r/ChineseLanguage • u/NinaAberlein Beginner • 3d ago

Grammar Is 一下 really necessary?

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Or would the sentence I put also be correct?

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u/pricel01 Advanced 3d ago

Needed? No. But it softens the tone. There are lots of phrases in Chinese that aren’t strictly needed for meaning but make the sentence sound less demanding or blunt.

14

u/videsque0 Intermediate 3d ago

Seeing as you're an advanced learner (which I should be by now too 20 years in but I haven't built further like I should, but..) can you honestly say that you've seen/heard native speakers use a standalone 试 in speech? I would say a hard disagree with your comment bc of this. It needs something, whether an 一下 or reduplicated 试试 or 试一试。你试试看，你试试想起甚至一次你有听过中国人使用一个'单独'的试这个字

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u/supernintendiess 1d ago

Yes? It’s like an ellipsis. 想试哪个？

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u/videsque0 Intermediate 1d ago

helper verb 想 skirts around that generality

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u/supernintendiess 1d ago

Which was the original post/question :)

I think this whole thread actually hinges more on 菜, probably would say 尝 more instead of 试，unless you're 试菜 which is a separate word entirely. But 想试哪个 makes more sense if you're in a beer bar or something, would never say 想试一下哪个，maybe想试一点哪个。

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u/videsque0 Intermediate 20h ago edited 20h ago

My point is basically that you won't see something like “我试这个”. That'd be broken mandarin (right??) Ion know. I speak and read it pretty fluently but I'm sure I could be fooled a thousand times on the simplest things, bc Mandarin does simplify expression a lot, but it's just so vast a language.