哪有。。。那么+adjective

[mi3gai4rui4]

Hello all,

I'm just looking for a little help on my chinese homework. What is the meaning of the structure 哪有。。。那么+adjective ?

For example, what does the sentence:

做教师哪有做律师那么辛苦。

mean?

Thanks for any help.

米盖瑞

[redpixel]

I think it's saying that being a teacher is less 辛苦 than being a lawyer

I'm not sure what a good translation would be. 哪有 is not really a question, it's more of a statement. "Being a teacher is nowhere near as hard as being a lawyer" perhaps.

[yonglin]

Ok, the other Swede will attempt an entirely non-grammatical and non-technical explanation which helps her understand this point.

哪儿有 literally means "where is", but very frequently means more like "there is no... ". If you think about it, it's very logical: if there is nothing of something, then indeed the rhetorical question "where is" seems perfectly justified. It's like, you're looking for something (that someone else claims to exist), but you just can't find it.

This is the same sense as the textbook answer to a compliment, i.e., 哪儿啊 or 哪里哪里: someone tells you that you are pretty, but you just cannot see the prettiness in yourself, so you pose the rhetorical question of where that prettiness is - in your opinion, there is none!

From what I've understood, you'd only use this construction if your opinion is opposite of what someone else just said. For instance,

当教师好辛苦呀！(think: this is the tired teacher who just gets back from work)

做教师哪儿有做律师那么辛苦。*

Although * literally means something like "being a teacher is nowhere near as bad as being a lawyer", it's definitely got something of "oh! stop complaining! it's not really that bad. look at (the lawyer)! she's working much longer hours than you are, etc." in it.