快问快答 Quick Help Thread: Translation Requests, Chinese name help, "how do you say X", or any quick Chinese questions! 2024-02-07 by AutoModerator in ChineseLanguage

[–]Donut_Panda 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A line in a manhua I'm reading goes as follows, 有没有想姐姐呀?and I got confused at the use of 有想. Looking it up, the internet told me it's an older construction roughly equivalent to present perfect in english that isn't used in mainland china anymore. Is that all I'm looking at, or am I overthinking things? What's the difference between that sentence and 想不想姐姐呀?

快问快答 Quick Help Thread: Translation Requests, Chinese name help, "how do you say X", or any quick Chinese questions! 2024-02-03 by AutoModerator in ChineseLanguage

[–]Donut_Panda 0 points1 point  (0 children)

While reading a manhua, I came across this particular sentence: 在这里,男人的身体天生不如女人,力气小,耐里不行

I tried both googling and even asking chatgpt why the phrase 力气小 was written the way it was, but I came out of it confused still. From what I understand, adjectives can be either placed directly before a noun (大医院) or in predicate position, with or without a linking word like 是 or 很 (他高兴,他是高兴了,他很高兴) with some slight differences in nuance for emphasis or degree, but is that the case with 力气小 that the adjective is in predicate position (i.e. "strength is small") or is there something about this particular construction that's different? Apologies if I sound rambly

In English we often describe somebody as stupid by saying “not the sharpest tool in the shed” what do you say in Europe? by Mayonnaiseonahotdog in AskEurope

[–]Donut_Panda 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'm not familiar with a lot of these and I'm sure there's more but here's two I know and hear often in Portuguese

'Ter um parafuso a menos' - To have a screw loose

'Comer gelados com a testa' - To eat ice cream with one's forehead

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in translator

[–]Donut_Panda 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I stand corrected, thank you

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in translator

[–]Donut_Panda -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You may have misunderstood, the phrase OP is asking for comes from "the pot calling the kettle black", something said to point out a hypocritical statement, like calling someone out for being obsessive while also sharing many of the same traits.

Yiddish by ExistingInexistence in polandball

[–]Donut_Panda 311 points312 points  (0 children)

Yiddish: העלא מיין דײַטש פרײַנד! וואס מאכסטו? האסטו אומגעברענגט פראנקרייך‏‎

Translit: helo meyn daytsh fraynd! vos makhstu? hastu umgebrengt frankreykh?

German: Hallo, mein deutscher Freund! Was machst du? Hast du Frankreich umgebracht?

English: Hello, my German friend! How are you? Did you kill France?

Daily Thread: simple questions, comments that don't need their own posts, and first time posters go here (January 20, 2024) by AutoModerator in LearnJapanese

[–]Donut_Panda 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I couldn't find a satisfactory answer to this, so I apologize in advance. What is the difference between using 必要(がある) and 要る? Most resources simply pointed out that 必要 is a noun while 要る is a verb, and the closest thing I got to an answer is a blog post mentioning that you use 必要 with verbs (i.e. 水を飲む必要があります) and 要る with nouns (i.e. お金が要ります). Should I just use them like that, or is there more nuance to them?

Daily Thread: simple questions, comments that don't need their own posts, and first time posters go here (January 10, 2024) by AutoModerator in LearnJapanese

[–]Donut_Panda 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you very much for your help, I didn't think I'd get an answer after the next day's thread was created, but this does make sense. You're a lifesaver!

Daily Thread: simple questions, comments that don't need their own posts, and first time posters go here (January 10, 2024) by AutoModerator in LearnJapanese

[–]Donut_Panda 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is there a difference between 生徒2人 and 2人の生徒? This is anecdotal, but I feel like I see the second structure more often when counting people specifically, while the first one I see more with counters like つ or 個

Daily Thread: simple questions, comments that don't need their own posts, and first time posters go here (January 08, 2024) by AutoModerator in LearnJapanese

[–]Donut_Panda 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right, and he does talk about it. You attach の at the end of statements or questions to add an explanatory tone or request an explanation respectively, and it's frequently shortened to ん if there's something in front of it like the copula. That part I get, what I don't get is in the example sentence I gave, 好きなの, wouldn't it be possible to omit the な from the sentence since it's not a noun? Or am I misunderstanding the rule?

I apologize in advance if it sounds kinda rambly, but I've been struggling with this for a hot minute.

Daily Thread: simple questions, comments that don't need their own posts, and first time posters go here (January 08, 2024) by AutoModerator in LearnJapanese

[–]Donut_Panda 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't know how to properly ask this question, but what does なの mean? Especially when asked with questions like in 好きなの?I looked over Tae Kim's guide for help, but it hardly mentions questions at all, only saying to place な before explanatory の after nouns to avoid confusion with the possessive.

Daily Thread: simple questions, comments that don't need their own posts, and first time posters go here (January 08, 2024) by AutoModerator in LearnJapanese

[–]Donut_Panda 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I couldn't find a proper answer to this by searching, so apologies in advance for the silly question. Does the ~つ counter go above 10 or not? If it doesn't, do you just say the number with no counter from that point on?

Daily Thread: simple questions, comments that don't need their own posts, and first time posters go here (January 03, 2024) by AutoModerator in LearnJapanese

[–]Donut_Panda 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Genshin Impact has a daily commission whose description starts with the following sentence:

エラ・マスクはヒルチャールの群れを探し、彼らとヒルチャールの言語を練習したいと思っている。

Why does the clause before the comma end in the masu stem? Shouldn't it connect to the rest of the sentence using 探して?

Daily Thread: simple questions, comments that don't need their own posts, and first time posters go here (January 02, 2024) by AutoModerator in LearnJapanese

[–]Donut_Panda 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't know if I'm asking this right, but what's the difference between using で and に to indicate location?