# going somewhere for the weekend (vs. on the weekend)



## yuechu

大家好！

How would you translate "I'm going to a cottage for the weekend." into Chinese? Is there a way of differentiating "for the weekend" (=for the duration of the weekend) opposed to "on the weekend" (=One could be going there on the weekend and then staying a whole week, for example)?
Thanks!


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## SimonTsai

I think that we'd make it clear if we're going out on Saturday or Sunday and the duration of the trip, stay, etc., when there is a need to distinguish the two prepositions:

我星期六出差，到上海，三五天後回來。
我週末這兩天要到上海，你們在家要乖。


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## azhong

yuechu said:


> 1"I'm going to a cottage for the weekend"


You may say, "我要去住小木屋度週末"。(I want to spend my weekend living in a cottage.)


yuechu said:


> 2 "I'm going to a cottage on the weekend" (=One could be going there on the weekend and then staying a whole week, for example)?


I think no simple expression is available and you need to say more.
我會在週末到達小木屋，住一整個星期。
（I'll arrive a cottage on the weekend and stay there for a whole week.）


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## yuechu

Thanks, Simon and Azhong!


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## stephenlearner

My best offer: (这)周末我要去个小木屋。I still don't like it very much.

这 is not necessary . We would understand that you refer to this coming weekend.

The problem is with 个. Without it, it sounds like "I'm going to _the_ cottage for the weekend".

With it, it doesn't sound very natural. It's acceptable, though.

In Chinese context, if you say "(这)周末我要去做xxx", your listeners automatically understand you to mean you will come back at the end of the weekend. The vast majority of the people, except for very rich people, work on weekdays. So, they have to come back.

------------
added thoughts:

I'm talking about my sentence: 周末我要去个小木屋.  My first thought was that it was unnatural. After rereading and rethinking, now I'm comfortable with it. 

Why would it have sounded unnatural to me in the first place? Hmm, it might have been due to the fact that we rarely or even never say or hear people say 小木屋 in Chinese context.


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## yuechu

Thanks for the info and translations, Stephenlearner! 😃


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## Messquito

I suppose you are concerned with sentences like this:

我(這個)週末要去住一間小木屋。 （If it's a business where you have to pay for the lodging service, you can even say 一家小木屋, where 家 is a common quantifier for stores/shops/restaurants/companies, etc.)

And appropriately so, for the lack of prepositions in Chinese means you can't really tell if it's "for the weekend" or "on the weekend".

You can find ways around that though:

For the weekend:
我這個週末*會住在*一間小木屋。(Will be living in)
我這個週末要去住一間小木屋，*會待整個週末*。(Staying for the whole weekend)

On the weekend:
我這個週末*開始*會住在一間小木屋。 (Starting this weekend)
我這個週末會*出發*到一間小木屋住。(Set off for)


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## pimlicodude

Messquito said:


> I suppose you are concerned with sentences like this:
> 
> 我(這個)週末要去住一間小木屋。 （If it's a business where you have to pay for the lodging service, you can even say 一家小木屋, where 家 is a common quantifier for stores/shops/restaurants/companies, etc.)
> 
> And appropriately so, for the lack of prepositions in Chinese means you can't really tell if it's "for the weekend" or "on the weekend".
> 
> You can find ways around that though:
> 
> For the weekend:
> 我這個週末*會住在*一間小木屋。(Will be living in)
> 我這個週末要去住一間小木屋，*會待整個週末*。(Staying for the whole weekend)
> 
> On the weekend:
> 我這個週末*開始*會住在一間小木屋。 (Starting this weekend)
> 我這個週末會*出發*到一間小木屋住。(Set off for)


小木屋 means "a little wooden house". Is this really what you imagine when you say "cottage"? It sounds like the summer cottages that they have in Scandinavia, which really are small wooden houses. But in England, a cottage can be a real house (a brick house). What do you imagine in Canada with the use of the word "cottage"? Do they have shack-style summer cottages in the rural areas? Wenlin has 小房子 for cottage. 
My attempt is: 周末我要去农村(=我农村的小房子)呆几天


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## azhong

pimlicodude said:


> 小木屋 means "a little wooden house". [1]...
> But in England, a cottage can be a real house (a brick house). [2]
> My attempt is: 周末我要去农村(=我农村的小房子)呆几天[3]


1. Yes, I think that's what we mean, a house made by wood.

2. Thank you for the information, which I didn't know.

3. A bit odd to me (in Taiwan.) 小房子 might come from a direct translation of "a little house", the definition in dictionary. Also, "去农村呆几天" is surely not an idiomatic expression in Taiwan. It'd be okay if 農村 is replaced by 山上 or 海邊, etc. We need comments from members living in China.

I don't know how to translate "cottage" naturally, either, if 小木屋 doesn't work. 鄉間小屋 sounds literate but still a translation term and unnatural to me.


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## yuechu

Messquito said:


> 我(這個)週末要去住一間小木屋。 （If it's a business where you have to pay for the lodging service, you can even say 一家小木屋, where 家 is a common quantifier for stores/shops/restaurants/companies, etc.)
> 
> And appropriately so, for the lack of prepositions in Chinese means you can't really tell if it's "for the weekend" or "on the weekend".
> 
> You can find ways around that though:
> 
> For the weekend:
> 我這個週末*會住在*一間小木屋。(Will be living in)
> 我這個週末要去住一間小木屋，*會待整個週末*。(Staying for the whole weekend)
> 
> On the weekend:
> 我這個週末*開始*會住在一間小木屋。 (Starting this weekend)
> 我這個週末會*出發*到一間小木屋住。(Set off for)


Thanks for your explanations, Messquito! Those are great translations! 😃




pimlicodude said:


> What do you imagine in Canada with the use of the word "cottage"?


Good question! Here in Canada, they could be either of the types that you mentioned. They are typically small and wooden, but more and more of them are also like houses (very large and with lots of glass).


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## stephenlearner

Messquito said:


> For the weekend:
> 我這個週末*會住在*一間小木屋。(Will be living in)
> 我這個週末要去住一間小木屋，*會待整個週末*。(Staying for the whole weekend)
> 
> On the weekend:
> 我這個週末*開始*會住在一間小木屋。 (Starting this weekend)
> 我這個週末會*出發*到一間小木屋住。(Set off for)


I don't know why you made this so complicated. The last two sentences are especially unnatural to me. I can't imagine a native Chinese speaker will ever use it.


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## henter

On the weekend 和over the weekend翻译成中文意义没啥不同。 英国英语的用法at the weekend=on the weekend.


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## henter

如果把Messquito写的例句改成我从这个周末*开始会*住在一间小木屋好像顺溜一些。第二句我这个周末会*出发*到一间小木屋住这个确实有点不自然。直接写我這个周末要去住一间小木屋住比较好。个人看法


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## henter

I'm setting off for France to attend a meeting next week.
I'm flying to France to attend a meeting next week
I will be flying to France to attend a meeting next week.
I'm going to visit France and attend a meeting next week.
I'm going to be spending a few days in France.
翻译成中文意思都差不多。我这种懒人如果做翻译都会这样翻译成中文. 五个句子同样的翻译
如果是语法考试，也许会要求找出差异，哪怕很小的差异.


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## pimlicodude

如果把cottage放在images google com, 就可以看cottage是什么样子，这并不是小木屋。


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## yuechu

I tried looking up "cottages" and "小木屋" on Google Images. A lot of the cottages looked fancy and expensive. The 小木屋 though also looked like cottages to me! (Not all of them, but most of them)
It all depends on how big of a cottage you can afford. 

Also, I have the feeling that cottages in the UK might look different than cottages in North America. When I Google searched for "cottages UK", I saw a lot of old, historic houses (not necessarily near a lake), many of which had thatched roofs or traditional designs.


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## pimlicodude

yuechu said:


> I tried looking up "cottages" and "小木屋" on Google Images. A lot of the cottages looked fancy and expensive. The 小木屋 though also looked like cottages to me! (Not all of them, but most of them)
> It all depends on how big of a cottage you can afford.
> 
> Also, I have the feeling that cottages in the UK might look different than cottages in North America. When I Google searched for "cottages UK", I saw a lot of old, historic houses (not necessarily near a lake), many of which had thatched roofs or traditional designs.


Yes, in the UK, it can mean a fancy and quite expensive house of a traditional rural type.


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## azhong

pimlicodude said:


> My attempt is: 周末我要去农村(=我农村的小房子)呆几天





henter said:


> 如果把Messquito写的例句改成
> 
> 我从这个周末*开始会*住在一间小木屋
> 
> 好像顺溜一些。第二句
> 
> 我這个周末要去住一间小木屋住
> 
> 比较好。


Henter, 請問你是大陸哪裡人？
請問pimlicodude這一句
「周末我要去农村呆几天」
對你（或者多數大陸人）而言可作為週末去渡假的替代說法嗎？或者還有其他表達方式？

（然後，想再請問您，有另個問題問到了三合院的東西廂房。請問東西廂房的房間有可能多於一間嗎，或者一律只有一間呢？）

謝謝。
（我是台灣人）


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## pimlicodude

azhong said:


> Henter, 請問你是大陸哪裡人？
> 請問pimlicodude這一句
> 「周末我要去农村呆几天」
> 對你（或者多數大陸人）而言可作為週末去渡假的替代說法嗎？或者還有其他表達方式？
> 
> （然後，想再請問您，有另個問題問到了三合院的東西廂房。請問東西廂房的房間有可能多於一間嗎，或者一律只有一間呢？）
> 
> 謝謝。
> （我是台灣人）



我没有去台湾，在大陆住了四年，09年回国了， 我的汉语差不多已经还给老师啦。我用的那个呆字不对吗？看看这个网页 https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/1924461843369054347.html - 大陆人说“呆几天”是可以说的。我没想到这个字儿会引起讨论的。作为外国人，我自己没进过四合院，我认为每廂房都是一大间， 但是不能确定。


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## henter

azhong said:


> Henter, 請問你是大陸哪裡人？
> 請問pimlicodude這一句
> 「周末我要去农村呆几天」
> 對你（或者多數大陸人）而言可作為週末去渡假的替代說法嗎？或者還有其他表達方式？
> 
> （然後，想再請問您，有另個問題問到了三合院的東西廂房。請問東西廂房的房間有可能多於一間嗎，或者一律只有一間呢？）
> 
> 謝謝。
> （我是台灣人）


我北方人。在三线城市。两岸在说话方式方面有不同这个很正常。在内地每个地方也有自己的方言或者叫做地方话，和英文中的俚语用法一样。我没去过台湾地区；只是以前在网上和几个台湾同袍聊过天，包括用英语。我以前也看台湾的娱乐节目。学过一些所谓的台湾地区说话方式， 比如女生常常说的你好烦耶这种，虽然我不是女生. 好像台湾地区的人特喜欢用啦，比如好的啦, 讨厌的啦。你知道这个都影响到了内地女生，甚至电台。我所在的北方城市有电台主播满口都是台湾腔. 好奇怪耶.

请别误会。我不是说台湾腔有问题。我的意思是如果内地和台湾地区说话方式不一样很正常。在内地南方和北方地区说话方式也不一样，甚至北方城市之间也有不同.


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## pimlicodude

henter said:


> 我北方人。在三线城市。两岸在说话方式方面有不同这个很正常。在内地每个地方也有自己的方言或者叫做地方话，和英文中的俚语用法一样。我没去过台湾地区；只是以前在网上和几个台湾同袍聊过天，包括用英语。我以前也看台湾的娱乐节目。学过一些所谓的台湾地区说话方式， 比如女生常常说的你好烦耶这种，虽然我不是女生. 好像台湾地区的人特喜欢用啦，比如好的啦, 讨厌的啦。你知道这个都影响到了内地女生，甚至电台。我所在的北方城市有电台主播满口都是台湾腔. 好奇怪耶.
> 
> 请别误会。我不是说台湾腔有问题。我的意思是如果内地和台湾地区说话方式不一样很正常。在内地南方和北方地区说话方式也不一样，甚至北方城市之间也有不同.


但是, Henter, 你自己认为“周末我要去农村呆几天” 这句话对不对？呆字儿用在大陆哪些地方比较多？（我在大陆住过的地方有天津，昆明，成都。）


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## stephenlearner

yuechu said:


> Is there a way of differentiating "for the weekend" (=for the duration of the weekend) opposed to "on the weekend" (=One could be going there on the weekend and then staying a whole week, for example)?


Chinese can't differentiate between for the weekend and on the weekend, because we can't translate the prepositions literally. To make the difference clear, you have to add more contexts. 

I'm going to a cottage for the weekend. 周末我要去个小木屋。The implied meaning of Chinese is you'll come back on the evening of Sunday or on the early morning of next Monday. 

I'm going to a cottage on the weekend and come back on next Tuesday. 周末我要去个小木屋，下周二回来。


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## henter

pimlicodude said:


> 但是, Henter, 你自己认为“周末我要去农村呆几天” 这句话对不对？呆字儿用在大陆哪些地方比较多？（我在大陆住过的地方有天津，昆明，成都。）


呆几天这个用法没问题。还可以用待几天。呆还有一个用法是形容有点木讷，比如用呆子形容某个反应迟钝的人。在内地有些女生用这个呆子作为男友的称呼。一般都是打情骂俏。男的也许会说小傻瓜去回应对方。我记得看过的一个台湾老电影里面也有女生叫男生这个呆子。不清楚现在台湾地区是不是还这样用。


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## henter

stephenlearner said:


> Chinese can't differentiate between for the weekend and on the weekend, because we can't translate the prepositions literally. To make the difference clear, you have to add more contexts.
> 
> I'm going to a cottage for the weekend. 周末我要去个小木屋。The implied meaning of Chinese is you'll come back on the evening of Sunday or on the early morning of next Monday.
> 
> I'm going to a cottage on the weekend and come back on next Tuesday. 周末我要去个小木屋，下周二回来。


在内地好像很少有外国的那种小木屋。我小时候在农村住过几个月也没见过。那个时候我只见过茅草屋还有砖砌成的屋子。城市也是水泥屋还有就是红砖屋。小木屋现在也许会出现在观光点， 包括故意模仿美国建筑风格的观光点还有高级住宅区。我这三线城市都有个第五大道。农村还有一些现代建筑物都是欧洲风格加一个中国传统式屋顶.


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## stephenlearner

Please see #5, where I pointed it out.


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## hx1997

azhong said:


> 「周末我要去农村呆几天」
> 對你（或者多數大陸人）而言可作為週末去渡假的替代說法嗎？


这个说法是可以的，但是去农村也不一定是去度假吧。不过我个人可能会说“去乡下”。


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## henter

stephenlearner said:


> Please see #5, where I pointed it out.


好像cottage的中文意思也不是特指小木屋。百度给出的解释是小屋; (尤指)村舍，小别墅。 俄罗斯不是有乡间别墅-英文叫做dacha-估计和这不多。以前看过的两本英国记者写的小说都提到dacha这个词.


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## henter

对了。还有一个词是babushka. 我也是在从英国记者写的关于俄罗斯的小说中学到的这个词。中文意思就是俄罗斯老太婆或者所谓的俄罗斯大婶.


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## azhong

hx1997 said:


> 这个说法是可以的，但是去农村也不一定是去度假吧。不过我个人可能会说“去乡下”。


this is exactly what I was asking about. I personally don't think 去农村 implies to have a holiday, either, without more explanation.

呆幾天 is a creative expression for me, and is okay. I guess it varies from 待幾天, the original expression.

乡间别墅 sounds better. 别墅 is better, but it almost always refers to a luxury building.


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## stephenlearner

In Chinese context, 去农村 never refers to a holiday, because 农村 represents backwardness, poverty, and dirtiness. It doesn't match with holidays. 

However, 去乡下 sometimes can associate with a holiday. I don't know exactly why. Maybe 乡下 has a poetic meaning. 

As for 呆几天 and 待几天, both are used, but the latter is a lot more preferred than the former.


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## Messquito

stephenlearner said:


> I don't know why you made this so complicated. The last two sentences are especially unnatural to me. I can't imagine a native Chinese speaker will ever use it.


It’s perfectly natural to my ear.

Regarding “complicating” things, I am not sure that’s what I am doing.
The OP asked about two things “on the weekend” and “for the weekend”, and you gave “one best offer”. That’s just one thing. And it doesn’t even correspond to either of the options.
我這個週末會去… simply means “I am going to … this weekend”. It doesn’t suggest how long you will stay there. It could be two days, it could be more than two days, heck it could be just 1 hour.
So, the ambiguity is still there, and to resolve that ambiguity, I gave them several possible ways to say what align with each option without having to resort to giving extra information. (Of course having context is always better for clarification, but that’s a choice.)


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## stephenlearner

There is ambiguity in 周末我要去个小木屋. However, without further context, the most probable meaning is that you will stay there for the weekend. It doesn't mean you will stay there for an hour, unless you clearly state it. It doesn't mean you will stay more than two days either, except that you add more context, like I did in #22. 

In order to make your meaning crystal clear and obviate any misunderstanding, you need to add more context. 

周末我要去个小木屋，我会待上两天。

周末我要去个小木屋，我会待上一天。

周末我要去个小木屋，我会待上一小时。

周末我要去个小木屋，我会待上四天。



Messquito said:


> 我這個週末*開始*會住在一間小木屋。 (Starting this weekend)
> 我這個週末會*出發*到一間小木屋住。(Set off for)



I read them again. Sorry, but I still find them stilted. It might be because I've never used this structure or heard others use it. That said, you and the people around you might have used it frequently. Variation does exist.


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## henter

"我這個週末會去.."这个可以用。“ 我這個週末會*出發*到一間小木屋住”这个确实听上去怪怪的。母语是中文一般不会这样写。 In fairness, 民国时期的作家比如徐志摩也学过很欧化的文字。我这个粗人也写过不符合中文风格的中文句子。😁


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## zhg

stephenlearner said:


> My best offer: (这)周末我要去个小木屋。I still don't like it very much.
> 
> 这 is not necessary . We would understand that you refer to this coming weekend.


I disagree. In my opinion 这 is absolutely necessary, because yuechu wrote "THE" weekend. By just saying 周末 one could not tell which weekend the speaker is referring to, unless there is a demonstrative pronoun, like 这 or 下 and etc., to avoid such ambiguity.


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## stephenlearner

In my experience, if I say 周末我要xxx, it definitely refers to this coming weekend, instead of any other weekend.


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## SuperXW

My try: 
For the weekend: 
我要去乡下小木屋/别墅过周末。
On the weekend:
我周末要动身/启程去乡下小木屋/别墅。（回程未定）
我要去乡下小木屋/别墅住一阵子，周末出发/动身/启程。（至少本周末住在那里）
————————
在我听来，其它的都可以接受，最不自然的是stephenlearner的“我这周末去*个*小木屋”……
日常活动，“打个球/吃个饭/看个电影/找个停车场/谈个恋爱/打个炮”都可以……
"X个X"给人一种随意、轻车熟路的感觉。
但“去个小木屋”就很奇怪，大概因为不是日常活动，指定要去的地方过于受限……小木屋可不是随处可见的……


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## stephenlearner

SuperXW said:


> My try:
> For the weekend:
> 我要去乡下小木屋/别墅过周末。
> On the weekend:
> 我周末要动身/启程去乡下小木屋/别墅。（回程未定）
> 我要去乡下小木屋/别墅住一阵子，周末出发/动身/启程。（至少本周末住在那里）
> ————————
> 在我听来，其它的都可以接受，最不自然的是stephenlearner的“我这周末去*个*小木屋”……
> 日常活动，“打个球/吃个饭/看个电影/找个停车场/谈个恋爱/打个炮”都可以……
> "X个X"给人一种随意、轻车熟路的感觉。
> 但“去个小木屋”就很奇怪，大概因为不是日常活动，指定要去的地方过于受限……小木屋可不是随处可见的……


I accept all your example sentences as natural and standard. However, your sentences differ from the sentence in the OP. The OP talked about "*a* cottage", an unspecified cottage, but you're talking about *the* cottage.


From WR dictionary:

the: (used before a noun or something functioning as a noun, when *the noun is known to the speaker and to the listener,* or when it is about to be made known by having a clause that specifies it or makes it definite)

Please close the window (= There is a window in the room that you and I both know about, and it is open).

请关上窗户。(听者不会问，“是哪个窗户？”因为说话者与听者都知道是哪个窗户)

In your example sentences, 乡下小木屋/别墅 refers to the cottage that is known to the speaker and the listener. 

If the listener doesn't know the cottage you're talking about, you don't say 我要去乡下小木屋/别墅过周末. 

Instead, you would say "我在乡下有个小木屋/别墅，我要去那里过周末", for example.


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## SuperXW

stephenlearner said:


> I accept all your example sentences as natural and standard. However, your sentences differ from the sentence in the OP. The OP talked about "*a* cottage", an unspecified cottage, but you're talking about *the* cottage.
> ...


Then, why not simply add 一间 in the sentence? i.e.
我要去一间乡下小木屋/别墅过周末。
我周末要动身/启程去一间乡下小木屋/别墅。（回程未定）
我要去一间乡下小木屋/别墅住一阵子，周末出发/动身/启程。（至少本周末住在那里）


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## stephenlearner

一间 is possible, but I would prefer to say 一个小木屋，两个小木屋，三个小木屋 instead of 一间小木屋，两间小木屋，三间小木屋, probably because the latter are ambiguous.

周末我要去个小木屋 is not unnatural, but unusual in Chinese context, because we hardly ever say it.


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