我给你说

[SeekerOfPeace]

Hello everyone,

If I want to say:

''I'll tell you something''

Should I use:

我给你说

Could I also use:

告诉

Could I say:

我告诉你个东西。

It seems odd to me and I would think that I can't use this form, but is it possible?

[SeekerOfPeace]

Also what would be the difference between the three following sentences:

1。 我告诉了

2。 我告诉过

3。我告诉到

I can't quite grasp the difference between the three.

Thank you.

[limaygolf]

I'll tell you something = 我告诉你 ／ 我告诉你一件事

[gougou]

Chinese people use 我跟你说 a lot, normally when they are very convinced of something. So apart from introducing a statement from your side, it also revokes the opposite's right of contradiction.

[zozzen]

1. 我告诉了

it means you told someone already. 了 is used to express you've done it.

example:

我 告訴了 他 我的童年

I / told/ him/ my childhood

2. 我告诉过

it emphasizes that you had told someone already, but it's likely that he ignored it.

example:

A: 他出事了!

He / got/ accident!

B: 我 早就 告訴過 他 要小心

I / earlier/ told / him/ to be aware

3. 我告诉到

It should be read as 我告訴 到. 到 means "to" . This word is not related to the word "告訴", but it's related to the object.

Example:

我 告訴 到這裡的朋友們

I / told / all friends who come here

[Lu]

我告訴你一件事, can be a story, something that happened, a piece of news.

我跟你說/我跟你講 I'm telling you, ... Assuring the other person that this is definitely the right way to look at things. People in the north usually use 說, people in the south 講.

Incidentally, 东西 is a thing that you can see and hold, something tangible. For things like ideas, occurances, and other intangible things you use 事情 or 事.

[SeekerOfPeace]

Lu and Zozzen,

Thank you so much for your information.

Espicially the 东西 bit which I didn't know.

About:

3. 我告诉到

It should be read as 我告訴 到. 到 means "to" . This word is not related to the word "告訴", but it's related to the object

Could you give me an example where 到 is used to make me understand this a bit better.

Really great explanations! Awesome!

[rootfool]

Espicially the 东西 bit which I didn't know.

it means "something" in most time,except this "你真不是个东西":mrgreen:

example:

这是什么东西？what's this?

有什么好玩的东西？Is there anything interesting?

one meaning of "到" is "to" ,with "direction,place" followed.

example:

come here 到这里来=(you can also say in this form)来这里

go to school 到学校去=去学校

Actually it's oringinal meaning is "go to/arrive".But we delete the "go" now by adding "来,去" or sth else in the end to express the same meaning.And the meaning of "arrive" is still used.

example:

I arrived in beijing yesterday.我昨天到北京了.

the train arrived.火车到了。

another meaning is "until",with "time" followed

example:

you'll know it tomorrow.到明天你就知道了。

I'll wait until he is back.我会等到他回来为止。

[HashiriKata]

it means "something" in most time,except this "你真不是个东西"

What does "你真不是个东西" mean?

[adrianlondon]

According to google (search, not translation) I found it means "you're nobody". Maybe even "you're nothing".

[skylee]

According to google (search, not translation) I found it means "you're nobody". Maybe even "you're nothing".

I think this explanation is closer ->

如果当你全心全意为他付出了那么多，而他却觉得理所应当，甚至是不屑一顾，这也到了骂他一句“Asshole”的时候，表示说：“你真不是个东西！”

[HashiriKata]

Thank you both for replying. I'm near there but not quite yet: I'm a bit unsure of the negative in the sentence. Do the 2 sentences mean the same thing:

“你真不是个东西！” =

“你真是个东西！” =

"You're an asshole!"

??

[rootfool]

Do the 2 sentences mean the same thing:

“你真不是个东西！” =

“你真是个东西！” =

"You're an asshole!"

yes.but the latter is not often used.

[rootfool]

These sentences also mean the same:

北京队大胜上海队=北京队大败上海队

她这么可爱，我好喜欢。=她这么可爱，我好不喜欢

我差点儿被他气死。=我差点儿没被他气死。

[HashiriKata]

Thanks rootfool, very helpful!

[chinlearner83]

rootfool, are those usages standard? I don't mean 'are they used?', I mean "are they correct?". Would the academic would consider both to be correct?

[skylee]

They are correct, and very common. Such examples / patterns have been mentioned / discussed many times before. Take a look at these threads ->

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/12969-an-interesting-problem-with-%e6%9d%a5%e6%b2%a1%e6%9d%a5 (see #3)

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/504-quote-%e6%87%92%e7%8c%aa%e6%95%99%e4%bd%a0%e5%b9%bf%e5%b7%9e%e8%af%9d3 (see #8 onwards)

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/2-favourite-chinese-musician860

[Lu]

到 means 'to arrive' and a lot of other things, mostly derived from this meaning.

我到北京去 I'm going to Beijing.

這個字好難,我一直學不到 This character is so difficult, I can't get it into my head ('I study but do not arrive at studying successfully')

In '我告訴到', 到 has nothing to do with 告訴, the transitive verb doesn't form like that.

I hope this helps!

[chinlearner83]

Skylee, thanks for the threads; nevertheless, I still don't see anything referring to whether they're correct I agree that they exist and make sense as such. I don't believe that they're not correct, just that I'm curious as to how an authority views this.

[skylee]

I'm curious as to how an authority views this.

Oh I didn't know that you wanted an authority to prove that the usage is correct. Well obviously I am not an authority. And it was rootfool that you asked. I should have kept my mouth shut.