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聽話 | 聽Ｂ的話 (2/2)

English translation: Be good | (take/listen to) B's advice

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Chinese term or phrase: 聽話 | 聽Ｂ的話
English translation:Be good | (take/listen to) B's advice
Entered by: Roddy Stegemann

12:18 Nov 25, 2006
Chinese to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Linguistics / Grammatical Analysis
Chinese term or phrase: 聽話 | 聽Ｂ的話 (2/2)
Sentence: 你生病，當然應當聽母親的話快去看醫生，不看醫生怎麼會好呢？

First Attempt: You have fallen sick and should, of course, follow your mother's advice. What good could come of your not seeing the doctor as soon as possible?

Question One (1/2): It took a little rearranging, but I think I have captured all of the ideas with good precision and fluency. I am concerned about the phrase Ａ怎麼會好呢？Is my translation correct? Can you improve on it?

Question Two (2/2): Is there any grammatical congruency between the word 聽話 and the phrase 聽Ｂ的話? Or, am I stretching the Chinese grammatical imagination?

The PRO aspect of this question is your discussion of the queried congruency -- not simply your translation of the terms.

Please see http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/tsongkit/contents.html#p... for further reference.

As always you are welcome to comment on other parts of the sentence, if you find them in error or would like to suggest an improvement.

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: 15:53
Be good | take/listen B's advice
Explanation:
聽話 usually is used by an elder while persuading a youngster to follow some course of action.

Some examples:

听话穿上大衣 Be a good boy and wear your outer coat
听话去睡觉 Be a good girl and go to bed
听话叫阿姨 Be a good boy and say hello to Ms. X
李先生的孩子都很听话 Mr. Lee's Children are very well-behaved

聽Ｂ的話 basically means the same thing, but it extends to taking someone's (B's) advice, which could very well be offered from adult to adult.

听爸爸的话, 别哭了 Be a good boy and stop crying (something said by a father)
听我的话, 别抽烟了 Take my advice and quit smoking
你应当听医生的话 You should listen to the doctor
我劝你听你先生的话 My advice to you is to listen to your husband

As you can see, there is congruency between the 2 phrases. 聽Ｂ的話 is an extension of 聽話, and spells out exactly whose advice to listen to.

Also, 聽話 is mostly used in a situation of persuasion from an adult to a youngster, while 聽Ｂ的話 is not necessarily so.
Selected response from:

wherestip
United States
Local time: 17:53
Grading comment
Final Rendering: You have fallen sick, and should do what your mother has told you. Go and see a doctor as soon as possible. How will you ever get better, if you do not?

Acknowledgment: As is often the case, I found all of your answers very helpful, but in this case wherestip's was by far the most useful.

Firstly, I did not realize that 聽話 could be used as both an adverb and an adjective. For this I am grateful to both wherestip and brilliantcn.

Secondly, that 聽話 is more appropriate for speaking to children than adults was also new. For this, I am very thankful to wherestip for his terrific examples.

Thirdly, I agree with Lu Wang that "listen", rather than "follow your mother's advice" is more appropriate for children, especially if they are very young.

My thanks to PK, Chinoise, and anastasia for their confirmatory support.

Discussion: Please see http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/tsongkit/part3/III-3b-g.html#s17 for further discussion regarding the context of this question.

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
3 +3Be good | take/listen B's advice
wherestip
4 +1obey
brilliantcn
3listen to (sb)
Lu Wang


  

Answers


2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
Be good | take/listen B's advice


Explanation:
聽話 usually is used by an elder while persuading a youngster to follow some course of action.

Some examples:

听话穿上大衣 Be a good boy and wear your outer coat
听话去睡觉 Be a good girl and go to bed
听话叫阿姨 Be a good boy and say hello to Ms. X
李先生的孩子都很听话 Mr. Lee's Children are very well-behaved

聽Ｂ的話 basically means the same thing, but it extends to taking someone's (B's) advice, which could very well be offered from adult to adult.

听爸爸的话, 别哭了 Be a good boy and stop crying (something said by a father)
听我的话, 别抽烟了 Take my advice and quit smoking
你应当听医生的话 You should listen to the doctor
我劝你听你先生的话 My advice to you is to listen to your husband

As you can see, there is congruency between the 2 phrases. 聽Ｂ的話 is an extension of 聽話, and spells out exactly whose advice to listen to.

Also, 聽話 is mostly used in a situation of persuasion from an adult to a youngster, while 聽Ｂ的話 is not necessarily so.

wherestip
United States
Local time: 17:53
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in ChineseChinese
PRO pts in category: 16
Grading comment
Final Rendering: You have fallen sick, and should do what your mother has told you. Go and see a doctor as soon as possible. How will you ever get better, if you do not?

Acknowledgment: As is often the case, I found all of your answers very helpful, but in this case wherestip's was by far the most useful.

Firstly, I did not realize that 聽話 could be used as both an adverb and an adjective. For this I am grateful to both wherestip and brilliantcn.

Secondly, that 聽話 is more appropriate for speaking to children than adults was also new. For this, I am very thankful to wherestip for his terrific examples.

Thirdly, I agree with Lu Wang that "listen", rather than "follow your mother's advice" is more appropriate for children, especially if they are very young.

My thanks to PK, Chinoise, and anastasia for their confirmatory support.

Discussion: Please see http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/tsongkit/part3/III-3b-g.html#s17 for further discussion regarding the context of this question.

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  pkchan
1 hr
  -> Thanks, pk
agree  anastasia t (X)
19 hrs
  -> Thanks, Anastasia
agree  Chinoise
1 day 52 mins
  -> Thanks, Betty
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

11 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
obey


Explanation:
the first one is to be obedient.
the second one has the same meaning,
but there seems to be an error in your translation of 你不去看医生怎么会好呢？

it should mean "how can you get well without seeing the doctor" or "how can you recover from your illness without seeing the doctor"




brilliantcn
Local time: 06:53
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese, Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  anastasia t (X)
9 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

18 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
listen to (sb)


Explanation:
follow one's advice is too formal; a child should listen to its mother

Lu Wang
Local time: 06:53
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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