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Chinese language question

J

jonessoda

Golden Member
I've tried translating the phrase "isn't life unfair" into Chinese for a friend (I'm an absolute beginner at Mandarin, but you have to start somewhere I guess), and I get:

???????/mìng bú shì gong píng ne?

My question is, is this grammatically correct, and is the word choice okay?

I tried asking someone I communicate with from China (whose English is broken, but usually understandable), but he seems more interested in arguing the merits and correctness of the sentiment than the correctness of the grammar and phrasing...
 
You might want to scrap the double negative and go for a translation of "Life is unfair."

Or the more modern kiddie term,

CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWLING INNNNNNNNNN MY SKIIIIIINNNNNNNNNN

- M4H
 
Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
You might want to scrap the double negative and go for a translation of "Life is unfair."
Click to expand...

That's kind of what it says already. Here's a breakdown as I understand it:

?/ming4: Life
??/bu2 shi4: negation prefix + to be (therefore, to not be. Chinese doesn't conjugate verbs)
??/gong1 ping2: fair (as in impartial, equitable)
?/ne: question particle assuming agreement, equivalent to "ne" in Japanese.

So therefore, a literal translation would be "life isn't fair, don't you agree?" but "Isn't life unfair?" is easier.

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
Or the more modern kiddie term,

CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWLING INNNNNNNNNN MY SKIIIIIINNNNNNNNNN

- M4H
Click to expand...

It's more like c'est la vie than OMG EMO.
 
Originally posted by: DaWhim
take out the "ne" and put in "dick" ?
Click to expand...

Isn't that the possessive particle? (You speak cantonese I'm guessing, right?)

Originally posted by: metalmania
??????????

Nan Dao Ming Yun Shi Gong Ping de Ma?


This is the way Chinese ppl usually say.
Click to expand...

Thanks.
 
no no, you shouldn't make it into a question, it should be a statmenet. i mean it works as a "question" in english, but it sounds kinda off in chinese.

so it should be ?????????
 
??????? ( <life> is not fair )

I think this would work better. Chinese characters are usually never used as stand-alone words translated directly from English (i.e. ? by itself cannot literally mean "life" in Chinese)
 
Originally posted by: jonessoda
Somebody doesn't have Chinese language support turned on.
Click to expand...


All that will do is convert the text from boxes the user doesn't understand into characters the user doesn't understand.

 
in a retorical question like, "Isn't Life unfair?", I have trouble grammatically translating it properly into Chinese.

Is Life UnFair? = ?????????

now, with "Isn't" instead of "Is," I cannot logically translate it. Perhap my chinese have deteriorated, but I really don't remember the Chinese language have "retorical question."


however, metalmania produce the nearest and more accurate translation.
 
then there's the question of what dialect to use.

even with one type of writing (interchangable traditional or simplified), Cantonese is written differently. ever notice wikipedia now have cantonese?
 
"Ming" is the literal "life" as in "We only have one life." or "The average life of a human is 70 years."

Your use of "ming" doesn't sound quite right in this context, since you're using it as the figurative "life", as in "the life you live" or "how is your life right now?"
 
Originally posted by: Pepsei
then there's the question of what dialect to use.

even with one type of writing (interchangable traditional or simplified), Cantonese is written differently. ever notice wikipedia now have cantonese?
Click to expand...

you have a link?
 
Originally posted by: metalmania
Thanks. The word "life" here in Chinese is more about "??", not "??".
Click to expand...

What is that in pinyin? I can't read Chinese....I think you're saying the same thing I just said.
 
Originally posted by: andylawcc
in a retorical question like, "Isn't Life unfair?", I have trouble grammatically translating it properly into Chinese.

Is Life UnFair? = ?????????

now, with "Isn't" instead of "Is," I cannot logically translate it. Perhap my chinese have deteriorated, but I really don't remember the Chinese language have "retorical question."


however, metalmania produce the nearest and more accurate translation.
Click to expand...

?????
 
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