Guest Posted July 4, 2018 at 01:31 PM Report Share Posted July 4, 2018 at 01:31 PM "在其他的粮食不足的情况下, 用橡子喂猴子倒是个办法." In my head, I'm loosely translating this as "in cases where food shortages arise, feeding monkeys with acorns is a solution." But why is 倒 used here? I'm struggling to understand how this sentence indicates contrariness. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding either the grammar or how contrariness works in Chinese? Would be grateful for any advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Publius Posted July 4, 2018 at 01:56 PM Report Share Posted July 4, 2018 at 01:56 PM I think it means "contrary to expectation/common sense, unexpectedly". Make sense? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomsima Posted July 4, 2018 at 02:06 PM Report Share Posted July 4, 2018 at 02:06 PM Try sticking an 'in fact' or 'actually' and see how you feel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
龙行天下 Posted July 5, 2018 at 01:01 AM Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 at 01:01 AM 让我来告诉你吧，倒在汉语，发四声的时候有：却，反而的意思。例如成语：倒打一耙 明明是自己应受到对方的指贵批评，却去指责批评对方。 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
谢恩灵 Posted July 5, 2018 at 05:50 AM Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 at 05:50 AM Think of it like "feeding them acorns is actually a solution" whereas previously it would not have been thought a solution since monkeys don't eat acorns. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted July 5, 2018 at 07:33 AM Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 at 07:33 AM Hi @龙行天下, thanks for your reply. Next time, could you perhaps write in English? Many of our members are not very good at Chinese yet. Glad you're here, it's always good to have the opinion of a native speaker. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beelzebro Posted July 5, 2018 at 07:58 AM Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 at 07:58 AM Ok so what's the difference between 倒 and 却 and 则 and 其实？ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pandarow Posted July 5, 2018 at 08:03 AM Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 at 08:03 AM As @龙行天下 mentioned, 倒 here is a part of 倒是, which means but, however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted July 6, 2018 at 07:40 AM Report Share Posted July 6, 2018 at 07:40 AM Split off a few posts discussing language use if anyone wants to continue that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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