We were waiting for Brendan to arrive when the conversation turned to Yulao, one of our favorite restaurants in Beijing and the source of what is possibly the best lamb and beef kebabs in the whole city. Having spent an unhealthy number of evenings there, our crew was enthusiastically passing judgment on the menu when Brendan stepped into the room. "It's a great place," he said taking off his coat, "but don't look in the kitchen...."

 said on
May 28, 2010
Our of curiosity, can we put (si3 + le) behind any adjective?
 said on
May 28, 2010
@jim.veseley,

Hi Jim, yes we can. For instance, 她真是漂亮死了!(She's really extremely pretty) or 你的猫可爱死了!(Your cat is really cute). You can use this to express your strong feelings no matter they are positive or negative.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
July 5, 2010
Hi Echo,

How would you say "He is not A. He is B." in chinese? 不是"不是A就是B"吧。

/Dunderklumpen
 said on
July 5, 2010
@maslit98,

That's it exactly. 他不是__A__, 他就是__B__ works perfectly assuming A and B are both nouns.
 said on
July 5, 2010
Oh..., so chinese does not distinguish between "If he is not 流鼻涕 then he is 打喷嚏" and "He does not 流鼻涕. He does 打喷嚏." then?? Both seem to be 他不是流鼻涕就是打喷嚏。 :S
 said on
October 11, 2010
I just wanted to clarify:

1st sneeze. 有人想你了。

2nd sneeze. 有人骂你了。

3rd sneeze. 有人念叨你了。

4th+ sneeze. 你感冒了。

Right?

 said on
October 11, 2010
@anita.wk.leung,

Totally correct!!

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
January 3, 2011
Returning to the point raised by maslit98...

It seems to me that the difference in Chinese between "when he's not A he's B" and "he's not A, just B" is the repetition of the subject in the latter form: 他不是 A 就是 B. vs. 他不是 A 他就是 B.

Correct?
 said on
January 4, 2011
@jyh,

"When he's not A he's B" is 他不是A就是B, while "he's not A, just B" is 他不是A,而是/只是B or 他就是/只是B,不是A.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
February 6, 2011
Hi Echo,

Another great podcast. I enjoyed it, as usual. I've been taught how to describe a cold's symptoms before, but never the word for nose liquid!

I was wondering if 只是 a contraction of 只不过就是?The meaning is at least similar, right?

Thanks

Seb
 said on
February 8, 2011
@sebds70,

Yes, you can totally understand 只是 as 只不过就是 :) 没问题!

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com