Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Chinese term or phrase:
你知道什麼時候的影子最長，最短嗎？
English translation:
Do you know when the sun casts its longest and shortest shadows?
Added to glossary by
Roddy Stegemann
May 16, 2006 08:06
18 yrs ago
Chinese term
United States
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Native in: English 
Works in: German to English, Japanese to English, French to English, and 3 more.
你知道什麼時候的影子最長，最短嗎？
Non-PRO
Chinese to English
Science
Education / Pedagogy
Grammatical Analysis
This is a follow-up question to the just-asked, previous question.
Consider the above construction and the following construction
你知道什麼時候的影子最長，什麼時候最短嗎？
Question: Do they both express the same idea?
a) If not, how are they different?
b) If yes, which is preferred and why?
http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/tsongkit/contents.html#p...
Consider the above construction and the following construction
你知道什麼時候的影子最長，什麼時候最短嗎？
Question: Do they both express the same idea?
a) If not, how are they different?
b) If yes, which is preferred and why?
http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/tsongkit/contents.html#p...
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 | The two have the same meaning |
wherestip
|
Proposed translations
11 hrs
Selected
The two have the same meaning
你知道什麼時候的影子最長、最短嗎？
This sentence is correct and has the same meaning as the other one. Notice the use of the 顿号. This punctuation mark functions in the same way as a comma, except it is used to separate very short phrases that typical are in parellel with each other.
你知道什麼時候的影子分别为最長和/（或）最短嗎？would have the same meaning as the one in question, and in my opinion would be more definite in meaning because of the short phrase "分别为"
As for which sentence between the two you asked about are more preferable, I would opt for the 最長、最短 sentence for the sole reason of it being less wordy.
This sentence is correct and has the same meaning as the other one. Notice the use of the 顿号. This punctuation mark functions in the same way as a comma, except it is used to separate very short phrases that typical are in parellel with each other.
你知道什麼時候的影子分别为最長和/（或）最短嗎？would have the same meaning as the one in question, and in my opinion would be more definite in meaning because of the short phrase "分别为"
As for which sentence between the two you asked about are more preferable, I would opt for the 最長、最短 sentence for the sole reason of it being less wordy.
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Final rendering: Do you know when the sun casts its longest and shortest shadows?
Discussion: May I refer you to the following link.
http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/tsongkit/part2/II-7b-g.html#s20
Acknowledgement: Thank you, wherestip, you have taught me that even in written Chinese unnecessary redundancy can appear wordy and should be avoided. "
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