Reading my book

[SeekerOfPeace]

Thank you Lu for your help.

As long as you're clear on the meaning, you don't need to worry too much about it looking ugly in translation, after all you're not having it published.

Yes, exactly, that's what I meant by my previous reply.

1. Is there a difference between:

广阔 and 辽阔？Or does it mean the same thing?

2. What is the meaning of the following phrase:

没有一丝风.

I think it means there’s no wind, but I can’t be for certain. What’s confusing me here is the 丝 which according to me dictionary means “silk”.

3. Are there any tips as to figure out what 接着 means?

1. Follow

2. Carry on

3. Next, immediately after

Is 接着 mostly used as an adverb most of the time?

Do I absolutely need to refer to the context to find out?

4. Can 钻进 have another meaning beside “squeeze into” or “dig into”?

吓得他赶紧把头钻进水里。

“He got so afraid that he hurriedly put his head under water.”

In the previous sentence, I don’t see how 钻进 could mean “squeeze into”. I understand the function in the sentence, which is to express that the character puts his head underwater but I just don’t think that “squeeze into” is really representative here.

[imron]

I think it means there’s no wind, but I can’t be for certain. What’s confusing me here is the 丝 which according to me dictionary means “silk”.

Think of measure words as something that describes the noun. So if you imagine a strand of silk and then imagine wind as fine and delicate as that, and then that would be 一丝风. 没有一丝风 would then be something like "without a wisp of wind."

[Altair]

1. Is there a difference between:

广阔 and 辽阔？Or does it mean the same thing?

My memory is somewhat vague on this point, but I think they mean similar things from the English point of view, but are not used interchangeably. I think you can say that someone's learning is 广阔, but I am not sure that you can say that it is 辽阔. In cases like this, I try to look at the individual characters and their apparent etymology. With 广阔, it looks like the original meaning might have been something like "extensive and (covering) separate things" (i.e., "wide-ranging"). With 辽阔, it looks like the original meaning was "distantly separated" or "separated far apart." If I am correct, 广阔 would seem to stress more the coverage of many things, while 辽阔 would stress the vast distances covered.

3. Are there any tips as to figure out what 接着 means?

1. Follow

2. Carry on

3. Next, immediately after

Is 接着 mostly used as an adverb most of the time?

It helps me to separate issues of "meaning" and "definitions" into three different "buckets": (1) the label or tag I use to remember what a word means, (2) the literal meaning of a word, and (3) one or more sample translations. Confusing one "bucket" for another can lead to misunderstandings.

To me 接着 has a label of something like "follow on." It has a literal meaning of "joining/connecting up with." And it has a possible translation of "next." As I read along, I usually interpret it mentally as "following on" and deliberately avoid visualizing "translation" words such as "next" or "immediately after," which are sometimes too specific or awkward to use on the fly. They would also require me to make just the type of distinction you have inquired about. Something like "follow(ing) on" is just ambiguous enough to cover most of the Chinese meanings.

4. Can 钻进 have another meaning beside “squeeze into” or “dig into”?

吓得他赶紧把头钻进水里。

“He got so afraid that he hurriedly put his head under water.”

In the previous sentence, I don’t see how 钻进 could mean “squeeze into”. I understand the function in the sentence, which is to express that the character puts his head underwater but I just don’t think that “squeeze into” is really representative here.

I think that this is a case where it is good to have a sense of the three "buckets" I describe above. Although "squeeze into" might often be used in a translation of 钻进, I do not think that is a good "label" for it or what the word literally means. In this case, "squeeze into" is a probably a bad translation. 钻 means "drill," and so 钻进 means "drill into." My guess is that a good translation in the context above might simply be "stick" or "thrust," such as: "He was so frightened that he hurriedly stuck his head in the water."

[skylee]

1. Is there a difference between:

广阔 and 辽阔？

This question has reminded me of how I like to use the term 浩瀚 in describing, like, a big handbag. The term is usually used to describe oceans / seas but I like the comical exaggeration it conveys when it is used to describe a handbag / wardrobe, etc.