應該怎麼說 "I change my mind."

[learner2]

這一句英文在日常生活經常有機會說，但我不太清楚應該怎麼說。

 

「我要咖啡。哦，對不起，我改主義。我要可樂。」

 

還是 「我要咖啡。哦，對不起，我改決定。我要可樂。」

 

兩句話我都認為有點兒怪，不太合適，而且不好聽。

 

我是不是想多了？其實這兩句的語法是不是對的？還是有其他更好方法說？

 

感謝大家花時間觀看。

 

 

[skylee]

Consider 我改變主意了. And note how to write 主意. And also note if it is really necessary to say it. You can also consider 我還是要XX吧.

[learner2]

Hmm...your last point is very perceptive.

Yes, perhaps I could say instead

 

「我要咖啡。哦，對不起，我不要咖啡啦。我要可樂！」

 

It conveys the message clearly that I don't want coffee any more, and that I want Coke instead. So it gets the job done.

 

I need this phrase a lot otherwise the listener just gets confused about what I want, whether I want A and B, or just B.

[skylee]

Yes. Good.

[Demonic_Duck]

I think 改主意了 is fine, and it's what I'd tend to use.

 

我改主意了 = I changed my mind.

我不要喝咖啡了 = I don't want to drink coffee any more.

 

For your sentence, I'd go with something along the lines of “我要喝杯咖啡。哦，不是，改主意了，我只要喝点可乐。”

[tooironic]

I don't think 改变主意 is used often in such a trivial situation, is it? Although you can translate it as "change one's mind", my understanding is it is also commonly used to mean "a change of heart", i.e. to refer to a decision with larger consequences than just choosing which beverage to drink.

[roddy]

I'd agree with tooironic. 

 

Could you use 不了 (le, not liao) here? 

[tooironic]

You mean 我不要喝咖啡了? Yes I think it's acceptable. 了 indicates a change of state - I don't want to drink coffee any more.

[abcdefg]

Consider 我改變主意了.

I say that in a taxi when I change my mind about where I want to go. The driver usually understands, but chuckles.

 

I'll bet @tooironic's comment above in post #6 is why. It's overdoing it for such a minor situation. Good to know that.

 

Although you can translate it as "change one's mind", my understanding is it is also commonly used to mean "a change of heart", i.e. to refer to a decision with larger consequences than just choosing which beverage to drink.

 

Would 盖主意了be more appropriate to that situation? (as I think Roddy suggests.)

 

师傅，我改主意了，不去汽车客运站，比较喜欢去火车站。

 

What about something even simpler, such as:

 

师傅，我去不了汽车客运站，比较喜欢去火车站。

[skylee]

师傅，我去不了汽车客运站，比较喜欢去火车站。

去不了 means you are not able to go there. It should be 不去XXX了. 比較喜歡 in the last part sounds odd.

[abcdefg]

I understand. That makes sense. Thanks for the correction.

 

Actually, I'm pretty sure I use a lot of "foreign sounding" locutions that are holdovers from when I was first learning to get around. Need to continue to replace them with more "native sounding" phrases. 

[Meng Lelan]

「我要咖啡。哦，對不起，我不要咖啡啦。我要可樂！」

 

 

I like how learner2 phrases this...sounds smooth and natural and efficient. 

[skylee]

I agree with Meng Lelan's #12.

[roddy]

Tooironic, I was thinking of just 不了.

哎，不了，我还是喝茶吧

 

Abcdefg, the trouble with using 比较喜欢 here is that 喜欢 is a more or less permanent state. You like football and spicy food. Going to the train station is what you want to do right now, it's not an ongoing hobby (and if it is, the taxi driver doesn't need to know that). Also, why 比较?

[tooironic]

Interesting. I've never thought of that as a whole word before.

 

I imagine Abcdefg is trying to express "I quite like". You could say 我蠻喜歡 I suppose.

[abcdefg]

This has become a very useful discussion, and I appreciate it.

 

I was (mistakenly) using 比较喜欢 to express "I would rather" (do this instead of that.) Using 还是 does sound much more natural. And I was not aware of 喜欢 implying something less transient than wanting to go to A right now instead of B. That's an important distinction.

 

So I might say: 哎，不好意思，我说错了，不去汽车客运站，我还是去火车站。

 

Did I get that straight?

 

On a personal study-goals note, what this drives home to me is that I would probably benefit from taking apart the dialogue of TV shows where people are talking naturally and studying the nuances several times.

 

As it is I watch plenty of Chinese TV and Chinese movies, but just grab what I can as it goes by and then don't worry about the rest. I've reached a comfort point where the 75 or 80 percent that I understand suffices and I can usually guess the rest from context.

 

The First Episode Project beckons. Sure is easy to become complacent.

[roddy]

That looks much better. I'd add that to 说错 means you misspoke somehow - not that you've changed your mind, but apart from that...

 

Would be fantastic to have a bit more activity with the First Episodes, I think they're incredibly underutilised (or utilised ,but nobody's posting)

[tooironic]

I would probably benefit from taking apart the dialogue of TV shows where people are talking naturally

 

I would say the bulk of the dialogue in Chinese TV shows is pretty contrived. You'd be better off talking to real people and learning new expressions in the wild IMO.

[roddy]

Got to disagree with that. Choose something realistic and modern day - 中国式离婚 or 空镜子* over 走向共和 or whatever that magic mobile phone one was called - and you can pick up a shedload of very useful language. Yes, you can do that with real people, but you can't rewind real people or pause them while you do a radical look-up on the subtitles they don't have.

 

*Links and all, abcedfg, no excuse for not getting started now...

[Demonic_Duck]

I was not aware of 喜欢 implying something less transient than wanting to go to A right now instead of B.

 

It basically means exactly the same as "like" in English. When you decide you'd rather have chocolate than vanilla ice cream right now, you don't say you no longer like vanilla.

 

The only nuance that I know of where 喜欢 means something not corresponding to "like" is 男女之间的关系, a subject about which I'm going to write a topic (read: rant) right now.