This translation can't be right... is it?

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This translation can’t be right… is it?

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如果（If）你哥哥（your older brother, no need for 的 here) 愿意(willing) 的话(another form of if)

When using 的话 at the end of the sentence, it is not necessary to also use 如果, but it is still commonly used.

1 Like
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ahhhh, interesting… so this technically / literally translates to "If your brother is willing if, blah blah blah … .

Good answer, I appreciate it!

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What translation are you talking about? I think it means “If you’re saying that your brother is willing”, and I think you do need the 的 to get this nuance, but I could be wrong.

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Anytime :), and yeah it would be followed by the next part of the if clause

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Because 你 and 哥哥 are commonly used together most Mandarin speakers will omit the 的, this is true for a lot of “common” combinations in Chinese where the first word is describing the second.

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你哥哥 is fine. In fact, with the 的 sounds a little stilted to me.

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Ya, I wasn’t referring to 你哥哥, but I figured out the answer to my original question. the link to ask a question didn’t post the whole phrase like I thought it would, nor did it post the translation that came along with it… my first time using the ask a tutor feature, my bad.

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Ya, I wasn’t referring to 你哥哥, but I figured out the answer to my original question. the link to ask a question didn’t post the whole phrase like I thought it would, nor did it post the translation that came along with it… my first time using the ask a tutor feature, my bad.

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Ya the link to ask a question didn’t post the whole phrase like I thought it would, nor did it post the translation that came along with it… my first time using the ask a tutor feature, my bad.

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如果。。。的话, from what I understand, is the full, formal construction. The meaning of the four characters together should be take as “if.” It’s not redundant to have both 如果 and 的话 in the same phrase. Sometimes people will omit the 如果 or the 的话 when they are speaking. For myself, omitting the 的话 has always been easier for me because it follows English closer, but I’ve been forcing myself to use the whole construction.