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Posted

Hello everyone! I translated the following sentence

朱重八和别的乞丐不同,也正是因为不同,他才没有一直当乞丐(请注意这句话)。

sort of like this: Zhu Chongba was different from the other beggars and, since they were so different from each other,

he didn't end up being a beggar.

This is pretty much how I interpreted it.

Am I wrong?

Thank you for helping!

Posted

Not that they were different from each other, but that Zhu was different from all the other beggars. And, Zhu was a beggar once but he didn't go on being a beggar /end up being a beggar all his life.

  • Like 2
Posted

I think you understand it well only that it will be better if you add "all his life" like Sky did to tell "Once but no longer".

  • Like 1
Posted

"End up" has conveyed the idea, I mean "all his life", I think?

My attempt:

朱重八和别的乞丐不同,也正是因为不同,他才没有一直当乞丐。

Zhu Chongba was different from other beggars. Precisely because of this, he didn’t end up being a beggar.

  • Like 1
Posted
"End up" has conveyed the idea, I mean "all his life", I think?

No. To end up means after some process I suppose, but not necessarily your entire life. If your company does badly you can end up unemployed, but it doesn't mean you're dead.

Zhu Chongba was unlike other beggars, and so he did not remain one.

  • Like 3
Posted
朱重八和别的乞丐不同,也正是因为不同,他才没有一直当乞丐。

Zhu Chongba was different from other beggars. Precisely because of this, he didn’t end up being a beggar.

"end up" means "(as a result of some reason), be/do (something, usually not having done it before)", so I don't think it is suitable for this sentence where 没有一直 implies that he was a beggar at one stage, but not later.

You can use "end up" like this:

He used to roam around on the streets, but since he had inherited a lot of money, he didn't end up being a beggar. 他曾流浪街头,但由于继承了一大笔钱,所以他并没有沦为乞丐。

He met a girl in the bar last night, and ended up not coming home. 他昨晚在酒吧里认识到一个女孩子,结果他没有回家。

(The Chinese is my own translation. I don't know if it accurately reflects the English meaning.)

As for the original sentence, I agree with skylee's interpretation.

  • Like 2
Posted

Thank you for explaining the phrase. I think now I have a better understanding of it.

Roddy's translation is excellent - accurate and concise.

Anonymoose, your translations are fine except that 认识到 should be changed to 认识了.

  • Like 1

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