"他从来不喝酒。"
Translation:He never drinks alcohol.
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Well, when we Japanese feel cold, we drink hot sake-wine to warm ourselves. Probably the Chinese do the same as most Japanese customs were introduced from ancient China, including writing systems.
I think the general meaning is the same, but note that when using perfect tense there should also be changes in the Chinese sentence. I.e. in your case, a better way to say it would be 他從來沒有喝過酒, where the 過 should correlate roughly with the meaning of "has"
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Actually, I think the meanings are quite different. A common reason for someone to "never drink alcohol", present tense, is that they're a recovering alcoholic, in which case they've definitely drunk alcohol before.
Yet again -- 她 and 他 are not distinguishable in the audio "Type What You Hear" exercises and should both be accepted.
And still no way to report that.
Could anyone explain to me how 从来 means never? I know limited Chinese but it seems that would translate literally to "from come". Is it just an expression that needs to be accepted or is there some way to understand this? Thank you in advance :)
That's helpful, thank you :) I'm not sure, though, that thinking of it that way won't make me think of it as "always" instead of "never". Usually Chinese is very logical and simple in how it uses words which aids a great deal in memorization. This one stumped me though :)
从来, more specifically 从来都, actually does mean always. 从来不 means never, the 不 indicating the opposite meaning of 从来.
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/%E4%BB%8E%E6%9D%A5
I think the third character (不) is also needed (i.e. 从来不 = never) https://chinese.yabla.com/chinese-english-pinyin-dictionary.php?define=cong+lai+bu
It is an idiomitic and imaginary sentence which literally translates as like : he come with not drink alcohol.it means that when he is going somewhere or meet friends no one has saw him yet while he is drunk or has alcohol in his hand so it is not his habit and therefore it is proof that he has never drunk alcohol. Hope it is helpful for your understanding.
So does the 从来 have a difference in use from没有verb 过... When would one be used over the other
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从来不 is like you always refrain from doing a thing, while 没...过 means you've never done it and probably hadn't had the opportunity. Depending on context, one would fit better than the other.
@clintack At least in the app, the flag icon beside the comment icon lets you report problems. Duo has actually been pretty darned quick and responsive in adding alternative English translation I've suggested there. Give it a try. They email you when they make a related change.
I don't know if it would be counted wrong, as I guessed Duolingo would require the "alcohol," but it's more common to say, "He doesn't drink," or some variation.
If we see its literal translation it translates like "he comes with not drank alcohol or drink alcohol" it means that no one has saw alcohol in his hand yet.or it is not his habit to to drink alcohol.or we never seen him drunk while coming meet friends or someone.it is an imaginary and idiomotic sentence so inorder to understand it we need to think of its idiomotic form.
