Need help with 'interpretation' of chinese sentence...

[bushpilot]

Hi, I am new to the chinese language. I have only been studying for a few weeks. So far I have been able to understand and follow along with numbers but when it comes to grammatical structure... i'm not really grasping that. Example... this sentance,

"纠结 难道最近这么不顺吗？"

Using a dictionary helps in defining the individual characters meaning but not very helpful when it comes to 'interpretation'. Is this a process that just comes naturally after long exposure to the language? So far I have been very intrigued with this language and any helpful practice tips would be greatly appreciated...

thanks...

[Lu]

Context is also very important. Standing alone like this, I can't really tell what this sentence means either. Can you give more information on where you saw it?

[Kenny同志]

纠结，难道最近这么不顺吗？

Troubled mind. How come things have been against me like this lately?

Edited April 28, 2010 at 10:30 AM by kenny2006woo

[anonymoose]

This sentence seems a little strange to me, though admittedly I'm not a native speaker.

But maybe I can give you a few pointers about the grammar and structure.

Firstly, 难道...吗 is used for rhetorical questions, something similar to the exclamation "Don't tell me ... !" in English.

最近 means recently

不顺 means not smooth or not straight-forward or troublesome

这么 means this much, or to this extent

So 这么不顺 could be translated as "so troublesome", "that troublesome"

So putting those parts together, 难道最近这么不顺吗？ could be tranlated as "Has (it) been that troublesome lately?" or "Don't tell me that it's been that troublesome lately"

According to the dictionary, 纠结 means "mental confusion" or "entanglement" or, in my understanding, "(being in an awkwards situation and) not knowing what to do", but I'm not sure how to interpret it in this sentence. Somehow it doesn't fit the rest of the sentence.

I'll leave a native speaker to give further explanation.

[Kenny同志]

纠结，难道最近这么不顺吗？

=我很纠结，想不通最近事情怎么这么不顺。

I am confused. Why have things been so troublesome lately?

Quoted from 汉典

难道：

犹难说，说不定。 元 关汉卿 《拜月亭》第三折：“俺这新状元，早难道花压得乌纱帽簷偏。” 明 王衡 《郁轮袍》第五折：“ 宋 ：诗怎么是那样论，我就擢这卷为第一，前卷落第为下卷，填了榜者。 赵 ：慢填慢填，只这卷好哩。 宋 ：难道。”《儿女英雄传》第十六回：“ 褚一官 道：‘岂但八分，十分都可保。’ 安老爷 説：‘这也难道。明日只怕还得大大的费番脣舌。’

副词。表示反诘语气。 元 顾德辉 《青玉案》词：“可恨狂风空自恶。晓来一阵，晚来一阵，难道都吹落？”《儿女英雄传》第三十回：“足有四万金的光景！难道还不够父母的安享不成？” 许地山 《缀网劳蛛·枯杨生花》：“你听那可恶的小厮硬说他家主人不姓 金 ，难道我的儿子改了姓不成？”

[fengyixiao]

This sentence seems a little strange to me, though admittedly I'm not a native speaker.

This sentence isn't strange at all.

According to the dictionary, 纠结 means "mental confusion" or "entanglement" or, in my understanding, "(being in an awkwards situation and) not knowing what to do", but I'm not sure how to interpret it in this sentence. Somehow it doesn't fit the rest of the sentence.

纠结 is used a lot by native speaker.

纠结 means "mental confusion" or "entanglement,here and usually 纠结 means "confused and bothered"

[jbradfor]

Is it just me, or does that sentence seem waaaaaay too hard for someone only studying for a couple of weeks?