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16:16 Apr 23, 2004 |
Chinese to English translations [PRO] Linguistics | |||||
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| Selected response from: Wenjer Leuschel (X) Taiwan Local time: 19:12 | ||||
Grading comment
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Summary of answers provided | ||||
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5 | Simpler one here! |
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4 | FYI |
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4 | an explanation |
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Discussion entries: 5 | |
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FYI Explanation: 'Le' usually indicates the present perfect tense of a verb and it may be preceded with 'Yi3 Jin1'(already) though not necessarily. 'Shi ...de' usuall indicates the past tense to describe a combination of time and action and 'Shi4' can sometimes be omited. -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 7 hrs 23 mins (2004-04-23 23:40:06 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- But this is not a hard and fast rule. For example, their usage in your sentences are the following: \"My mother\'s left.\" (\'le\'only ) \"When did she leave?\" (\'shi ...de\' only) \"She left yesterday.\" (\'shi ... de\' or \'le\' (seldom usely) ) |
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an explanation Explanation: Well, you didn't indicate the tone of "shi" and that led to misunderstanding. Actually, you were asking when to use "le" and when "shi4 de." A simple explanation would be like this: When dealing with a plain statement of perfect tense, you use only "le." When you are answering a question or want to emphasize that something is already done, then you use "shi4...de." But, beware not to put too many words in between! |
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Simpler one here! Explanation: If you'd like to emphasize on "time", use "de". When you want to emphasize on "action", then "le". Yes, here we are talking about the "past tense" of course. Example: Wo3 Zuo2 Wan3 Ba1 Dian3 Shui4 De0 (emphasize time:Ba1 Dian3 ) (I went to bed at 8 o'clock last night) Wo3 Zuo2 Wan3 Ba1 Dian3 Shui4 Le0 (emphasize action: Shui4) (I went to bed at 8 o'clock last night) There are exceptions for sure but that's the general rule. Hope they are clear to you all. |
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