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Common 'Chinglish' errors: Part III
    2007年11月27日  03:34    Shenzhen Daily

In part three of this column, we will finish the explanations, and restate the conversation without any Chinglish.

14-16. a man said I must to close my TV because the sound was too big: This sentence has three problems. First, we don't say "must to do." Just " I must do." And by the way, Americans seldom use "must." We usually say, "have to" or the inelegant "have got to." Second, we don't "close" a TV, we turn off a TV (and light, etc.) And third, we don't say "the sound was big." We say "It was loud."

17. I would only listening a little longer: We use the base form (in this case, "listen") with modals such as would, will, can, might, etc. "I would only listen." With -ing, we need a "be" verb; in this case, "I would only be listening." Either way is correct.

18. No thanks: This is a very common problem. "No thanks" is a refusal: "Would you like some tea?" "No, thanks." This means I don't want tea. The most common response to "Thank you" is "You're welcome," or perhaps "My pleasure." But many people use less formal expressions like, "No problem" or "That's all right."

19. Welcome to visit my hometown: We only use "Welcome to" when someone arrives at a place, and then it's followed by a noun, the name of the place: "Welcome to Shenzhen," or "Welcome to our house." A better expression here would be, "Please visit my hometown" or "You are welcome to visit my hometown sometime." The "You are" makes the sentence acceptable.

So here's the entire conversation without the Chinglish, using the suggestions above:

A: How are you?

B: I'm fine, thank you. And how are you?

A: Pretty good, thanks. Say, have you ever traveled outside of China?

B: Yes, I've been to the United States.

A: Really?

B: Yes. I went to New York. There were a lot of people there!

A: Did you travel alone?

B: No, I went with my aunt.

A: I see. So what did you think of New York?

B: Oh, it was very interesting. I was very excited to be there! And I really liked the food.

A: Did you have any trouble while you were there?

B: No. But in the hotel a man said I had to turn off my TV because it was too loud.

A: And did you?

B: No, I told him I would only be listening a little longer.

A: Well, thank you for telling me about your trip.

B: My pleasure! Please come visit my hometown sometime!

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