"I will go to Shanghai to see a friend."

Translation: 我会去上海见一个朋友。

[tntptntp]

Is the 一个 necessary here?

[Rumactree]

Without 一个 the sentence is ambiguous in Chinese. It might mean ‘a friend’ or ‘friends’.

So it’s a more exact translation with 一个 but I honestly can’t answer about whether it’s absolutely necessary.

[DrMutale]

Wouldn't friends be 朋友们？

[rb_9]

们 is only used when the noun is the subject, not the object.

[hushpossum]

Men is only used to make pronouns plural, not other nouns

[Jacob922981]

Yes 看 is also acceptable, it can be used the same way in english to when we say "I'm going to see a friend". 见 Can be translated as to see or to meet so you "can see" how they are interchangeable here.

[laszabine]

Is it ok to use 看 instead of 见 here?

[z4096]

That would mean "look at friends" or "watch friends", which isnt what you want

[Mayisoon]

Why is 看见 instead of 见 not accepted?

[Zarainia]

Because 看见 doesn't mean seeing as in meeting (like here), but instead literally seeing like with your eyes. As other people have said, though, 看 is also okay.

[rb_9]

Can 要 be used instead of 会?

[Rumactree]

I’m happy with the translation given.

However, I wrote: 我会去上海见面朋友 off the top of my head. I can see why their translation is better. Mine is vague about the number of friends, and i’m not entirely sure I’m using jianmian correctly. Anyone here know?

[z4096]

见面 is a thing you do with someone rather than using that someone as the object of the sentence, for example: 我会去上海跟朋友见面

[Rumactree]

Thanks!

[AbnerWilde]

Do you have to say hui or can it be omitted?

[Zarainia]

I don't know why, but 会 in these sentences always makes the action seem involuntary. It's definitely not how I would speak in real life.