# Wo bu shuo Hanyu hen hao **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 7, 2001, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wo-bu-shuo-hanyu-hen-hao/53520 "2001-02-07T17:43:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2001, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wo-bu-shuo-hanyu-hen-hao/53520/1 "2001-02-07T17:43:22Z")
It’s been awhile since I took Chinese. Anybody know the word for “comrade,” in the revolutionary sense? As in, “Comrade Wang is in need of re-education for his counterrrevolutionary activities.” My dictionary says “ke3kao4de huo3ban4” and “zhong1shi2de peng2you,” but neither of those are ringing a bell. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2001, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wo-bu-shuo-hanyu-hen-hao/53520/2 "2001-02-07T18:05:39Z")
Tongzhi. There’s a rising tone on the o and a falling on on the i. I’ve been told by a PRC native that in Taiwan, it’s a slang term for “homosexual”. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wo-bu-shuo-hanyu-hen-hao/53520/3 "2001-02-08T00:33:00Z")
Xiexie. ---
**Author:** ![Yue\_Han](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/eada6e/32.png) [@Yue\_Han](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yue_Han)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wo-bu-shuo-hanyu-hen-hao/53520/4 "2001-02-08T01:45:56Z")
Your title should be, I think “Wo Hanyu shuo de bu hen hao.” –John ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wo-bu-shuo-hanyu-hen-hao/53520/5 "2001-02-08T06:55:36Z")
But don’t you mean: Wo de Hanyu bu shi hen hao. I thought shuo is a verb. In the subject, I was trying to say “I don’t speak Chinese very well,” not “My Chinese is not very good.” Of course, I don’t speak Chinese very well. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wo-bu-shuo-hanyu-hen-hao/53520/6 "2001-02-08T13:29:19Z")
I think Black455 is right. Doesn’t the possessive particle “de” always go immediately after the noun? ---
**Author:** ![MrSCOTT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MrSCOTT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSCOTT)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wo-bu-shuo-hanyu-hen-hao/53520/7 "2001-02-08T13:43:44Z")
“¯Žu ---
**Author:** ![Yue\_Han](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/eada6e/32.png) [@Yue\_Han](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yue_Han)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wo-bu-shuo-hanyu-hen-hao/53520/8 "2001-02-08T18:07:22Z")
ElvisL1ves I think Black455 is right. Doesn’t the possessive particle “de” always go immediately after the noun? > [@](#): > > Wo de Hanyu bu shi hen hao. This shouldn’t have shi on it, because adjectives carry an unexpressed ‘to be’ all the time. Aside from that, it does say, ‘My Chinese is not very good.’ using the possesive particle de. To say, ‘I don’t speak Chinese very well’, I’m fairly sure you need a different particle, also prounced ‘de’ The character looks like this: [http://www.ocrat.com/chargif/GB/horiz/b5c3.html](http://www.ocrat.com/chargif/GB/horiz/b5c3.html) That kind of ‘de’ goes between a verb and an adjective being used as an adverb to modify the verb. The verb can be repeated after an object, or the object can be preposed, which is what I did, but de must go immediately between the verb and the modifier. –John ---
**Author:** ![Yue\_Han](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/eada6e/32.png) [@Yue\_Han](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yue_Han)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wo-bu-shuo-hanyu-hen-hao/53520/9 "2001-02-08T18:09:24Z")
> [@](#): > > ElvisL1ves I think Black455 is right. Doesn’t the possessive particle “de” always go immediately after the noun? Should not have appeared in my post. It got picked up in a C&P error. –John