Answers
Jan 29, 2015 - 07:32 PM
Hi Fabrice, I can help. First is the difference between qù and zài. Second is an emphasis on translating from English sentence structure to Mandarin sentence structure (aka yoda talk). Third are answers and explanations to the exercises you asked about.
First, qù vs zài.
-- qù means 'to go to...'.
-- zài means 'to be at...' or 'am at...'
**IMPORTANT - The phrase in English "going to" can mean two things: "to actively travel somewhere", or "to intent to do something". Whenever you say in English "am going to do 'x'", it is a statement of intention...you 'intend to do x' or "will do x". This is a convention for English, but not for Mandarin. For Mandarin, henever you see "going to do x', just translate it to "do 'x'". Eg, "I'm going to go shopping" = "I go shop". "Today I'm going to shop at the store" = "Tomorrow, I (at the store) shop". Now, if you actually do want to say "I intend to do x", there is a way of saying that in Fluenz Mandarin 3.
Second, sentence structure. Session 24 broke out the sentence structure for Mandarin into colors, this was one of the most important lessons. It goes like this:
[optional Subject - green] [Time - orange] [optional Subject - green] [Location - Red] [Verb - Blue] [Object - Purple].
**Whenever you see a sentence in English and want to translate it into Mandarin, first translate it into Mandarin Sentence Structure using English words. I cannot emphasize this enough.
English sentence structure: I'm going to shop today.
Mandarin sentence structure: Today I shop.
zài and qù are somewhat special cases, they're treated as a modifier to whatever they're placed in front of, and not so much their own verbs. Don't think of qù as "go", think of it as "go to + location."; so "qù+location" as in "qù Běijīng" = "go to Beijing". Same with zài, think of it as "zài + location" as in "zài Běijīng" = "To be at Beijing", or, "am at Beijing".
Third, here are answers to the exercises:
1 ---
I went shopping there yesterday
[Time - yesterday] [Subject - I] [Location - at there] [Verb - Shopping]
Mandarin: Yesterday I at there shopping.
[Time - zuótiān] [Subject - wǒ] [Location - zài nàli] [Verb - mǎi dōngxi]
Zuótiān wǒ zài nàli mǎi dōngxi
-
2 ---
I'm going to eat there tomorrow
Mandarin: Tomorrow I at there eating
míngtiān wǒ zài nàli chīfàn (yes)
-
míngtiān wǒ zài nàli qù chīfàn (no - because 'going to' is intention, and gets deleted)
Mandarin: Tomorrow I at there go eat. This actually says you're both 'already at there' and 'in the act of going there', which makes no sense. You're either there, or you're in the process of going there.
-
3 ---I want to go eat there tomorrow
Mandarin: Tomorrow I want qo there eating
Zuótiān wǒ yào qù nàli chīfàn
--
zuótiān wǒ yào zài nàli qù chīfàn (no - this says: Tomorrow I want to be there and go there to eat)
zuótiān wǒ yào zài nàli chīfàn (no - this says: Tomorrow I want to be there eating).
-
4 ---Tomorrow I'm going (to go) to eat there. You aren't just going to eat there, you're going TO GO to eat there.
Mandarin: Tomorrow I go there eating
Míngtiān wǒ yào qù nàli chīfàn (yes)
Míngtiān wǒ yào qù zài nàli chīfàn (no - pick either zài or qù, you're either "going to go there" or you're "going to be there").
-
5 ---I want to go eat there today
Mandarin: Today I want go there eating
jīntīan wǒ yào qù nàli chīfàn (yes)
jīntiān wǒ yào zài nàli chīfàn (no - this says: [Mandarin structure: Today I want to be there eating]. [English structure: I want to eat there today].)
-
6---
Did you eat here yesterday?
Mandarin: Yesterday you at here eating?
Zuótiān nǐ zài zhèli chīfàn ma? (yes)
zuótiān nǐ zài zhèli chīfan ma? (no, because you missed the accent on the a in chīfàn).
-
7---
Are you eating there?
You there eating?
Nǐ zài nàli chīfàn ma? (yes)
xiànzài nǐ zài nàli chīfàn ma? (no - this says: "Right Now at this very moment" are you eating there?)
Conceptually it's roughly the same, but think of xiànzài as meaning a way to emphasize that you mean 'right now'. Also, xiànzài is used when asking for the time. In Mandarin, there are no conjugations, so everything is spoken as though its in the present-tense; xiànzài is used to say "right now at this instant". So "Are you eating there?" means to ask if you are at this place to eat, whereas xiànzài turns it into "Right now are you in the act of eating there?", which might suggest that there's food on the table and you're in between bites.
First, qù vs zài.
-- qù means 'to go to...'.
-- zài means 'to be at...' or 'am at...'
**IMPORTANT - The phrase in English "going to" can mean two things: "to actively travel somewhere", or "to intent to do something". Whenever you say in English "am going to do 'x'", it is a statement of intention...you 'intend to do x' or "will do x". This is a convention for English, but not for Mandarin. For Mandarin, henever you see "going to do x', just translate it to "do 'x'". Eg, "I'm going to go shopping" = "I go shop". "Today I'm going to shop at the store" = "Tomorrow, I (at the store) shop". Now, if you actually do want to say "I intend to do x", there is a way of saying that in Fluenz Mandarin 3.
Second, sentence structure. Session 24 broke out the sentence structure for Mandarin into colors, this was one of the most important lessons. It goes like this:
[optional Subject - green] [Time - orange] [optional Subject - green] [Location - Red] [Verb - Blue] [Object - Purple].
**Whenever you see a sentence in English and want to translate it into Mandarin, first translate it into Mandarin Sentence Structure using English words. I cannot emphasize this enough.
English sentence structure: I'm going to shop today.
Mandarin sentence structure: Today I shop.
zài and qù are somewhat special cases, they're treated as a modifier to whatever they're placed in front of, and not so much their own verbs. Don't think of qù as "go", think of it as "go to + location."; so "qù+location" as in "qù Běijīng" = "go to Beijing". Same with zài, think of it as "zài + location" as in "zài Běijīng" = "To be at Beijing", or, "am at Beijing".
Third, here are answers to the exercises:
1 ---
I went shopping there yesterday
[Time - yesterday] [Subject - I] [Location - at there] [Verb - Shopping]
Mandarin: Yesterday I at there shopping.
[Time - zuótiān] [Subject - wǒ] [Location - zài nàli] [Verb - mǎi dōngxi]
Zuótiān wǒ zài nàli mǎi dōngxi
-
2 ---
I'm going to eat there tomorrow
Mandarin: Tomorrow I at there eating
míngtiān wǒ zài nàli chīfàn (yes)
-
míngtiān wǒ zài nàli qù chīfàn (no - because 'going to' is intention, and gets deleted)
Mandarin: Tomorrow I at there go eat. This actually says you're both 'already at there' and 'in the act of going there', which makes no sense. You're either there, or you're in the process of going there.
-
3 ---I want to go eat there tomorrow
Mandarin: Tomorrow I want qo there eating
Zuótiān wǒ yào qù nàli chīfàn
--
zuótiān wǒ yào zài nàli qù chīfàn (no - this says: Tomorrow I want to be there and go there to eat)
zuótiān wǒ yào zài nàli chīfàn (no - this says: Tomorrow I want to be there eating).
-
4 ---Tomorrow I'm going (to go) to eat there. You aren't just going to eat there, you're going TO GO to eat there.
Mandarin: Tomorrow I go there eating
Míngtiān wǒ yào qù nàli chīfàn (yes)
Míngtiān wǒ yào qù zài nàli chīfàn (no - pick either zài or qù, you're either "going to go there" or you're "going to be there").
-
5 ---I want to go eat there today
Mandarin: Today I want go there eating
jīntīan wǒ yào qù nàli chīfàn (yes)
jīntiān wǒ yào zài nàli chīfàn (no - this says: [Mandarin structure: Today I want to be there eating]. [English structure: I want to eat there today].)
-
6---
Did you eat here yesterday?
Mandarin: Yesterday you at here eating?
Zuótiān nǐ zài zhèli chīfàn ma? (yes)
zuótiān nǐ zài zhèli chīfan ma? (no, because you missed the accent on the a in chīfàn).
-
7---
Are you eating there?
You there eating?
Nǐ zài nàli chīfàn ma? (yes)
xiànzài nǐ zài nàli chīfàn ma? (no - this says: "Right Now at this very moment" are you eating there?)
Conceptually it's roughly the same, but think of xiànzài as meaning a way to emphasize that you mean 'right now'. Also, xiànzài is used when asking for the time. In Mandarin, there are no conjugations, so everything is spoken as though its in the present-tense; xiànzài is used to say "right now at this instant". So "Are you eating there?" means to ask if you are at this place to eat, whereas xiànzài turns it into "Right now are you in the act of eating there?", which might suggest that there's food on the table and you're in between bites.
Jan 30, 2015 - 10:31 AM
Great explanation thank you so much!!! I was stuck at this session and now I can move on :) I think that when you said that here the zai and qu are more like modifiers than it made more sense. Also, I was aware of the different construction (time, location, etc..), but I was still trying to be too close to the english. Then when it didn't work, I tried different combinations without stepping back and taking time to think. I really appreciate your help, xie xie !!!
Jan 30, 2015 - 02:08 PM
I'm happy to report that I got ALL but 1 right when I tried again today after reading your explanation. I missed that one:
i'm going to eat there tomorrow
míngtiān wǒ qù nàli chīfàn no
míngtiān wǒ zài nàli chīfàn yes
I saw this as "i'm going there to go eat" instead of "I will eat there tomorrow". So again thank you very much for your help, skykid14!
i'm going to eat there tomorrow
míngtiān wǒ qù nàli chīfàn no
míngtiān wǒ zài nàli chīfàn yes
I saw this as "i'm going there to go eat" instead of "I will eat there tomorrow". So again thank you very much for your help, skykid14!
Feb 01, 2015 - 04:09 PM
Happy to have helped. It's not the easiest for us English natives, but it sure is a fascinating language. You might like to check out the Tuttle Chinese-English Learner's dictionary by Li xxxx . IMHO it is the perfect companion to Fluenz Mandarin. It's in both Pinyin and Hanzi. Most of (if not all of) the Fluenz vocabulary words are covered. And for each word, you'll find there are several sample sentences which often will contain *exactly* the same words you've already learning in Fluenz.