# The deadline for application for the scholarship is Friday



## ouzhantekin

大家好：

我想問一下我怎麼說 ：The deadline for application for the scholarship is Friday. ??

Can I say 

申請獎學金的期限是這個星期五。??

Even if this one is correct (which I don't believe so but...), how can I say it in a more formal manner?

Thanks in advance


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## stellari

ouzhantekin said:


> 大家好：
> 
> 我想問一下我怎麼說 ：The deadline for application for the scholarship is Friday. ??
> 
> Can I say
> 
> 申請獎學金的期限是這個星期五。??
> 
> Even if this one is correct (which I don't believe so but...), how can I say it in a more formal manner?
> 
> Thanks in advance



I usually say 截止日期 (lit. 'cut-stop date'). It is a word used frequently both formally and colloquially. For your sentence, it could be

獎學金申請的截止日期是這個星期五
獎學金的申請截止日期是這個星期五
or even
獎學金的申請這個星期五截止

(BTW: I put 申請 after 獎學金 to make this phrase look more like a noun structure as 'the application of scholarship', rather than 申請獎學金, which is a verb-object structure 'applying for scholarship'. It is just my personal preference, and your version is totally acceptable as well.)

期限 is also possible, although it more commonly refers to a PERIOD of time, rather than a POINT in the timeline. Note that this is not a strict rule, and people do use 期限 interchangeably with 截止日期, but it is not the best practice to me. Another possibility is 最後期限, which sounds slightly better than 期限 alone in the sense of 'deadline'.


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## SuperXW

Glad to tell you that your sentence is correct (Even native Chinese would say this casually) , but since you were asking for a more formal manner, you can refer to stellari's post.


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## schur

个人更倾向「本周五」，「这个星期五」太长了。


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## ouzhantekin

Thanks every one for your kind replies and sorry for this late reply... You have provided the exact word that I had been looking for Stellari, and thanks for yout insight and encouragement SuperXW, and last but not the least thank you schur for your input with regards to formal vocab .)


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## BODYholic

Stellari's translation is good. But for the sake of formality, I would change 這個 to 来临的.

奖学金申请的截止日期是来临的星期五。


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## stellari

BODYholic said:


> Stellari's translation is good. But for the sake of formality, I would change 這個 to 来临的.
> 
> 奖学金申请的截止日期是来临的星期五。



when i first came to an english speaking country, i used 'this friday' frequently, and people dont seem to understand me. they kept asking me: do you mean this coming friday?

the point is, what you suggested is indeed very clear, but only when you think in english. if you say what you suggested to someone from china, he would probably ask: 你是说这周五吗？for most chinese, 这周五 is a very clear expression: if you are anywhere from (and inclusive) monday, jan 1 to sunday, jan 7, then 这周五 refers to Jan 5. a specific date will be mentioned if precision is critical.

also, 来临的星期五 is grammatically correct, but sounds rather foreign and people definite dont use it in china. i wouldnt even understand what it exactly means if i do not know the english expression it is directly translated from. so it effectively creats more ambiguity than it attempts to reduce.


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## BODYholic

stellari said:


> when i first came to an english speaking country, i used 'this friday' frequently, and people dont seem to understand me. they kept asking me: do you mean this coming friday?
> 
> the point is, what you suggested is indeed very clear, but only when you think in english. if you say what you suggested to someone from china, he would probably ask: 你是说这周五吗？for most chinese, 这周五 is a very clear expression: if you are anywhere from (and inclusive) monday, jan 1 to sunday, jan 7, then 这周五 refers to Jan 5. a specific date will be mentioned if precision is critical.
> 
> also, 来临的星期五 is grammatically correct, but sounds rather foreign and people definite dont use it in china. i wouldnt even understand what it exactly means if i do not know the english expression it is directly translated from. so it effectively creats more ambiguity than it attempts to reduce.



I think you have gotten the subject out of context.

For the record, people in Singapore widely say/understand "这个星期x" and we all understood it as something colloquial or informal. What I am saying is that the first part of your suggestion does not add up with the latter.

If you wanna be colloquial, say something to the tune of "申请奖学金的日期只到这个星期五为止。". But we won't word it this way if the OP wants something formal.

And the expression of "来临的"+day is not something foreign, although you might have incorrectly thought that it was a convenient translation from the English expression "this coming"+day.

In China, does your official announcements made on TV say "...截止日期是*这个*星期x"? 

And would broadcasters in China say : 
President Obama 将于这个星期五莅临中国北京。Or,
President Obama 将于来临的星期五莅临中国北京。


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## Skatinginbc

BODYholic said:


> And the expression of "来临的"+day  is not something foreign, although you might have incorrectly thought  that it was a convenient translation from the English expression "this  coming"+day.


After browsing through the search results in  your link, I found that most of the quotations came from Singapore and  Malaysia, both being former British colonies.  It seems to support,  rather than to weaken, Stellari's theory that 来临的+day is a loan  translation.  It is further supported by the fact that the expression is  considered "foreign" (strange and non-standard) in both China  (according to Stellari) and Taiwan (as far as I know).


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## stellari

Okay I get your point. In Mainland China, 这个星期五 is usually termed as 本周五 in very formal situations. So in your 'obama' sentence, news reporters would very likely use 本周五, although 这个星期五 may still be used. However, the best way to translate 'this friday' is still contingent on the context. For example, in a written notice or news report, I might favour 本周五, but in a oral notification, even spoken in a formal tone, I would still use 这个星期五. Also, I originally kept 这个星期五, which is longer than 本周五, to keep the sentence balanced because of the long word 截止日期 I chose. 

If I do not have to explicitly put a noun form of 'the deadline' in the sentence, the best way I can think of  (in a very formal tone) is:

奖学金的申请将于本周五截止。

Yes I believe this one is better than what I originally suggested (in which I attempted to respect the OP's original sentence structure).

--------------------------------------------

来临的+day is definitely not idiomatic for people from Mainland China. So sentences like 奥巴马总统将于来临的星期五莅临中国北京 is never going to be heard in any context. As a matter of fact, I did not know there are native speakers of any variation of Mandarin consider this structure as idiomatic until today. In Mainland China, it is okay to say *即将*来临的星期五 where 即将 (or something similar) is never omitted, and this usage is consider slightly poetic and is not used very frequently. Therefore, I suggest avoid using 来临的星期五 altogether because many (if not most) native speakers of Mandarin would be confused by this expression.


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## SuperXW

来临的星期五 sounds foreign to me too, since 星期x itself was foreign, and I cannot think of a case where 来临的+时间 can mean "the coming date/time" in PRC standard Mandarin. I can only match 来临的 to the English word "coming".


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## Jerry Chan

deadline自然是(截止)期限, 但在香港, 我發現「死線」這個詞越來越常用
不知其他地區有沒有這情況?


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## stellari

Jerry Chan said:


> deadline自然是(截止)期限, 但在香港, 我發現「死線」這個詞越來越常用
> 不知其他地區有沒有這情況?



Another literal translation from English   In Mainland, 死線 is more likely to be interpreted as 'Death Ray'.


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## SuperXW

Jerry Chan said:


> deadline自然是(截止)期限, 但在香港, 我發現「死線」這個詞越來越常用
> 不知其他地區有沒有這情況?


I haven't found the usage of 死線 being popular in the Mainland.
If you speak out 死線 with Mandarin, it will sound identical to 死限. This could cause some confusion.
By saying 死限, you refer to someone's day of death, or less possibly, you emphasize that there are some unbreakable limitation or deadline.


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## BODYholic

stellari said:


> If I do not have to explicitly put a noun form of 'the deadline' in the sentence, the best way I can think of  (in a very formal tone) is:
> 
> 奖学金的申请将于本周五截止。
> 
> Yes I believe this one is better than what I originally suggested (in which I attempted to respect the OP's original sentence structure).



While people in our region rarely (but yes we do) use 本周五, it does sound a lot more formal than 这个星期五. And as a whole, it  makes the sentence, in my opinion, more balance. 




Skatinginbc said:


> After browsing through the search results in   your link, I found that most of the quotations came from Singapore and   Malaysia, both being former British colonies.  It seems to support,   rather than to weaken, Stellari's theory that 来临的+day is a loan   translation.  It is further supported by the fact that the expression is   considered "foreign" (strange and non-standard) in both China   (according to Stellari) and Taiwan (as far as I know).



Thanks for your observations. While I do find a small number of articles from the Google's SERP originated from Taiwan, I agree with you most of them were from the 南洋 region. I guess that explains why native speakers from mainland China (and Taiwan perhaps?) find it foreign/strange but the use of the same expression is like a second nature to us.


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