# Ι don't know why this shirt has gotten too small



## maghanish2

大家好,

I want to know if this sentence makes sense in Chinese:

我不知道為甚麼這件襯衫太小了.

我想說:  *Ι don't know why this shirt has gotten too small.*

謝謝你們的幫助.


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## Jerry Chan

Sounds perfect to me!


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## bighead+

基本可以，但按你英文的意思更准确的说法是: 我不知道为什么这件衬衫变的这么小。


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## bighead+

解释一下:
when you say "this shirt has gotten too small" you mean it was once bigger. "這件襯衫太小了" just means "this shirt is too small" so it's more accurate to say "这件衬衫变的这么小"/"这件衬衫变的太小了"。


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## YangMuye

> "这件衬衫变的这么小"/"这件衬衫变的太小了"。





> 我不知道为什么这件衬衫变的这么小。



我不知道為甚麼這件襯衫變得太小。
I feel 這麼小(so small) is better here.
Usually you don't need to add “了”after“得”. With 了 it will sound a little stress.


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## Sally Jones

Dear Maghanish2,
Hi!I come from China.YOU metioned that what you really mean is "*Ι don't know why this shirt has gotten too small",''has gotten"suggests a process of chage or alter.But you said 我不知道為甚麼這件襯衫太小**了 it does make sense,but *you are just saying "I don't konw why this shirt is so small"!
I think you could say"我不知道为什么这件衬衫变得太小了”would be correct.If you wanna  speak purer,you'd better say "我不知道为什么这件衬衫变得这么小” Strictly speaking, the former one sounds a little strange,but it's okay.
ah,I guess you just literally translated "TOO" into "太"，but you neglect "has gotten".The verb is nucleus,the adverb you can just set it aside .By the way ,your chinese is pretty good.


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## bighead+

Yang
1. 接受你关于"的"/"得"的改正。我现在的/得有时确实不太分了。
2. "了"我觉得还是要加，否则语气上感觉有些不自然。你来自中国哪里？这可能和地域有关，江浙沪一带“了/啊”一类的句末语气词是多些。


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## Jerry Chan

Without context it's difficult to tell which one is more accurate.

Suppose you bought a shirt for your brother. Normal he wears an L so you got an L for him. But turned out it was too small.
So you said:
*我不知道為甚麼這件襯衫太小**了*

But if the shirt has actually shrunk, then you might say:
我不知道為甚麼這件襯衫變小了


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## bighead+

Jerry Chan said:


> Without context it's difficult to tell which one is more accurate.
> 
> Suppose you bought a shirt for your brother. Normal he wears an L so you got an L for him. But turned out it was too small.
> So you said:
> *我不知道為甚麼這件襯衫太小**了*
> 
> But if the shirt has actually shrunk, then you might say:
> 我不知道為甚麼這件襯衫變小了



Jerry，第一个例子很漂亮，但第二种情况也许更多一些。


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## YangMuye

bighead+ said:


> 2. "了"我觉得还是要加，否则语气上感觉有些不自然。你来自中国哪里？这可能和地域有关，江浙沪一带“了/啊”一类的句末语气词是多些。





> usually you don't need to add “了”after“得”. With 了 it will sound a little stress.


這句在語中我習慣不加。但“這件襯衫變小了”我語中也加“了”。
不是太重要，也很難總結。


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## bighead+

yangmuye said:


> 這句在語中我習慣不加。但“這件襯衫變小了”我語中也加“了”。
> 不是太重要，也很難總結。



我估计你是北方人。北方人硬朗一些，南方人说话比较舒缓语气词较多。

Yang, 看了你另一个帖子"1. It's better to replace 是不夠的 with 不夠, just imagine an adjective is  also a verb. It's usually considered as a significant characteristic of  西化中文."，我基本肯定你是北方人。江浙沪一带"是...的"很常用。


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## Tsingtao

*我不知道为什么这件衣服变的这么小*


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## YangMuye

bighead+ said:


> yang, 看了你另一个帖子"1. It's better to replace 是不夠的 with 不夠, just imagine an adjective is  also a verb. It's usually considered as a significant characteristic of  西化中文."，我基本肯定你是北方人。江浙沪一带"是...的"很常用。


我老家剛好在秦嶺淮河綫上，南蠻北侉都被罵過，不知道算哪的。不過或許因爲我從小就以說書面語爲主（父母不是本地人，方言不地道），所以用語比較僵硬吧。像“是不夠的”之類，我通常說“不夠”“還不夠”“仍不夠”“不夠了”“不夠啊”等，但不常說“是不夠的”。當然我那個帖子矯枉過正了：“是。。的”的句型確實有，只不過語氣有點變化而不等于“。。”而已。


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## bighead+

yangmuye said:


> 我老家剛好在秦嶺淮河綫上，南蠻北侉都被罵過，不知道算哪的。不過或許因爲我從小就以說書面語爲主（父母不是本地人，方言不地道），所以用語比較僵硬吧。像“是不夠的”之類，我通常說“不夠”“還不夠”“仍不夠”“不夠了”“不夠啊”等，但不常說“是不夠的”。當然我那個帖子矯枉過正了：“是。。的”的句型確實有，只不過語氣有點變化而不等于“。。”而已。



幸会幸会。我生在四川，在上海&浙江受的教育(小学->大学)，同学朋友来自五湖四海，对语言/口音相对比较敏感但没有在北方长期生活过。我和你情况很像，没有熟练掌握的方言(四川话和上海话都基本会说但不地道，听都没有问题)，自己的口音以北方为主(受中学/大学的同学影响)但正宗北方人能听出我是南方人。


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## maghanish2

Thanks for all the helpful answers!  I understand now why I need to include 變.  However, now another doubt has entered my mind.  How is it different to say:
這件襯衫太小
and
這件襯衫太小了

I am quite confused.


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## bighead+

maghanish2 said:


> Thanks for all the helpful answers!  I understand now why I need to include 變.  However, now another doubt has entered my mind.  How is it different to say:
> 這件襯衫太小
> and
> 這件襯衫太小了
> 
> I am quite confused.



They're almost the same. The second one is probably more colloquial but there's nothing wrong to say the first one. "了" is called "语气词" which in this case makes your speaking sound a little soft.


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## YangMuye

> 在上海&浙江受的教育(小学->大学)


跟我差不多。



maghanish2 said:


> Thanks for all the helpful answers!  I understand now why I need to include 變.  However, now another doubt has entered my mind.  How is it different to say:
> 這件襯衫太小
> and
> 這件襯衫太小了
> 
> I am quite confused.



You can imply many things by using modal particle.

這件襯衫小(this shirt (is) small)
Without modal particle, Chinese don't know on what your want to emphasize. We feel the sentence is not completed, and wait for you to tell something more. One interpretation: This shirt is small, but another one is...(maybe not small)
這件襯衫太小 This shirt(is)too small
Chinese get the point that you want to tell him the degree is "*too* small". 
One interpretation: This shirt is too small, another one is ...(maybe also too small)
One interpretation: This shirt is too small, so ...
這件襯衫太小了 The matter is "this shirt(is)too small."
了 quote the information before it and say that: "That's what I want to say." The listener should realize that you are complaining something, explaining something, or someone should buy your a new one.
One interpretation: This shirt is too small, the others are not as small as it.
One interpretation: This shirt is too small, it's really a trouble.
One interpretation: This shirt is too small, so ...(may be: I can't take it on.)
One interpretation: This shirt is too small, I'd better buy a new one.
It's a very useful sentence final marker.

chinese modal particle are very difficult. In practice, 這件襯衫太小了 and 這件襯衫太小 are almost the same.


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## bighead+

YangMuye said:


> 這件襯衫太小了 The matter is "this shirt(is)too small."
> 了 quote the information before it and say that: "That's what I want to say."
> Very useful sentence final marker.



Very well said. Yang, are you a Chinese language teacher? You explanations just show how non-native speakers learn the language very differently than native speakers. It seems to me "语气词" in Chinese is hard for foreigners to grasp. I'm now browsing the English section of this forum and find many of my long-time questions have been there.


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## YangMuye

bighead+ said:


> very well said. Yang, are you a chinese language teacher? You explanations just show how non-native speakers learn the language very differently than native speakers. It seems to me "语气词" in chinese is hard for foreigners to grasp. I'm now browsing the english section of this forum and find many of my long-time questions have been there.


久病成良醫。我被日語的語氣糾結了很久。


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## bighead+

yangmuye said:


> 久病成良醫。我被日語的語氣糾結了很久。



哈哈，没错。我日语学过一阵，确实麻烦。


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## maghanish2

Thank you guys for all the help!

I do understand why I need to use the word 變 if I want to keep the original meaning.  So just to clarify, would this sentence also make sense:

我不知道為甚麼你變得很累.  你睡得很多!

謝謝!


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## Jerry Chan

maghanish2 said:


> Thank you guys for all the help!
> 
> I do understand why I need to use the word 變 if I want to keep the original meaning.  So just to clarify, would this sentence also make sense:
> 
> 我不知道為甚麼你變得很累.  你睡得很多!
> 
> 謝謝!



Just 覺得 (feel) will be ok in this sentence:
我不知道為甚麼你覺得很累.  你睡得很多!

變得 is mostly used to indicate a change of character.
我不知道為甚麼你變得那麼冷漠
我不知道你為甚麼變得如此貪心 (sounds a bit more natural to put 你 before 為甚麼)


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## bighead+

maghanish2 said:


> Thank you guys for all the help!
> 
> I do understand why I need to use the word 變 if I want to keep the original meaning.  So just to clarify, would this sentence also make sense:
> 
> 我不知道為甚麼你變得很累.  你睡得很多!
> 
> 謝謝!



I think it's OK. When I say "我不知道為甚麼你觉得很累"， it indicates you probably said /complained something like "I'm tired". When I say "我不知道為甚麼你變得很累", it indicates I find some signs which show you are tired, like "you want to sleep again after a good night sleep". So in this case, I think "變得很累" is better than "觉得很累"。


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## maghanish2

Thanks for the help!

I definitely want to convey the meaning of "I don't know you have become so tired".  For example, the person had only been awake for two hours and already complained about being tired so I would say: "You slept so much!  I don't know why you've gotten so tired!"

謝謝你們!


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## bighead+

maghanish2 said:


> Thanks for the help!
> 
> I definitely want to convey the meaning of "I don't know you have become so tired".  For example, the person had only been awake for two hours and already complained about being tired so I would say: "You slept so much!  I don't know why you've gotten so tired!"
> 
> 謝謝你們!




不客气.

1. I just re-edited my last post to make it more accurate and clear.
2. 你觉得 = you feel, 你变得 = you turn/get... so I guess "变得" here is better to express what you mean.


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## Jerry Chan

bighead+ said:


> 不客气.
> 
> 1. I just re-edited my last post to make it more accurate and clear.
> 2. 你觉得 = you feel, 你变得 = you turn/get... so I guess "变得" here is better to express what you mean.



I'll say 變得很美, 變得很瘦, but I won't say 變得很累.
Anyway it may just be my own preference.


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## BODYholic

maghanish2 said:


> Thanks for the help!
> 
> I definitely want to convey the meaning of "I don't know you have become so tired".  For example, the person had only been awake for two hours and already complained about being tired so I would say: "You slept so much!  I don't know why you've gotten so tired!"
> 
> 謝謝你們!


Simply,
...我不知道你为什么这么累。

But normally, it is natural for me to say,
...我不知道为什么你*看起来*还是很累。

PS: From where I am, it is rare to use 变 in this situation. 变 usually conveys the idea of an abrupt change. May be it's the difference in usage due to regions.


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## Jerry Chan

BODYholic said:


> Simply,
> PS: From where I am, it is rare to use 变 in this situation. 变 usually conveys the idea of an abrupt change. May be it's the difference in usage due to regions.



I second it. It's kind of strange for us to use 變 this way.


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