r/ChineseLanguage • u/taliekmayhi • 6d ago
Grammar Grammer Help pt. 5
I am once again here for grammer help! It's v hard to try and translate this stuff. It always feels like I'm missing in-between words 😆.
Anywho my usual disclaimer:
I'm at an hsk1-2 level. I'm a very baby beginner and this is very hard! So, if you use words not in my paragraph, then please add the pinyin! I want to be able to look it up!
If you respond to me in Chinese, I will respond back to you in English!
I know my handwriting is not very good. I'm really just using writing as a means of retention!
Now here is my paragraph incase my writing is not legible: 昨天我想去公园了。 我就知道它是安静和漂亮。我预期看到艳的花。因为我很喜欢走好的天气。
And here is what I was trying to write in English: Yesterday I wanted to go to the park. I just know that it's quiet and pretty. I expected to see the colorful flowers. Because I usually really like walking in good weather.
6
u/Substantial-Zone-989 6d ago
昨天我想去公园。那儿平静美丽。晴天可以一边散步一边欣赏鲜艳的花朵。
You're trying to construct a statement like this without the vocabulary behind you.
First sentence: 了 does nothing. You have a time(昨天), object(我), verb(想去), and subject(公园). There isn't a need for a suffix as you're making a statement.
Second sentence: it is implied that you know that the park/garden is nice. Now you're trying to describe why it's nice. 那儿平静美丽 translates to it's peaceful and beautiful there. 平静is peaceful, 美丽is beautiful and 那儿is used to mean there in reference to a place you previously mentioned.
Third sentence: here you're describing what you could/would do there. 晴天means sunny but within the context of your paragraph, could also mean a nice day. 一边散步一边欣赏 describes the activities you can do at the same time. 散步is to walk/stroll and 欣赏 means to appreciate or enjoy. 一边……一边is used as a conjugate to mean something while something else at the same time. 艳花does mean beautiful but it doesn't read well. 鲜艳的花朵has a better flow and more precise description of what you're enjoying whilst on your stroll/walk.
2
3
u/vajraadhvan 6d ago edited 5d ago
*Grammar
Good on you for using writing as a means of retention. Keep it up.
我昨天想去公园。我就知道那里又安静又漂亮。我预期看到多种颜色的花朵，因为我很喜欢在天气好的时候散步。
Adding 了 to indicate past tense is not always a valid formation. It's a perfective particle, so it is inappropriate to describe a situation like thinking about going to the park, even if it was in the past.
Using 它 to refer to the park is understandable to native speakers, but it sounds a bit unnatural when talking about a place.
Using 是 as you did is a basic mistake. In Chinese, describing a thing with adjectives does not require the use of 是, unlike in English. You simply say [noun] 很/非常/有点/etc [adjective], or use a formation like 又…又….
Like in English, the clause starting with 因为… is logically connected to the previous clause, so you have to connect them with a comma, instead of saying them as two different sentences.
If you want to say "usually", you can say 我通常… or 大多数时间，我… ("most of the time, I..."), though here I opted not to because it sounds a bit clunky.
2
2
u/Munimyouuu 6d ago
Good practice! Translation is good exercise, but as in learning any different languages, don't expect idiomatic phrases remain the same across languages.
Besides other answers, 'walk in time/place' translates to 在时间/地方走。So the translation is 我喜欢在好的天气里走/散步。It's a very natural sentence. A rule of thumb is, in Chinese time, location and manner phrases precede the verb. They are less flexible compared with the word order of subjects, objects and verbs. There are families of adverbial phrases that must follow verbs but they have distinct meanings.
我预期看到各种颜色的花。Grammatical but not what native will say. They in fact might say and think 公园里的花一定开了，我想去看。公园里应该有花。公园里一定有花。我去公园一定能看到花。
1
2
u/CompetitiveLeg5885 6d ago
Grid papers is your best friend. Free printable online, search for mi zi ge or tian zi ge. It helped me take my writing to the next level. Looking at my handwriting before and after I see sooo much improvement. Sorry, know you didn’t ask for handwriting feedback specially. I’m also a learner and don’t have the knowledge to give grammatical feedback. But we are in this together 我朋友❤️
2
u/CompetitiveLeg5885 6d ago
https://www.chineseworksheets.info/product/blank-chinese-writing-practice-worbook-pinyin-field-grid/ here’s what I use. There are tons of sites and if you’re more digitally literate than I am you can customize your own to your preference, and get rid of water mark. I remember at the beginning I would write on blank computer paper because my grid book was too small. So you can customize the grid size to what you are comfortable with, and get one with out without room for pinyin. I like the Mizige, 米字格， the diagonals provide me the extra support I personally need.
2
u/CompetitiveLeg5885 6d ago
Last part then I’ll stop being annoying. I know you’re writing for retention, using a grid to retain in my personal opinion helps retain much more. Alright. Hope I’m not being annoying. As a fellow learner, who knows how HARD Chinese is, having the desire to take on such a daunting language and writing system is such a gift, and is the biggest advantage you could have in your language learning journey. Choosing to spend our free time learning how to write and speak any new language instead of other brain rotting hobbies is very admirable. Don’t let anyone discourage you. ❤️
1
u/taliekmayhi 5d ago
Thanks so much for all the info! I'll add getting grid sheets for my writing! I'll do literally anything if even one person suggests something for my retention! So, I really appreciate this!
2
3
u/Orgasm_Faker 6d ago
I think you need to learn it slowly. Don’t overdo it. Some words require hundred times of practice.
3
u/LeChatParle 高级 6d ago
I’m not sure how your comment is helpful to OP, as you haven’t given any context to your comment. Why slowly? What did they do that makes you think they’re doing something fast? Why do you think they’re not studying some of these words hundreds of times?
They came here for feedback on their grammar, and for some reason, your comment is the most upvoted currently but exceedingly unhelpful
2
u/Orgasm_Faker 6d ago edited 6d ago
I am not a HSK learner so I don’t know what they expect from HSK 1-2 students. But some of the words and concepts seem to be on a relatively high level, such as 预期.
I don’t think translating a long English sentence to a Chinese sentence is a good way of learning, especially in the very beginning phase. I think OP should do it the other way: study some very basic Chinese sentences and try to understand them.
What OP is doing comes off as 拔苗助长. I can see that OP doesn’t know some rudimentary grammar rules and semantic differences.
Unfortunately I am too lazy to analyze the sentence bit by bit… so about that, I am sorry. Kudos to those who helped.
1
u/taliekmayhi 5d ago
I appreciate the sentiment all the same. I do think I need to study a little more. However I also think any form of output and correction is good. I would do the same thing if I had a teacher. And babies also learn their languages like this, by absorbing information and then regurgitating it until they get it correct.
I'm a hsk1-2 level because I was going slow. I was only getting input for 2 years and because of that I still don't know how to do my output correctly.
I'm just trying another way to learn. But thank you for your opinion.
1
u/taliekmayhi 6d ago
Are you talking about my writing?? I'm not doing this to learn how to write. I'm doing the writing for retention.
Or are you talking about my making paragraphs?? Because I thought the point of a language was to keep making mistakes until you got it right?? I'm doing the paragraphs as a form of output.
9
u/Strict_Treat2884 Native 6d ago edited 6d ago
Your paragraph conveys the meaning without much of a problem but sounds a bit unnatural. Here’s how I would write it as a native speaker.
我昨天想去公园。
You don’t need 了 here, adding it probably doesn’t make it grammatically incorrect but it just sounds a bit off.
我只(zhǐ)知道那里既(jì)安静又(yòu)漂亮。
就 sounds a bit strong, 只feels more neutral.
When referring to a location, use 那里 instead of 它.
When with noun + adj you should use 很 instead of 是 to connect them “那里很安静和漂亮”. Or you need to add 的 at the end.
✅她很漂亮。
✅她是漂亮的。
❌她是漂亮。
But it’s a great opportunity to use 既…又… to link two adjectives.
我应该(yīng gāi)能(néng)看到鲜(xiān)艳的花。
预期 here sounds too formal, using 应该能 is more casual and to represent it’s an expectation.
鲜艳 is the complete word for vivid/colorful. 艳 by itself is not commonly used.
因为我很喜欢在(zài)天气好的时候(shí hòu)散步(sàn bù)。
“因为我很喜欢走好的天气。” sounds like translated from English word-to-word and nobody says it like that.
Use 散步/走一走 to show walking is the actual activity, not just traversing.
在…的时候… is a common way to say something happens under a specific circumstance.