Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Chinese term or phrase:
甚麼都 vs 甚麼東西都
English translation:
anything (no difference in this context)
Added to glossary by
Roddy Stegemann
Aug 7, 2006 11:53
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.
甚麼都 vs 甚麼東西都
Non-PRO
Chinese to English
Social Sciences
Education / Pedagogy
Grammatikalische Analyse (Grammatical Analysis)
Sentence: 他甚麼都不害怕，他只害怕病，因為病了，甚麼東西都不能吃。
1st Attempt: He is afraid of nothing, but becoming sick. For if he becomes sick, he will not be able to eat anything.
Question: Do the phrases 甚麼都 and 甚麼東西都 both translate as "anything"? If so, how would you explain the difference in use? If not, please provide a more proper translation of the entire sentence.
Reference: http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/tsongkit/contents.html#p...
Warning: In order to provide ProZ.com users with the best glossary entries possible, more than one question for the same entry will be asked from time to time. Please keep in mind when responding that you will be graded on your responses to ALL questions asked.
1st Attempt: He is afraid of nothing, but becoming sick. For if he becomes sick, he will not be able to eat anything.
Question: Do the phrases 甚麼都 and 甚麼東西都 both translate as "anything"? If so, how would you explain the difference in use? If not, please provide a more proper translation of the entire sentence.
Reference: http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/tsongkit/contents.html#p...
Warning: In order to provide ProZ.com users with the best glossary entries possible, more than one question for the same entry will be asked from time to time. Please keep in mind when responding that you will be graded on your responses to ALL questions asked.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 | rephrasing |
Wenjer Leuschel (X)
|
Proposed translations
14 mins
Selected
rephrasing
It is not easy to differentiate 什麼都 from 什麼東西都.
Your sentence could be translate in German like this:
Er fürchtet sich vor nichts, außer vor Krankwerden, denn man kann nichts einnehmen, wenn man krank wird.
In English: He is afraid of nothing save becoming sick, for he will be able to eat nothing when he becomes sick.
So, it doesn't matter to say anything or nothing. One way or other, you have the same thing exproted or imported. That's why I like languages.
Your sentence could be translate in German like this:
Er fürchtet sich vor nichts, außer vor Krankwerden, denn man kann nichts einnehmen, wenn man krank wird.
In English: He is afraid of nothing save becoming sick, for he will be able to eat nothing when he becomes sick.
So, it doesn't matter to say anything or nothing. One way or other, you have the same thing exproted or imported. That's why I like languages.
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Final Rendering: He is afraid of nothing, save becoming sick, for should he become sick, he will be unable to eat anything.
Acknowledgement: Well, Wenjer, you hardly helped me with my question, but this time you did provide me with some English that I found useful.
Discussion: Please see note 4 under question 12 on the Tsong Kit webpage http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/tsongkit/part3/III-1-g.html#s12 for further discussion regarding the context of this question.
My very best from the land of no mountains surrounded by sea on many sides."
Discussion