"老师在那儿。"
Translation:The teacher is over there.
36 Comments
i thought it meant "where is the teacher?" ALSO whats the difference between "老师在哪里 and 老师在哪儿“
i was confused by this too.. i reviewed my notes and found the culprit.
哪 = where 那 = there
almost.
哪 na3 = what?/which
那 na4 = that
"where" and "there" translate as "which place" 哪里 and "that place" 那里 respectively. (In the Beijing region they tend to use the 儿 er5 ending so it becomes 哪儿 and 那儿 . Personally I find it hard to notice when I'm listening to it!)
Unfortunately you can't tell the difference between 哪儿 and 那儿 in the dictation.
32
I haven't encountered this one for audio, but generally speaking it would be the difference between a question and a statement.
The difference should be clear: 哪儿 (where) is na3r, pronounced with a mid dipping tone; whereas那儿 (there) is na4r, pronounced with a rapidly falling tone.
It's not "where is the teacher?" because it's a statement and not a question. As for your second question, see Andrew-Lin's response to hugonorte's question.
Can this sentence also become a question though? I know in this context it is a statement, but I have used this sentence structure to ask people where the bathroom is (i.e. 卫生间在哪里?)
There is a difference between 那 na4 = that (那里 / 那儿 = there) and 哪 na3 = which?/what? (哪里 / 哪儿 = where?)
small difference in the character and the pronunciation; big difference in the meaning!
Guys, I am studying Chinese and not English. Don't insist in your English translation! There are many annoying examples in this lesson, e.g which date vs what date, or "here is the bathroom" vs "the bathroom is over here" etc. I would strongly suggest to be more flexible when accepting English translations. Thank you, Duolingo team!
- 289
What is the difference between "over there" and "there".
In English it is perfectly OK to say the teacher is 'there', indicating a place where the teacher is. Saying 'over there' makes little difference. But if you write 'there' as in Chinese 'na' as the answer to this question, you get marked wrong.
For what a know, in some parts of China is pronounced with 儿, but in other parts with 里. So 那里/那儿 means the same thing, the same with other ones like: 这里，这儿，哪里，哪儿.
Both 儿 and 里 are understandable, but the frequency does depend on the region. Generally 儿/兒 is more colloquial than 里/裡.
- 1922
It does not. That character (er) is used regionally (in this case Beijing) and is generally accepted.
哪里 means "there" or "over there" and 哪儿 also means "there" or "over there."
(Lazy Einstein: Someone might interpret the way you used the virgule ["slash"] there to mean that 哪里 means "there" and 哪儿 means "over there," but you mean that either Chinese word can mean either English word, right?)
I reckon this could also be translated as "There's the teacher", yes? (I've reported it.)
Would "There is the teacher" be considered an acceptable translation?
Doesn't this mean 'Where is the teacher" whereas 老师在那里 means "the teacher is there"???
- 179
Would "老师在那边" ever be used? If so, it could help distinguish the question from the statement.
I wrote "The teacher is in there" and was told it was wrong. Sometimes I get frustrated with this. They make the construction, "伦敦在英国" and translate it as "London is in the UK". But when the same modifier is applied, it isn't always accepted. For me, "老师在那儿" breaks down into "teacher, in, there." So for the accepted translation to be, "The teacher is over there." I am confused. The only thing I can assume is it is a grammatical preference. But then what if you actually are saying the teacher is in there, like you are pointing at a building?
I greatly appreciate the audio stressing the fourth tone on 那 to avoid confusion with 哪, but can I do anything more to avoid this potential pitfall when speaking?
