a whole bunch of vocab/grammar questions...

[Strawberries513]

Ok well, Im the type of person that always asks too many questions but i didnt want to make a separate thread for all of them. well here goes:

1. how do you say "by" as in.. "I began by..." or "he angered her by..."

2. how do you say "for" as in... "too difficult for me" or "too scary for the child"

3. how do you say "feel" as in.. "I feel sad" or "he feels angry"

4. how do you say "eachother" as in... "they love eachother" or "they write to eachother everyday"

well I know I have more I just cant think of them. All I ask is that if some kind soul would answer at least one, to include an example sentence so I can see how to use it. THANKS so much

[heifeng]

My 2 cents:

I don't think it's a good idea to take a word in English and find out what the 'equivalent' would be in Chinese b/c there's not going to be a perfect match. Look at the overall idea you are trying to express and then think about how you would express that in Chinese.

[Strawberries513]

thats exactly what I want. what is the word that expresses that meaning. in other words, how do you say those sentences naturally in chinese?

[Gulao]

1. This one seems difficult for me. My intuition says to use 得 dé. Be careful of syntax here. The B clause will come first, followed by 得, then the A clause will follow.

I began by... = 我…得开始, He angered her by = 他…得气了她

(This one should be verified by a native speaker. I'm fairly sure it's grammatically correct, but I'm not sure it's the most natural way to say these things.)

2. 为 wèi is the best one I can think of. This preceeds the noun, and the resulting phrase preceeds the predicate.

Too difficult for me = 为我太难, Too scary for the child = 为孩子太可怕

3. 觉得 jué dé.

I feel sad = 我觉得难过, He feels angry = 他觉得气愤

4. 彼此 bǐ cǐ. Note that this also holds the meaning of "you, too" or "me, too."

They love each other = 他们爱彼此, They write each other every day = 他们天天给彼此写信

(Also note that I'm not sure of the usage of 彼此 as a noun in these situations. Someone more knowledgable than I will have to confirm or deny.)

[skylee]

2. 为 wèi is the best one I can think of. This preceeds the noun' date=' and the resulting phrase preceeds the predicate.

Too difficult for me = 为我太难, Too scary for the child = 为孩子太可怕[/quote']

Consider 對我（來説）太難；對孩子來說太可怕了。

4. 彼此 bǐ cǐ. Note that this also holds the meaning of "you' date=' too" or "me, too."

They love each other = 他们爱彼此, They write each other every day = 他们天天给彼此写信[/quote']

Consider 他們彼此相愛；他們天天寫信給對方/給對方寫信。

1. how do you say "by" as in.. "I began by..." or "he angered her by..."

Depending on the context it could be different. 用/以/由 are all possible. For example, "I began by reading Chapter One" would be 我由第一章讀起. Or "He angered her by calling her a bitch" would be 他叫她婊子，激怒了她.

[heifeng]

I began by

首先我.....

[Strawberries513]

thanks for the replies. But can someone clarify something? the Bi3Ci3 go after the verb or before?

like is it "tamen ai bici" or "tamen bici ai" ??

sorry Im not at a computer that can type chinese right now...

[heifeng]

Hmm,

for tamen bici xiang ai, do you really need the 'bici'....

can't it just be said tamen xiang ai, tamen en ai...

(Sorry, I'm not a native speaker so I personally am not 100% sure so I often end up phrasing many responses in a question....I just thought the xiang should already cover the bici part so it seems redundant to me)

[mythia]

First off, I really appreciate you guys' interests in Chinese, and now then let a native speaker handle this. ;)

1. Naturally, Chinese would never say "He angered her by turning off the TV."(for example.)in this order and wording. Really convenient and in my opinion an advantage for the English language to describe two actions that's causally related within a sentence with merely a "by". The most appropriate "equivalent" (though I must agree with heifeng here and do not recommend this type of research) would be

a. 通过（tōng guò）。 The word itself means roughly "get across", "get through", or "pass". However it sometimes is used as an preposition, as in here. And "via" or "through" would be a better equivalent in English for “通过” when used as a preposition. So you can say “通过学习汉语，我认识了一些朋友。”"By learning Chinese, I get to know some friends." Or, in this case, “通过关上电视，他惹怒了她。”"By turning off the TV, he angered her."

Be aware however, that this expression, although grammatically correct, probably would NEVER appear in any kind of conversation or literature. Because 通过 as the start of a prepositional phrase, is specially used for a either formal or long-going activity which results in something. But here "he turned off the TV" and "he angered her" are just instant, trivial, daily actions, so the use of 通过 would look most weird. Best put in this example: You could say “通过治疗，他不再失眠了。”"Through therapy, he no longer suffers from insomnia." But you can't say “通过一粒药片，他入睡了。”"Through a pill, he fell asleep."

So what's the native speaker's choice then? Say if I am translating a novel from English to Chinese, as for this line, I would use:

b. 让（ràng）， 使（shǐ）or 令（lìng）。Which again finds its equivalent in English as "make". And if it's not for some particular reason, a Chinese would say the cause of an event first and then the result. So it would be "He turned off the TV, which/it makes her angry." “他关上了电视，这使（令/让）她气愤。”

There you go, that's A.O.K both gramatically and idiomatically.

2. The answer is “对……来说”。 "too difficult for me"---“对我来说太难了”。

3. “感到” or “觉得”。“I feel sad”－－－“我感到/觉得难过。”

4. Another tricky one. The character 相 or the word 互相/相互，used as an adverb, carries a meaning of a mutually affecting action. But since Chinese don't literally say "each other", so it's another hard time trying to figure out an "equivalent". Say, in "they love each other", “他们相爱”（note：you never say “他们互相爱”！）or “他们彼此相爱” should be OK, but in "they write each other"， you probably would say “他们给彼此写信” or “他们互通书信”。

On a last note, I am really impressed by what you've achieved learning Chinese so far. Please keep up, and may I ask you a favor that could you please help to cure me of my Chiglish at the same time?! Regards.

[skylee]

and now then let a native speaker handle this. ;)