truicon Posted April 1, 2017 at 12:04 AM Report Share Posted April 1, 2017 at 12:04 AM Hi I’m a beginner learner. Can I ask a question about the sentence below? 反正 结果 还不 都 一样。 The translation is: Doesn’t it always just turn out the same anyway? I think it is correct. It’s just.. why the literal meaning seems the opposite? If I literally translate this, Anyways the result is still not all the same. I know we can’t literally substitute word by word to get a meaning. But what am I missing? Thanks in advance! PS. If this post needs to go under different section, sorry. New to the forum. Many thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lips Posted April 1, 2017 at 07:04 AM Report Share Posted April 1, 2017 at 07:04 AM Look at it as a question (although not meant to be one). The English translation is the similar, using the negative Doesn't to basically state the affirmative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
889 Posted April 1, 2017 at 08:55 AM Report Share Posted April 1, 2017 at 08:55 AM It's that 还不 that does the trick. Here's how another website describes it: "When you put 不 or 没 after 还 (hái) in a question sentence, it can be used to emphasize the idea of what should be happening in a more idiomatic way." A question sentence here includes a rhetorical question. https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Continuation_with_"hai" (with examples) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truicon Posted April 1, 2017 at 09:48 AM Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2017 at 09:48 AM OK I get it now. Thanks to both lips and 889. And thanks for the grammar link! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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