Question about verbs, people vs animals

[Zak]

what's the difference between:

 

這個男人在游泳 and 這條魚在游  

 

in pinyin if your not familiar with traditional:

 

Zhe ge nan ren zai you yong          zhe tiao yu zai you

 

 

why does the person have yong at the end but the fish not? I've been noticing this throughout rosetta stone?

 

and do you need the zai, could I just say zhe ge nan ren (you / you yong)

[Shelley]

Do you only use Rosetta stone?

 

if this is your only learning material then I strongly suggest you start using a textbook such as New practical Chinese Reader or any other textbook  that you may like.

 

There have been many discussions here on these forums about the merits of Rosetta stone and the general opinion seems to be that it is no good on its own, as you have found out by the questions you have asked.

 

I don't know the answer to your first question, but you need the zai to show that you are doing the swimming.

 

Think of it as "This one man is in the middle of swimming" the zai means in the middle of or at , it indicates an action in progress.

 

Please think seriously about getting some grammar books and text books IMHO Rosetta stone is not good at teaching Chinese on its own.

 

This is one of the discussions about RS have a look see what you think. http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/44498-what-is-your-experience-with-rosetta-stone-language-learning-software/

 

Welcome to the forums and I hope you will find the answers to your questions, the folk on the forums are are helpful and friendly people

[Vildhjerp]

This thread might help you out.

 

Also, I'd take Shelley's advice on other methods of learning Chinese. The Stone has its limits.

[lechuan]

这个男人游泳: This man swims

这个男人在游泳：This man is swimming (在＋V or 正在+V = emphasizes an action in progress)

[Zak]

Shelley I think you're right I do need some sort of text book, which text book is better (I will get the traditional version...) 中文听说读写| Integrated Chinese or 新实用汉语课本 | New Practical Chinese Reader ?

 

 

 

Vildhjerp and Lechaun, thanks that helped a lot!

[Shelley]

I don't know which one to suggest as I only use the simplified version of New Practical Chinese Reader  (NPCR).

 

Maybe you should start a new topic asking for suggest for the best textbooks to use with traditional characters, however I think NPCR has a traditional version and if they do I would recommend it. I have been using it very successfully. Make sure you get the textbook, the workbooks and the audio and use the videos available online.

 

I would also suggest you start learning characters as soon as you can. I would also suggest using Hanzi grids for practicing writing.http://www.hanzigrids.com/

 

And IMHO no student should be without Pleco for their smart phone or tablet http://www.pleco.com/

 

I hope this helps. If you are interested in how I organize my studying I posted this http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/48918-share-your-study-planschedual/

 

Hope this helps

[Guest123]

 

 

why does the person have yong at the end but the fish not?

I don't think the difference is between humans and animals.

游泳 means the action of swimming, 游 also, but their usage is a littlle different. 

Consider this sentence: 他很能游泳，他可以游几百米也不会觉得累。

[Zak]

Edita that makes sense, I found something thats related: http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/intransitiveverb.htm 

 

I think....