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- "Is the bathroom here?"
"Is the bathroom here?"
Translation:洗手间在这儿吗？
44 Comments
You can also write it as "这里有没有洗手间" and "这里有洗手间吗". For bathroom, you can also say "厕所."
For those who can't read the 汉字(Hán zì), here is the PīnYīn.
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这里有没有洗手间 -- (Zhè lǐ yǒu méi yǒu xǐ shǒu jiān). "Here have/not have bathroom?"
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这里有洗手间吗 -- (Zhè lǐ yǒu xǐ shǒu jiān ma). “Here have bathroom (Question particle)"
Also, I read online that there is no difference between "这里" and "这儿"
Apparently, Northern Chinese usually say "哪儿，这儿" and Southern Chinese often say "哪里，这里"
Yes, I can attest to this. My Chinese tutor here in Shanghai has taught me 这里. I knew about the 儿, but I didn't think it was used in Mandarin. I just thought it was part of the northern dialect.
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Actually, it's more of the fact that it originated from the north but now a lot of people use it colloquially, formally it is usually 这里 and so on.
What if I simply type 这 without either 儿 or 里, would the sentence still be correct?
In the south we use 哪里 and 这里. Thus, in the actual official northern dialect were beijing is from 哪儿 etc, is used.
In my understanding 这里有没有洗手间 and 这里有洗手间吗 mean 'Is there a bathroom here?' or 'Does this place have a bathroom?', whereas 洗手间在这里吗 means 'Is the bathroom here?' (as in 'is it here or is it somewhere else?). Native speakers, please correct me if I'm wrong!
I'm not a native Chinese speaker, but you're right (as is cagprado).
If you want to use "V 不 V" to say "Is the bathroom here (as opposed to somewhere else)?", you can say "洗手间是不是在这儿？"
No, it's not the right order, just as in English we don't say "Is here the bathroom" or "Is here at the bathroom".
Also, renee.jing.h's Chinese sentences aren't correct translations of Duo's English sentence in this case. They mean something slightly different. Read these replies:
I disagree! "Is the bathroom here?" and "Is there a bathroom here" are different questions! For this question I imagine you're pointing at some door you're not sure you should enter so you ask someone "洗手间在这儿吗"! I'm not sure if your suggestion would be a good choice for this situation!
Hey just a quick question, is the 吗 necessary? I thought you didn't need it if there is already a question word (in this case 这儿) present in the sentence. :)
这儿 isn't a question word. It means "here" and it's equivalent to 这里
- 这儿有洗手间吗。——> There is a bathroom here.
- 这儿有洗手间吗？——> Is there a bathroom here?
- 洗手间在这儿。——> The bathroom is here.
- 洗手间在这儿吗？ ——> Is the bathroom here?
In most languages, and maybe all of them, words (and types of words) can generally go in more than one place in a sentence, depending on the rest of the structure of the sentence.
Normal sentence word order seems to constantly be different each exercise, are there any rules?! Duolingo should establish a pattern before introducing something different.
A better translation to this chinese is "Where is the bathroom?". On the other hand "Is the bathroom here?" should use 有。 这里有洗手间吗 for example
No, this Chinese says "Is the bathroom here".
"这里有洗手间吗" is "Is there a bathroom here".
These are different sentences, with different meanings. For the first, you know the bathroom is somewhere close by, but you don't know if it's right where you happen to be. For the second, you don't know if there's a bathroom anywhere in the building (or at the location) at all.
No, that would mean "Here, (in/at) the bathroom?"
"洗手间这儿" means "here in/at the location of the bathroom".
The exact phrase might not show up in a Google search, but here's a Google search for the analogous phrasing "洗手间那里".
Not all of the results are applicable, but you'll find the analogous structure and the sense "there in/at the location of the washroom" in some of them, e.g. "洗手间那里是敞开着的", effectively "the washroom area is open" (referring to home design).
Do you have a source for that construction? I took Chinese for a few years in university and I don't think I ever came across it.
Do you have a source for that construction?
See above. It's an appositional construction (aka "appositive phrase"); these are common in Chinese.
But if you've never come across the structure without "在", it's certainly safe to stick with the structure you have come across, the one with it.
In that regard the important thing for you to note is the answer to your initial question: You need "在" in order to translate Duo's English sentence.
- 1101
厕所 (ce suo) / 洗手间 = Toilet
公共厕所 (gong gong ce suo) = Public Toilet ( XXX 公共洗手间 - wrong )
浴室 (yu shi) / 洗澡间 (xi zhao jian) = Bathroom
公共浴室 (gong gong yu shi) = Public Bathroom ( XXX 公共洗澡间 - wrong )
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Hope it helps , 加油
Your English must be British. In North American English, the common meaning of "bathroom" (and "washroom") is the room with one or more flush toilets (and urinals as the case may be).
In North America it would be unusual to have a room in a house with only a bathtub or a shower stall and no toilet. In a school or fitness establishment a room with showers would be called a shower room, and I guess we'd use the same terminology at home, though we might call a room with a bathtub but no shower fixture a bathtub room, or a tub room. (That's what I'd call it, anyway, if I needed to be precise.)
Yes, it's the traditional character equivalent. But since you'd normally see traditional characters used for Mandarin in Taiwan (or perhaps Hong Kong or Macau, though these places still primarily use Cantonese), you'd be more likely to see "這裏" instead of "這兒", as that's how it would typically be said in these places (since "这儿" is more of a northern thing).
Isn't the 儿 in 在这儿 from the Beijing dialect? (That's what a former teacher told me anyway.) The way I understand it, it's there to make sentences sound softer, nicer. It doesn't really mean anything.
Well, it doesn't seem like it can be left out here – either this or 'li'. Otherwise 'zhe' means 'this'.
There are so many alternatives to 洗手间, why aren't they allowed?
Examples:
厕所 Cè Suǒ
卫生间 Wèi Shēng Jiān
Why is the comment structured as 这儿在洗手间 and marked incorrect if reversed (洗手间在这儿） but the question is frased as 洗手间在这儿吗？
"洗手间在这儿" (not "这儿在洗手间") is a properly worded simple statement. It means "The washroom is here". To turn it into a question ("Is the washroom here?), we add the question particle "吗".
- 288
Is there a different way of saying "here" vs "over here?" I said "is the bathroom over here" and it was marked incorrect...
To my mind your answer should be accepted. I know of no particular set phrase in Chinese for "over here" as opposed to "here"; Duo's Chinese phrasing (or "在这里") can be used for either one.
That said, in certain contexts "over here" can be translated as "在我（们）这里" — which can also be translated as "here with me/us" etc.
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| Chinese | English | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| 洗手间 | toilet | Xǐshǒujiān |
| 在 | (is) located | zài |
| 这儿 | here | zhè'er |
| 吗? | yes or no particle | ma |
