken finished eating."
OSV: 雞丁被他吃完了jiding bei ta chiwanle - "The diced chicken BEI he finished eating."
In the "normal" SVO case, there is no emphasis, though there may be some on the object. That could be the answer to the question, "What did he finish eating?", in which case the object "diced chicken" is the new information provided in the answer.
In the SOV case (using 把 BA), you are emphasizing the verb. That could be the answer to the question, "What did he do to the diced chicken?", in which case the verb "finish eating" is the new information provided in the answer.
In the OSV case (using 被 BEI), you are emphasizing the subject. That could be the answer to the question, "Hey, who finished eating the diced chicken?", in which case the subject "he" is the new information provided in the answer.
The same thing is true for commands or requests. If you say to your child,
VO: 吃完雞丁 - "Finish eating the diced chicken.",
you may be emphasizing the chicken. For instance, there might be several dishes on the table, and you are commanding the child to pick the chicken. On the other hand, if you say,
OV: 把雞丁吃完 - "BA diced chicken finish eating.",
you are emphasizing the action of eating to completion, rather than on the chicken itself. For instance, the child might be playing with the diced chicken instead of eating it, or he seems like he is about to throw the chicken away before eating all of it.
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, answered by
Peter
Answerer 3
QUESTION 3.
The expression "沒(有)看到 mei2 (you3) kan4 dao4" is used when you were physically present to see something, but you couldn't see it for some reason. For example, if someone asks whether you saw his dog run by, you could answer with that. I assume in your case that there were too many people blocking your view, so you couldn't see the movie. You would say, "我看不到電影因為人太多了 wo3 kan4 bu2 dao4 dian4 ying3 yin1 wei4 ren2 tai4 duo1 le5".
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, answered by
Peter
Answerer 4
QUESTION 4.
That is not correct. "他的泰西方了 ta de tai xifang le" means "His is too Western". You should say "對他來講, 這個太西式了 duì tā lái jiǎng, zhège tài xīshì le", meaning "for him, this is too Western".
Please contact me at pmchang51@yahoo.com for more information.
, answered by
Peter
Answerer 5
I hope my answers with Chinese pinyin can help you out.
1. “餐”和“菜”的区别是:餐指的是一日三餐,而三餐中的食物就包括“菜”。 “Cān” hé “cài” de qū bié shì: cān zhǐ de shì yí rì sān cān, ér sān cān zhōnɡde
shí wù jiù bāo kuò “cài .”
The difference is that “餐” means meal which includes “菜.”
2.The two answers are both right. “把” is a preposition.
“Bǎ” zài jùzhōnɡ shì jiècí.
3.It should be:“我没看电影,那儿人太多了。” with
“wǒ méi kàn diàn yǐnɡ, nà ér rén tài duō le.” as its Chinese pinyin.
4.It should be:“对他来说太西方了”。 The Chinese pinyin is:
yīnɡɡāi shì: “duì tā lái shuō tài xī fānɡ le.”
If you want to learn more about Chinese pinyin, you can visit
http://www.echineselearning.com/blog/learn-chinese-pin-yin-vowels to get some ideas. If you still have any question related to Chinese pinyin, you can ask me at jennifer.zhu@echineselearning.com (www.eChineseLearning.com). I will be glad to help you.-Jennifer
, answered by
Jennifer
Answerer 6
Firstly, I want to advise you to give the Chinese characters and Chinese pinyin when you ask a question about that. Secondly, about questions 2 and 4, your answers are all right.
, answered by
Lily
Answerer 7
I am not sure that if you want these questions all answered by Chinese pinyin. Nevertheless, I provide my answer one by one here.
1. If you mean “餐” and “菜,” I think the difference is that the second is included in the first. For “餐” can refer to many kinds of food.
2. You are right. Both of them mean the same.
3. Right again.
4. I think it’s right.
, answered by
Jenny