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Three signs . . .


roddy

1368 views

1) What's on sale?

2) Who's selling it?

3) What will it cost?

4) Where can you go to find out more?

5) Wouldn't one sign have done?

13 Comments


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1) courtyard

2) Mr. Tang

3) price is negotiable

4) go inside and see the person in the inner courtyard

5) the third sign (RHS) offering same courtyard in some other fashion (retail?)

Can't figure out the character before 售 on the third sign (RHS) - it should be easy.

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But then why does the third sign start with 本院 (same courtyard) and not 此院 if it's just a repeat? I also can't make out the writing on the third sign where it says: zi zi 人:趟先生. I almost expect it to say 房东 but it doesn't look like that.

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Don't forget 本 can also mean "this", same as 此. Which brings me to my answer for question 5:

Because the writer wanted to show off use of both 本 and 此.

I think the two characters you want on the RHS are 联系. Before you get impressed, I figured this out by searching a E->C dictionary for "contact" :P

面議. That's a good word to learn.

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Regarding question 1,

does 院 here really mean courtyard? Or does it mean building? Hospital? Institution? If it means courtyard, why would one want to buy a courtyard? Is this common in Beijing?

What does the third sign mean? I get 看房人往裡走院內有人. I know all the characters, but can't parse it. I get something like "to see people, go inside the courtyard". [google translate gives "Some people go inside hospital critically"]

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I don't believe it's a courtyard in the sense we think of it. But rather the "open" interior of a building. I forget what they are called but one seems them all over China. There is an open area in middle maybe two floors high, with exposed walkways around a perimeter of the open space but on the second story where the walkways lead into separate rooms. I could be all wet though!

[edit] maybe "compound" would be a better description.

My guess on the sentence is: (in Chinglish)

To see the room/space/area, people towards the inside walk. Inside the courtyard has people.

In English: To see the room/space/area, go inside and see the person in the inside the courtyard.

Edited.

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OK, that makes a bit more sense. But then what exactly is for sale?

I doubt one would want to buy an open courtyard. Are they selling the entire building, which contains the courtyard? Or rooms in a building that has an open courtyard.

Thanks for the translation. I was parsing it as

看 房人 往裡走 院內有人

I think what you're saying is to parse it as

看房 人往裡走 院內有人

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It just occurred to me that "compound" is a more descriptive term than "courtyard".

[Edit] I have not researched property rights in China, and therefore I have no idea "what" can be sold. It's conceivable the "space" inside the building can be sold separately from the building. In the US, as you know, we sell houses that sit on land owned by someone else. And when one buys a condominium, they are buying the "inside" of the unit (with or without exterior walls). When it comes to money and ownership, the apple can be sliced in an almost uncountable number of ways.

On the "translation", 不客气。 But remember this is only my interpretation, it may be wrong. We'll have to wait until the Master returns.

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I "hate" it when they leave words out! :-) It's already difficult enough with all of them in there.

But at least it looks like we got the meaning.

不好意思!I had trouble reading the inside of the character; it looked like a 口. And should have known/checked 唐。The embarrassing part is I know someone named 。

Is the description of compound/courtyard correct?

Thanks skylee.

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It's great to get up in the morning and discover you've all had such fun while I've been asleep.

I'm not sure exactly what's for sale here, I should perhaps have looked but I might have accidentally bought it. I think it's probably a yard suitable for, eg, a building supplies firm, rather than a traditional courtyard.

看房人 should be parsed as 看房 人 - property-viewing people. Going back to Simake's 4) in the first comment, 院内 is in the courtyard, rather than inner courtyard.

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