# to close for the winter (swimming pool)



## yuechu

大家好！

We have a pool in our yard and it gets closed every winter (actually, I suppose it is from the fall to the spring, to be exact!). A big tarp is put over it and the water gets drained out.
How would you talk about this in Chinese? Would you say "我们家的游泳池为了冬天而关闭"? (Feel free to completely change this!)

Thanks!


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## gingerbread-mann

In this case, "to close for the winter (swimming pool)"
Yuechu's translation:我们家的游泳池为了冬天而关闭

The meaning of this sentence is right, it needs a little improvement.

Generally, give the reason;condition; requirement,etc. first in Chinese, except for the purpose of emphasizing.

So the order becomes: For the winter, our swimming pool is closed.

"为了冬天" is a improper collocate. Actually,if you want to use "为了"， you should explicate the meaning of "为了冬天" and , for example, "冬天气温太低了，为了保护游泳池，我们把它关闭了。" But this is too wordy.

So we could solve this problem by periphrasis:

(因为)冬天到了，(所以)我们家的游泳池关闭了。

（Generally, verbs are more frequently occur in Chinese sentences. To make your Chinese sentences more natural, please use more verb phrases in Chinese. Conjunction can be omitted, which makes the sentense more natural and succinct.)


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## SuperXW

Agree with Gingerbread.

为了: you are making great effort or even sacrifice for some meaningful purpose.
因为: you are going to explain clearly the reasons.

So the sentence can be as concise as 我家泳池冬天关闭。


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## yuechu

@gingerbread-mann
Thanks for letting me know about the Chinese logic! This will probably take me a long time to get used to... I'll try to remember that! Danke schön, Herr Gingerbread-Mann! 😃



SuperXW said:


> So the sentence can be as concise as 我家泳池冬天关闭。


That's quite concise! Thanks, SuperXW! 😃
Is the character 池 missing there, or can 游泳池 be abbreviated to 游泳?


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## SuperXW

yuechu said:


> Is the character 池 missing there, or can 游泳池 be abbreviated to 游泳?


池 was not missing, 游 was.
游泳 ban be abbreviated to 泳, so 游泳池 can be 泳池.


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## yuechu

Oh, I must have been reading too fast. Thanks!


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## yuechu

A friend also suggested the following:

1. 一到冬天，我家的游泳池就得关了。
(I am actually not satisfied with the wording of 关闭. It sounds more like that you are running a swimming pool for business purpose, and now you would have to get it closed because winter is coming.)
Therefore, the following sentence is produced to get rid of the possible oddness.
2. 一到冬天，我家的游泳池就得把水排掉，还得用帆布盖起来。
Wordy? Maybe, but more explicit.


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## hx1997

yuechu said:


> I am actually not satisfied with the wording of 关闭.


So am I.

Maybe simply state that it is not open during the winter. (Sometimes you have to say the opposite of something is not the case to sound natural.)
我家泳池冬天不开。


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## azhong

"2. 一到冬天，我家的游泳池就得把水排掉，还得用帆布盖起来。"

The sentence is very fine to me.


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## SuperXW

yuechu said:


> 2. 一到冬天，我家的游泳池就得把水排掉，还得用帆布盖起来。
> Wordy? Maybe, but more explicit.


It is perfectly natural, just it explains much more than your original sentence.
To most Chinese, we are not sure what do you mean by "closed" as it is not a public pool and we don't have a private pool.
Explaining 把水排掉，还得用帆布盖起来 makes it clear.


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## SimonTsai

SuperXW said:


> and we don't have a private pool.


Exactly. To be honest, I am still not used to the idea of a private, family swimming pool. It sounds unreal, and is like something more of the wealthy than of the ordinary. (都市居, 大不易: 寸土寸金.)


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## dojibear

SimonTsai said:


> I am still not used to the idea of a private, family swimming pool. It sounds unreal, and is like something more of the wealthy than of the ordinary.


In the US, there are almost no family swimming pools in cities. 寸土寸金. Outside the city, where land is cheap, many families have a house with a _yard_ (land with grass) around the house. Even there, an in-ground pool (1) is a luxury. More people have an above-ground pool (2), or just an inflatable pool (3). 是用来玩水的，不是用来游泳的


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## skating-in-bc

yuechu said:


> 大家好！
> 
> We have a pool in our yard and it gets closed every winter (actually, I suppose it is from the fall to the spring, to be exact!).


我家院子有個泳池, 冷季裡都上封蓋。


yuechu said:


> 我们家的游泳池为了冬天而关闭


我家泳池入冬封蓋了。


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## skating-in-bc

yuechu said:


> We have a pool in our yard and it gets *closed *every winter.


除了你給的情境, 這英文句也可用於這個情況: 院裡泳池有 fence 圍著, 每到冬季不放水, 不上蓋, 只把 gate 鎖上以防人進入而生意外。所以, 該句字面意思其實是: *我家院子有個泳池, 冬季裡都封閉不用*。


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