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- "你再问一次。"
"你再问一次。"
Translation:Ask it again.
55 Comments
Edit: the original English translation of this sentence is "Can you ask it again?". It seems that someone has reported the translation and they fixed it, and now the translation is more acceptable. However, I won't recommend using 你再问一次 in conversation unless you know what you mean.
This is a very bad example.
你再问一次 is not a proper way to express "can you ask again". It lacks "can", "please" and the question mark. And it is not a correct imperative because it has the subject 你.
It's never used in actual life. Actually it sounds intimidating. as if you are saying "Dare you ask it again?"
All the following sentence works:
请你再问一次。Remember that 请 is a verb. So it is a valid imperative. However, it sounds cold and emotionless.
请问，你能再问一次吗？/ 能请你再问一次吗？Both valid.
And in this case, I strongly recommend using the formal you "您".
I advise against using 您. 您 is typically only used for older generations and people that you really respect. It's rare one even uses it for teachers. In fact, if I ever say something that my teacher will dislike and hate me for like pointing out something she said that was wrong, I'd use 您 to flatter her.
Based on what I've seen living in China the past few months, yes, you should use 您.
Formal you, read as "nin2". Used like "vous" in French and "Sie" in German, but probably a little bit less frequently used.
It's origin is same as "vous" in French. 您 comes from reading 你们 "ni-men" fast in speaking.
Basically saying what Cinnamon5230 said, but 您 is formal more formal than 你 (also comparable to "usted" instead of "tú" in Spanish), and it is used with older generations and people you respect, and if you are in a formal situation such as a meeting concerning business, address others with 您.
您 it is a more polite way of saying " you ". It's like 你 but with a N at the end 您 is pronounced Nin sounds like nin
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The reception of the word 您 is rather localised. In cities like Beijing, and in putonghua / mandarin, it sounds respectful and can be used to address strangers, somewhat like French vous or German Sie. In some other cities where the local dialects offer their own version of honorifics, or do not have a special honorific pronoun, 您 could be even sarcastic. Personally, when I first came to Beijing, I got accustomed to the local usage of 您 in a rather aware fashion.
你再问一次 is fine, but it depends on what kind of situation the speaker is in. Let's say I am talking with a friend. I just called an after-sale service hotline because I don't know how to use my new vacuum cleaner, but after the call I still have some questions, so my friend then suggests me to ask again:
-Me: My new vacuum cleaner arrived today but I don't know how to use it.
-Friend: Did you call the after-sale service hotline?
-Me: Yes, I did this morning but I still don't understand.
-Friend: 你再问一次。You ask (them) again.
I translated it as ''Could you ask once more,'' which was marked wrong. I confirmed my translation to my CHINESE colleagues (I live in China) and they all without exception said it was accurate and correct without any given context. I am not sure why they would teach an expression which should be earmarked as standoff-ish.
Kind of. Mandarin has more native speakers than any other branch of Chinese, and people who speak other topolects usually understand Mandarin to a certain extent (though they may not speak it well).
However. one should remember that all Chinese 'dialects', including Mandarin, aren't really languages, but many languages/dialects with similar features. And what you learn here is the modern standardized form of Mandarin (MSM).
The written form of MSM gained much more popularity than any spoken form of Mandarin. It almost replaces the position of "classical Chinese" in ancient times. This even applies on regions where the spoken form of other topolects are predominant. People would write in MSM and speak in their native dialect, barely noticing the difference of literary and spoken language.
To be exact, MSM.
There are so many Chinese languages that you are unlikely to be able to learn them in a single course.
Mandarin itself is the largest branch of Chinese and has many different dialects inside, whose similarity is probably not immediately evident to people unfamiliar to Chinese.
You seems to know lots about chinese but when i have gone to see your score i was surprised that your score is just 800
Does it make sense to translate this as "please"? I often see the word 请 translated as "please" but I don't see it here. Is "please" included in English because the English sentence as a whole has a similar level of politeness or formality, to the Chinese sentence?
I'd appreciate any clarification that any experienced bilingual people could offer! Thanks!
From my exprience you would say "qing" in front of this particular question. This is because if either you or some one else said this w/o qing, it in a sarcastically manner (angied that you ask them that question and dare you to ask them agian). As if to be aggressive, usally but not always.
You dont always have to qing but it is more formal to do so.
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As a native speaker, I would rather say that '你再问一次' is sometimes warm (as a suggestion; but in that case we would also say 你再问一次吧 or 再问一次吧; the addition of the auxiliary word 吧 and the omission of word 你 will 'soften' the speech), but mostly cold (the speaker does not hear well, but does not want to speak politely), or sometimes even shouted irritatedly. I could imagine an angry person shouting / squeezing the words in one's teeth, and 你再问一次 ~~ 'How dare you ask again? '
"Ask it again" should contain 'ba' as an imperative or 'qing3' if more as a question. Here it is just a statement: You ask (it) once again
I think that is wrong translation.. I reported it.. It can be ''You ask it again''
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"You ask me again" is the suggested reply given to me, when I had translated "You ask once again". Not clear where from 'me' comes in suggested reply. Can someone elucidate please!
i was just corrected to use "me" as in, "you ask me again". How would i have seen that? Is it new? i did not see anyone comment on "you ask me again". Then here in the discussion the response was given "Ask it again" Anyone else have this issue? How do i see the difference? or is this a glitch?
I believe it's a glitch. I had the same issue - there's no I/me in the original sentence!
Duolingo is giving me "You ask ME again" as the correct answer - there is no I/me in the Chinese sentence! I had translated it as "You ask once again".
I wrote "You should ask again." which I think should be accepted. Where would the "You" go otherwise?
Why is "Ask once again" wrong? The correct answer was given as "Ask me again". Where is the "me" in that sentence?
When i see zai followed by a verb, my default interpretation is something like "to be ing". So i translated this as "you are asking again." Is that wrong?
Ah, I guess that your "zai" is the character “在”, instead of “再”.
Nope. “你在问一次” is not an idiomatic expression. It is equivalent to "You are asking it one time", which doesn't really make sense in English either.
There is a difference between “再” and “又”.
The word “又” indicates that the action is a repetition, and it is either completed or in action. Therefore, one should use “又” to translate the sentence.
You are asking again.
你又在问了。
The word “再” indicates that the action is a repetition, and it will (or is expected to) happen in the future. This also means that we should use “再” in an imperative sentence.
Please do (it) again.
请再做一次。We will come again tomorrow.
我们明天会再来。
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If I said "再问一次" would it be understood when I'm already directing it at someone? The 你 isn't necessary, right?
It says literally the following. You again ask one time. I was confused what each character meant so I dropped it here for your reference.
