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Asking "how many cousins do you have?"

What is a collective term for first cousins? Everywhere I've looked it is emphasized that the correct term for "cousin" depends on age, sex and whether the cousin is on father's or mother's side. But that's for individual cousins. And the closer…
Jong Bor
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爱老虎油 - is it slang?

Seen this phrase written by a Chinese person: 爱老虎油 [ài lǎo​hǔ yóu] What does it mean? Failed to find it in dictionaries. Is it some slang or 白话?
Be Brave Be Like Ukraine
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Why there is no 的 after 你 in 你国家的医院好吗?

I got a translation of “Are hospitals in your country good?” from a native speaker of Mandarin as: 你国家的医院好吗？ Why there is no 的 after 你? It is after a pronoun for instance in such a sentence: 我的妈妈的房子很高。
MrVocabulary
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Difference between 接受 and 接收

The first one (接受 jiēshòu) seems far more general and frequent: 我接受邀请。 I accepted the invitation. 他将接受口试。 He will take an oral examination. 他拒绝接受治疗。 He refused treatment. The second one (接收 jiēshōu) appears to be specialized in signal reception…
Aristide
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Why can't 去 or 回来 be used with 在 or 正在 to become progressive

So first off, I feel I should specify I am a beginner at Chinese. In my Chinese class, we were asked to write down a progressive question, using the 在...(呢) format. My question was, 你们没在去吗？ which I interpreted as, "aren't you going?". Another…
N.D.H.
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Which verbs DO NOT go with 了 and or 过?

I remember reading that some verbs don't accept 了 or 过. Side question： When I use a word like 昨天 or 以前 do I use 了 or is it redundant? e.g. 昨天我去买了一台电脑 or 昨天我买一台电脑
Henny
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Pinyin "ying" has an "o" sound?

Look at 1:54 and 5:22 of this video: Chinese Pinyin in 6 Mins Is ying really pronounced with an "o" sound? This seems counterintuitive, especially when yin (at 1:49 in the video) sounds as a native English speaker would expect.
bwDraco
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In 你说的是什么？, what is the purpose of 的?

Consider this sentence: 你说的是什么？ I understand that 的 permits creating adjectives, like 我的 would be "my". But here, I can’t see how it works. What is its purpose?
qdii
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What is 人 doing in 你现在人在哪里？

I got this sentence in my "daily exercise" newsletter, and I really don't understand what's 人 doing there? Doesn't it mean the same when 人 is removed? Could this simply be a typo?
dr Hannibal Lecter
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A unified theory of 就 meaning

就 always bothered me. I couldn't (and maybe still can't) get a hold of its meaning. By looking at many examples of the usage I came to realization that 就 marks a process of becoming a subject to or beaing subjected to someone, something, some…
coobit
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Can 下次 mean "again"?

I found a sentence on tatoeba that isn't quite the translation I would expect. I will not do it again. Is translated as... 下次我不做了。 I checked mdbg.net to be sure, and 下次 is only translated as "next time", not "again". Is there another shade of…
Don Kirkby
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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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Correct usage for 跟。。。过不去

This question has two parts: What's the precise meaning of this expression? What is the correct usage? Question (1) I understand it to mean that the person referred to (eg, 跟她过不去) is uncomfortable as a result of something deliberately done or said…
Paul Holden
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Is there a word for "kosher"?

I'm looking for a translation of the word kosher in it's most strict sense: a food that is apt according to the jewish law. Google translates kosher as 犹太, but if I'm not mistaken, that just means "jewish". And you can certainly make non-kosher…
金迭戈
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Are 平常 and 通常 essentially interchangeable?

In a few of my entries on Lang-8.com, several of my Chinese friends have changed 平常 into 通常 and vice versa without providing additional explanation. It it just a matter of personal taste?
Benjameno
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