# She lives on her own



## Zephie

Hello!

I'm looking for help with a phrase I want to put in an assignment I'm writing to perform in a speaking exam.  In this part, I'm speaking about my fictional grandma.

So far I have written “ 我今天跟我姐姐去看望我们奶奶。她住在桂林郊区。”  However we have to get a 是。。。的 sentence in and I'm struggling.  I'd like to say “ 她是 live alone 的 ” 可是我不知道怎么说！

Can anyone help me please?  The phrase needs to say that she lives alone/on her own.


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## zhg

You could say 她是一个人住的 or 她是 (独居or空巢)老人,but the latter one is quiet different from your English version I don't know if that's what you need...
By the way, I suggest you should try emphasizing  我姐姐, it's much easier.
我今天是跟我姐姐一起去看望我们奶奶的。


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## xiaolijie

她是一个人住的 is good but I don't think it's a good idea to use "是。。。的" for the first sentence: "我今天是跟我姐姐一起去看望我们奶奶的" at the beginning of the narration. The reason is that you can't just use "是。。。的" any time you want, but only when there is a good reason for using it, that is, when you want to emphasize some element. An emphatic element usually doesn't come at the beginning of a passage, but usually after some introduction. For example: 我今天去看望我奶奶。 是跟我姐姐一起去的。


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## Zephie

zhg said:


> You could say 她是一个人住的 or 她是 (独居or空巢)老人,but the latter one is quiet different from your English version I don't know if that's what you need...
> By the way, I suggest you should try emphasizing  我姐姐, it's much easier.
> 我今天是跟我姐姐一起去看望我们奶奶的。


谢谢你。我写了你的第一个短语  I think it works better with what I want to say.

I also added your other alterations and they really should have been in there to begin with, I only recently learnt 一起 as well.

Thanks again！



xiaolijie said:


> 她是一个人住的 is good but I don't think it's a good idea to use "是。。。的" for the first sentence: "我今天是跟我姐姐一起去看望我们奶奶的" at the beginning of the narration. The reason is that you can't just use "是。。。的" any time you want, but only when there is a good reason for using it, that is, when you want to emphasize some element. An emphatic element usually doesn't come at the beginning of a passage, but usually after some introduction. For example: 我今天去看望我奶奶。 是跟我姐姐一起去的。


Thanks for your input but I think you misunderstood my post.  I never intended to use the 是。。。的 sentence at the beginning or in that sentence, I was adding to the information and needed to put a 是。。。的 sentence to describe the grandma the person is visiting.

I've ended up writing: 我今年跟我姐姐一起去看望我们奶奶的。她住在桂林郊区，是一个人住的。


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## xiaolijie

> Thanks for your input but I think you misunderstood my post. I never intended to use the 是。。。的 sentence at the beginning or in that sentence.


Zephie, you misunderstood my post  It was intended for zhg, because of the suggestion in his/ her post:


			
				zhg said:
			
		

> By the way, I suggest you should try emphasizing 我姐姐, it's much easier.
> 我今天是跟我姐姐一起去看望我们奶奶的。


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## Zephie

xiaolijie said:


> Zephie, you misunderstood my post  It was intended for zhg, because of the suggestion in his/ her post:


Ah right, I assumed it was a reply.  Either way I missed out the first 是 in the suggestion as I didn't notice it anyway!  Although his/her native language appears to be Chinese so I guess it must be okay to say either way.


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## Lucia_zwl

Zephie said:


> The second sentence is perfect, but I'm a bit confused with the first part...今年/今天？and are you describing a plan or something happened before?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 我今天去看望我奶奶，是跟我姐姐一起去的。
> 
> 
> 
> xiaolijie's suggestion is good, no problem for me~
Click to expand...


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## Zephie

Lucia_zwl said:


> The second sentence is perfect, but I'm a bit confused with the first part...今年/今天？and are you describing a plan or something happened before?


Yes it is a plan, the assignment is on 春节 and the person is talking about what they are doing for it this year, hence the “今年。。。”


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## Lucia_zwl

Zephie said:


> Yes it is a plan, the assignment is on 春节 and the person is talking about what they are doing for it this year, hence the “今年。。。”


then I'd say 我今年要跟我姐姐一起去看望我们的奶奶。要 indicates the future, or you can replace it with 打算。

Good luck with your exam


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## Zephie

Lucia_zwl said:


> then I'd say 我今年要跟我姐姐一起去看望我们的奶奶。要 indicates the future, or you can replace it with 打算。
> 
> Good luck with your exam


Thank you! Although could I not use 会 if I do put in a future indication?  From what I understand 要 indicates intention/possibility and 会 indicates something you are definitely going to do (in this case my character's plans are set in stone).


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## tarlou

Zephie said:


> Thank you! Although could I not use 会 if I do put in a future indication?  From what I understand 要 indicates intention/possibility and 会 indicates something you are definitely going to do (in this case my character's plans are set in stone).



I think the difference between 要 and 会 is more about intention rather than how definite the action is.

"今年我会去看奶奶" is more like "I will be there to see my grandma (according to rules/conventions, or according to a hard but determined decision I just made)".

So 要 is better here.

It cannot be omitted if you use 今年.

Edit: 要 was my understanding in the first glance. Now I think you can use 会 if you've made the decision. 今年，我会和姐姐一起去看望奶奶.


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## SuperXW

是...的： To describe or to emphasize a thing.
她是自己住的/她是一个人住的 is good enough... Why did you people bring up so many stuffs... x.x


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## BODYholic

Zephie said:


> I'd like to say “ 她是 live alone 的 ” 可是我不知道怎么说！



She lives alone = 她(独自)一个人住。


“ 我今天跟我姐姐去看望我们奶奶。她住在桂林郊区。她是 live alone 的 ” -->  今天, 我和姐姐一起去探望我那独自居住在桂林郊区的老奶奶。


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## SuperXW

BODYholic said:


> She lives alone = 她(独自)一个人住。
> 
> 
> “ 我今天跟我姐姐去看望我们奶奶。她住在桂林郊区。她是 live alone 的 ” --> 今天, 我和姐姐一起去探望我那独自居住在桂林郊区的老奶奶。



I do not like this answer, although it's a well-constructed sentence. 
1. There's nothing wrong with his/her original sentences. Why did you totally change it...
2. The learner was trying to use shorter spoken sentences, which is good. You made a long written one...
3. They have to use 是...的. That's the only thing he/she asked...


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## shily

For my part, maybe the following is better.今天我和姐姐一起去看望奶奶，她住在桂林郊区，是一位“空巢”老人，很孤单。I am a teacher, teaching Chinese in a middle school in China.


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## SuperXW

shily said:


> For my part, maybe the following is better.今天我和姐姐一起去看望奶奶，她住在桂林郊区，是一位“空巢”老人，很孤单。



"Alone" not "lonely"... x.x


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## Youngfun

shily said:


> For my part, maybe the following is better.今天我和姐姐一起去看望奶奶，她住在桂林郊区，是一位“空巢”老人，很孤单。I am a teacher, teaching Chinese in a middle school in China.


When teaching Chinese to foreigners, forget to be a middle school teacher. Do as if you were a primary school teacher.
And I agree with SuperXW: "alone" (独自，一个人）is different than "lonely"（孤单）.

我今年要跟我姐姐一起去看望我们的奶奶。 她是自己住的/她是一个人住的。
(Just merging Lucia and SuperXW's sentences)


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## Zephie

I know it's a little late but thank you everyone for your input   I wasn't expecting so many replies but they were all helpful and helped me to construct what I hope was a grammatically correct sentence for the speaking exam.

再次谢谢你们！x


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