82riceballs Posted September 27, 2007 at 09:33 PM Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 at 09:33 PM I read in an example sentence: 他簡化了指令∼于兒童理解。She simplified the instructions so that the children could understand them. What does 于 mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gougou Posted September 28, 2007 at 01:39 AM Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 at 01:39 AM Shouldn't there be a word that the ~ replaces? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted September 28, 2007 at 09:24 AM Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 at 09:24 AM There should be a character before 于. I guess it might be 便. Thus this sentence could be complete and the translation makes sense. Therefore, in this case, it is not 于 that functions on its own but 便于 functions as a phrase, corresponding to the English translation "so...that" or "make something easier". Hope it can help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82riceballs Posted September 30, 2007 at 03:08 PM Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 at 03:08 PM yes, heartless is right, i did leave out "bian". Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted September 30, 2007 at 03:59 PM Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 at 03:59 PM You are welcome. I am happy to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose Posted September 30, 2007 at 09:22 PM Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 at 09:22 PM Since the original sentence was in traditional characters, it would be more appropriate to use 便於. Although both 于 and 於 have existed since ancient times, 於 has ended up as the standard traditional character, whereas 于 is the standard simplified character (except for the surname Yū, which is still 於). As both characters exist in either set, software that automatically converts between simplified and traditional often fails with this character, producing traditional texts peppered with 于's or simplified texts with non-surname 於's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted October 2, 2007 at 10:20 AM Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 at 10:20 AM Jose, you're right. Consistency in style is desirable. I am used to using simplified chinese, so I failed to heed it. Thank you for pointing that out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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