The CBB

Lao Kou wrote:Clearly, it's a shameless rip-off of the German "Ich kann Französisch."

I think you're joking here, but I'm not entirely sure.

lhykv wrote:會should be considered as a verb in this case. It shows the ability of sb/sth

E.g. 你會游泳嗎？Can you swim?
So... it's not 還會 法語 but 還 會法語 (I also know French.)
You can add 說(to speak) after 會 as well → I also speak French.

I know it's a verb, I'm just used to it being an auxiliary verb. To say "I can French" feels weird to me, but it seems the 说 can be omitted in Mandarin. (You know what also feels weird to me? Using simplified characters when the people I'm talking to are using traditional characters.)

OK, I have another question about grammar (I hope using this thread to ask questions is OK): In this xkcd comic, one Chinese translation of "Where do birds go when it rains?" is "下雨时鸟儿往哪躲？". From this, am I right in assuming that "的时候" can be shortened to just "时"? Also, why is 哪 used instead of 哪儿 or 哪里? Doesn't 哪 mean "which"? (OK, that was actually two questions)

~時 is just basically the same as ~的時候.
吃飯時別說話。 Don't talk when you eat.

哪個 means "which" (plural：哪些）
哪裡/哪兒 means "where"
哪 can be used separately which has the same meaning ("where")

You should know 哪兒 is an example of erhua, so 兒 can be omitted and so 哪 has the same meaning with 哪兒.

I am from Hong Kong, so traditional Chinese is what I use... maybe you can use Google Translate

As for 会, the action can be omitted if both speakers already knew that too well

You can even say: 你会吗？ (Can you?)

lhykv wrote:You should know 哪兒 is an example of erhua, so 兒 can be omitted and so 哪 has the same meaning with 哪兒.

What I learned was that in a few words like 哪儿, 那儿, and 这儿, the 儿 replaces part of the word, so that the non-erhua equivalents are 哪里, 那里, and 这里, whereas 哪, 那, and 这 mean "which", "that", and "this". Can you do the same thing and have 那 mean "there" and 这 mean "here"?

lhykv wrote:I am from Hong Kong, so traditional Chinese is what I use... maybe you can use Google Translate

Nah, I can read them, it's just weird. Most of the time, it's just small differences, like 訁 instead of 讠 or 飠 instead of 饣 or 馬 instead of 马, and I sometimes I already know a traditional character from somewhere else, like 兒 for 儿 or 個 for 个 or 說 for 说 (weird... I could've sworn I remembered 説 being an acceptable variant of 說, but apparently it's a Japanese variant). If I come across one I don't recognize, like 會 or 還, I can just look it up.

GrandPiano wrote:Can you do the same thing and have 那 mean "there" and 这 mean "here"?

Yes.

OK, thanks. I guess it kind of makes sense; "here", "there", and "where" really are just "this place", "that place", and "which place", so omitting the 里 or the 儿 is just another example of omitting something that can be inferred from context.

GrandPiano wrote:(weird... I could've sworn I remembered 説 being an acceptable variant of 說, but apparently it's a Japanese variant).

Purists may beg to differ, but 説 is fine. Exempli gratia.

因为我既有很多问题也要练习中文，所以我用中文问。如果我的汉语不对，请你们就纠正。

现在我把两个问题关于不同的词有：
一：“会”跟“能”怎么不同？
二：“和”跟“跟”怎么不同？（虽然我想我懂区别，可是我要确定）

略識之無

Thakowsaizmu wrote:略識之無

知道「略識之無」不算是略識之無吧。

（有人请回答我的问题）

GrandPiano wrote:（有人请回答我的问题）

我來試試。
我来试试。

一：“会”跟“能”怎么不同?

簡單地來解釋，對我來講，"能"與"會"的意義和用法常常互相重疊交識，但"能"包括"身體能力"的含義：
简单地来解释，对我来讲，"能"与"会"的意义和用法常常互相重叠交识，但"能"包括"身体能力"的含义：

我不能游泳。 （因為我肩胛骨脫臼了）
我不能游泳。 （因为我肩胛骨脱臼了）

然而"會"有比較抽象的意義：
然而"会"有比较抽象的意义：

我不會游泳。（因為我沒有學會）
我不会游泳。（因为我没有学会）

不過再說，規定沒那麼硬性，有時可以互換使用 (例如: 允許)。
不过再说，规定没那么硬性，有时可以互换使用 (例如: 允许)。

二：“和”跟“跟”怎么不同？（虽然我想我懂区别，可是我要确定）

and/with
"和"與"跟"呢，半斤八兩，不過"跟"有足字旁，本來有"follow"的意思，所以除了"and/with"的翻譯外，也可以把它翻成"follow (動), heel (名)"等詞。"和"沒那種意義。
"和"与"跟"呢，半斤八两，不过"跟"有足字旁，本来有"follow"的意思，所以除了"and/with"的翻译外，也可以把它翻成"follow (动), heel (名)"等词。"和"没那种意义。

Does this work?

Sometimes I think I want to learn Chinese. Not sure where to start. Knowledge of Japanese characters can be both a blessing and a curse.

clawgrip wrote:Sometimes I think I want to learn Chinese. Not sure where to start. Knowledge of Japanese characters can be both a blessing and a curse.

别愁怎么开始，只管开始。
別愁怎麼開始，只管開始。
Don't worry about how to start, just start.

おひさしぶり～～
確かに、日本語がたくさん漢字が使いますけれども、やっぱり時々ちょっと違う点がある。
例えば、勉強は、学問などを学ぶの意味です。しかし、中国語では、無理強いする、強制するの意味になった。
でも、文法上、異なる言語の類似点と相違点もある。日本語を知り人、たぶん中国語を学ぶ時、知らない人よりも簡単なとおもうかもしれません。

好久沒見~~
沒錯，雖然日文使用很多漢字，但有時也有不同之處。
舉例來説，“勉强”（在日文）是指學習的意思，但在中文卻是指“强求，强制”的意思。
畢竟不同語言在文法上也存在異同。懂日文的人，在學中文的時候，可能會比沒學日文的人覺得簡單一點吧。

西班牙语是我最咸的季节。
西班牙語是我最鹹的季節。
Chinese is my best language.

GrandPiano wrote:西班牙语是我最咸的季节。
西班牙語是我最鹹的季節。
Chinese is my best language.