Green Card
Posted By 美國人 on October 22, 2009
Tomorrow’s the interview.
Wish us luck. Will probably do a post about the experience at some point. Been busy, as you can probably tell.
Pleasure
Check Out My Products!
Phrasebook Entry #3
Posted By 美國人 on August 29, 2009
Here’s the next installment of things worth learning how to say that are more beneficial than learning how to talk about Bejing Opera or birthday cake.
我本來要看電視, 但我後來決定讀一本書
wǒ běnlái yào kàn diànshì, dàn wǒ hòu lái jué dìng dú yī běn shū
I was going to watch television, but instead decided to read a book.
You can use this sentence structure whenever you had planned on doing one thing, but changed your mind.
- 本來.. is essentially “originally” or “at first” but can also mean “of course” or “it goes without saying”
- 但.. you’ve probably seen before in 但是, but here is used alone. They both mean “but” though 但是 has a more of a “however” meaning, while 但 is closer to “nevertheless”.
- 後.. “after” or “later” is how 後 is being used here, though it can also mean “rear” or “behind”
- 決定.. is to decide or make up one’s mind
- 讀..means “read” but should not be confused with 念
For another simple example of how this is used, you could say, 我本來要喝茶,但我後來決定喝牛奶.
Phrasebook Entry #2
Posted By 美國人 on August 24, 2009
This is the second entry into the little phrasebook set of posts I’m doing. This sentence is designed to show how one says “After event #1, event #2 happened.”
在我老婆游泳之後我們一起看電視
zài wǒ lǎopo yóuyǒng zhīhòu wǒmen yīqǐ kàn diànshì
After my wife went swimming, we watched television together.
- 在 … 之後 is a construction used to refer to the “first… later” aspect.
- 一起 means “together”
- 電視 is “television”
So, you can see that by saying 在, inserting a clause (I did something, something happened, etc), following that by 之後 and another clause, you can create a vast array of complex sentences! 在我學習漢語跟我朋友之後我們在餐廳吃, for example.
