# 减, 减肥, 瘦, 瘦来



## Konstantinos

What is the difference between these 4? Especially, what is the difference between the verbs 减肥 and 瘦?

I found the following sentence in a book about HSK 4. What are the meanings of 减 and 瘦来 in this sentence?

减了一个月都没瘦下来，我实在没有信心了。

Thanks in advance.


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## Lamb67

Because it has been a month since i began dieting without success,  i lost my confidence.

I have become not thinner since i started dieting for a month now,


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## Konstantinos

Thanks. A more literal, word by word translation?

减了(?)一个月(one month)都(entirely)没(not)瘦下来(?)，我(I)实(?)在(in)没(not)有(having)信心(confidence)了

Thanks again.


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## yuechu

实在 = really, actually, indeed


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## Konstantinos

Thanks yuechu. So only these two:

减了=？
瘦下来=？


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## yuechu

减 = to reduce, to lower, to decrease (减肥 = to lose weight)
了 = a grammatical particle to show that an action is completed

瘦 = to become thinner
下来 = it goes with the verb, but I'm not 100% sure what it means here, sorry!


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## SuperXW

yuechu said:


> 减 = to reduce, to lower, to decrease (减肥 = to lose weight)
> 了 = a grammatical particle to show that an action is completed
> 
> 瘦 = to become thinner
> 下来 = it goes with the verb, but I'm not 100% sure what it means here, sorry!


Yuechu has given a great answer.
For 下来, it literally means "down". 
Think about this: in English, you say "put *on* weight", you also say "slow *down*". 
Similarly, in Chinese, you can say 瘦下来 "thin *down*".


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## SuperXW

Konstantinos said:


> 减了(?)一个月(one month)都(entirely)没(not)瘦下来(?)，我(I)实(?)在(in)没(not)有(having)信心(confidence)了


Strictly speaking, 都 does not mean "entirely" in this context. Here it is to stress the fact, i.e., "*even* after one month..."


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## T.D

来 here suggests the situation is going from one side to the other side.  新华字典： 来：由一方面到另一方面。


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## Retrn0

"下来"can be treated as a phrase,  it's a verb but be used like complement or something, to describe that have achieved some statuses.(A kind of paste tense? Not sure, but feel like it. ） So “瘦下来” can just be understand as " have gotten thinner", "活下来“ means you finally have survived, "坚持下来” means you insist on something to the end, etc.


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## Boyar

SuperXW said:


> Strictly speaking, 都 does not mean "entirely" in this context. Here it is to stress the fact, i.e., "*even* after one month..."


关于"都"：
这个词是指第一部分("减了一个月都")还是第二部分("都没瘦下来")？请进一步解释。


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## Retrn0

Boyar said:


> 关于"都"：
> 这个词是指第一部分("减了一个月都")还是第二部分("都没瘦下来")？请进一步解释。


我更倾向于“都（还）没瘦下来”，加强语意/语气之类的，一个月是前面动作的持续时间


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## T.D

都 can serve as an emphasiser that adds force to the statement. e.g. 你怎么连这个都不会？


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## T.D

Retrn0 said:


> 我更倾向于“都（还）没瘦下来”，加强语意/语气之类的，一个月是前面动作的持续时间


我感觉应该加强的是整句话的语气（而不是这句话的某个特定部分）


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## Retrn0

T.D said:


> 我感觉应该加强的是整句话的语气（而不是这句话的某个特定部分）


结合原句下半截“我实在没有信心了”，我原先的理解是“都”在这里强调“没瘦”这个事实，但是因为“都”放在句子中间比较模糊。或许理解成强调“减肥一个月没瘦”好一些？
不过肯定不是像Boyar所提到的“一个月都“这种断句，如果要强调时间的话，我会更倾向于表述为“……都一个月了，还没……“（不过也有可能是个人习惯）


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## T.D

Retrn0 said:


> 结合原句下半截“我实在没有信心了”，我原先的理解是“都”在这里强调“没瘦”这个事实，但是因为“都”放在句子中间比较模糊。或许理解成强调“减肥一个月没瘦”好一些？
> 不过肯定不是像Boyar所提到的“一个月都“这种断句，如果要强调时间的话，我会更倾向于表述为“……都一个月了，还没……“（不过也有可能是个人习惯）


On second thought， 我认为强调“都”字前面的部分的可能性更大。（因为把类似的句子念一下会发现，重音一定是落在“都”前面的部分。）
一个月都没瘦、这都没赶上、空门都踢不进...etc.

In your case, “减肥都一个月了”的”都“我认为是already的意思，表示“已经”。 e.g.  来都来了


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