# 我是(有点)老花眼



## kyotan

大家好!

There is  a sentence in my textbook that says "我眼见有点花。" <<Later added: 对不起。我眼睛有点花.>>
I think 有点儿means "a little" and can only be used for adjectives and adverbs.
So, I think 我是有点老花眼 is incorrect.

How you say "a little" in "我是老花眼"?

Thank you!


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## Lynn Shu

我有点儿老花眼 could be a natrual expression as a general statement


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## retrogradedwithwind

我是老花眼 is obviously wrong. How could a person be an eye ?

老花眼 is the name of the  state of eyes or the name of a disease. So one can have 老花眼, 我有老花眼. 点 means a little, so 我有点老花眼 is right. But in real life, I think people prefer to say 我老花眼 or 我老眼昏花喽 rather than 我有老花眼.

是 can be used so as to stress the verb, just as do in you do come late 
我是吃过了 vs 我吃过了

So 我是有老花眼 is right.


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## Skatinginbc

kyotan said:


> I think 有点儿means "a little" and can only be used for adjectives and adverbs.


他有錢 ==> 他有点錢 ==> 他是有点錢.
我有老花眼 ==> 我有点老花眼 ==> 我是有点老花眼.
是 means "indeed".


kyotan said:


> I think 我是有点老花眼 is incorrect.


我是有点老花眼 is correct.  For example, 
A: 您不會老眼昏花, 看錯人了吧?
B: 我是有点老花眼, 但他走路的架式, 我是決計不會認錯的.


kyotan said:


> There is  a sentence in my textbook that says "我眼见有点花。"


我眼见有点花 does not sound right to me.   Perhaps, it should be 我眼睛有点花.


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## SuperXW

retrogradedwithwind said:


> 我是老花眼 is obviously wrong. How could a person be an eye ?


Not so wrong. Here 老花眼 becomes a "pronoun", which stands for "that kind of people who has 老花眼", not an real eye.
You often here people say similar things like 我是近视眼 (I'm short-sighted), and also for other problems: 他是个秃顶/罗圈腿...


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## kyotan

感谢各位的回复！



SuperXW said:


> Not so wrong. Here 老花眼 becomes a "pronoun", which stands for "that kind of people who has 老花眼", not an real eye.
> You often here people say similar things like 我是近视眼 (I'm short-sighted), and also for other problems: 他是个秃顶/罗圈腿...



谢谢SuperXW. Good to know I don't have to throw away my textbook.




retrogradedwithwind said:


> 我是老花眼 is obviously wrong. How could a person be an eye ?
> 
> 老花眼 is the name of the state of eyes or the name of a disease. So one can have 老花眼, 我有老花眼. 点 means a little, so 我有点老花眼 is right. But in real life, I think people prefer to say 我老花眼 or 我老眼昏花喽 rather than 我有老花眼.



Thank you for your comment. 
Chinese is spoken by so many people around the world, so it's interesting to know how one sentence sounds like to different people.

I bought the textbook yesterday at a used bookstore because it had a CD and lots of short sentences for me to remember, but it is out of print now. Maybe it's because some native speakers felt that some sentences were wrong.

When I read retro's comment, I thought that the sentence was a mistake the Japanese author made, and went unnoticed by a Chinese editor somehow.
It is a common Japanese sentence structure called うなぎ文（Unagi-sentence). 
You can say "私 は うなぎ。＝I am ell." to order eel at a restaurant. It's a short cut version of ”私はうなぎにします。=I'd like to have the eel." 

Is "有" skipped in 我老花眼 because it is colloquial speech , or is it a different kind of construction/sentence structure?



Skatinginbc said:


> 他有錢 ==> 他有点錢 ==> 他是有点錢.
> 我有老花眼 ==> 我有点老花眼 ==> 我是有点老花眼.
> 是 means "indeed".
> 
> 我是有点老花眼 is correct. For example,
> A: 您不會老眼昏花, 看錯人了吧?
> B: 我是有点老花眼, 但他走路的架式, 我是決計不會認錯的.
> 
> 我眼见有点花 does not sound right to me. Perhaps, it should be 我眼睛有点花.



Thank you for pointing it out. Yes, that was a mistake. 我眼睛有点花.is what my textbook said.
I'll edit my first post after this.

Sorry, my Chinese is too poor to understand what your sentences mean.
If you could help me with them, I'd really appreciate it.

Does 您不會老眼昏花 mean "You don't have 老眼昏花."?
Does 看錯人了吧 mean "Did I see a wrong person" ( see as in a doctor checks his/her patient)?
Does 我是有点老花眼 mean "I do have 老花眼(I believe this is the same as 老眼昏花, am I right?)
但他走路的架式 我是決計不會認錯的  I could not figure out what these sentence meant.  "But he walked the rack/posture, so I resolved not to be mistaken ??"

Thank you in advance.


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## Skatinginbc

A: You didn't mistake somebody else for him with your old-age blurred vision, did you? 您不會老眼昏花, 看錯人了吧?
B: _I do have a bit of presbyopia_, but in no way would I have misidentified his distinctive gait.  *我是有点老花眼*, 但他走路的架式, 我是決計不會認錯的.

我是有点老花眼 (in which 是 is an adverb and 老花眼 a noun) ===> correct 
 我是老花眼了 (in which 是 is an adverb and 老花眼 a verb) ==> correct. 
我是老花眼 (in which 是 serves as a copula) ==> It sounds as funny as 我是月經, 我是青春痘.


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## YangMuye

Skatinginbc said:


> 我是老花眼 (in which 是 serves as a copula) ==> It sounds as funny as 我是月經, 我是青春痘.


我是老花眼 sounds fine to me in proper contexts, although I prefer 我是*个*老花眼 as a standalone sentence.

It's common to use <adjective>+<part of body> to refer to people of a certain kind. For example, 千里眼, 顺风耳, 近视眼, 大眼睛, 双眼皮, 长头发, 眯眯眼, 死鱼眼, 粉毛(黑长直 might be an exception), 双马尾, etc. I don't think 月经 and 青春痘 fall in this category.


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## Skatinginbc

1. 贏得射箭比賽的竟然是個老花眼 ==> correct.
2. 贏得射箭比賽的竟然是老花眼 ==> not something I would say.

The difference between 1) and 2) lies in 個, which precedes a countable noun.  It signals a change of meaning from presbyopia (a mass noun like 月经 indicating a physical or medical condition) to "a person that suffers from presbyopia" (countable noun).

3. 贏得射箭比賽的是個大眼睛 ==> correct.
4. 贏得射箭比賽的是大眼睛 ==> not as proper as 3).  大眼睛 here sounds like a proper name rather than "a person that has big eyes".


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## BODYholic

kyotan said:


> How you say "a little" in "我是老花眼"?



We simply say 我有点 老花.


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## retrogradedwithwind

I know 我老花眼 is right and common,  but I dont know why....

Just as what YangMuye said, the phrases he (she ?) Mentioned have such a usage?
我双眼皮，我长头发 .....


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## brofeelgood

Perhaps it's because "我是老花眼" sounds like you're announcing your name or call sign, e.g. "我是老花眼,呼叫白骨精,收到请回复."


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## SuperXW

I still think even without 个, this kind of saying is still common (in spoken language). E.g. 他是老花眼，看不清字。 "个" is frequently omitted, when the "thing" is emphasized.
I don't know why Skatinginbc thinks of 我是月經, 我是青春痘... With or without 个, people don't speak like these. 
Also, 是 can merely be used to emphasize "the problem", e.g. 你是什么毛病？你是怎么了？ 是 doesn't mean "is".
Then, even 是 can be omitted, when you just want to emphasize the problem. E.g. 他老花眼，看不清字。


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## Skatinginbc

SuperXW said:


> 他是老花眼，看不清字...你是怎么了?


你怎么了? 你醉了, 你走了 ==> 怎么 is a pro-verb. 
你是怎么了? 你到底怎么了? ==> 是 is an adverb modifying the pro-verb 怎么. 
他忙, 不能來; 他中暑, 須喝水; 他跛腳,  不能走路; 他老花眼, 看不清字 ==> 老花眼, like 忙, falls in the verb class (i.e.,  verbs and adjectives) in this case.  And we may add emphasis with an  adverb 是 (e.g.,他是忙, 不能來; 他是跛腳, 不能走路; 他是老花眼, 看不清字).  It has nothing to do with the "noun" analysis of "_that kind of people who has_ 老花眼" (#5).  What truly matters is whether there is a verb-object construction (e.g., 中 in 中暑 or 中了暑; 跛 in 跛腳 or 跛了腳; 老花 in 老花眼 or 老花了眼).  學生 (*學了生), for instance, does not have that construction and thus it is ungrammatical to say *他學生, 認得字  meaning "He is a student, able to recognize characters".  If 老花眼 in  "他老花眼, 看不清字" is a noun, it would be ungrammatical like 學生 (a  noun) in "*他學生, 認得字".  As mentioned in #7, it is correct to say  我是老花眼了, in which 是 is an adverb and 老花眼 a verb.  Non-finite clauses are  usually preferred in a complex sentence, so we have 他是老花眼, 看不清字 without the aspect particle 了.      


SuperXW said:


> 你是什么毛病?


A: 你是什么毛病?  B: 我是青春痘/我是老花眼--Don't they sound funny? 我是中了暑; 我是跛了腳; 我是老花了眼; 我是吃飽了飯撐的.  
A: 你有什么毛病?  B: 我有青春痘, 我有点老花眼.
A: 你是什么東西? B: 我是個孫悟空, 我是个老花眼 vs. 我是孫悟空, 我是老花眼.
我是個孫悟空 ≠ 我是孫悟空; 我是個老花眼 ≠ 我是老花眼; 幫他的是個豬腦袋 "The one that offered him help is a retard" ≠ 幫他的是豬腦袋 "Only will a fool come to his aid".


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## SuperXW

Skatinginbc said:


> 你怎么了? 你醉了, 你走了 ==> 怎么 is a pro-verb.
> ...


First of all, I know many mainland Chinese really say 我是老花眼 in daily lives (it appears on a textbook for a reason). It may sound funny in your region. But I'm curious, what about 我是近视眼, and all the other examples me and Yang Muye had given?

There are some usages in your examples sound strange to me, but I'm not going to discuss all of those, except for this: 老花了眼. There are obvious regional differences. In my experience, people never say 老花了眼. In other words, people always treat 老花眼 as a fixed noun first.

Then, I try to interpret 我是老花眼 in this way: 你是怎么了？/你是什么毛病？ 我是(得了)老花眼(的毛病)。
I explain it as the verb is omitted, in order to emphasize the problem itself.

This is only one of the ways to explain it. Omitting 个 is also an explanation. Despite the structural difference you provided, people really don't see big meaning difference between 幫他的是個豬腦袋 and 幫他的是豬腦袋. 個 can just be omitted in my opinion.

Finally, I think your explanation also make sense. You treat 老花眼 as a verb, then let it be a noun turning into verb. A verb can also turn into a noun, of course.


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## YangMuye

> 你是怎么了？/你是什么毛病？ 我是(得了)老花眼(的毛病)。


I'm not sure if this 是 is the same as 我是老花眼, but I think I don't think they mean "indeed".
It sounds to me that the speaker is trying to make inferences. Maybe it's just an extension of the focus construction.
你是怎么了 sounds like 他是怎么了(以至于...)
我是老花眼 sounds like 我是(因为)老花眼(所以...)



> If 老花眼 in "他老花眼, 看不清字" is a noun, it would be ungrammatical like 學生 (a noun) in "*他學生, 認得字".


Although I agree with that the 老花眼 in 我老花眼 is more like an adjective or a verb, let's accept that there are some nouns that do not require any copula, for example,
他14岁。
今天周六。

And there are many specially constructions. They are especially common in strongly descriptive phrases, such as,
一头雾水。
满脸无奈。
贼眉鼠眼。
一双丹凤三角眼，两弯柳叶吊梢眉
水蛇腰，削肩膀儿，眉眼又有些像你林妹妹
Quantifier are usually necessary to sound vivid.


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## Skatinginbc

My point was: Although 老花眼 is often a noun (e.g., 我有点儿老花眼; 前面來了一個老花眼), the one in 他老花眼, 看不清字 does not _function_ as a  noun, let alone one that refers to "people of a certain kind" (e.g., 學生, 瞎子, 囚犯, 眼睛老花的人).
他14岁 ==> 他已经14岁了
今天周六 ==> 今天已经周六了
我老花眼, 看不清字 ==> 我已经老花眼了, 看不清字 vs. *他已经學生了, *他已经瞎子了, *他已经囚犯了, *他已经孫悟空了, *他已经千里眼了, *他已经死鱼眼了, *他已经双马尾了.

「你老花眼啦！東西就在你前面，還找個老半天！」 ==> 你老花眼啦 = 你視覺昏花﹑糊塗了啊


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## brofeelgood

- 我老花眼,看不清字 = 我(因为)老花眼,(所以)看不清字.
- I'm presbyopic (adj). Hence I can't see the words clearly.

Like Skatinginbc, I can't see (no pun intended) 老花眼 functioning as a noun here.

- 我*有*老花眼,看不清字.
- I have presbyopia (n). I have difficulty discerning the words.

- 我*是个*老花眼(患者).
- I'm a presbyope (n).


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## Skatinginbc

YangMuye said:


> 我是老花眼 sounds fine to me in proper contexts


I actually agree with YangMuye.  I think 我是老花眼 is structurally  ambiguous, which contributes to the "funny" feeling one gets when it  stands alone without a clear context. 我是(因为)老花眼(所以...) implies that it  is a subordinate clause, which cannot stand alone as a sentence.    SuperXW's interpretations may be correct in the right contexts.  For  instance, it is possible that one may say 我是老花眼 meaning 我是(得了)老花眼(的毛病),  just as one may say 我是青春痘 meaning 我是(得了)青春痘(的毛病). As ridiculous as it  may sound, "我是青春痘" surprisingly yields 14,500,000 google results (vs.  452,000 for "我是老花眼"; 390,000 for "我是月經").  我是月经还是流产 is apparently some  people's lazy way of saying 我这是月经还是流产 (= 我的这个症状到底是月经还是流产).  Although  careless speech often occurs in conversation, it shall be avoided in  writing.  It contains 語病 or ambiguity, which results in "funny"  reactions.


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## kyotan

非常感谢各位的回复！


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