A few questions to see whether I got the meaning right

[SunnySideUp]

I have some more questions and would like to check whether I got the meaning right. Sometimes there's a particular word or phrase I'm not quite sure about. I appreciate any insights, pointers etc.

 

要是他们能用上这个软件，就可以用电脑来写东西了，写起来会快得多。那样的话我们国家不就进步了。

If they can use this software, they can use computers to write stuff down, and they can write faster. In that case/this way our nation just won't make progress.

 

→i don't understand the 不就进步了  - wouldn't the argument be that if they can use the software, they would make progress? I'm also not sure about why 了is there... Change of state 了？

 

可是，对她这样从里到外都那么干净的女孩，不说真话...他想都不能想。

But to not tell the truth to a girl so proper from the inside out...he thinks that (not telling the truth) can't even be thought of?

 

→my issue is with the 想都不能想 and whether I got that right

 

但是他一块钱 ---- 不，他一分钱都没有。

But he doesn't have money - no, he doesn't have one single bit of money?

 

→Does 分 trump 块 in terms of measurement, to drive the point home that he really doesn't have anything?

 

那个时候上天也没有帮过我。

At that time nobody (under the sun) (or god?) helped me.

 

→does 上天 have religious undertones or does it just mean nobody under the sun?

 

而真宗皇帝因为她长得美，会说好听的话，一直都非常喜欢她，也很信任她。

Because emperor 真宗 thinks she is beautiful and can speak nice words and he likes her very much, he also trusts her.

 

→而 trips me up. I've also never seen it used at the start of the sentence. If it has the meaning because, why does the sentence not start with 因为? Or is 而 just used to add emphasis?

 

屋子里的女人就是十年前被关起来的李妃。
The woman in the room is concubine Li who was locked up ten years ago.

→被关 locked up?

李妃听着听着就哭了。她对赵忠说：“10 年前我生了个男孩儿，可是刘妃送给真宗皇帝的却是个怪物。
When concubine 李 heard that she started crying. She told 赵总：“ten years ago I have birth to a boy, but concubine 刘 gave 真宗皇帝a monster.

 

→can I translate 听着听着 as "when" or "as soon as"? I don't really know what to do with 却 here.. especially 的却

从侍女哪里，陈琳知道阿珠突然“病死了”，阿珠的尸体被侍从赵总送出去埋了。

陈琳learned from the female servants that 阿珠died of an illness all of the sudden and that her corpse was taken outside by 赵总to be buried.

 

→is the first 从侍 referring to 从 as from；the second 侍从 as servants? I presume the first reference could be changed to 从侍从女？

 

 

[Wurstmann]

39 minutes ago, SunnySideUp said:

那样的话我们国家不就进步了。

That way our nation would just make progress.

 

39 minutes ago, SunnySideUp said:

他想都不能想。

He doesn't even dare to think about not telling the truth.

 

39 minutes ago, SunnySideUp said:

但是他一块钱 ---- 不，他一分钱都没有。

一块 is 1 CNY, 一分 is 0.01 CNY

 

39 minutes ago, SunnySideUp said:

那个时候上天也没有帮过我。

Even the gods/heaven didn't help me.

 

39 minutes ago, SunnySideUp said:

而真宗皇帝因为她长得美，会说好听的话，一直都非常喜欢她，也很信任她。

And....

 

39 minutes ago, SunnySideUp said:

屋子里的女人就是十年前被关起来的李妃。

被 makes it passive, someone locked her up

 

I think that's about right ?

[SunnySideUp]

Thank you, very helpful!

5 minutes ago, Wurstmann said:

19 minutes ago, SunnySideUp said:

那样的话我们国家不就进步了。

Wouldn't our nation make progress this way?

  

So this statement in Chinese gets turned into a (rhetorical) question in English?

 

Do you also have any thoughts on 却 and/or 从侍从?

[Wurstmann]

14 minutes ago, SunnySideUp said:

So this statement in Chinese gets turned into a (rhetorical) question in English?

I edited my answer. I don't know how to best express that sentence in English. I usually don't do translations ? Do you want to become a translator? Otherwise I wouldn't worry too much about sentences you don't fully understand. Think about them for a while and then just move on. If you read a similar sentence in the future, chances are that your Chinese has improved a lot by that point and its meaning will be clear to you.

 

41 minutes ago, SunnySideUp said:

可是刘妃送给真宗皇帝的却是个怪物。

送…的 = that what she gave him 却是 = actually

[SunnySideUp]

Thanks! I do like translating, but in this case it was the extra 不 I couldn't make sense of. Because in my book it just doesn't make sense if 进步 is negated.

 

1 hour ago, Wurstmann said:

1 hour ago, SunnySideUp said:

那样的话我们国家不就进步了。

That way our nation would just make progress.

  

 

[Jim]

2 hours ago, SunnySideUp said:

Thanks! I do like translating, but in this case it was the extra 不 I couldn't make sense of. Because in my book it just doesn't make sense if 进步 is negated.

I think you first instinct that it is a rhetorical question is correct, "in that case would not our country have progressed/advanced?" Examples 7. and 10. on this search on Juuku work in the same way: http://www.jukuu.com/search.php?q=不就 (hope it lists same results for you, if not here's clips:

[SunnySideUp]

Yeah, I think a rhetorical question would fit best, it's just that the Chinese sentence was a statement..

Anyway, appreciate all your comments. Thank you : )