Not sure of my writing.

[julio]

I am not sure if this sentence is correctly translated to Chinese.

Sentence: Tomorrow I would like to rest, but I have to work.

My attempt is: 我明天想要休息，但是得上班

Thank you for your help.

[Vincent Yu]

Yes, your translation is correct:) Good one!

[abcdefg]

Quote

 

Tomorrow I would like to rest, but I have to work.

My attempt is: 我明天想要休息，但是得上班

 

 

Looks OK. 

 

But try not to translate English to Chinese. 

 

If you can just originally think of what you want to say in Chinese, and then work out how best to say it, that thought process will bring you much farther along the road to actually speaking Chinese like a native. 

 

Think in Chinese, then talk in Chinese. Leave your English behind, locked away in a drawer. Force yourself to function completely in Chinese. Make it a point of pride, in private as well as in public. 

[TaxiAsh]

10 hours ago, abcdefg said:

But try not to translate English to Chinese. 

 

If you can just originally think of what you want to say in Chinese, and then work out how best to say it, that thought process will bring you much farther along the road to actually speaking Chinese like a native. 

 

Think in Chinese, then talk in Chinese. Leave your English behind, locked away in a drawer.

 

I also try and think in Chinese, of course is a must!

How would you say this sentence?

 

I could read it, but I would in my head probably word differently if told to translate - I have to work tomorrow, but want to rest.

I think I would say the same first part, but second part, I wouldn't know exactly how to say, 

so my attempt would be 我明天想（要）休息，但是我要去上班。

which is probably worse, but I'm trying to think of sentence without using my notebooks! (I'm trying to work out how to use 要 better. For future events, is not as easy. 

 

 

[abcdefg]

I think your first way of saying it was fine. It conveyed the meaning clearly. 

 

21 hours ago, julio said:

My attempt is: 我明天想要休息，但是得上班

 

Another good way to say it would be ...但是我该上班 

 

In daily speech, 该 is often used for 应该。I have to work, I must work. 

 

For emphasis it would be OK to say 我明天真的想要休息，但是该上班。

 

As in most languages, there are several ways to say the same thing and several ways to shade the meaning. 

[julio]

Thank you so much for your assistance. Having more options for the same sentence, it gives me more flexibility and alleviate the stress of struggling with the translation of only one sentence. I will try to think in Chinese abcdefg, although I have heard several times that idea, nobody indeed say how to do that, what is the process, what that really mean.

Thank you

[abcdefg]

9 hours ago, julio said:

I will try to think in Chinese abcdefg, although I have heard several times that idea, nobody indeed say how to do that, what is the process, what that really mean.

 

It means doing all the thinking and the preliminary "self talk" in Chinese as well as the things you finally decide to say to someone else. The whole process is carried out in Chinese, even the parts that are tentative and clumsy. 

 

"我真的很累，这两天我经常加班。 我特别想明天休息，睡个懒觉。 怎么说清楚我的情况, 我的意思？我知道王老板太狠了，不太喜欢我，我肯定应该上班否则被炒鱿鱼，等等。" 

 

Then try putting those thoughts together one way, see how it sounds. Then try formulating what you want to say slightly differently. Maybe ask a Chinese friend if he understands your meaning. Try it out and see if you get nods of understanding or puzzled blank stares. 

[julio]

16 hours ago, abcdefg said:

It means doing all the thinking and the preliminary "self talk" in Chinese

Thank you abcdefg. You have given very important bullets about the process you use to think in Chinese and for sure they  can be applied to any other language. Although to learn a new language can become oppresive if you do not have a clear method, these tools you refer to can even out the road and produce unexpected results. Thank you

[NanJingDongLu]

On 5/24/2021 at 3:51 AM, julio said:

Sentence: Tomorrow I would like to rest, but I have to work.

My attempt is: 我明天想要休息，但是得上班

I think this is largely correct, especially the first part. However, the second part would even sound odd in english. You didn't translate your english fully. It says "tomorrow I would like to rest, but must work". Also, while there is nothing wrong with using 得 this way, it is informal 口语 which will add more variables to whether this translation is accurate, so personally i prefer using 需要 and 必须 which are more versatile. You don't have to though.

 

I'd go with 我明天想要休息,但是我还是需要工作 which would be "tomorrow I would like to rest, but I still have to work".

 

On 5/24/2021 at 10:22 PM, TaxiAsh said:

so my attempt would be 我明天想（要）休息，但是我要去上班。

I think this has a meaning more like "tomorrow I would like to rest, but I will go to work". Without an explanation or context it sounds odd because those sentences seem unrelated at best, but more likely contradictory. "I would like to eat an apple, but I will eat a banana" why not just get an apple if you want one? I don't get it.

 

On 5/25/2021 at 1:38 AM, abcdefg said:

我明天真的想要休息，但是该上班。

This one works well too. Doesn't it emphasise the importance of going to work less, though? I read it as "I really want to rest tomorrow, but I should probably go to work". It doesn't seem definite which way you will decide about going to go to work.

[abcdefg]

On 5/24/2021 at 7:38 PM, abcdefg said:

As in most languages, there are several ways to say the same thing and several ways to shade the meaning. 

 

@julio -- Don't loose sleep over these small points. Keep moving ahead. 

[NanJingDongLu]

True. I might have gone a little too in depth...

 

The reality is the original sentence was fine and a native speaker would more than likely understand exactly what you mean.

[adept]

尽管明天我想休息，但是我却不能，因为我得工作。

[Jane98]

 

On 9/16/2021 at 9:29 AM, adept said:

尽管明天我想休息，但是我却不能，因为我得工作。

It's too much complicated. No one say Chinese like this. 

明天想休息，但是得上班 is enough. We usually ignore 我 here.