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- "李老师的电话号码是多少？"
"李老师的电话号码是多少？"
Translation:What's Teacher Li's telephone number?
259 Comments
"What's Teacher Li's phone number?" has been marked wrong, I think it's correct.
663
Actually this is TRUE. Maybe Duolingo considers "phone" incorrect for this case. I tried to use "phone" (instead of "telephone") in another sentence and it is also true. Duolingo even showed me the alternate translation.
Maybe there's a difference between whether you're using mobile duolingo or desktop duolingo. It accepts "phone" on my desktop as of February 2021.
- 616
Dian hua applies to cell phone / mobile device rather than phone generally.... because the dian equates to electricity / electric:
电 dian4
electric / electricity / electrical
话 hua4
dialect / language / spoken words / speech / talk / words / conversation / what sb said
Cell phone is 手机 (shou3ji1) "hand machine". 电话 is just phones in general. "Electric words"
- 11
In my mind, I produced another alternate connotation for 电话 similarly to yours too. ''Electrical speech''
I prefer it to say, 'Teacher Li's phone number is what' over anything else. The closer to the Chinese sentence structure the better. I keep getting thrown off and lag due to translation.
I don't think a native speaker of English would use the expression 'teacher Li'. Maybe 'Mr. Li'. or 'Miss Li' etc. etc.
I don't get it, either. My answer should have been correct, though it showed up as wrong.
- 341
yes we correct.. but duolingo considers it wrobg and differentiates be phone and telephone
"What is Teacher Li's phone number?" is accepted as a correct answer, but it says there is a typo there. ("Li s") I don't understand this. I don't understand what the typo is, and I certainly don't understand why my answer would be accepted as correct (but with a typo) and yours would be marked wrong. ???
If that were the case, "phone" would be underlined, not "Li s". Also, in the Tips for this skill (https://www.duolingo.com/skill/zs/Contact/tips), it translates 电话号码 as "phone number," not "telephone number."
Because its not Li's, tbat would be Li is but it belongs to Li so its Lis lol right ?
- 412
No. Li's could be BOTH Li is and belonging to Li. You would not write Lis unless you were talking about many Lis.
I thought 多少 just meant how much not what. Why would you not just use 什么for what?
Basically it translates 李老师的电话号码是多少 literally as li teacher 's telephone number is how much. So the difference between 什么 and 多少 is quantity vs not
Yeah, I was thinking the same too! There has been an error and I have submitted in a report.
They emphasize the use of teacher so that we understand it's a teacher, not just any person
Mr. = xian1sheng. Lao3shi1 = teacher. It doesn't matter if in English people used to call teacher as Mr. It is not the correct translation. I know in English people call teachers as Mr., but this translation would only be useful if you are writing subtitles, or tranlating a book into English. For those who are learning chinese this translation should be misleading. The real translation should be accept.
In some Asian countries, they do call their teacher, Teacher [insert name] in English.
- 266
It's a cultural thing. A lot of cultures use titles when addressing teachers. When I taught in Latin America (yes, I know that's not a Chinese-speaking place...that's just where I have experience), some students and parents would address me as "Teacher." I'm guessing it's the same in many Asian cultures.
I think learning a language consists of learning some of the culture also. Probably 'titles' ( teacher, professor, doctor ) are more important where Mandarin is spoken than where English ( or some other languages ) is spoken.
- 1236
We were only making a comment on the English translation. It is actually not a fair play to expect an English native speaker to answer something like "Teacher Li" instead of "Mr./Ms. Li", because that's the way the same is expressed in English. I am Chinese myself and I do not see it as a disregard of our culture. It is just because people understand it would they answer in that way.
What Duolingo hasn't taught users are what and how exactly this pattern is applicable. In fact, as some users had learned themselves and mentioned, even the family name is not necessary, where it is already understood.
- 438
One thought on strange translations. This is not a translation course. It is a Mandarin course taught to English speakers. While it is difficult at times to wrap one's head around the meaning of weird translations, it helps to remember that to learn another language we have to acustom ourselves to the "thinking/pattern" logic of that language. The seemingly weird translations can sometimes facilitate this process. (hope that makes sense to someone.)
It does to me. I think differently...still confusing when the word is in their format used in "another translation" and they give phone for telephone.
- 846
Just to see, I tried "Teacher Li's phone number is what?" And it didn't like that, either.
Fist i tried same, but i think the idea is that it is imprtant to translate very close to original one(much more similar) and i think it is good aproach to learn.
Agree. Laoshi (professor) implies someone more advanced than Jiaoshi (teacher).
- 1433
Also native English speakers generally will not refer to teachers this way, and with no indication of which of Mr., Mrs., or Miss to use, if professor is an appropriate translation, it is probably the best translation.
老师 directly translates to teacher, not professor. 教授 translates to professor.
- 2060
"What is the phone number of teacher Li" is still marked wrong. I reported. 28 Nov. 2017
This sentence is too long for me to say at this early in my learning and is quite intimidating. The English translation is the most broken English I've seen on Duolingo; while it might not be entirely wrong, I promise any English teacher would mark it wrong on an essay or test. Also I'm a crybaby
I actually go to a real life Chinese school and am using this for extra practice. Why does it have to be Teacher Li? I take Chinese and when we translate we simply say teacher.
- 1236
Just an additional note: apart from a matter of convenience, there is a cultural reason to omit the name. In older time, nobody is allowed to call a person in the upper rank by their name. So addressing someone with their professional title is also a sign of respect.
- 1236
When the teacher is your teacher, you would often omit the name when you are talking to him/her or to his/her other students.
If you have a whole bunch of teachers whom you address in Chinese, it's customary to mention their name. But as Keith308807 says, if you're talking to him/her specifically, then it's understood if you just say "teacher".
Because that is what was in the Chinese sentence, and you can't just leave it out when you translate.
But the English sentence doesn't make sense so how are we supposed to guess correctly if the sentence is grammatically incorrect in English.
I used phone instead of telephone and it was marked wrong. That's a mistake
Nothing in the material presented so far in this Duolingo has prepared us to translate this sentence.
I answered "What's Teacher Li's telephone number?" and even though it was accepted the program told me I had a typo and underlined "Li's". I think that was because we have only the option to use "Li" + " 's" (separately) and not "Li's" but it is exactly the same and we have no other option. Why should it be considered a typo?
I am a bit puzzled about the use of "ma"(3rd tone) and "ma" (question word). What is the function/meaning of "ma"(3rd tone)?
- 1236
They are different characters and have different meaning/use. 吗 is an interjection marking a Yes-or-no question, 码 as in 号码 means a number or a code.
Note to self: Read the whole sentence first, or else you'll have to restart the entire sentence.
- 1236
There is a regional difference. Some places accept 多少 (Mainland China), some accept 几号(Taiwan and SE Asia); 什么 is a bit strange for me in Chinese, but who knows someone somewhere may talk like that. If I am asked in Chinese "What" my telephone number is, I probably would answer "My telephone number is … of course, a NUMBER!"
In my college Chinese classes, I dont remember ever learning the phrase 你的电话号码是多少. I feel like 你的电话是几号 feels more natural, but I'm not sure if anyone actually says it that way??
There is no "ma" in this sentence, although it's a question. When the interrogative "ma" should and shouldnt be used?
- 443
Ma 吗 turns a statement into a yes or no question. For example, "This is Teacher Li's phone" is 这是李老师的电话。To change that into "Is this Teacher Li's phone?" you would simply add the 吗 particle: 这是李老师的电话吗？ Ma 吗 is only for yes or no questions.
For other kinds of questions, you basically phrase it like a statement, and replace the thing you're asking about with a question word, like 什么 shenme, "what?" or 多少 duoshao, "what number?/how many?"
So if the answer is "Teacher Li's phone number is 5309," 李老师的电话是五三零九。 then the question is "Teacher Li's phone number is what number?" 李老师的电话是多少？ Other questions, like who? 谁 shei and how? 怎么 zenme , work the same way.
I put: what is teacher li's phone number?' and it wasn't correct!! Can anyone help me out here please?
- 443
多少 and 什么 take the place of a noun when turning a statement into a "what is" kind of question. Example: if the answer is 这是我的猫 ("This is my cat.") then the question is 这是什么？(Literally "This is what?") So 李老师的电话号码是多少？ is basically "Teacher Li's phone number is what?" where 多少 takes the place of Teacher Li's phone number.
That is just the way the Chinese do it. They put the "what" at the end whereas in English it goes at the beginning.
what does "me" means? sorry i cannot write the hanzi with my keyboard XD
So, I translated it as "Li laoshi" rather than "Mr. Li" or "Teacher Li."
What is Miss Li's phone number? It is correct too. Why is it assumed that a teacher must be a man???
so i could literally want to ask someone their number, but maybe make it sound like how they are?
(ni) hao ma?
Gosh darn tones :/
help?
Is it me, or are they pronouncing this incredible fast? I try to go off the sound, but its incredible fast.
It doesn't matter what i do I put "What's teachers Li's phone number" And "What's teachers Li's telephone number" Why is dont working?
I said "Teacher Li's phone number is what?" Any tips to why that was wrong?
- 900
To me, the real question is not about 李老师的 which can be considered as chinese usage (Mr/Ms/Mrs, Teacher or Professor are all titles). The interesting point here is the 多少 (duō shǎo) final question word. Actually, it means "much fiew" and is used to ask about an amount of anything: a price, a mass, a weight, a voltage... Usually it is translated by "How much", expecting a number as answer. However, in english, for a phone number, "How much" would be a bad question word. Thus the use of "What" in this case. The construct is to replace the expected number of the affirmative sentence by 多少 in the question, at the same position. In our example, the answer would be "李老师的电话号码是二七九九五一", for instance. I hope I've been clear enough, and I beg your pardon for my poor english, being a french speaking guy.
- 1236
Oui, ce n'est pas très logique. Il n'est pas mon habitude non plus de demander "combien" est-il un numéro téléphonique. Quand-même il paraît qu'il y ont des gens qui parlent comme ça. Nous avons autres façons de le dire, comme 几号. Pour moi, 什么"what" fait pire aux oreilles. Il me semble "C'est quoi ça?". Vous serez entendu en tous cas.
Bon courage !
多少 confused me in this instance because I'd only ever heard it used to refer to "How many?" before. It can translate to "how much? / how many? / and when asking for phone number, student ID etc, what number?". 我爱是学生！
i put, what is li, the teacher's telephone number? it should have been right but i got it wroooooong :'0
What about'What is Teacher Li's telephone?' Technically this would be considered corrected because What's is the short version. Right?
previously just 电话 was used as phone number (我的电话是1234...）but now its 电话号码... so im wondering if both are OK, or is it based on context or something?
- 1236
Both are okay. 电话 is basically "telephone" but usually people are mostly interested in knowing the telephone number 电话号码. Asking in Chinese what is your telephone is analogous to asking what is your number in English. You will be understood in that context that you are not talking about a telephone set or a telephone call.
"What's Mr. Li's phone number?" has been marked wrong and if you have experienced the same thing, please comment down below.
I thinks this correct "What is Teacher Li's telephone number?" as "What's Teacher Li's telephone number?"
I accidentally selected "what is teacher's li's telephone number?" Rip my english. Lol.
Teacher is not a proper noun. It's not like Professor, or Doctor and shouldn't be capitalized. Saying "Teacher Li" also just sounds weird. Students don't call their teachers "Teacher Li" they say Mr. or Miss. The sentence should be What's Li the teacher's phone number or What's Mr. Li's phone number. Suppose I could be wrong though. I could be wrong tho.
I said whats teacher lis number and it said it was wrong did i really have to put telephone cause it could have been a iphone
I didnt add an s after li for posession of phone number and it marked wrong
I put phone, and it's incorrect. Can any natives or anyone explain why it matters
I am sick and tired from the Duolingo English! Just for smart guys in Duoling, in English, the language which speak people in English speaking countries, "What's" is the short(!) version of "What Is"
is it just me or does anyone else feel really rushed by the short window you have to speak this long sentence in?
The word "phone" is short for "telephone" making them the same word. Because the more formal "telephone" is becoming less common in english speech, it will soon be replaced in correctness (or formality, what ever one wishes to call it,) by the more commonly used word "phone".
There is only one " 's" in the question. So how can I put two " 's " in a sentence? And Is it the " is " not the same as " 's "????
- 156
In English I have never heard of someone say Teacher Li, it sounds so wrong. But using Mr or Mrs would be a problem as how would you explain it in Chinese? When I put in 'What's Mr. Li' s telephone number, I was marked wrong.
- 345
I'd guess it's a trade-off - making the English sentence less conventional to illustrate the Chinese usage more clearly.
As a English speaker we do not say What is Teacher Li's phone number. We would say what is Mr or Prof Li's phone number
I think this translation is more of a literal translation of what the Chinese is trying to say. The phrasing could definitely be awkward. The word for prof isn't being taught in this instance, and Chinese doesn't really gender their words too often.
But a Teacher is not necessarily a Professor. And in many non-English-speaking countries people refer to university or high school teachers by their actual title ("Professor", "Engineer", "Doctor") rather than "Mister".
- 52
Before, I had "What is teacher Wang's phone number?", and I answered with that, even specifying "Wang's", yet it said I had a typo at "Wang's", but it showed it as "Wang s". Same here, but instead with "Li's", so this time I did report it, as I've seen others that answered the same, so I guess I'm not wrong.
I believe the correct way to write this in English is Li's teacher, and not Teacher Li's
- 345
李老师 is a teacher whose surname is Li, not a teacher of Li('s), so Teacher Li's should be OK.
in Chinese the direct translation is teacher wang's phone number is what, so i did what the directions said and wrote it down in english. it was still marked wrong
That's funny...I gave the exact translation, and it told me I had a typo. The "correct" translation was "What's Teacher Li s phone number?" -- no apostrophe! :D :D
I typed in the exact same thing but somehow it marked me wrong. Anyone else have this problem?
"Whats teacher Li's phone number" => This I entered with the buttons! It was accepted - but the message said, there is a typo in it! How can there be a typo, when I didn't typed anything manually?
WHy does it keep saying "you have a typo". 1) It SHOULD read "Teacher Li's", NOT "Teacher Li s". 2) "Teacher Li s" is not even an option!!!! There is no " s" option!!!!!! 3)Duo, get your act together!!!!
this is much tio difficult on this level, we went directly from Wo xing... to this... I am not able to do that sentence even though I'm learning chinese now for kore than 2 months
Yes, it should. However with Duolingo, nothing surprises me anymore!!
Duo... You have made a mistake. Marked incorrect with a word not even in the options! Not impressed!!! Need to up your game and standard!
I made a simple typo. Obviously, I didn't mean to put " 's " after "What's" & I meant to put it behind "Teacher Li".
Why would you say ”电话号码“ instead of just simply "电话”? Would "李医生的电话是多少？” be correct?
- 1542
What is the telephone number of Mr Li is acceptable. In English we would not call someone "teacher Li " but would use the term " Professor Li" if he was a professor.
What about, "Teacher Li's telephone number is what?" This sounds right in English.
I would agree with you, but this is based on Mainland Mandarin, which is weird in some ways.
You mean traditional Chinese? there are two types, simplified and traditional. most of the words are the same, but some are different. but I think duolingo should do simplified because more people speak simplified than traditional. hope this helps!! (ps im 12 so this might be inaccurate:)
That's not what I meant, and Traditional Chinese is more prevalent outside of the PRC which is actually a big deal in terms of cultural exports and whatnot. TC/SC are not spoken languages and many vocabulary are different. My comment was about the difference in regional vocabulary.
yeah... Expert: ni de dianhua haoma shi duoshao? Me: fjrfbherf rejfnr reohrot forehrj forhrorefb? :)
If the hover over characters would have the mandarin characters AND the pinyin and the English it would be even more helpful with confirming my recognition. I think. Although, it might not. Not sure, if my brain would get lazy :o) I appreciate the difficulty level. I like that it started with telephone number and then separated these out. That made practicing the pronunciation easier.
I put Li teacher's not teacher Li's I see where I messed up now. But good to know telephone is right, very specific so I'll have to remeber that
- 345
Technically, smartphones are also telephones (I was a connectivity engineer), so I'd say a lot of people use telephones these days.
You can be right if you asked about a model or a material of a teacher's phone unit. In the context of the lesson such a sentence is not correct.
I have the feeling that it makes it wrong both ways. Some times telephone and others, phone is taken as wrong. Not fully AI.jeje
i put What's Teacher's Li telephone number and got it wrong do to putting the 's on teacher
- 616
Duo1
There are 2 radicals in this Character: 夕xīevening 夕xīevening
duo1
many / much / often / a lot of / numerous / more / in excess / how (to what extent) / multi- / Taiwan pr. [duo2] when it means "how"
I think it is inaccurate to say that it is "Teacher Li" instead of teacher's.
You guys are concerned about the wrong things. Why in the ❤❤❤❤ is there a new word for what?
Ms./Mrs. Li has been marked wrong. Are you saying only guys can be teachers? Reported
Mr. Li is marked wrong as well. They emphasize the use of teacher so that we understand it's a teacher, not just any person
No gender was hinted in the sentence. Some Asian languages like Chinese, they call their teachers by putting Teacher in front of their name like Teacher Li. This also works for family relatives like 李哥哥 (Older Brother Li).
