"请别再抽烟了!"
Translation:Please don't smoke anymore!
22 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
280
Good point, but there's a subtlety here. You can say this Chinese sentence to either
(a) A person who is smoking right now, or
(b) A habitual smoker, who may not be smoking at the moment.
In case a), you are basically asking the person to stop smoking. 再 = any longer (or maybe "anymore" as well?)
In case b), 再 = (ever) again. To be unambiguous, you could start the sentence with 以后 (in the future), or use 再也不要 instead of 别再.
66
That's right, and so while "again" is acceptable, it is not the best i.e. most accurate answer here.
17
Could this sentence be interpreted as "don't start smoking again", considering 了 implies a change in situation and assuming that one was once a smoker and quit a while ago but is considering to smoke again, upon which they are said this?
Is it?
I don't think 了 would be used as a marker of completed action for a verb that is an imperative (do not smoke).
This is my interpretation:
请 Please
别 don't
再 again or anymore
抽烟 smoke
了!(change of state)
Current state: Listener is smoking or is a smoker. New (desired) state: Listener is not smoking anymore or is no longer a smoker.