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Can I use "我知道“ to say I know some kind of food?

There are kinds of foods, such as malaxiangguo, that people often suspect a foreigner will not know and will not like. I can say "我吃麻辣香锅" (wo chi malaxiangguo). Is that the best thing to say? And I have used both 知道 (zhidao) and 认识 (renshi) to say…
Colin McLarty
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Proper translation of "定位" to English?

This question is about choosing a proper English word for a Chinese phrase. Let there be given the sentence "What is the "定位" in the market of our products?" Then, what are the proper English words for "定位" in the given sense? I might just use such…
Yes
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Strange pronunciations in Hakka song

I have stumbled upon Zhang Shaolin's Hoi-nam kai-fan. I asked three translation questions about it: 1, 2 and 3. THere you find the lyrics and a link to a video, and my translation attempt. This question is to ask about the strange pronunciations…
MickG
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What does the `的` mean in `我是九点去上班的`?

In the reply to 你是什么时候去上班的?, what does the 的 in 我是九点去上班的 mean? I think that without the 的, the sentence makes sense in and of itself, right? And the meaning is that I start to work at 9:00 am...., right?
Blaszard
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What happens with tone sandhi with consecutive third tones, e.g. wo3 hen3 hao3?

If there are two third tones in a row, e.g. ni3hao3, the first one is pronounced as a second tone, i.e. ni3hao3=ni2hao3. At least, that's what I was told in a course. What happens with more consecutive third tones, e.g. with wo3 hen3 hao3?
MickG
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Use of 不太 and when is it necessary?

I suspect that 太 has a similar function in negatives as 很 does in negative sentences. Some Chinese speakers have corrected some of my negative sentences in include a 太. e.g.: 他不高兴 was corrected to 他不太高兴. How necessary is this use of 太? What is it's…
Robert Budzul
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Is there a difference between 凡事 and 所有？

Recently, I've been reading a bit of 鲁迅 and I've run into the word 凡事 a number of times. Everytime, I see it translated it seems to mean 所有。 It seems to me that 凡事 is either an older usage or is much more formal - is that correct? As well, are…
Stephen
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Chinese weather periods

The only time I have traveled to Beijing a taxi driver told me I had come at the worst and hottest time of year. He explained to me that the year was divided up in periods of roughly 16 days and the period I had come at was the hottest (a fact I…
going
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脚底抹油－开溜 translate into English

Can someone help me to translate 脚底抹油－开溜 because when I'm using google translate the sentence is so weird.
user3835165
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Is there a traditional Chinese New Year greeting?

I know people often say 新年快乐 to mean happy new year, but is there a traditional greeting used in Chinese to express your good wishes for the new year? If so, what, and how did it originate?
Ciaocibai
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Chinese countable/uncountable nouns (How do they work? Examples?)

I recall in Mandarin class, my teacher would often discuss an idea about countable nouns. I never really understood how one would easily determine when one is faced with a countable vs uncountable noun. So I did a bit of research and found this…
Tommie C.
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Which of these words for "to carry" are actually used?

I compiled a list of different words for what we in English generally would translate to "to carry". Now, the fact that I found them doesn't necessarily mean that they are actually in common usage today. So, which ones of these would you consider to…
user2493
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3 answers

What is the ancient Chinese one-character name for woman like '子’ means man?

青青子衿，悠悠我心。但为君故，沉吟至今 Here: 子，对对方的尊称 子 implicitly implies the poem is addressing a man. The poem talks about how a lady misses a man. I just wonder if there is a corresponding word for Chinese. (i.e. what would you replace 子 by, if it were talking…
Lost1
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Can you 关心 an object?

So, I've used 关心 consistently with people - 关心别人， 关心我的妹妹， but can 关心 be used for object or a phrase?? Example for a phrase 我们关心的应该是房子应该有几间屋子? Example for an object 吃饭时， 我关心的是调味。 长得怎么样， 我都不管。
Stephen
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What is the rule for forming chinese names diminutives?

In alphabetical languages, diminutives are easily made by adding a suffix (e.g. -ito, -ino, -ine, which belong to some Romance languages) and sometimes contemporaneously changing the ending of the original name. Japanese uses a sort of appending…
Alenanno
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