2009-12-03, 05:01 AM
Tay Wrote:Ok yea I'm going to get a tutor. There seems to be A LOT that I'm not exposed to, more than I expected. Especially phrases that don't really translate to English well.
Like this;
这件衬衫穿起来时髦。
The 起来 part, I don't understand why you use 起来。
我不懂了。;;
Eugh... that's really tough to explain since it's kinda like a "gotta be Chinese to know" thing. But I'd say 起来 can also mean place on something I suppose, like in this case putting/wearing the shirt on rather than the more common meaning "get up"...
So, a translation based on the wording is "This shirt I'm wearing on me is stylish". On would be the "place on" in this sentence...
If you could write the sentence yourself, you could just simplify it to 这件衬衫很时髦 and the meaning would be the same. Sorry I can't be much help =/
If you didn't know already, Chinese people always decorate their adjectives. For example, 她美丽 (ta mei li, she's pretty) is correct in every aspect but Chinese people always add something before the adjective (美丽
.很 (hen, very) is commonly used. Dunno why, just works that way. Also, I'm glad you're learning different measuring words!! 件 is used for clothing.
A tutor would be really helpful since you're gonna struggle with a lot of the "gotta be Chinese to know" things, and I'm sure the tutor could explain it better than I can. Measuring words for example, or the ever so deadly 4 word idioms (成语, cheng yu). Unlike in English, usage of these Idioms shows great knowledge and is encouraged in Chinese writing.


i took it for three years and all i can say is ni hao...