# 了 - 我饿了, 我冷了



## J.F. de TROYES

你好 !

I'd like to ask two questions : 

1- I wonder if using the particle 了 is necessary in this phrase or similar ones as : 我冷了

2- I want to turn into Chinese "I really want to eat something now ".What do you think of my attempts ?

a- 我刚才非常想吃东西了

b- 我刚才非常想吃的 ( 呢 ) 

( Is 呢 good, possible, wrong ? )

Could you please add the pin-yin transliteration )

Thanks a lot for all !


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## chloe1512

*I* think *I* would say " 我现在非常想吃东西" . *W*e always use this simple words to express " *I* really want to eat something now " . *I*t is enough . *P*eople would know what you mean .


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## Imissmycat

To 1: "了"is a adverb to express feeling of speaking, with some meaning for time. example: *我冷了=I have felt that I am cold.*
*To 2: I really want to eat something now= 我现在真想吃点东西（wo xian zai zhen xiang chi dian dong xi ）.It is not the only one expression, the above is also correct.*


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## GEmatt

刚才means "just now", i.e. "in the imminent past", so this would not work in either case.


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## nasridine

J.F. de TROYES said:


> 1- I wonder if using the particle 了 is necessary in this phrase or similar ones as : 我冷了



It's pretty commom that people have trouble messing with those words like 了 and 呢 when they are learning Chinese.
For your first question, the meaning can be very different w*ith* or w*ith*o*ut* "了". Because "了" indicates some kind of transition. In other words, you didn't feel cold a moment ago, but you are now. 

If you just want to express that "you are cold", use 我（很）冷 instead.


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## hly2004

你好 !


1- I wonder if using the particle 了 is necessary in this phrase or similar ones as : *我冷了*

不必要。 一般我们说：”真冷啊！“ (It is so cold!)。 或者“我感到有些冷”(I feel a little cold)

A little kid will say "我冷"to his/her mother.
"我冷了" is seldom heart by me

2- I want to turn into Chinese "I really want to eat something now ".What do you think of my attempts ?

a- *我**刚才非常想吃东西了
Wo gang cai fei chang xiang chi dong xi le
* 
b- *我刚才非常想吃的 ( 呢 ) 
Wo gang cai fei chang xiang chi de (ne)
* 
 "I really want to eat something now ".
Here's my attemp:
"我真的现在想吃点东西"
(Wo zhen de xian zai xiang chi dian dong xi)
或：
“"我现在真的想吃点东西"
(Wo xian zai zhen de xiang chi dian dong xi)


Hope it helps


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## notnotchris

Another way to say you're really hungry is

我饿死了 (careful, not to be used in polite company)

If you have been waiting so long to eat that you have gone beyond being hungry and are no longer hungry you can say
我饿过了
for humorous effect.


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## hly2004

notnotchris said:


> Another way to say you're really hungry is
> 
> 我饿死了 (careful, not to be used in polite company)
> 
> If you have been waiting so long to eat that you have gone beyond being hungry and are no longer hungry you can say
> 我饿过了
> for humorous effect.



Exactly~!


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## J.F. de TROYES

chloe1512 said:


> I think I would say " 我过非常想吃东西" . We always use this simple words to express " I really want to eat something now " . It is enough . People would know what you mean.


Thanks for giving me the simplest way to say it and correcting the translation of "now"; I knew 现在 though !


GEmatt said:


> 刚才means "just now", i.e. "in the imminent past", so this would not work in either case.


Yes, you're right 刚才 does'nt mean the same as现在, but "just now " has these two meanings.


Imissmycat said:


> "了"is a adverb to express feeling of speaking, with some meaning for time. example: 我冷了=I have felt that I am cold.
> To 2: I really want to eat something now= 我现在真想吃点东西（wo xian zai zhen xiang chi dian dong xi ）.It is not the only one expression, the above is also correct.





hly2004 said:


> 你好 !
> 不必要。一般我们说：”真冷啊！“ (It is so cold!)。或者“我感到有些冷”(I feel a little cold)
> 
> A little kid will say "我冷"to his/her mother.
> "我冷了" is seldom heard by me
> 
> "I really want to eat something now ".
> Here's my attempt:
> "我真的现在想吃点东西"
> (Wo zhen de xian zai xiang chi dian dong xi)
> 或：
> “"我现在真的想吃点东西"
> (Wo xian zai zhen de xiang chi dian dong xi)
> 
> Hope it helps





nasridine said:


> It's pretty commom that people have trouble messing with those words like 了 and 呢 when they are learning Chinese.
> For your first question, the meaning can be very different with or without "了". Because "了" indicates some kind of transition. In other words, you didn't feel cold a moment ago, but you are now.
> 
> If you just want to express that "you are cold", use 我（很）冷 instead.


 Your commentaries about how using 了 are very interesting and useful. I’ve already read about it , but you’re quite right, it’s practically uneasy to use it for us. So is this particle always necessary with饿 ? I suppose it is, because without it, it would mean « I am and I was always hungry » !
As for "我冷了", could you make it clear why it sounds strange ; if I want to express that I feel now I am cold ( and not before ), is it not possible? to say it this way?
One more question :Why do you use 点东西 rather than东西 ? is it better to translate « something » ?

Sorry to be a bit nitpicky ! 多谢 !


notnotchris said:


> Another way to say you're really hungry is 我饿死了 (careful, not to be used in polite company)
> If you have been waiting so long to eat that you have gone beyond being hungry and are no longer hungry you can say
> 我饿过了
> for humorous effect.


Interesting, indeed ! French has about the same phrase as我饿死了 , but it is polite, an emphasizing way of saying « I am very, very hungry ».


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## Lugubert

J.F. de TROYES said:


> French has about the same phrase as 我饿死了 , but it is polite, an emphasizing way of saying « I am very, very hungry ».


Interesting! Also in Swedish, but slightly colloquial, we can say _Jag är dödshungrig_ 'I'm death-hungry'.


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## linlon

Hi,
In my experience, don't ever say "*我冷了" because it sounds very odd to me.You can say "我很冷"(I am very cold)or "我有點冷"(I am a little cold).*


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## machera

^_^How do you do!  When you say"我饿死了",you are not in bad taste."我饿死了" that's a oral chinese in common use.Besides,you can say "我好饿the pinyin is wo hao e" or "我很饿 wo hen e" or "我非常饿 wo fei chang e"to express you are starving.You can't say "我饿过了",that's a joke.       The short sentence is simple and useful.So you haven't to use the long sentence to express.If you realy express your means "I really want to eat something now ".You can say "我现在真想吃东西 the pinyin is wo xian zai zhen xiang chi dong xi ". I hope i help you.^_^


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## J.F. de TROYES

Thanks a lot, Linlon and Machera, for your interesting and useful answers !


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