GRAMMAR

[Anonymous]

WHICH ONE IS CORRECT?

1.THIS TRAIN IS FOR HEATHROW AIRPORT.
2.THIS TRAIN IS TO HEATHROW AIRPORT.

AND WHY?
PLEASE EXPLAIN IT WITH EXAMPLES.

 

[RonBee]

WHICH ONE IS CORRECT?

1.THIS TRAIN IS FOR HEATHROW AIRPORT.
2.THIS TRAIN IS TO HEATHROW AIRPORT.

AND WHY?
PLEASE EXPLAIN IT WITH EXAMPLES.

I would say, "This train is going to Heathrow Airport."

8)

 

[Tdol]

Number 1 is fine, but to use 'to' you would need to change the verb as Ron suggests. ;-)

 

[lucyarliwu]

But can I say : This train is from Shanghai to Beijing??


Thanks for your help!

 

[RonBee]

But can I say : This train is from Shanghai to Beijing??


Thanks for your help!

I'll try to speak for the Americans.

Here we would say, "This train goes from Shanghai to Beijing."

8)

 

[Tdol]

In BE, that's fine. ;-)

 

[lucyarliwu]

But can I say : This train is from Shanghai to Beijing??


Thanks for your help!

I'll try to speak for the Americans.

Here we would say, "This train goes from Shanghai to Beijing."

8)

Thanks for that answer in the native way, Ron!

But how do I say it in simple and native way if combining with departing time, arrival time, train number, or even the time period spent in the train?
May I say like this: The 102 Train goes from Shanghai to Beijing for 10 hours, with the departure time is 9am and arrival time 7pm.?

Lucy in confusion

 

[RonBee]

But can I say : This train is from Shanghai to Beijing??


Thanks for your help!

I'll try to speak for the Americans.

Here we would say, "This train goes from Shanghai to Beijing."

8)

Thanks for that answer in the native way, Ron!

But how do I say it in simple and native way if combining with departing time, arrival time, train number, or even the time period spent in the train?
May I say like this: The 102 Train goes from Shanghai to Beijing for 10 hours, with the departure time is 9am and arrival time 7pm.?

Lucy in confusion

There are a couple of ways you can say that.

1) The 102 Train goes from Shanghai to Beijing with a departure time of 9am and an arrival time of 7pm. It's a ten-hour trip.
2) The 102 train leaves Shangai at 9am and arrives in Beijing at 7pm--a journey of ten hours.
3) The 102 train takes ten hours to go from Shangai to Beijing, leaving Shangai at 9am and arriving in Beijing at 7pm.

8)

 

[lucyarliwu]

[/quote]
There are a couple of ways you can say that.

1) The 102 Train goes from Shanghai to Beijing with a departure time of 9am and an arrival time of 7pm. It's a ten-hour trip.
2) The 102 train leaves Shangai at 9am and arrives in Beijing at 7pm--a journey of ten hours.
3) The 102 train takes ten hours to go from Shangai to Beijing, leaving Shangai at 9am and arriving in Beijing at 7pm.

8)[/quote]

Wow! So cool that I got three options for my questions! Thanks Ron!
Sometimes it's such a weird thing, the easier of the simple thing you express, the more difficult you can express it well natively,and as a result, I speak out Chinglish (=English in Chinese style :lol: ) which is though still undertood by foreigners but really broke the beautiful sense of language, really annoying! :x

 

[RonBee]

Wow! So cool that I got three options for my questions! Thanks Ron!

You're quite welcome.

Sometimes it's such a weird thing, the easier of the simple thing you express, the more difficult you can express it well natively,and as a result, I speak out Chinglish (=English in Chinese style :lol: ) which is though still undertood by foreigners but really broke the beautiful sense of language, really annoying! :x

I'm afraid I am having trouble understanding that. Would you mind trying again? (Rather than "I speak out Chinglish" say "I speak Chinglish" and leave out the out.)

8)

 

[Tdol]

There are a couple of ways you can say that.

1) The 102 Train goes from Shanghai to Beijing with a departure time of 9am and an arrival time of 7pm. It's a ten-hour trip.
2) The 102 train leaves Shangai at 9am and arrives in Beijing at 7pm--a journey of ten hours.
3) The 102 train takes ten hours to go from Shangai to Beijing, leaving Shangai at 9am and arriving in Beijing at 7pm.

8)

Wow! So cool that I got three options for my questions! Thanks Ron!
Sometimes it's such a weird thing, the easier of the simple thing you express, the more difficult you can express it well natively,and as a result, I speak out Chinglish (=English in Chinese style :lol: ) which is though still undertood by foreigners but really broke the beautiful sense of language, really annoying! :x

I'd recommend breaking the rules, but not the sense. ;-)

 

[lucyarliwu]

I'm afraid I am having trouble understanding that. Would you mind trying again? (Rather than "I speak out Chinglish" say "I speak Chinglish" and leave out the out.)

8)

Sorry, Ron!
I mean that the more simple thing, the more difficultly it seems for me to express it natively.I have to say that the way Chinese language expresses in is mostly different from English language,like the arrangement of subjects,verb forms and objectives. So as a result,what I speak in English might get mixed with the style of Chinese, that's to say, I just use another tongue ---English in the name as a media but to express things in Chinese ways, that's how the Chinglish comes from!
Hope I make you more clear this time!

 

[lucyarliwu]

I'd recommend breaking the rules, but not the sense. ;-)

So, Tdol!
May I ask how I could do to maintain the sense of language but break some rules to some limited extent ? :?
Can you give me more clues? I 'm eager to know that please, thanks!

Lucy in confustion

 

[Tdol]

Colloquial language and slang often break normal rules. ;-)

 

[RonBee]

Comments and corrections.

I mean that the more simple thing, the more difficultly it seems for me to express it natively.

I mean that it seems that the simpler an expression is the harder (or more difficult) it is to say it like a native speaker.

I believe I have some understanding of how frustrating that must be. If it's any consolation, your English is much much much better than my Chinese.

I have to say that the way Chinese language expresses in is mostly different from English language,like the arrangement of subjects,verb forms and objectives.

You could phrase that more simply by just saying that English grammar and Chinese grammar are quite different from each other. Or (another way to put it) say that English grammar is quite a bit different from Chinese grammar.

So as a result,what I speak in English might get mixed with the style of Chinese, that's to say, I just use another tongue ---English in the name as a media but to express things in Chinese ways, that's how the Chinglish comes from!

I think I know what you mean. You use English vocabulary, but not being fully accustomed to expressing yourself in English (grammatically speaking), you "fall back on" the Chinese style of expression, thus Chinglish! Do I understand you?

Hope I make you more clear this time!

Not exactly, but I think I know what you mean. You made things clearer for me. I understand you better.

How are we doing?

8)

 

[RonBee]

P.S. Thanks, Lucy.

8)

 

[lucyarliwu]

Colloquial language and slang often break normal rules. ;-)

Thanks Tdol!
Now I become interested in how those colloquial language and slangs break the normal rules perfectly??
So could I bother you give me some good examples about it?

Lucy with curiosity ( even I know curiosity will kill a cat ) hehe

 

[lucyarliwu]

Comments and corrections.

So as a result,what I speak in English might get mixed with the style of Chinese, that's to say, I just use another tongue ---English in the name as a media but to express things in Chinese ways, that's how the Chinglish comes from!

I think I know what you mean. You use English vocabulary, but not being fully accustomed to expressing yourself in English (grammatically speaking), you "fall back on" the Chinese style of expression, thus Chinglish! Do I understand you?

Hope I make you more clear this time!

Not exactly, but I think I know what you mean. You made things clearer for me. I understand you better.

How are we doing?

8)

Ya Ron!
I think you understand me so well on my obscure writing sorry for bring you trouble on guessing. I do sometimes speak in English vocabulary but in Chinese stlye, so my speaking becomes to lack of proper English grammar as a result, not natively.
By the way, what's the last line mean? " How are we doing?"
I felt a bit unclear!
Thanks again for your sincere corrections for me and humor encouragement to me constantly

 

[RonBee]

Comments and corrections.

So as a result,what I speak in English might get mixed with the style of Chinese, that's to say, I just use another tongue ---English in the name as a media but to express things in Chinese ways, that's how the Chinglish comes from!

I think I know what you mean. You use English vocabulary, but not being fully accustomed to expressing yourself in English (grammatically speaking), you "fall back on" the Chinese style of expression, thus Chinglish! Do I understand you?

Hope I make you more clear this time!

Not exactly, but I think I know what you mean. You made things clearer for me. I understand you better.

How are we doing?

8)

Ya Ron!
I think you understand me so well on my obscure writing sorry for bring you trouble on guessing. I do sometimes speak in English vocabulary but in Chinese stlye, so my speaking becomes to lack of proper English grammar as a result, not natively.
By the way, what's the last line mean? " How are we doing?"
I felt a bit unclear!
Thanks again for your sincere corrections for me and humor encouragement to me constantly

"How are we doing?" is a commonly used English expression, so I suppose it is a good one for you to know. Anyhow, it means "How do you feel about the way things are going?" In other words, what is your opinion about the situation? "How are we doing?" is something a tutor might say to his pupil. I think we're doing pretty well, don't you?

I've been doing this for a couple of years now, so I have gotten fairly good at "deciphering" the English of ESL speakers. Some of my students have been Chinese.

Feel free to tell me how well you think I'm doing. Perhaps you have some ideas for how I can improve.

8)

 

[lucyarliwu]

"How are we doing?" is a commonly used English expression, so I suppose it is a good one for you to know. Anyhow, it means "How do you feel about the way things are going?" In other words, what is your opinion about the situation? "How are we doing?" is something a tutor might say to his pupil. I think we're doing pretty well, don't you?

I've been doing this for a couple of years now, so I have gotten fairly good at "deciphering" the English of ESL speakers. Some of my students have been Chinese.

Feel free to tell me how well you think I'm doing. Perhaps you have some ideas for how I can improve.

8)

Thanks Ron for that deciphering of "how are we doing?" hehe
So do you mean that you have already taken me as one of your students? At least that's what I understand happily.

Ya, I think what you have done and are doing is pretty good, you really help me a lot with patience and kindness I even thought you might also be a Chinese, hehe......

I will tell you what I think anytime if you don't mind

Lucy as one of your student in China