Desmond Posted November 1, 2005 at 09:31 PM Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 at 09:31 PM Today I wanted to tell somebody "if you want to..." using our infamous general "you" (like the example in the title of this thread", but I'm not sure how you would say this in Chinese. Examples to help you understand: "if you want to go to the store, you have to take a right" (in the sense that "if one wants to go to the store, then one has to take a right") "if you want to study Chinese, you have to start from the beginning" (if a person wants to study Chinese, they have to start from the beginning) Naturally I want to say 如果你想。。 but somehow I feel that "你" probably shouldn't be there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted November 1, 2005 at 11:10 PM Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 at 11:10 PM Naturally I want to say 如果你想。。 but somehow I feel that "你" probably shouldn't be there. It should be there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ala Posted November 2, 2005 at 02:56 AM Report Share Posted November 2, 2005 at 02:56 AM Naturally I want to say 如果你想。。 but somehow I feel that "你" probably shouldn't be there. Yeah, having two clauses using 你's right by each other may seem a little awkward (wordy), but it's not wrong either. You could also try: 想学中文的话，你必须从头开始。 If you want to study Chinese, you have to start from the beginning. (some Chinese dialects, e.g. Shanghainese, avoid personal pronouns like the plague and would never address the same pronoun twice in a sentence if there is no ambiguity; but Mandarin uses them frequently). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desmond Posted November 2, 2005 at 07:48 AM Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2005 at 07:48 AM Awesome, thanks a lot! When you say Shanghainese tries to avoid the reuse of personal pronounce, does this often carry out in the dialect of Mandarin they speak as well? Or just in Shanghainese? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vengaya Posted November 2, 2005 at 09:12 AM Report Share Posted November 2, 2005 at 09:12 AM This post has made me wonder.... uhm.... isn't subject ellipsis admitted in Chinese? I mean, ommiting the subject is not allowed in English, but you can do (and normally do) in Spanish, for instance, since there's a strong coordination between subject and predicate. Oddly enough, Japanese, with no verbal inflexion, also admit ellipsis of the subject. So can we omit the subject as well in Chinese? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted November 2, 2005 at 01:53 PM Report Share Posted November 2, 2005 at 01:53 PM Yes. Not always, but it's very normal. From my second year of studying Chinese: Mother: And stay on the path on your way to Grandma! Little Red Riding Hood: Zhidao le, mama! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ala Posted November 2, 2005 at 04:49 PM Report Share Posted November 2, 2005 at 04:49 PM uhm.... isn't subject ellipsis admitted in Chinese? Yeah, but in Mandarin most of these constructions involve the modal particle 了. For example, 知道了 ("the existence in the state of knowing"), 吃了, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and select your username and password later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.