多 position

[Scoobyqueen]

Have I understood this right that duo is placed before the measure word with numbers that are even and after the measure word when numbers are uneven: 1200 多个人 1203 个多人。

[skylee]

No. In such context it comes after an approximate (and usually bigger) number, which inevitably should be an even number. It means approximately or about. 1203 is a very specific number and 1203個多人 is wrong. 1200多個人 is ok.

[Scoobyqueen]

Cheers for your swift response. Your answer now makes sense.

[lingo-ling]

A side note: in far too many Chinese papers and articles I've translated, I've found that Chinese writers tend to tack 多 after numbers even when not necessary. It's as if they do it out of habit. So seeing something like "1203多個人" is not uncommon.

I've even seen 多 tacked on to numbers when the writer is trying to emphasize "fewness". For example, "Attendance this year hit a record low, with only 100多 people showing up." Drives me nuts.

[creamyhorror]

I've even seen 多 tacked on to numbers when the writer is trying to emphasize "fewness". For example, "Attendance this year hit a record low, with only 100多 people showing up." Drives me nuts.

That doesn't seem wrong to me. 多 doesn't emphasize largeness, it means "-odd", as in "fifty-odd".

[skylee]

I agree with #5.

[lingo-ling]

Which, coincidentally, is how I "compromise" when I translate it... but it seems to me, that when emphasizing fewness, a writer should choose a round number higher than the actual figure, and use "less than" or "not even" or something along those lines.

[li3wei1]

I think both ways work equally well in English. If the target is, say 500, and 106 show up, you could say 'not even 110', but that makes it sound like 110 is some sort of target or milestone, or you could say '100 odd' or '100 some', and you get the image of a few stragglers dribbling in after the first milestone was reached.