Chinese language question

[jonessoda]

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...

 

[MercenaryForHire]

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

 

[PHiuR]

wo bu zhi dao.

 

[jonessoda]

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

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

It's more like c'est la vie than OMG EMO.

 

[Semidevil]

from a cantonese speaker, I would take out the "ne" at the end.


and put, ming si gung pu gung ping?

 

[metalmania]

??????????

Nan Dao Ming Yun Shi Gong Ping de Ma?


This is the way Chinese ppl usually say.

 

[DaWhim]

take out the "ne" and put in "dick" ?

 

[jonessoda]

Originally posted by: DaWhim
take out the "ne" and put in "dick" ?

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.

Thanks.

 

[Pepsei]

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 ?????????

 

[Atomicus]

??????? ( <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)

 

[Pepsei]

well, ?? means destiny, while ?? is more like lives.

 

[Mo0o]

????? is a more poetic way to put it with out the ? and the ?

 

[Atomicus]

Originally posted by: Pepsei
well, ?? means destiny, while ?? is more like lives.

?? can be used in the context of 'life in general'.

 

[Mo0o]

Use this: ????

Life is without justice. 4 characters, much more eloquent

 

[Shelly21]

WTH, All I see is boxes.

 

[jonessoda]

Somebody doesn't have Chinese language support turned on.

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: jonessoda
Somebody doesn't have Chinese language support turned on.

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

 

[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.

 

[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?

 

[metalmania]

Thanks. The word "life" here in Chinese is more about "??", not "??".

 

[kmrivers]

????????????????????!

 

[chuckywang]

"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?"

 

[andylawcc]

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?

you have a link?

 

[chuckywang]

Originally posted by: metalmania
Thanks. The word "life" here in Chinese is more about "??", not "??".

What is that in pinyin? I can't read Chinese....I think you're saying the same thing I just said.

 

[Mo0o]

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.

?????