New HSK3 grammar sample sentences

[edelweis]

Hi,

I typed up the grammar sample sentences from the new HSK3 guidelines.

I tried to translate quickly but my English and Chinese skills are not perfect (obviously) so I am submitting for review.

I attached the full file, there are 168 sentences in it.

Here are the sentences I especially need help with:

line 83

中国的大城市，我几乎都去过。

line 87

他们一去机场了。

line 99

我先说几包。

line 115

考试终于结束了。

line 117

这道题其实很容易。

line 141

他一边上网，一边听音乐。

line 161

不要给我担心。

don't worry about me (??????????????)

line 165

为了解决环境问题，人们想了很多办法。

line 169

请吧空调打开。

line 171

关于这段历史，我知道得很少。

line 201

你做得对。

line 281

不要吃太多。

I don't want to (must not??????) eat too much.

line 299

它是坐飞机来的。

this (animal/thing) flew here. (???)

The original document is available here: (guidelines)

NewHSK3yufasentences.txt

Edited April 16, 2010 at 06:38 PM by edelweis
Updated file with suggestions from reviewers

[Shi Tong]

What do you want us to do with these edelweis, repair the sentances, or gleen the meaning?

I'm not sure what all of them are originally supposed to mean in (English).. for example, if I was going to repair one of these I would say:

不要给我担心。 (Dont give me worry?! Seems strage to me.. might be a different structure I've not come across before)

should be:

不要担心我。(Dont worry about me.)

I can have a look at the others, but is it this kind of input you're looking for?

[doraemon]

中国的大城市，我几乎都去过。

I've been to nearly all of China's large cities.

考试终于结束了。

The exams are finally over.

这道题其实很容易。

This problem/question is actually very simple.

他一边上网，一边听音乐。

He surfs the net while listening to music.

不要给我担心。

Don't worry about me.

Mmmm, sounds a bit strange (although it could still be right). But if it was written as 不要为我担心 then it would 100% correct (still means 'don't worry about me').

为了解决环境问题，人们想了很多办法。

In order to solve environmental issues, people have come up with many ideas.

请吧空调打开。

Please turn on the air conditioner.

关于这段历史，我知道得很少。

I know very little about this period of history.

你做得对。

You did the right thing.

不要吃太多。

Don't eat too much. (when telling someone else)

它是坐飞机来的。

It (quite odd, you'd expect the subject of the sentence to be a human...) came here by plane.

I don't understand the 2nd and 3rd sentences, so sorry, can't help you there.

[roddy]

Re:不要给我担心 - page 46 of the pdf has 不要为我担心. Similarly, 他们一去机场了 should be 一起， not just 一. You might want to do a proofread of the problematic ones to check where the problems are arising (and perhaps the others too).

[doraemon]

Similarly, 他们一去机场了 should be 一起， not just 一.

In that case, 他们一起去机场了。means

They have gone to the airport together.

不要为我担心.

Should be correct- meaning: Don't worry about me.

[edelweis]

@Shi Tong: I meant check the translation, but as you noted some of the Chinese sentences were wrong.

@Doraemon: thanks a lot. I will update the file with your translations. You're correct, it should have been 他, not 它.

@Roddy: thanks for checking those sentences. I did a check of all the sentences and in addition to the two faulty sentences you noted, I found the 包/句 mix-up and mostly pronoun errors (in addition to 他她它 I also mixed up 我你他 it's a mistake I often make when reading aloud for some reason...).

@all

Now from the list in my first post, only this one remains:

我先说几句。

Google translation : "I should say something." Do you agree?

Also, I am uncertain about these other translations, could you comment?

他每天骑车上班。

he rides a bicycle to work every day.

我们是打车还是坐地铁？

will we drive or ride the underground?

雨越下越大。

it's is raining more and more.

我们必须想个好办法。

we have to find a proper way.

你的字写得真漂亮！

you write really nice characters

他今年24岁。

he is now 24 years old. (or: he will be 24 this year ???)

And, regarding the sentence:

第10层

Is it common to use western digits instead of hanzi to write floor numbers？

[bunny87]

I'm no where near the caliber of doraemon, so please don't hang me if I'm wrong , but my take on these last sentences are:

他每天骑车上班。

he rides a bicycle to work every day.

that sounds good to me.

我们是打车还是坐地铁？

will we drive or ride the underground?

If one fetches a car, doesn't that mean taxi? so "Will we go by taxi or subway?"

雨越下越大。

it's is raining more and more.

It's raining harder and harder.

我们必须想个好办法。

we have to find a proper way.

We must find a good method.

你的字写得真漂亮！

you write really nice characters

The characters you write are really beautiful.

他今年24岁。

he is now 24 years old. (or: he will be 24 this year ???)

He is 24 this year.

[doraemon]

我先说几句- more like: Firstly, I'd like to say a few words.

雨越下越大- your translation is still right, but it would be more appropriate if it was: It's raining harder and harder.

我们必须想个好办法. We must find a good solution.

他今年24岁. He is 24 this year.

Everything else is correct.

I don't think it really matters whether you write hanzi or western numerals for floor numbers. I personally would write hanzi though...

[doraemon]

我们是打车还是坐地铁？

will we drive or ride the underground?

Oh sorry, I think I must have left this one out.

But yeah, like bunny87 said, it means:

"Will we go by taxi or subway?"

我们必须想个好办法.

I guess this one could also be: "We must come up with a good idea".

[Shi Tong]

Ahh... I see what you're after now:

不要为我担心. I would say this means "dont worry for me."

Your original translation works just as well though.

I've heard 不要担心我 a million times for "dont worry about me".

他每天骑车上班。

he rides a bicycle to work every day

Are there not words missing from the sentance? I would say you're right, though, 车 on it's own can mean all different kinds of cars, busses, bikes etc, IMO.

打车 dǎ​chē​ to take a taxi (in town) / to hitch a lift

Not heard this before myself, I looked it up and got this (above), I'd say bunny is probably right then.

雨越下越大。

it's is raining more and more.

Yep, I'd probably harder and harder too, more and more might be something like 一直下雨(it keeps raining)

我们必须想个好办法。

we have to find a proper way.

I think your tranlation of this is good. You could use method, but it depends on context. "We must come up with a good idea", I think it also useable, but idea is more 主意 isn't it?

Problem is that 主意 can also mean "plan".. so.. haha! ;)

你的字写得真漂亮！

you write really nice characters

You write characters really (beautifully?) I would say.

他今年24岁。

he is now 24 years old. (or: he will be 24 this year ???)

I think it's trying to say he WILL be 24 this year. Otherwise there's no point in the sentance, because you'd say he WAS 24.

[edelweis]

bunny87, doraemon, Shi Tong, thanks for your answers.

I've updated the text file in the first post with your suggestions.

Possibly the file is not perfect yet... when I add some sentences to my SRS I will certainly have further questions

[roddy]

With the age one - bear in mind that traditionally (not sure what the kids do today) Chinese people only bump their age up at Chinese New Year, hence you'd keep the same age all (lunar) year.

For the rain one I suspect we'd just say 'The rain's getting worse / heavier', but given the purpose what you've got is probably fine.

[doraemon]

Yeah, as stated before, 车 on it's own can be quite ambiguous, but you have to look at the verb preceding it to figure out what type of 车 it is.

For example, if it says 打车 then it's most definitely a taxi (i.e. to go somewhere by taxi)

骑车 would always mean to ride a bicycle.

开车, obviously to drive.

坐车 would mean by car/private vehicle. But I think some people who can't be bothered saying 坐公共汽车 (to go by bus) also say 坐车 but I don't think it's all that common.

As for 不要担心我...Hmmm, funny because I haven't heard it all that much before. I've usually heard and been using 不要为我担心 for "don't worry about/for me". But I guess there's a subtle difference between the two that's quite hard to explain...

And edelweis, feel free to ask questions at any time!

[Shi Tong]

Ooohhhh.. I love semantics!

doraemon, I agree that generally you would assume that someone is doing something if you've given less information. Of course, in the course of a normal conversation, you can simply elaborate 坐车..骑车..开车, you would make assumptions about definately.

骑车 really could be two things- 摩托车 or 自行车/ 脚踏车 (latter bing Taiwan veriety).

As for 不要为我担心, and 不要担心我, I will ask my wife. Maybe it's a coloqiual thing that people say that's actually lazy/ wrong, or I'm wrong myself.

However, I would say there is a subtle difference here, IMO.

不要为我担心 is almost like "dont worry for me, I'll be fine" with the intention of the listener to think that the sayer is possibly going into a situation where you would actually worry anyway.

不要担心我 to me, is almost like "I dont need you to worry about me, so please, it's not necessary".

They both mean the same thing, IMO, but I'm going to reask my native speaker at home and see what she thinks!

[doraemon]

骑车 really could be two things- 摩托车 or 自行车/ 脚踏车 (latter bing Taiwan veriety).

Mmmm...I've never actually thought of that...because every time I've heard someone say 骑车 it's always been a bicycle. I remember that when some people talk about riding a motorcycle they usually say 骑摩托. But I guess it could be right both ways...

不要担心我 to me, is almost like "I dont need you to worry about me, so please, it's not necessary".

I think if the tone of the speaker is emphasising 我 then it would mean "You don't need to worry about me"(but you probably do need to worry about the other person). If the emphasis is on 不要 then it's probably hinting that worrying is unnecessary. Same principle applies for 不要为我担心. Maybe I'm just analysing it too deeply that it doesn't even make any sense...

[Shi Tong]

Hello doraemon,

I confirmed with my wife the other night that 不要担心我 was almost exclusively what she says when she says this sentence to mean "dont worry about me", and also confirmed that 不要为我担心 was also a way to say the same thing.

Trying to discuss the intricasies of this is probably a little beyond me, though I do think what I described above is the kind of feeling I get when I read and hear the sentences, and I agree that if the 我 was emphasised, then it would definately make the feeling that you dont need to worry about them.

About the bike, I agree. Come to think of it, I think a lot of people would simply say ji1che1 if they were riding a bike to work, as opposed to the longer winded versions of motorbike.

[roddy]

Shi Tong, could you please either check your pinyin before posting it, or use characters. There's no need to send beginning students scrambling for their dictionaries as they try to figure out what 机车 might mean in this context . . .

[renzhe]

Chickenbike?

[Shi Tong]

Erm..

机车 jī​chē: locomotive / train engine car / scooter (Taiwan) 機車

So my pinyin was correct.

I would suggest using this site for a basic online Chinese dictionary if anyone needs to look up ji1che1.

I appologise if this is something Taiwan exclusive, but that's what I'm (as you've gathered) very used to, but my pinyin was correct and my definition was correct.

I was also encouraged by yourself not to mention Taiwan too much, as you thought it didn't belong on this site that well. In this case, I might have mentioned that 机车 might be a Taiwanese thing, but I was worried this would go against the grain.

[animal world]

Re:不要给我担心 - page 46 of the pdf has 不要为我担心. Similarly, 他们一去机场了 should be 一起， not just 一. You might want to do a proofread of the problematic ones to check where the problems are arising (and perhaps the others too).

Haven't been here for a while. What Pdf is this and where could i find it online? Or better yet, where could i find a PDF file for the intermediary, whatever that level is called under the new HSK scheme of things, level? Thanks.