"我跟朋友在周末见面的时候,会喝啤酒。"
Translation:When my friends and I meet up on weekends, we drink beer.
125 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Unfortunately, they want "friends" (plural), "weekends" (plural), and "beers" (plural) and "weekends" can't be preceded by the article "the".
I first typed it all in the singular and my answer was rejected. I then typed it all in the plural and my answer was rejected for "the", but it took me a moment to realize what was wrong since "the" wasn't underlined.
I guess "weekends" is more technically correct English when I think about it, but "the weekends" is how I would normally say this.
Ditto for the plurals sans "friends"; this definitely involves multiple "weekends" and by inference multiple "beers" though it seems unnatural to say it that way.
In fact these expressions seem to be used rather fluidly. I'd be more inclined to say that there's no absolute rule; rather, context will be your guide. If you look at various forums addressing these questions, you'll see that there are a number of contradictory opinions.
Here are a couple of dictionary entries that don't agree with you.
- https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/weekend
- http://learnersdictionary.com/qa/Over-the-weekend-on-the-weekend-at-the-weekend
Personally I'd probably use "weekends" or "the weekend" for the general case, but I think circumstantial context, or a word such as "usually" or "often", can tip the meaning of "the weekends" toward the general.
864
These discussions help us identify which of the English translations are what the Chinese is actually trying to say. Since we're not Chinese speakers yet we don't know this when the English seems a bit off and can be fixed various ways with various different nuances.
We know from experience in these discussion pages that both the English and the Chinese have been full of errors. (Getting better all the time though.)
864
It's twenty years since I drank beer in the US but I've drunk beers in other English speaking countries and/or with other native English speakers regularly and we say beers all the time to refer to glasses or bottles of beer.
864
If it were "we drink a few beers" it would sound more natural. It's only a bit unnatural though in the big scheme of off-sounding English across Duolingo courses.
I'll caveat this comment by stating that I'm not a native Chinese speaker, but in my understanding and experience, "会" can also express a sort of generalized predilection or conditionality (and here, the beer-drinking is a tendency conditional on the getting together).
To analogize with English, in English it's possible to say, for example, "when we get together, we'll usually have a few beers". This is pretty informal, but it's also pretty common.
Also, in some regional variations of Mandarin "会" is almost just a filler, not unlike "很". In this usage, more specifically, it's employed as an auxiliary to ask about or state the presence or absence of some condition, but it doesn't impart any extra meaning over the version of the sentence without it. Here's an example:
61
That sounds right to me, I have not checked the link but it is true that it is sometimes used as a sort of filler, I think Mandarin has quite a few of those, which is one reason why it is both challenging to explain and to learn. To answer the earlier question it can really a bit of both, but more of the latter, it could mean either as well, since there is no context.
864
Think of it as the equivalent of "on" or "at" in "on weekends" or "at the weekend". I've only seen it used for location until now, but apparently it can also be used for time in at least some situations.
1608
For some reason, it's correcting to "When I meet my friends at the weekend, we would drink beer." which is just plain wrong. Reported 2nd October 2018.
130
It is correct to say "we drink water", "we drink coffee". So it should be correct to say "we drink beer", singular!
864
I don't alway catch viruses from my friends on weekends, but when I do, I prefer anything other than Corona.
1129
Yes, I'm a Uk native English speaker and I would always say 'at the weekend'. On the weekend sounds American to my ears. I got everything else right but 'at the weekend' was not accepted - DL only wants 'on the weekend'. Grr
771
What part of this sentence indicates there are multiple friends? In addition to being confusing, it's also unrealistic.
For "meeting" for the first time, Chinese typically uses "认识", whereas "见面" is an option for "meeting up", "seeing each another", "getting together", etc. "Meet" can be used in the latter situation but it can sound a little stilted for this usage, at least in North American English, depending on the exact context.
You can think of the French "rencontrer" for the first usage and "retrouver" or "réunir" for the second.
864
Don't memorize. It's only useful for passing Duoling. Learn. It's useful for talking to Chinese people.
595
How common is the verb to "meet up" as it is used here? I heard Chinese people using it regularly (Chinglish?), but practically never heard a native speaker of English using it.
I can't say exactly how common it is, but it's perfectly normal and natural English, at least in North America. In fact, it's common enough that there's an internet-based service company called Meetup that facilitates groups of people getting together.
That said, "get together" is also a common phrase. I'm not sure if there's a closer Chinese equivalent to this, but perhaps "小聚", "聚聚", or "聚会", depending on the context.
864
I'm a native English speaker and I use both all the time. It's hard to say when I use which but perhaps I might use "meet up" a bit more if it's a planned but casual meeting with a group of people.
Don't take it personally, and please do report all correct options, as some may have been left out inadvertently.
However, do also make sure you have no other errors, as sometimes in rejecting an error somewhere else in your sentence Duo will suggest a correct sentence with other words changed as well.
Here's what I wrote on another discussion page:
"时间" generally refers to a time period in its more durative or flowing aspect, e.g. the period of time spent on something or over which something is experienced (its measure word is "段", "segment"), and "时候" refers to time in its more discrete or punctual aspect, e.g. the point in time when a discrete event takes place, starts, or stops (its measure word is "个", "individual").
A way to think of it is "during this 时间", but "at this 时候". That may not always work in translation, but it summarizes the general idea. Also, "时间" is a commodity, something we can have, whereas "时候" is a position on a timeline.
844
"When I meet uo with friends on the weekend, we go drink beer" marked wrong but should br correct. Reported 06 Jun 21.
385
We can say "meet" without saying "meet up". I never use the latter phrase even as a native English speaker.
85
This has to be the oddest sentence I've encountered yet. You can do it Duo! I believe on you!
864
Well you just wait. This isn't even in the top 100 oddest Duolingo sentences for me! (-:
832
In English language till now I habe mot heard "meet up" meet up is not used in normal English
The mistakes you make in your comments suggest that you're not a native English speaker, and you don't have native-level English. This isn't a criticism in itself, and I applaud your effort, but it does make me wonder why you haven't phrased your comment as a question instead of a statement.
You're wrong here. "Meet up" is normal English, and very common.