• Masimatutu@mander.xyz
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    1 year ago

    Lemme translate this back into English in order to demonstrate how bad this Chinese is:

    Tom: Can you (plural) speak Chinese

    You (singular): It is.

    Edit: I’ll fix it for ya though :)

    TOM: 我怎麼能去廁所?

    你:你會不會說中文?

    TOM: 當然了

    • BartsBigBugBag@lemmy.tf
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      1 year ago

      Whoa that’s traditional Chinese isn’t it? I’ve never seen that before outside of my books, which I promptly ignore until I get a hang on simplified 😂

      • Masimatutu@mander.xyz
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        1 year ago

        Yup. I like it more because I think it’s prettier and more logical. I was taught simplified growing up, though.

        • BartsBigBugBag@lemmy.tf
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          1 year ago

          I suppose I could just Google it or ask her, but I’ve noticed that my teaching uses 是的 to mean yes, but you noted it as “it is”, and my girlfriend uses “对的” when she’s talking to other 中国人. What is the best to use just as “yes”?

          • Masimatutu@mander.xyz
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            1 year ago

            Chinese doesn’t really have a real “yes”. 對的 (对的) just means correct. The most straightforward yes answer to a yes/no question would probably be [verb you want to confirm]+的. So “yes” in response to “會不會” would be 會的.

            • BartsBigBugBag@lemmy.tf
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              1 year ago

              Ooooh!!! That makes sense!!! Thank you so much! I think the time I first noticed her saying 对的 a bunch was while on the phone with her bank, so it makes sense she would be “confirming” things. Thanks again!