第一百一十四天

[nnozomi]

语法
差 for minutes until the hour
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Structure_of_times_(advanced)
(bottom of page)
(I love 差 for some reason, it has the neatest usages. 差这个词就是不差的。)

词汇
房间, room, and 房子, house 房间 fángjiān, room, and 房子 fángzi, house
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-1-word-list/

Guardian:
房间的积灰不厚, the accumulated dust in the room isn’t thick
沈教授，你确定要这房子吗？Professor Shen, do you definitely want this house?

Me:
火车出发时十点三分，所以我们一定要直到差两分十点到了火车站。
我的房间里反正有太多书，地震的时候比较可怕。

给大家周知，I will be traveling a little and so tomorrow's post will be delayed by about 12hrs from the usual posting time. 但是, the post itself is written up, so if anyone wants to post it in my stead around the usual time, let me know (if possible within the next two hours or so) and I'll send you the content. Either way works!

(also comment replies shortly，不好意思啊)

Comments

[trobadora]

沈教授，你确定要这房子吗？Professor Shen, do you definitely want this house?

I think 房子 is apartment here, not house. (The pop-up dictionary says that's a valid meaning.)

I can post for you tomorrow if you want? But also, it's totally fine if you post at a different time than usual; we can all respond in our own time! ♥

[grayswandir]

I've actually always wondered, does Chinese distinguish between "apartment" and "house"? I feel like at least in Hong Kong movies, all the words I know for "house" can also refer to apartments, except for 别墅 (villa) and I guess compounds with 莊 (manor). But that could just be a Hong Kong thing since nobody can afford non-apartment houses there...

[trobadora]

Oh, now that you say it, I've actually wondered about this too, thank you for bringing it up! I'm very curious ...

[yaaurens]

I saw something about this when I was learning about measure words...

"How not to confuse 房间，房，房子: 一个房间 means a room. 一间房子 means a house or apartment, but in China houses are unusual, so it usually means an apartment. If you are looking at a house in a picture use 一个房子 (instead of 一间房子). 套房子 is also common, indicating a house or apartment with multiple rooms [I assume they mean multiple bedrooms? rather than just anything bigger than a studio apartment?]. 房 is normally a short form of 房间 or 房子, the meaning given by context and measure word."

I have no idea if that's actually helpful at all.

[nnozomi]

That is definitely helpful! aagh, I need to stop expecting a one-to-one equivalency for any given words lol.

[grayswandir]

Sorry for the very delayed reply! This is very helpful. :D

套房子 is also common, indicating a house or apartment with multiple rooms [I assume they mean multiple bedrooms? rather than just anything bigger than a studio apartment?]

Huh, that does seem rather unclear! Wiktionary calls 套 a "Classifier for a set of objects (books, furniture, rooms, etc)," but I'm not sure what a "set of rooms" would mean, either. :P It makes me think of an inn or a dorm or something, but if it includes apartments, then... I guess it would have to mean multiple bedrooms, like you said? If so, I wonder how many rooms there need to be to qualify as a "set..."

[presumenothing]

Late reply to late reply, but I wouldn't consider the 套 in 套房 a specific 量词 count-y usage any more than in 套餐 (it's not like there's Rules about how many items make a set meal either).

That said we don't actually use 套房 here (or pretty much any word besides 屋子, and maybe specifically 房间if e.g. someone is talking about renting a room) so I don't have a good sense of what it covers either.

[nnozomi]

I can post for you tomorrow if you want? But also, it's totally fine if you post at a different time than usual; we can all respond in our own time! ♥
谢谢！I'll take you at your word then and probably post it when I get home tomorrow evening (my time), then. A little bit of a break for 黄金周 :)

[trobadora]

♥ ♥ ♥