devi9 Posted July 20, 2005 at 12:48 PM Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 at 12:48 PM Could someone help me figure out what "空格" means? Here's a sentence: 段落开头一般要留出两个空格. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted July 20, 2005 at 12:51 PM Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 at 12:51 PM Space - leave two spaces at the start of a paragraph. Here, what does 格 refer to? Is it the kind of squares you get on some Chinese writing paper? Roddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devi9 Posted July 20, 2005 at 12:54 PM Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 at 12:54 PM Thanks! I think so, my friend was trying to tell me how to properly write a letter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xuezhongwen Posted July 20, 2005 at 05:59 PM Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 at 05:59 PM 空格 means "empty square". If you understand the way Chinese characters were written, each character is supposed to take a same size square. In the old days, notebooks had 10 columns x 20 rows (or other sizes) squares on a page, each square is a '格', so you should leave the first two squares empty, hence, 空格. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted July 20, 2005 at 06:06 PM Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 at 06:06 PM Right, that's what I thought. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest Posted July 20, 2005 at 06:12 PM Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 at 06:12 PM Here, what does 格 refer to? Is it the kind of squares you get on some Chinese writing paper? Yes those 400-square writing paper used for essays and compositions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laohu489 Posted July 20, 2005 at 08:22 PM Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 at 08:22 PM It is called 方格纸 in Beijing but in Shanghai has a different name that escapes me right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted July 21, 2005 at 12:05 AM Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 at 12:05 AM those 400-square writing paper used for essays and compositions I was surprised that my 10-year old niece did not know what 原稿紙 was, and had not seen such paper before when I mentioned it. Because she is a computer age kid, and had never seen the paper, she could not understand what 爬格子 was either (made me wonder what she was learning at school...). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YesterdayOnceMore Posted July 21, 2005 at 03:57 AM Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 at 03:57 AM As a matter of fact, 两个空格 means the room for 2 Chinese characters. In China, people don't usually write letters on full-of-square paper. The most popular and usual paper is designed in lines. Those squres are mostly used for students' writing practice on the purpose of a neat work. Space for two Chinese charactors should be left at the beginning of every paragraph. It's part of the format of writing in Chinese. So, no matter what kind of paper you are using, you still need to spaces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest Posted July 21, 2005 at 04:08 AM Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 at 04:08 AM we call that 原稿紙 in guangzhou too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qiaoan Posted July 21, 2005 at 05:16 PM Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 at 05:16 PM 方格纸 is called 文稿纸 in shanghainese Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddiewouldgo Posted July 22, 2005 at 01:39 AM Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 at 01:39 AM Could someone help me figure out what "空格" means? Here's a sentence:段落开头一般要留出两个空格. Thanks! How about: 段落开头一般要格空两个空格 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shibo77 Posted July 22, 2005 at 10:21 PM Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 at 10:21 PM I always hear 草稿纸, or simply 稿纸. -Shìbó Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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