Pregnancy Due Date

[Pegasus]

Hello Everyone, 

 

I was listening to some lessons related to pregnancy. From those lessons, I learned a couple of ways a woman can say she's pregnant, like 我有了 and 我懷孕了, for example. I also learned from an example sentence in the Pleco Chinese-English dictionary that you can say 懷孕五個月了 to mean "to be 5 months pregnant". 

 

Now, what I'm wondering about is how people ask the due date in Chinese (and how you might answer if you were asked)? I'm also wondering if asking when the due date is, is even common (or not) in Chinese culture among native Chinese speakers? 

 

Among native English speakers where I live at least, it seems like the first thing most people say after being told the news that you're expecting a baby is: "Congratulations! When are you due? (Or when is your wife due?)" A typical reply might be, "Thank you. I'm (or she's) due at the end of December." Do native Chinese speakers usually say something like this? And how would they say it? 

 

Thank you for your help and the discussion. 

 

Cheers,

Pegasus

 

[Flickserve]

Try this for expected due date - 预产期 -

[lips]

你什麼時候要生？

[Pegasus]

@Flickserve, thank you for your response on how to say "expected pregnancy due date": 預產期

@lips, thank you for your response on how to ask when someone will be giving birth：妳什麼時候要生？

 

For educational purposes, could anyone share an example of a typical conversation? 

 

How does the following example conversation sound? I think this type of exchange would be typical among English speaking women, but I'm really interested if anyone could shed any light on what a typical conversational exchange between Chinese women would be like in a similar circumstance. 

 

Woman A: I have happy news to share. I'm pregnant. 

Woman B: Wow, congratulations! When are you due?

Woman A: I'm due at the end of December. 

Woman B: Are you expecting a boy or a girl?

Woman A: A boy. 

 

Here's my attempt at a translation. (I am not a native Chinese speaker, so please correct me if anything sounds unnatural.)

Woman A: 我有很高興的新聞。我懷孕了。

Woman B: 哇，恭喜妳。妳什麼時候要生？

Woman A: 我的預產期是十二月底。  

Woman B: 妳期待一個男孩子還是女孩子？

Woman A: 一個男孩子。

 

How did that sound?

 

Thank you for helping me learn.

 

Cheers, 

Pegasus 

[Flickserve]

Take my opinion with a pinch of salt but A's first sentence looks quite odd. 新聞 is used more for news articles and reporting.

我有新消息， 懷孕了！真高興！！

[Pegasus]

@Flickserve: Thank you so much!!! This is exactly why I'm here discussing language with my fellow Chinese Forums members. I have access to all sorts of dictionaries, but I often don't know which word is more natural in a given situation. This helps a lot! 

 

Cheers,

Pegasus

[malcolm07]

你的预产期是哪一天？

[lips]

好消息 would be better, unless "new" is to be emphasized (like you told your friend that you were not pregnant before and then you found out that you were really pregnant). 

 

”我的預產期是十二月底“ sounds too formal for a casual conversation. Just say, "十二月底“

Similarly, 期待 is too formal and the meaning is a little bit off in the context.  Just say, "(是）男孩还是女孩？”

[LinZhenPu]

I like to think of it in terms of we. So if I was asking the husband, I would say 你们什么时候要生

Or if someone was asking me (male), I would say 我们六月底要生。

[Lu]

I think 期待 is not used to translate this meaning of 'expect', only in the more literal sense. I might be wrong, but it seems like translated English to me.

 

I'd also edit the dialogue as suggested above:

- 你什么时候要生？

* 十二月底

- 是男孩女孩？

* 女孩。

Note that in China, it's officially illegal for doctors to tell the expecting parents whether it's a boy or a girl (because of 重男轻女-related abortions). That doesn't mean that they never do that, of course, but personally I'd be a little reluctant to ask and would rather stick to asking if everything is going well. (And then you might hear the sex anyway because many people find it important.)

[dwq]

生（孩子）here is "the act of giving birth", which is biologically impossible for a man.  So in that context I would tend NOT to say 你們什麼時候要生.

 

If the listener is female, 你甚麼時候要生？

If the listener is male, 你的（妻子／愛人／老婆）甚麼時候要生？

 

It is fine if you are referring to the whole process: 你們結婚已經三年了，（你們）甚麼時候生孩子？

 

It is different from 出生 (be given birth), which is done by the baby, so 我們的孩子將會在十二月出生 is fine.