chaiknees Posted February 24, 2011 at 01:28 PM Report Posted February 24, 2011 at 01:28 PM Hi all, maybe you can help me with two little questions. I know the meaning of 生气 and 帮忙, but when the two parts are apart, I am not sure about the translation. 我帮你的忙 = "I do you a favor" or "You do me a favor"? Also, how to say "Can I do you a favor?"? Is it 我能帮你的忙吗? or 你要我帮忙吗? or what else? 他生我的气 = "He makes me angry" or "I make him angry"? Thank you for your help! Quote
New Members Paul Lee Posted February 24, 2011 at 02:53 PM New Members Report Posted February 24, 2011 at 02:53 PM 我帮你的忙 = "I do you a favor", not "You do me a favor"? "Can I do you a favor?" = "我能帮你的忙吗?" or just "我能帮你吗?". "你要我帮忙吗?" also good. 他生我的气 = "I make him angry"? not the "He makes me angry" . Pls don't confuse. Main thing is 他生气, 我的 is not my or mine, it means due to me or because of me. Actually 他生我的气 best explained as "He is upset because of me". Quote
New Members zoeytammy Posted February 24, 2011 at 03:24 PM New Members Report Posted February 24, 2011 at 03:24 PM 我帮你的忙 = "I do you a favor" 我能帮你的忙吗 = "Can I do you a favor?" 你要我帮忙吗-> "Do you need my help?" 他生我的气 = "I make him angry", but I think the best translation is "He is angry with me" Quote
Daan Posted February 24, 2011 at 05:06 PM Report Posted February 24, 2011 at 05:06 PM 我帮你的忙 = "I do you a favor" or "You do me a favor"? Wǒ bāng nǐ de máng. means 'I do you a favour.'. Similarly, Tā shēng wǒ de qì. means 'He makes me angry.'. In both cases, the agent comes before the verb. It may help to think of it as follows: he (tā) gives birth to / creates (shēng) my anger (wǒ de qì). This isn't exactly linguistically sound, but it'll probably help you remember how this structure works Also, how to say "Can I do you a favor?"? Is it 我能帮你的忙吗? or 你要我帮忙吗? or what else? The first conveys the sense of the English better, I think. Nǐ yào wǒ bāngmáng ma? sounds more like 'Do you need any help?'. Quote
New Members SonicZex Posted February 24, 2011 at 05:23 PM New Members Report Posted February 24, 2011 at 05:23 PM 我帮你的忙 = "I do you a favor",not "You do me a favor" 他生我的气 = "I make him angry",not "He makes me angry" For "Can I do you a favor?","你要我帮忙吗?" is better I think Quote
David Wong Posted February 24, 2011 at 06:44 PM Report Posted February 24, 2011 at 06:44 PM 我帮你的忙 = "I do you a favor" or "You do me a favor"? I'm helping you out. Also, how to say "Can I do you a favor?"? Is it 我能帮你的忙吗? or 你要我帮忙吗? or what else? 你需要我帮忙吗？ (Do you need my help?) or 我能帮你做些什么吗？ (Can I do something for you?) 他生我的气 = "He makes me angry" or "I make him angry"? I make him angry. 生气 is literally "grow anger", and the angry one is whoever's doing the growing. Quote
creamyhorror Posted February 25, 2011 at 07:15 AM Report Posted February 25, 2011 at 07:15 AM 他生我的气 = "He is angry with me" It's not really "I make him angry". Quote
Daan Posted February 25, 2011 at 08:36 AM Report Posted February 25, 2011 at 08:36 AM Are you sure about that? He is angry with me. means the speaker is the butt of the other party's anger...and I'm pretty sure that in Tā shēng wǒ de qì., the speaker is the one who gets angry. Quote
imron Posted February 25, 2011 at 09:47 AM Report Posted February 25, 2011 at 09:47 AM and I'm pretty sure that in Tā shēng wǒ de qì., the speaker is the one who gets angry. Nope. 他 is the person who is angry。 1 Quote
chaiknees Posted February 25, 2011 at 12:51 PM Author Report Posted February 25, 2011 at 12:51 PM Thank you all for your replies! Quote
jbradfor Posted February 25, 2011 at 04:51 PM Report Posted February 25, 2011 at 04:51 PM More information on 帮忙 over here. 1 Quote
Daan Posted February 25, 2011 at 06:46 PM Report Posted February 25, 2011 at 06:46 PM I don't know what I was thinking earlier, but the other posters are right, of course. I stand corrected Quote
jbradfor Posted February 25, 2011 at 08:47 PM Report Posted February 25, 2011 at 08:47 PM It's OK Daan, no one is mad at you ;) 1 Quote
Gharial Posted February 27, 2011 at 10:26 PM Report Posted February 27, 2011 at 10:26 PM My advice is to get a good dictionary (if you haven't already) that provides grammar codes/tells you the parts of speech, and has plenty of examples. Fred Fangyu-Wang's Mandarin Chinese Dictionary: Chinese-English (Dover Publications reprint, New York 2002) is pretty good, and is previewable/searchable on Google Books (at least, the relevant entries were when I took a look just now). I'll just type up the VO bit from the introductory 'Parts of Speech' section though: A verb-object structure can never take another object. To show the relation with another noun, either a co-verb is used with the noun or the noun is used between the VO, as in gěn tā jiéhūn 跟他結婚 marry her; shēng wǒde qì 生我的氣 mad at me. There are 11 examples/various permutations spread over the bang(...) entries (pp17-19); shengqi meanwhile (however?) gets just two examples (Nǐ hái shēng wǒde qì ma? 你還生我的氣嗎? Are you still angry with me?; Tā hěn shēngqì 他很生氣 He is very angry). Quote
Glenn Posted February 27, 2011 at 11:55 PM Report Posted February 27, 2011 at 11:55 PM Shouldn't that be gēn tā jiéhūn? I thought 跟 was 一聲. Quote
Gharial Posted February 28, 2011 at 12:28 AM Report Posted February 28, 2011 at 12:28 AM Oops, thanks Glenn, you're right. (Either I've got third tone on the brain recently, or these new EU low-energy lightbulbs are no good. I guess I'll need to get a mega-power-hungry 46" plasma TV to provide any sort of reading light now! :rolleyes: ). Quote
Glenn Posted February 28, 2011 at 12:29 AM Report Posted February 28, 2011 at 12:29 AM Well, I'm relieved to hear that, because I thought I was going to have to learn a variation of it! Quote
歐博思 Posted March 20, 2011 at 02:36 PM Report Posted March 20, 2011 at 02:36 PM jbradfor that link you posted is one of the most useful links I have come across in recent times. Excellent excellent excellent! 1 Quote
jbradfor Posted March 22, 2011 at 02:09 AM Report Posted March 22, 2011 at 02:09 AM Very glad to hear you found it useful! Just in case you haven't already realized it, they have a whole bunch of other articles about Chinese grammar. Quote
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