Confusing Chinese, part 3
Some words are so easy to leave out. In hindsight, it is obvious they should be there, but when I write I just forget about them. This often happens with these words showing the structure of the sentence. Usually people understand me just fine, but the sentence is not correct. I'll explain through an recent example.
When I watch Chinese tv-dramas* I hear this expression: 你走你的阳光道，我走我的独木桥
I wanted to ask about a Chinese expression I heard.
"When" is used in English to show the structure of the sentence.
When A, B happens. When I watch dramas, I hear this.
Originally I wrote:
我看中国的电视剧听到这样的说法：你走你的阳光路，我走我的……桥。
wo3 kan4 zhong1guo2de dian4shi4ju1 ting1dao1 zhe4yangde shuo1fa3: ni3 zou3 ni3de yang2guang1lu4, wo3 zou3 wo3de...qiao2.
Literal translation: I watch Chinese tv-dramas hear this expression: You walk your sun road, I walk my...bridge
I left out the "when", and the two parts, A and B, watching tv-dramas and hearing an expression, were not connected.
Later, I got corrected:
Correction 1:
我在中国的电视剧听到这样的说法：你走你的阳关道，我走我的独木桥。
In Chinese tv-dramas, I hear this expression: you walk your way, and I walk my way.
Correction 2:
我看中国的电视剧时听到这样的说法：你走你的阳光道，我走我的独木桥。
When I watch Chinese tv-dramas, I hear this expression: you walk your way, and I walk mine.
Even though the corrections are different, it's clear that both readers found something missing in my original sentence. By the way, it's interesting that the readers disagree about the third character in the "walk my way" expression: it's either 关 guan1 or 光 guang1. I love getting corrections from different people precisely because they correct in different ways! It's gives a more vivid picture of a language, compared to textbooks where there is only one correct answer.
The tricky part is of course, that sometimes you really can leave things out in Chinese, for example pronouns. In English, we have to reapeat the "I" (When I watch...,I hear...) but in Chinese, it's enough writing "I" in the beginning of the sentence. I cut the extra "I", but left out "when". Confusing, huh?
*Should it be "When I'm watching..."? I always mix up these two verb forms in English.
When I watch Chinese tv-dramas* I hear this expression: 你走你的阳光道，我走我的独木桥
I wanted to ask about a Chinese expression I heard.
"When" is used in English to show the structure of the sentence.
When A, B happens. When I watch dramas, I hear this.
Originally I wrote:
我看中国的电视剧听到这样的说法：你走你的阳光路，我走我的……桥。
wo3 kan4 zhong1guo2de dian4shi4ju1 ting1dao1 zhe4yangde shuo1fa3: ni3 zou3 ni3de yang2guang1lu4, wo3 zou3 wo3de...qiao2.
Literal translation: I watch Chinese tv-dramas hear this expression: You walk your sun road, I walk my...bridge
I left out the "when", and the two parts, A and B, watching tv-dramas and hearing an expression, were not connected.
Later, I got corrected:
Correction 1:
我在中国的电视剧听到这样的说法：你走你的阳关道，我走我的独木桥。
In Chinese tv-dramas, I hear this expression: you walk your way, and I walk my way.
Correction 2:
我看中国的电视剧时听到这样的说法：你走你的阳光道，我走我的独木桥。
When I watch Chinese tv-dramas, I hear this expression: you walk your way, and I walk mine.
Even though the corrections are different, it's clear that both readers found something missing in my original sentence. By the way, it's interesting that the readers disagree about the third character in the "walk my way" expression: it's either 关 guan1 or 光 guang1. I love getting corrections from different people precisely because they correct in different ways! It's gives a more vivid picture of a language, compared to textbooks where there is only one correct answer.
The tricky part is of course, that sometimes you really can leave things out in Chinese, for example pronouns. In English, we have to reapeat the "I" (When I watch...,I hear...) but in Chinese, it's enough writing "I" in the beginning of the sentence. I cut the extra "I", but left out "when". Confusing, huh?
*Should it be "When I'm watching..."? I always mix up these two verb forms in English.