Questions tagged [translation]

Questions on specific points regarding translating Chinese. Do your own research first!

Translation questions are not for asking things that you could answer yourself by looking into a dictionary or doing a simple search on the internet – this is not a translation service. When you ask a question like this, please show that you've already done some research, and explain what else you need to know.

For example, this is a good translation question and this is a bad translation question.

Unfortunately automatic translation tools aren't perfect, but Google Translate has become pretty good for Chinese-English and English-Chinese. Simple sentences are usually translated with good accuracy.

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权力的游戏 - Game of Thrones names - latest episode - SPOILERS

So I'm practicing by reading Game of Throne tweets and it's the names and naming that gets me. Here's the tweet and 5 questions on names and naming…
Steve
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How will translate "谁让你" into English?

How will translate "谁让你" into English? For example, 我不得不服从你的安排。 谁让你是我的老板呢?
Newbie
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What does 民以食为天 mean?

How to translate the old saying "民以食为天"? Would that be "Food is the priority of populace"? That doesn't sound right to me, though.
KMC
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Three-digit year in date on Chinese document

For work, I occasionally have to translate foreign language documents. I've been running into a lot of Chinese (simplified) documents that have a date listed as YYY/MM/DD. Why is the year only 3 digits? Is this just a typo?
user49175
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How to translate/understand "还不" in "还不是因为爱"

Just realized that the 还不 part of speech in phrases such as "还不是因为爱", "还不都怪你" is quite tricky. How do you translate it into English?
Flake
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How to say a negative number in Mandarin?

There are plenty of posts for rules on numbers, but I can't seem to figure out how one would say, for example, -5 (negative five). I know that negative number is 负数, so would it just be 负五?
MarkE
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How to translate "你给我滚" properly?

In a sentence like: “你给我拿一杯水” You would translate it something like: Get me a glass of water. How is the "给我" in the sentence “你给我滚” supposed to be translated? Should it just be "Get lost / Piss off" and just ignore the "给我" part?
going
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Is this a Chinese Proverb?

I found this proverb which I'm not sure about what is its origin: He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever. Is this really a known chinese proverb? If so, how do you write it in chinese, and what's the…
iddober
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How do you say "I know that I don't know"?

How would I translate ""I know that I don't know" into Chinese? I can translate the similar sentence "I know that you don't know" as 我知道你不知道. However, saying 我知道我不知道 sounds strange. What's the best way to translate it? Is there a sensible…
HAL
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What's the meaning of "不见面也有不见面的好"?

I really couldn't understand the meaning of this sentences. 见面 means to meet, to see 不见面 means not meet, not see. 不见面也有不见面的好。 But I really couldn't get what it is saying.
Pinar Altay
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Chinese Seal on silk painting - what does it mean?

I have inherited a beautiful Chinese silk artwork. I would like to know what age it is and what the script and seal mean. Much appreciated if anyone can help
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Expressing "tea is not just a drink"

I encountered a misunderstanding today due to my poor Chinese language skill. What could I have done better? I was standing in a German hospital and a native Chinese asked me if I wanted tea or coffee - both being offered by a third party, namely…
Ludi
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What does "不要紧" mean?

众人回头观望,而这一看不要紧,所有人都是不由大吃一惊 According to an online dictionary, "不要紧" means "not important". How does the sentence make sense? "The group looked back and that look was not important. Everyone couldn't help but be shocked greatly?"
john2546
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Standards: Japanese - Chinese Name Translations

Very rarely will you see a Japanese name in Chinese without 汉字. What rules are there for translating Japanese names into Chinese? Take for instance the name Yoshi (よし) 汉字 include: 与四、与志、与子、与士、与司, just to name a few (and there are, like, a million…
Mou某
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How can I say "a class in Chinese" (and not "a Chinese class")?

As far as I know 汉语课 (along with 中文课) means only "Chinese class" = "a class for learning Chinese" (and it may be in English, Chinese, or any other language). I'm wondering how to succinctly say "a class in Chinese", where the class is not about the…
Becky 李蓓
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