[Chinese] Want to learn Chinese? :)

[Jessica]

What's "复"? I don't think I've learned it before

[chanman]

Originally Posted by Jessica

What's "复"? I don't think I've learned it before

It is one of the characters of 复杂 [fù zá]- meaning complicated.

Outside of that "word" though, it generally gives the feeling of the English prefix "re-" (of course, it cannot be used as flexibly).

复活 [fù huó] - come/bring back to life
复习 [fù xí] - study/review [literally - learn again].
学习 [xué xí] - study, as in "I study art history"
复兴 [fù xīng] - Renaissance; restoration
重复 [chóng fù] - Repeat.

[Jessica]

Ah I got it. thanks ^_^

[chanman]

I don't know if this has been included somewhere, but I'm going to make short posts about idiomatic phrases in Chinese:

To ask a question, you end with a "question particle". Examples include:
吗[ma], 呢[ne], 啊[a], etc. Though they are technically "neutral" tone, these particles are generally pronounced as if with the first tone. [mā, nē, ā].

It is very difficult to explain how they are used.

你去过图书馆了吗？
[nǐ qù guò tú shū guǎn le ma?]
Have you gone to the book store?

你妈妈在哪里啊？
[nǐ mā mā zài ná lǐ a?]
Where is your mother?

你妈妈呢？
[nǐ mā mā ne?]
Where is your mother?

You really have to get into daily conversation to understand how to use these particles. There are other ways of phrasing, though, where particle choice is less complicated. They hardest part to get is that they are never interchangeable - there is a certain particle that you must use in each type of question, and using the wrong one will sound very, very awkward to Chinese speakers.

I think there's a weak correlation this way:
吗 goes with actions, and 啊 goes with asking for information.

呢 can be used one of two ways.
1) Instead of asking "某某人[móu mou rén]在哪里啊？”, you can say "某某人呢？”. Both will be taken to mean "Where is ___?" (某某人 is equivalent to "Person X" in Chinese)

2)
A:“我今年上五年级。”
[wǒ jīn nián shàng wǔ nián jí]
I am in Fifth Grade this year.

B: "你弟弟呢?"
[nǐ dì di ne?]
What about/How about your younger brother?

A: ”他今年上二年级。”
[tā jīn nián shàng èr nián jǐ]
He is in Second Grade this year.

When given a specific piece of information, 呢 can be used to inquire about someone/something else. In essence, it is a "pro-question" (taken from pronoun), replacing the need to repeat information.

The main form of asking whether someone has done an action yet, other than using 吗, is through the A-not-A sentence form.

你有没有？
[nǐ yǒu méi yǒu]
Do you have (it)?
Lit: You have-not-have?

你要不要？
[nǐ yào bu yào]
Do you want (it)?
Lit: You want-not-want?

不 and 没 are both negative words. 不 is used to indicate present and future actions, while 没 is used to indicate past actions (generally).

More examples:

你会不会打网球？
[nǐ huì bu huì dá wǎng qíu]
Do you know how to play tennis?
Lit: You can-not-can play tennis?

For two word verbs, properly, you should say both words 喜欢不喜欢 (xǐ huān bu xǐ huān) (like or not like), but in colloquial speech, most people just repeat the first word of the verb, as in 喜不喜欢 (xǐ bu xǐ huān).

你喜不喜欢吃橘子？
[ní xǐ bu xǐ huān chī jú zi]
Do you like to eat oranges?

你安不安装？
[nǐ ān bu ān zhuāng]
Will you install it?

Be careful with this style of question, though. It is often used sort of like a threat, and sounds more like an order than a request. With the above example, one would probably want to word it differently.

Ex:
Mother: 你做不做作业？
[nǐ zuò bu zuò zuo yè]
Will you do your homework?

[Jessica]

thanks again!!

[lee ying]

上帝保佑你 means God bless you? someone told me this=)

[chanman]

保佑 technically means something along the lines of "protect", but yes, idiomatically that is how it is said. Few people in China will say "God bless you" though. Christianity is practically nonexistent there.

[Jessica]

gracias chanman. my brain got fried

[lee ying]

O(∩_∩)O谢谢， chanman .
ANd I would like to say, you 're a good friend. let me try:
你是我恨的好朋友！ AM Iright？

[Jessica]

There's no '恨'. otherwise it's correct.

你是我的好朋友 << You're my good friend.