Clarifications about two sentences in NPCR, Lesson 10, Dialogue 2

[viratrim]

Hey guys, first time posting here, so yay for that! Anyhow, I've been going through NPCR, and there were two sentences in Lesson 10, Dialogue 2 that I found a little confusing:

1) 我是问：这个汉语怎么说？
2) 好，做个朋友，三块钱一斤。

So for the first sentence, I get the basic meaning since there is a note there, but what function does the 是 serve? What is the difference in meaning between 我是问 and 我问?

For the second sentence, the meaning of the sentence is rather strange, and I'm not quite sure what to make of 做个朋友. 

So yeah, any clarifications about the meaning of and grammatical and syntactical elements in these sentences would be great. Thanks in advance!

[stapler]

For the first sentence the 是 is just an added emphasis. It almost has a feeling of clarifying or correcting the listener about the question you're asking. As an example: "what I'm asking is this (not that)". Or to translate your sentence "What I'm asking is not what fruit this is, but what is it called in Chinese (I know what it is in English)"

 

做个朋友. Literally "make a friend". - "okay then, let's be friends (give you a special friend only price), 3 bucks for a jjn"

[somethingfunny]

Hi viratrim, welcome to the forum!  Just so you know, you can edit your posts, and I recommend you change the 哦 to 我 in your first example - had me confused for a while there! I was thinking "哦是 is a bit of a strange name..."

[889]

我问 alone may be grammatically proper, but colloquially it cries out for something more there: 我问你、 我想问、 我是问、等等。Using the right number of characters to keep the rhythm sounding natural is important in spoken Chinese: sometimes you add or lose characters just to make the rhythm sound right.

 

做个朋友 can be confusing since there's no subject there, but you can think of it as a command form in Chinese, in which the subject is usually eliminated: 来吧！干杯！

 

 

 

 

[Publius]

我问：这个汉语怎么说？ <====== This is narrative, used when you're telling a story. (I asked, "....")

我是问：这个汉语怎么说？<===== This is expository, used when you try to explain/clarify something to someone. (What I'm asking is ....)