# I dreamed I was a butterfly.



## Kritche

Hi,
I would like to know how it is written in Chinese that sentence: I dreamed I was a butterfly.
Thank you very much.


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## gao_yixing

我曾梦见我是一只蝴蝶。
Wo Ceng Meng Jian Wo Shi Yi Zhi Hu Die


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## MingRaymond

gao_yixing said:


> 我曾梦见我是一只蝴蝶。
> Wo Ceng Meng Jian Wo Shi Yi Zhi Hu Die


 
I think you don't need the 曾 here because without it, the sentence can show it is past tense too.


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## Kritche

Thank you very much!!!!


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## cheshire

請教我zenme写( )普通話?


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## gao_yixing

It's in past tense. Without 曾, it could be "I dream that I'm a butterfly."


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## gao_yixing

cheshire said:


> 請教我zenme写( )普通話?


 
普通话(Standard Mandarin) is just a spoken language. Did you mean that you wanna type simplified Chinese? You can download and install it.


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## cheshire

> 普通话(Standard Mandarin) is just a spoken language


Really?
I just wanted the 簡体字 of the sentence.


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## gao_yixing

cheshire said:


> Really?
> I just wanted the 簡体字 of the sentence.


 
What I typed is simplified Chinese, because I'm from mainland China.

If you wanna type simplified Chinese, you can use Chinese version of Microsoft Word, it can help transfer them.


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## cheshire

I had thought 曾梦 was in 繁体字. I'm sorry.


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## gao_yixing

cheshire said:


> I had thought 曾梦 was in 繁体字. I'm sorry.


It doesn't matter. 
[FONT='PMingLiU','serif']曾夢 is the traditional Chinese for these two characters.[/FONT]


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## cheshire

Aha!
My theory: your PC is encoding this page in other than ISO? 
My PC is displaying it in 繁体字. Your PC is displaying it in 簡体字.


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## gao_yixing

cheshire said:


> Aha!
> My theory: your PC is encoding this page in other than ISO?
> My PC is displaying it in 繁体字. Your PC is displaying it in 簡体字.


 
Yeah, maybe that's why.


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## cheshire

Really? 
Could you tell me which your PC is encoding in?
Do anyone agree with my theory?


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## gao_yixing

cheshire said:


> Really?
> Could you tell me which your PC is encoding in?
> Do anyone agree with my theory?


 
I have no idea. It chooses automatically. And currently, it's 西欧（Western Europe).


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## Kritche

I am sorry...I do not know a single word in Chinese, I just asked you about it because I want this sentence tattooed on my back! So, in the end, which is the answer? Could you please write me again all the correct sentence?
Thank you all very much.
k.


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## rivei

Kritche said:


> Hi,
> I would like to know how it is written in Chinese that sentence: I dreamed I was a butterfly.
> Thank you very much.


i think  "我梦见自己是一只蝴蝶" is ok.


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## Kritche

Thanks again, Rivei
k.


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## jaxineau

我夢見我是隻蝴蝶
我夢到我是隻蝴蝶

ps. dreamt and dreamed both work I believe, just like hanged and hung. dreamt, however, is the only word with the mt ending.


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## Flaminius

Can 做梦 be used in this sentence in place of 夢見 or 夢到?


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## jaxineau

Flaminius said:


> Can 做梦 be used in this sentence in place of 夢見 or 夢到?


 
I don't think so. If you were to use 做梦, it is usually followed by either of the latter ones. I think this is because 做梦 is like I had a dream, therefore you have to use the other verbs to assist to form something like I had a dream dreaming that I was a butterfly.


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## Flaminius

Moderation Note:
Discussion about dreamed/dreamt is now a separate thread in English Only forum.

Flaminius


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## palomnik

Kritchie: Before you start tattooing anything, one question: are you quoting the famous Daoist saying? If so, the quote would be from Classical Chinese and it wouldn't look like the above examples at all. The original quote from is from Zhuangzi and is, I believe, "莊周夢蝶", which means "Zhuang Zhou dreamt he was a butterfly." 

If you want to make it personal, I'd recommend "吾夢蝶" for "I dreamt I was a butterfly", although a native speaker with a knowledge of the classical idiom may care to correct me. It certainly is a lot shorter (and will no doubt be less painful!) than the modern version.


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## Kritche

Yes, I was quoting that, thank you very much!K.


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## gao_yixing

palomnik said:


> Kritchie: Before you start tattooing anything, one question: are you quoting the famous Daoist saying? If so, the quote would be from Classical Chinese and it wouldn't look like the above examples at all. The original quote from is from Zhuangzi and is, I believe, "莊周夢蝶", which means "Zhuang Zhou dreamt he was a butterfly."
> 
> If you want to make it personal, I'd recommend "吾夢蝶" for "I dreamt I was a butterfly", although a native speaker with a knowledge of the classical idiom may care to correct me. It certainly is a lot shorter (and will no doubt be less painful!) than the modern version.


Well....This is a good way to translate it. It sounds very classical to us.


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## jaxineau

palomnik said:


> Kritchie: Before you start tattooing anything, one question: are you quoting the famous Daoist saying? If so, the quote would be from Classical Chinese and it wouldn't look like the above examples at all. The original quote from is from Zhuangzi and is, I believe, "莊周夢蝶", which means "Zhuang Zhou dreamt he was a butterfly."
> 
> If you want to make it personal, I'd recommend "吾夢蝶" for "I dreamt I was a butterfly", although a native speaker with a knowledge of the classical idiom may care to correct me. It certainly is a lot shorter (and will no doubt be less painful!) than the modern version.


 
Sounds so very sophisticated!
I guess the English sentence should be changed to _I dreamt of being a butterfly_. I think this sounds more like this meaning of 吾夢蝶.


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## john_riemann_soong

jaxineau said:


> 我夢見我是隻蝴蝶
> ps. dreamt and dreamed both work I believe, just like hanged and hung. dreamt, however, is the only word with the mt ending.



The -mt spelling is the authentic one, "dreamed" is an Americanism.  (They are all "weak" conjugations anyway, compared to strong verb like choose, which has ablaut change)

"Hanged" can only be used with hanging criminals, by the way. "He was hanged", but you **must** say "I hung my coat". Saying "I hanged my coat near the door" makes me think of executing a coat ...


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## john_riemann_soong

jaxineau said:


> Sounds so very sophisticated!
> I guess the English sentence should be changed to _I dreamt of being a butterfly_. I think this sounds more like this meaning of 吾夢蝶.



Have to interrupt again ... the meanings don't change very much (for the English one), not even sophistication, unless one was trying extend the sentence length. The only difference is that you converted the subordinate clause to a non-finite verb/gerund (being a butterfly) ...


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## eastlife

There is an ancient song called 梦蝶(dreamed as a butterfly). It's easy, short and ancient, should be what you are looking for.

I know the pain of tattooing. It'd better be short.


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## Kritche

I am rather worried about the 'pain of tatooing'...for me, it's the first time. Anyway, I agree with you: it is better to be short!
thank you.
K.


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## Vengeance

cheshire said:


> Really?
> Could you tell me which your PC is encoding in?
> Do anyone agree with my theory?


 
I see it in simplified... but 吾梦蝶 does sound sophisticated and cool... But I'm not classical, so I'm outta my depth 

I wish you luck on the tattoo by the way


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## john_riemann_soong

Is the Classical Chinese font installed separately from the traditional/simplified sets? I can view all three so I can't tell the (technical) difference,


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## cheshire

NO, I'm sorry it was a misunderstanding on my part. What I was seeing was 簡体字 after all. I mistook it for 繁体字.


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## I_like_my_TV

> There is an ancient song called 梦蝶(dreamed as a butterfly). It's easy, short and ancient, should be what you are looking for.


I think the OP may have finished with this thread but for the sake of completeness, I'd say that for a tattoo of only 2 characters, the traditional character version 夢蝶 would fit the bill much better as something artistic, sophisticated and classical.  Note that it also looks aesthetically more _balanced_ than 梦蝶.


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## daoxunchang

Vengeance said:


> i see it in simplified... but 吾梦蝶 does sound sophisticated and cool... but im not classical so im outta my depth


I have a different opinion on this. palomnik surely did a good job in suggesting 吾梦蝶, but we more tend to omit subject and in doing so the action doer is unclear and stimulates the imagination more. 吾梦蝶 is good but this short sentence sounds to me too ceremonial, incurring in me a aristocrat in Zhou Dynasty saying these three words solemnly, sonorously as a beginning sentence of more content. I don't think it fits very much.


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## daoxunchang

I_like_my_TV said:


> I think the OP may have finished with this thread but for the sake of completeness, I'd say that for a tattoo of only 2 characters, the traditional character version 夢蝶 would fit the bill much better as something artistic, sophisticated and classical. Note that it also looks aesthetically more _balanced_ than 梦蝶.


Hm, maybe habit is working. You see the beauty in the traditional Chinese version while I can see the beauty in the simplified version. My personal feeling is, in this case, the traditional version, with 夢 more "compact" and "denser" than its follower 蝶, seems less pleasant that the simplified one, because 梦 is less "crowded" than 蝶 and therefore the combination is more balanced. I prefer an ascending tensity in a sequence of characters. What's others' opinion?


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## Encolpius

gao_yixing said:


> 我曾梦见我是一只蝴蝶。
> Wo Ceng Meng Jian Wo Shi Yi Zhi Hu Die



Hello, can I not say simply: 我曾梦见我是蝴蝶/我曾夢見我是蝴蝶? Thanks


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## viajero_canjeado

jaxineau said:


> dreamt, however, is the only word with the mt ending.



I assume you mean that "dreamt" is the only instance of a verb taking on this ending as a past participle. That's not necessarily true: "learnt" is an archaic (at least where I'm at) past participle form of the verb "learn". "Burnt" is a declination I use regularly in colloquial speech.


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## daoxunchang

I've only used 'learnt'. But maybe a Chinese's opinion does not count on this matter.

What about people from England?

Moderator's Note: Discussion about learned/learnt is now a separate http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=339308thread here.


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## Ghabi

palomnik said:


> If you want to make it personal, I'd recommend "吾夢蝶" for "I dreamt I was a butterfly", although a native speaker with a knowledge of the classical idiom may care to correct me. It certainly is a lot shorter (and will no doubt be less painful!) than the modern version.


It doesn't click. Actually it'd mean "I saw a butterfly in my dream". Cf. 《左传·成公十年》：晋侯梦大厉，被髮及地，搏膺而踊... He doesn't dream that he becomes a ghost in his dream, but he sees a ghost in his dream.



Encolpius said:


> Hello, can I not say simply: 我曾梦见我是蝴蝶/我曾夢見我是蝴蝶? Thanks


It's understandable but not idiomatic.   I'd say: 我梦见自己是只蝴蝶


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## Jerry Chan

Ghabi said:


> It doesn't click. Actually it'd mean "I saw a butterfly in my dream". Cf. 《左传·成公十年》：晋侯梦大厉，被髮及地，搏膺而踊... He doesn't dream that he becomes a ghost in his dream, but he sees a ghost in his dream.



True, but I think most educated Chinese will associate 夢蝶 with the well known 莊周夢蝶 story, and understand it as 夢為蝶.


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## Jerry Chan

While 夢熊 / 夢龍 / 夢大厲(鬼) means seeing a bear / dragon / ghost in a dream, 夢蝶 is different. 

It is special. It only means being a butterfly in a dream.

台灣教育部《國語辭典》
「夢蝶」條：
夢到自己是一隻蝴蝶。語本莊子˙齊物論：「昔者莊周夢為蝴蝶，栩栩然胡蝶也，自喻適志與，不知周也，俄然覺，則蘧蘧然周也，不知周之夢為胡蝶與，胡蝶之夢為周與。」比喻人生虛幻短暫。宋˙蘇軾˙奉敕祭西太一和韓非韻四首之三：「夢蝶猶飛旅枕，弼魚已響枯桐。」元˙馬致遠˙夜行船˙百歲光陰一夢蝶套：「百歲光陰一夢蝶，重回首往事堪嗟。」


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## daoxunchang

曾梦己身成/化蝶？
It might be too long. For butterfly, just 梦蝶 can indeed be enough to say you've dreamed yourselves turned into one.


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