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common expressions so I sound less bookish


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Posted

I'm sorry for posting this here, but I've been trying to find an answer to this for several months. When you telephone someone, ni3 gei3 ta1 da3 dian4 hua4. Saying that once or twice in a conversation is fine, but it gets a little tedious to repeat that whole mouthful over time. How does one say "I called him" and "I called him back"?

While I'm at it, I've been told to be careful, that the word for appointment in my dictionary really means assignation or affair. So, how does one safely say: "I need to make an appointment for ...?"

Thanks,

Sandra

Posted

"wo gei ni da dianhua" is sort of the wordy/formal way, it's like saying "I call you on the telephone". Usually people just say "wo da gei ni" which means "I call you".

Posted
how does one safely say: "I need to make an appointment for ...?"

I'm not quite sure about this one, but one I recently heard (from my landlord when we needed to meet so she could give me my deposit back) was 约个时间 - arrange a time.

Roddy

Posted

'ta gei wo lai dian' he gave me a call.

'wo gei ___ hui dian' i return him a call(to whoever ' _____ ' ).

but dun say 'wo gen ta lai dian', that means there's some 'magic' btw u and the other person. 'lai dian', electrified... usually using eye power... :D

Posted
I'm sorry for posting this here, but I've been trying to find an answer to this for several months

No problem - the speaking topic might have been better, but you seem to have got a few useful answers anyway.

Roddy

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