Learn Mandarin Chinese Online
Chinese Learn Online is the most effective way to learn Mandarin Chinese fast! Our progressive immersion system only teaches a few new words in each lesson. As the lessons progress, we replace English with Chinese words that have been taught previously, resulting in constant review!
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December 6th, 2009 at 9:44 am
@Adam,
re: futur tense construction
is the “le” always necessary at the end of sentence when using “yao”
nà(in that case) wǒ yào gàosu wǒ de zhongguópéngyǒu le - i will (going to)tell my chinese friend
what about using “hui..de” ?
can you clarify with a few examples thanks
December 9th, 2009 at 4:18 am
Hi Ruide,
“le” isn’t always necessary when using “yao” since it actually changes the meaning of the sentence. Compare the following, from the lesson.
a. Wǒ yào chīfàn.
b. Wǒ yào chīfàn le.
They both mean “I am going to eat.” However the second example adds a “le” indicating a change in situation. So perhaps the speaker was doing something else first, and now he is going to change the situation by leaving to go eat. In the first sentence he is not emphasizing that aspect.
“yao” can be thought of as meaning “going to” whereas “hui” is “will”. The difference is subtle. “Yao” is usually used for immediate actions that may be happening now, whereas “hui” expresses a slightly more distant future that you are “intending” to happen.
Hope that helps?
December 9th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
@Adam, thanks for your clear and professional explanation.
i should start making a list of sentence strutures. an important key to being understood at elementry level.
talking about tenses structure i’m also unclear about using ‘weishenme’ or ‘zenme bu’ to express eg. why don’t you.. (present tense) and why didn’t you.. (past tense)
what is more colloquial : ni zenme bu.. or weishenme bu (present) weishenme mei (past)
a few of your examples would probably be more understandable.
my regards to Luise bye
December 10th, 2009 at 2:25 am
Hi Ruide,
You can think of “ni zenme bu” as being “how come you don’t” while “ni weishenme bu” as being “why don’t you”. In some cases, (as in English) they can be used interchangeably. The present and past tense can be expressed by using “bu” (present) and “mei” (past). Take a look at the following examples:
Nǐ zěnme bù chīfàn? (How come you don’t eat?)
Nǐ zěnme méi chīfàn? (How come you didn’t eat?)
Nǐ wèishénme bù chīfàn? (Why don’t you eat?)
Nǐ wèishénme méi chīfàn? (Why didn’t you eat?)
Hope that helps!