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不太Ａ也不太Ｂ

English translation: not too A and not too B

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Chinese term or phrase:不太Ａ也不太Ｂ
English translation:not too A and not too B
Entered by: Roddy Stegemann

07:46 Oct 20, 2006
Chinese to English translations [Non-PRO]
Social Sciences - Education / Pedagogy / Grammatical Analysis
Chinese term or phrase: 不太Ａ也不太Ｂ
Sentence: 我最喜歡秋天，因為秋天的天氣不太冷也不太熱。

First Attempt: I like autumn best, because the temperature is just right.

Second Attempt: I like autumn best, because autumn weather is neither too cold nor too hot.

Question One: I suspect that you are all going to tell me that my first attempt is better than my second. What I am wondering is how you would translate my first attempt back into Chinese.

I know this looks like an English to Chinese question, but please pay no attention to it. I will fix the matter when I enter the gloss.

Question Two: Is the 也 necessary? Could one just as easily write 天氣不太冷不太熱

Reference: http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/tsongkit/contents.html#p...

As always you are welcome to comment on other parts of the translation.

Warning: In order to provide ProZ.com users with the best glossary entries possible, more than one question for the same entry will be asked from time to time. Please keep in mind when responding that you will be graded on your responses to ALL questions asked.
Roddy Stegemann
United States
Local time: 06:28
not too hot and not too cold
Explanation:
Personally I would use this for the translation (notice a reversal of the cold and hot)
Although the temperature is just right is a nice translation of the meaning it is also not that accurate a translation of what the person meant to express; the temperature is just right would translate back to 温度刚合适, which is quite different in meaning

Neither too cold nor too hot is a good grammatical translation but I'm sure you already know it is too 'stiff' and the Chinese phrase is not formal at all.

'Not too hot and not too cold' seems to express more accurately what they want to say without being overly formal and is regularly used in English, but of course we would not say 'not too cold and not too hot' as this is not a regular way of saying it

In answer to 天氣不太冷不太熱, yes you can say this but it would be slightly more grammatically correct to say 天氣不太冷、不太熱, the meaning is almost the same but becomes slightly less verbal in form and is not quite so pleasing to the ears, it would be like saying 'not too hot, not too cold'
Selected response from:

Nigel Jones
China
Local time: 21:28
Grading comment
Final Rendering: I like autumn best, because the weather is not too hot and not too cold.

Acknowledgment: I would like to thank Nigel for his well-considered input. Surely he is correct that the statement is likely informal and that hot should be expressed before cold when comparing two equally likely extremes of temperature.

I do wonder whether he is using English logic to answer the question with regard to the use of 也 in this context, but with no other entries I will refrain from further comment.

My thanks to wherestip and Wilman for their confirmatory support and to Yuzouren for providing his alternative entry.

Discussion: Please see http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/tsongkit/part3/III-3-g.html#s7 for further discussion regarding the context of this question.

Caution: As the Tsong Kit server is down for the moment, please wait several hours before reviewing the above webpage.

My very best from the land of no mountains surrounded by sea on many sides.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2not too hot and not too cold
Nigel Jones
1neither too A , nor too B
zhongren (X)


  

Answers


2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
not too hot and not too cold


Explanation:
Personally I would use this for the translation (notice a reversal of the cold and hot)
Although the temperature is just right is a nice translation of the meaning it is also not that accurate a translation of what the person meant to express; the temperature is just right would translate back to 温度刚合适, which is quite different in meaning

Neither too cold nor too hot is a good grammatical translation but I'm sure you already know it is too 'stiff' and the Chinese phrase is not formal at all.

'Not too hot and not too cold' seems to express more accurately what they want to say without being overly formal and is regularly used in English, but of course we would not say 'not too cold and not too hot' as this is not a regular way of saying it

In answer to 天氣不太冷不太熱, yes you can say this but it would be slightly more grammatically correct to say 天氣不太冷、不太熱, the meaning is almost the same but becomes slightly less verbal in form and is not quite so pleasing to the ears, it would be like saying 'not too hot, not too cold'

Nigel Jones
China
Local time: 21:28
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Final Rendering: I like autumn best, because the weather is not too hot and not too cold.

Acknowledgment: I would like to thank Nigel for his well-considered input. Surely he is correct that the statement is likely informal and that hot should be expressed before cold when comparing two equally likely extremes of temperature.

I do wonder whether he is using English logic to answer the question with regard to the use of 也 in this context, but with no other entries I will refrain from further comment.

My thanks to wherestip and Wilman for their confirmatory support and to Yuzouren for providing his alternative entry.

Discussion: Please see http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/tsongkit/part3/III-3-g.html#s7 for further discussion regarding the context of this question.

Caution: As the Tsong Kit server is down for the moment, please wait several hours before reviewing the above webpage.

My very best from the land of no mountains surrounded by sea on many sides.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  wherestip
2 hrs
agree  Wilman
5 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 day 4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 1/5Answerer confidence 1/5
neither too A , nor too B


Explanation:
just for your ref.

zhongren (X)
Local time: 21:28
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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