"你昨天有什么事情？"
Translation:What was the matter with you yesterday?
42 Comments
Is "what was the matter with you yesterday" really the answer? Cant shiqing mean business as well? Like what matters did you have yesterday or what "did u have to do" yesterday?
552
"What was the matter with you yesterday?" sounds like questioning the misbehaviour of the listener yesterday. This translation is awful. "What matters did you have yesterday?" is miles better. "Did something happen to you yesterday?", another meaning, is also possible.
For questioning misbehavior, we can say
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昨天你幹嘛了(你)？
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昨天你怎麼了(你)？
- 758
Thanks, Keith. Since this could be interpreted as 'What matters did you have yesterday,' am I right in thinking this is rather like 'what were you doing yesterday, or 'what kept you busy yesterday'?
- 112
Sorry, Dave, but I find "What was wrong with you" just as harsh as the use of "What was the matter with you".
- 112
I 100% agree. "What was the matter with you yesterday" sounds very harsh.
I entered "What did you need to do yesterday" and was marked wrong. I think it is OK, unless someone can explain why it's incorrect.
I'm a native English speaker and to me it doesn't sound at all like questioning the misbehaviour of the listener.
I'm surprised by this. "What's the matter with you?" "What was the matter with you?" These sound clearly very accusatory to me.
I agree too. In the uk it would indicate you thought they were unwell more likely than they were misbehaving. You heard they called in sick, or they left a party really early or something. It's enquiring after their wellbeing not accusatory.
- 558
Yes.
商業／商业 refers to business, so be a bit more careful of how the sentence here expresses.
事情 refers to situation. It is not to be confused with 東西, which means "thing" (physical).
- 552
Sorry but the explanation of 事情 and 東西 are not accurate.
"Business" in the sense of matters is usually just 事. "This is none of your business." would be "這不關你的事。" We don't say 事情 here.
東西 can also be intangible. e.g. 你在想甚麼東西? / Which things are you thinking about? (although 東西 can be skipped here.)
i just got this wrong - fair enough - but the correction given, "What did you've to do yesterday?", makes absolutely no sense and is very wrong english
Same here, the suggested 'correct' answer was 'What did you have to do yesterday?', but then I look here in the discussion for some explanation and I find the expected phrase 'What was the matter with you yesterday?' which has a completely different meaning in English. This is just bewildering and hopelessly inadequate for teaching.
Yes, this is rather difficult to translate because 事情 (shìqíng) has a broad range of meaning; "thing, matter, business, affair". So depending on context this can mean "what'd you do", "what was wrong", "what happened to you".
The translation in English has a negative connotation - regardless if you say "what was up with you", "what was the matter with you", these all mean that you are negatively questioning the other person. I don't think the Chinese phrase has that same connotation.
Yes. While not accusatory as some have commented the English phrases you used above all have a connotation of something wrong. I.e. "what negative situation caused the changes I observed in your usual pattern of behaviour yesterday ?" I don't find the Chinese sentence has such a negative connotation. It's more like "what did you do yesterday ?" which is a neutral question.
Got given this: "What did you've to do yesterday" as a correction to my version of "What did you do yesterday". Now, I get that my answer can be improved on, and I'm very grateful for this course and really cheer for the awesome dudes who made it (thank you!) but "What did you've to do yesterday" is a fail.
- 751
I put "What did you do yesterday?" I don't know if that is a correct translation, but Duo's correction was "What did you've to do yesterday?" It is not correct English.
- 443
Seriously - it's saying that this is the correct response: "What did you've to do yesterday?". This is nonsense and not correct English.
I think it can mean that, depending on the situation; it can also mean other things, like "what was up with you yesterday" or "what happened to you yesterday (why did you stand me up)" or "what appointment did you have yesterday" or just "what were you doing yesterday" - we don't have an exact equivalent of this sentence in English; we say different things depending on the context.
This is a terrible translation. It seems like the sentence is really asking, "What matter/task did you have (to do) yesterday" or "what did you have to do yesterday" ... guess this is just one I have to memorize until it is either removed from the exercise or gets improved translations.
Shouldn't it be, What were you busy with yesterday? Or, What were you doing yesterday? or, What did you have going on yesterday? "What was the matter with you" means something like, "Why did you [behave badly unexpectedly] yesterday?" (example, why did you play football unusually badly yesterday when you are usually a good player, or, why did you make my mom mad yesterday when you are usually polite to her, or, why didn't you come to the party when you promised you would come, etc.)
"What did you have on yesterday?" sounds like you're asking what someone was wearing.
"What did you have on" usually does refer to clothing, but in some regions "what did you have on" (with the dialect meaning of an event or appointment or obligation) would be exactly correct.
I got as the correct answer: "What was up with you yesterday"- which is not good English and not at all clear.
