Sometimes when you’re speaking Chinese- especially when you’re at the beginning or intermediate level- it’s easy to get caught up in trying to express your meaning by directly translating your thoughts from English without fully considering what the listener understands.
Here is an example of where that can go awry:
I once was with a friend at a food court and remarked
只要你在公共场所， 你一定要把贵重的东西靠在腿上. (zhi3yao4 ni3zai4 gong1gong4chang2(3)suo3, ni3yi2(1)ding4yao4 ba3 gui4zhong4 de dong1xi1 kao4 zai4 tui3shang4- whenever you’re in a public place, you have to lay important things on your leg.
Her response was 那是不是要把我靠在腿上 (na4 shi4bu2shi4 yao4 ba2(3)wo3 kao4 zai4 tui3shang4 – so do you want me to lay on your leg?
If you’re an English speaker, your next likely statement might be “but you’re not a thing!” This is meant to emphasize the person’s status as a human who is so much more than a thing. However, in Chinese, the phrase 你不是东西 (ni3 bu2(4)shi4 dong1xi1 – [lit.] you are not a thing) equates to, “You are so insignificant that you’re not even good enough to be a thing.” Of course, this is not the intended phrase you would have in the context, but it will never be understood as anything but that. As you continue to learn more Chinese language, observe the phrases that other people use in conversations and mentally bookmark them for your own interactions. Just make sure you know what is meant when you say it.
Comments:
Peter Simon:
Hi, Andrew, I don’t know your background but it seems you’ve made a big mistake in the English equivalent of your Chinese now: ‘lean’ is an intransitive verb! A source of confusion for Chinese people, but a major aspect of verb use in English. I suppose what you meant is that you lay things on your lap. Of course, you can ‘lean on’ sb or sg, this is a transitive verb, but again, its meaning is completely different (rely on sb), and mustn’t be mistaken for a nonexistent ‘lean sg on sg’!