how to say 'to wear' cheat sheet

[Tomsima]

There's nothing worse than slipping up and saying “穿帽子” after years of studying putonghua. Here's my cheat sheet for reminding my stupid brain how to wear things in Chinese, hope it helps others:

 

穿：衣服、鞋子、襪子

戴：帽子、戒指、手套、眼鏡、耳環、項鍊
打：領帶
繫：皮帶、安全帶

 

Comment if you want to add to the list

[abcdefg]

Airplane announcement: “系好安全带， 吧安全带系好了。”  

[hy]

3 hours ago, Tomsima said:

戴：帽子，戒指，手套，眼鏡

and also 安全套

[ganbei]

6 hours ago, Tomsima said:

穿：襪子

also 鞋子、衣服

 

6 hours ago, Tomsima said:

戴：帽子，戒指，手套，眼鏡

also 耳環、項鍊

[Tomsima]

after saying 穿手套 for the zillionth time instead of 戴手套 (terrible habit that refuses to die), my wife just pointed out that a basic rule of thumb is

 

anything worn above the waist is 戴

anything worn below the waist is 穿

 

there must be exceptions to this (the obvious one being general 'clothing' like shirts, which are also still 穿) but from what i can see it's a pretty good guide to go by!

[mungouk]

On 6/12/2019 at 9:32 AM, abcdefg said:

Airplane announcement: “系好安全带， 吧安全带系好了。”  

 

Could you explain this please?  Doesn't the 吧 particle come at the end of a phrase?

 

Or should it be 把?

[abcdefg]

It must be 把。Looks like I typed it wrong. Preposition used to shift the object of a sentence ahead of the verb. 

[道艺]

you still say 穿帽子 after years of studying lol

[mungouk]

8 minutes ago, abcdefg said:

Preposition used to shift the object of a sentence ahead of the verb.

 

So it means something like "fasten your seatbelt properly by properly fastening your seatbelt"...? 

Why would they want to say that?  

[abcdefg]

I don't know. It's just what they say. This use of 把 is a very common "spoken Chinese" thing, at least around here.

 

"Textbook-ish" -- "Please give me a banana"  = 请给我一个香蕉

"Local casual speech" = 把香蕉请给我一个

 

I've even gotten in the habit of saying things that way myself much of the time. I tend to automatically mimic the constructions I hear frequently. 

 

Probably related, in a general way: Seems to me that word order which puts the subject of the sentence in an early position is easier for local people to understand. 

 

If I stop at a news stall, wanting to buy a newspaper, I would probably tell the vendor: 老板，今天的报纸要买一份。

[anonymoose]

2 hours ago, abcdefg said:

把香蕉请给我一个

 

That's in interesting construction that I'd never really though of before. Not sure whether it counts as standard 普通话, but it kind of makes sense.

 

On the other hand, 请把一根香蕉给我 would be incorrect according to the grammar books.

[abcdefg]

I'm out of my depth. Grammar has never been my strong suit. Have no idea what is correct. Only reporting what I hear every day. I've learned to talk like the people around me without really wanting to or trying to. 

[889]

"So it means something like "fasten your seatbelt properly by properly fastening your seatbelt"...? "

 

Not at all. For emphasis -- we're talking safety here, remember -- the message is simply being repeated, the seoond time using the 把 construction.

[mungouk]

1 hour ago, 889 said:

the message is simply being repeated

 

So how would you translate it, or – maybe better – explain it?

 

 

[889]

It's awkward English, but a somewhat literal translation would be "Fasten your seat belts. Take your seat belts and fasten them." Or "Taking your seat belts, fasten them." “With regard to your seat belts, fasten them." 等等。

[anonymoose]

On 6/12/2019 at 2:32 AM, abcdefg said:

Airplane announcement: “系好安全带， 吧安全带系好了。”

 

系好安全带 is the standard announcement on planes. I cant say I've ever heard 把安全带系好了 in the same context. It doesn't even make sense. Why the 了 at the end?

[abcdefg]

10 hours ago, anonymoose said:

Why the 了 at the end?

 

I cannot explain any of this. But I hear lots of end-of-sentence 了 in daily informal speech in places where I would not expect them based on what I've learned from the textbooks. My best guess is that it is added for emphasis, not to denote a past action. 

 

Studying things of this sort is not a particular interest of mine. But if it were, I suppose it might be worthwhile to start a new thread on the topic of how "real daily common-folk talk bumps up against what we learned in school studying Chinese as a second language." Would not be surprised if there are many examples, from all over the kingdom.  

 

For whatever it's worth, for many years I always got those annoying comments to the effect that, "Oh, your Chinese is so good." Or even "Oh, your Putonghua普通话 is better than mine." Now that no longer happens. I just converse with the locals more naturally, questions and answers flowing both ways with seldom a need for repeats or clarification. Only occasional misunderstandings. 

 

I try to avoid using true Kunming Dialect 昆明话 because that leads to confusion, the issue being that I can say things fairly OK, but cannot reliably understand the replies. Cannot truly converse in Kunming Dialect. Don't really want to. Much prefer it if friends and acquaintances use Putonghua, even a local version of it. 

 

Some of them can't. For example middle-aged vendors in the local farmers market. Then I just make do as best I can, and it sometimes is rocky. Smiles and pantomimes only go so far. Frequently another shopper will kindly help out as translator.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apologies to @Tomsima for getting off subject. 

[Tomsima]

16 hours ago, 道艺黄帝 said:

you still say 穿帽子 after years of studying lol

 

Old habits die hard, which is why its so important to get into good habits as early as possible. This is why so many struggle with tones. Its also why some of my Chinese friends who have studied English for 20+ years, and speak fluent English often with more eloquency than native speakers, will still say "open the light".

[Flickserve]

5 hours ago, Tomsima said:

will still say "open the light".

 

Pretty commonly heard in Malaysia.

[889]

“I cant say I've ever heard 把安全带系好了 in the same context. It doesn't even make sense. Why the 了 at the end?”

 

Maybe there was actually a 吗 at the end, one of those 吗s said so softly it's practically elided:

 

把安全带系好了吗？ That is, "Have you fastened your seat belt?"

 

In this particular context, fully sounding out 吗 might sound too harsh. Reducing it to just a soft "m" makes it sound more polite.