Author Topic: English and Chinese 2 (Read 1239 times)

lenny · « **on:** December 21, 2005, 11:05:25 PM »

Ok, welcome back~

The second thing I can think of is: tense

There is no tense in Chinese. There is no "did" or "done", just "do". For example:

I called Jon Boy yesterday.

In Chinese, it will be like "I"+"yesterday"+"call"+"Jon Boy". If there was no "yesterday", "I called Jon Boy" is probably fine in English, depending on the context, which might be in the middle of a conversation, and suggests that "I _already_ called Jon Boy" . But "I"+"call"+"Jon Boy" will be confusing in Chinese, or more like a baby's talk. If there is no words (such as "yesterday") in a sentense suggesting time, there should be words like "already", "used to", or "will"(future tense is the similar).

I hope I am explaining clearly enough.

Thanks for watching and stay tuned.

Edit:This is simply random thoughts, nothing professional at all.

pooka · « **Reply #1 on:** December 22, 2005, 04:25:22 AM »

I didn't get that far in my chinese studies. I did 2 terms of immersion Chinese and I was kind of distracted by a romantic involvement at the time so I wasn't studying like I should.

lenny · « **Reply #2 on:** December 22, 2005, 05:53:41 AM »

What does "immersion" mean here? Is it like daily dialogues taking place under certain situation or background?

Jonathon · « **Reply #3 on:** December 22, 2005, 10:26:45 AM »

When talking about learning a language, immersion means that you go to the foreign country and speak nothing but the new language.

So does Chinese have ways to distinguish between phrases like "I went," "I have gone," "I had gone," "I was going," and so forth?

lenny · « **Reply #4 on:** December 22, 2005, 10:47:25 PM »

Oh, thanks JB.

"I went" will be like "I"+"go"+"yesterday", or "I"+"used to" +"go";

"I have gone" will be like "I"+"already"+"go";

"I had gone" is just like "I have gone"+"before 1999"., so "I"+"already"+"go"+"before 1999";

"I am going" will be like "I"+"~ing"+"go", and this "~ing" thing is a separate word meaning "doing" or "going on" which helps to describe the ongoing, so:

"I was going" will be like "I"+"~ing"+"go"+"yesterday".

So basically words like "used to", "~ing" are employed to help form the tenses. I feel that Chinese can handle all the cases but less powerful in this than English.