# 还不乘空儿



## sqlines

Hi,

How about the characters in brackets in this instance.
How would you translate it.

你现在没事，(还不)乘空儿把那封信写完？
 
Thanks.


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## avlee

Why don't you...
Since you don't have anything on hand, why don't you finish off that letter yet while you're free?


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## sqlines

Hi Avlee,

So you can translate 还不 in this instance as 'why not'.
I suppose you cannot translate 还不 in all instances as 'why not' because often it is translated as 'still not'.

Are there other intances where the characters are translated as other than 'why not' and 'still not'.

Thanks again.


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## avlee

I added 'yet' after 2nd reconsideration. However, I still have some skepticism about it.
Let us wait for more contributions to this thread, which shall certainly inspire us more or less
.


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## 2PieRad

The "yet" sounds awkward and not needed. The sentence is better without it. 
 
还不, as far as I can tell, would be translated as either a rhetorical "why not" or an emphatic "still not". 他还不会开车, would translate to "he still doesn't know how to drive."


乘空, would more literally be translated as "take advantage of free time."


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## avlee

Erebos, thanks for removing my skepticism. But I heard people say 'Don't thank me yet'. Does that mean 'yet' shall only be used in affirmative sentences or circusmstances?


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## 2PieRad

Hi avlee,

I think I know what you're trying to point out. However, I'm not sure if I can give you a discrete rule on how to use "yet" and 还. 他还不会开车 could also be translated as "He still doesn't know how to drive _yet_" or "He doesn't know how to drive yet." Any combination of "still" and "yet" would work in this particular sentence. 

"Don't thank me yet" would probably be better translated to 先别谢我.You probably wouldn't say 还别谢我. If you said 还不谢我, you'd be accusing someone "you still haven't thanked me yet." Similarly, you could say "Don't go yet", "Don't sleep yet", and these would also be translated as 先别走/睡.You also wouldn't add "still" in this sentence either. 


I don't think there's a rule restricting "yet" to affimative sentences. Most of these examples are actually negative sentences (don't, can't, etc.) "Yet" can be used elsewhere as well. It can mean "but" as in the sentence "Joe studies math, yet he cannot count." You can also use it as "Joe has yet to arrive", or "He has yet to drive on the highway."
 
Sorry, I can only think of examples to give you. I can't seem to derive a rule out of all this.


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## jedediah

I do find a link from "yet" to "还不" in "Don't thank me yet": 还不到谢我的时候. Yet, I agree 先别谢我 is a better translation. 

In the original sentence posted by the thread starter, 还不 doesn't give out the meaning of "yet" though.
你现在没事，(还)不乘空儿把那封信写完？ It seems here 还 is used to emphasize the cause "你现在没事."

Question: shouldn't 乘空儿 be 趁空儿？


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## 2PieRad

Oops, you're right. 趁空 is correct. chènkòng, not chéngkòng. Thanks.


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## jedediah

（既然）你现在没事，(还)不乘空儿把那封信写完？
That should explain the meaning of 还.

p.s. thanks, Erebos12345, for clearing that. I wasn't quite sure.


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## avlee

Erebos12345 said:


> Hi avlee,
> 
> I think I know what you're trying to point out. However, I'm not sure if I can give you a discrete rule on how to use "yet" and 还. 他还不会开车 could also be translated as "He still doesn't know how to drive _yet_" or "He doesn't know how to drive yet." Any combination of "still" and "yet" would work in this particular sentence.
> 
> "Don't thank me yet" would probably be better translated to 先别谢我.You probably wouldn't say 还别谢我. If you said 还不谢我, you'd be accusing someone "you still haven't thanked me yet." Similarly, you could say "Don't go yet", "Don't sleep yet", and these would also be translated as 先别走/睡.You also wouldn't add "still" in this sentence either.
> 
> 
> I don't think there's a rule restricting "yet" to affimative sentences. Most of these examples are actually negative sentences (don't, can't, etc.) "Yet" can be used elsewhere as well. It can mean "but" as in the sentence "Joe studies math, yet he cannot count." You can also use it as "Joe has yet to arrive", or "He has yet to drive on the highway."
> 
> Sorry, I can only think of examples to give you. I can't seem to derive a rule out of all this.


Thanks a lot for clarifying this to me. Looks like I haven't fully mastered English yet.


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## desertrat

jedediah said:


> ...
> Question: shouldn't 乘空儿 be 趁空儿？


This confused me, too. I'm used to 趁空儿 or 趁机会. But I find 乘空儿 is my Taiwan- published dictionary.  A regional difference perhaps?


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## xiaolijie

According Wenlin, all these forms are possible:

趁空儿 / 乘空儿 / 趁空 / 乘空

Varieties are spices of life, aren't they?


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## 2PieRad

Hmmm, here's what my dictionary says:

乘机 and 趁机 are both acceptable. 趁空 is fine. It also gives 乘时. Finally, it states that 乘 is often replaced in _colloquial speech_ by 趁.


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## aaron792

Erebos12345 said:


> Hmmm, here's what my dictionary says:
> 
> 乘机 and 趁机 are both acceptable. 趁空 is fine. It also gives 乘时. Finally, it states that 乘 is often replaced in _colloquial speech_ by 趁.


I am afraid they are not all right.
乘机 for most Chinese will be interpretted as get on a plane. It can be explained as 乘（坐）（飞）机


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## aaron792

Erebos12345 said:


> Hi avlee,
> 
> I think I know what you're trying to point out. However, I'm not sure if I can give you a discrete rule on how to use "yet" and 还. 他还不会开车 could also be translated as "He still doesn't know how to drive _yet_" or "He doesn't know how to drive yet." Any combination of "still" and "yet" would work in this particular sentence.
> 
> "Don't thank me yet" would probably be better translated to 先别谢我.You probably wouldn't say 还别谢我. If you said 还不谢我, you'd be accusing someone "you still haven't thanked me yet." Similarly, you could say "Don't go yet", "Don't sleep yet", and these would also be translated as 先别走/睡.You also wouldn't add "still" in this sentence either.
> 
> 
> I don't think there's a rule restricting "yet" to affimative sentences. Most of these examples are actually negative sentences (don't, can't, etc.) "Yet" can be used elsewhere as well. It can mean "but" as in the sentence "Joe studies math, yet he cannot count." You can also use it as "Joe has yet to arrive", or "He has yet to drive on the highway."
> 
> Sorry, I can only think of examples to give you. I can't seem to derive a rule out of all this.


Very precise explanation.


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## goodfriendpeter

Erebos12345 said:


> Hmmm, here's what my dictionary says:
> 
> 乘机 and 趁机 are both acceptable. 趁空 is fine. It also gives 乘时. Finally, it states that 乘 is often replaced in _colloquial speech_ by 趁.


 

Actually the dictionary says right, and in mandarin the two phrases(趁机& 乘机) are pronounced almost the same, but when we say "乘机"(or "乘坐飞机") as the meaning of "taking a flight", we would pronounce the world "乘"' a little differently, and normally people won't get confused...

Hope it helps ^^


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## 2PieRad

Yes, I know that 乘 can be used to mean "ride." (乘公共汽车，乘出租车，等等） However, both my dictionaries have an entry that says "乘机", both pronounced cheng2ji1, both meaning "to take advantage of an opportunity." (乘机行事) Neither of them say "to board an airplane" as in "乘飞机."

But I agree with you guys. I don't think I've heard "cheng2 kong4", but rather "chen4 kong4."


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## aaron792

乘机 perhaps can be explained in your way. Though I am a native Chinese speaker, I don't think I understand all Chinese correctly. I think I once heard of "乘机" to be used to mean "to grasp an opportunity".


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## goodfriendpeter

Erebos12345 said:


> Yes, I know that 乘 can be used to mean "ride." (乘公共汽车，乘出租车，等等） However, both my dictionaries have an entry that says "乘机", both pronounced cheng2ji1, both meaning "to take advantage of an opportunity." (乘机行事) Neither of them say "to board an airplane" as in "乘飞机."
> 
> But I agree with you guys. I don't think I've heard "cheng2 kong4", but rather "chen4 kong4."


 

乘机 pronounced cheng2ji1, and 趁机 pronounced chen4ji1, strictly speaking,they are very different, and personally i always use the second one, i think it's more popular...

when you want to express"to board an airplance", you 'd better say 乘飞机 or 乘坐飞机,then people would never get confused, but literally 乘机 of course can also mean it, since in chinese many phrasese can be shortend for using, for example you can often hear 乘机抵达, 乘机到达,乘机飞往... some places, here 乘机 means taking a flight, the word 机 means 飞机, but not 机会(opportunity), and surely u can also say 乘飞机抵达,乘坐飞机到达,乘飞机飞往...


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## snowyau

avlee said:


> Why don't you...
> Since you don't have anything on hand, why don't you finish off that letter yet while you're free?



avlee, if you want to use "yet" in that statement, you can say:

"...while you're yet free" (meaning "still" in this context)

However, it's awkward and a bit archaic so in modern colloquial English we tend to drop the "yet".

I forget how awkward English can be sometimes.


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