Grammar question: 原来小王是来中国的....

[Guest realmayo]

Say I see that a friend is coming to China, and I want to fire off a short text message or blog comment or whatever to that friend to say something like:

"So, Xiao Wang is coming to China..."

The first translation that popped into my head was:

原来小王是来中国的....

But:

1. Is 原来 too strong here? I want something a bit like "ah, so..." as an intro, i.e. "so I see that Xiao Wang is coming to China"... but in English that sentence sounds too formal, maybe something like "so it looks like you're coming to China...". Is 那,.... the only option here?

2. Using the 是...的: is this a bit out of place or clunky/formal/complex here, in what is supposed to be a relaxed off-the-cuff comment?

Would "小王来中国" be better, or is that too abrupt (after all, 小王 knows that he/she is coming to China).

Can I keep the 是 but kill the 的？ i.e. 原来小王是来中国.... and if so, does this make it more relaxed/informal?

[xiaocai]

How about "就是说，小王要来中国了"?

I think 那 and 那就是说 and 就是说 are similar to each other and therefore interchangeable here.

And because "Xiao Wang is coming to China", but (presumably) has not arrived, I think 要⋯⋯了 will be a more suitable choice and also sounds more natural in this case.

[Kenny同志]

这么说，小王同志要来中国了？

You know what? I mistook 小王 for a self-deprecating titile for 本王. How amusing!

[tooironic]

Both 原來 and 是。。。的 sound weird here IMO.

I would just say 我看小王要回國呀。

Remember if the person is Chinese then coming (back) to China would usually be expressed as 回國.

[B-scorpio]

You know what? I mistook 小王 as a self-deprecating titile for 本王. How amusing!

......I'd say you really have an intimate knowledge of Chinese culture...

[Guest realmayo]

Thanks for the replies. Thinking about it, I realise I chronically underuse 要 (except when meaning need/want).

Kenny, what's the 本王 reference?

[Kenny同志]

Thanks, Scorpio

@Realmayo

Well, 王 can be a prince or a king. In ancient times, a prince and sometimes the king would address themselves as 本王, though the king might prefer 朕, 寡人 or 孤. 小 means unimportant or humble, so 小王 was often used to show humbleness.

[shinewind]

"就是说，小王要来中国了"?

I like this one.

[malanting]

I'm a bit confused. Are you sending the text to 小王 himself or telling another person the news?

If it's 小王 you're talking to, then 就是说，你要来中国？

If it's another person, then 你知道吗？小王要来中国啦！or simply 小王要来中国啦！

是来中国的 sounds terrible.We would never say something like that. I noticed that many people overuse 是……的 when they could have put it in another way.

Like:

他是很善良的——他很善良

我是十五岁的——我今年十五岁/我十五岁

Maybe they just literally translated English to Chinese. (He他 is是 very很 kind善良的）

But the thing is we seldom ,if ever, say something like that. It's only when we want to emphasize a fact that 是……的 is used.

你知道吗，他其实是很厉害的。Even in this sentence it could be 你知道吗，他其实很厉害。

By the way, can you tell me what "so" here means? Are you trying to ask 小王 to confirm the fact? Or are you surprised to find out that he's coming to China? (Since I am a Chinese native, I don't quite get it).