PMT Advanced #128: Drawing Conclusions
🌀 Pearls of Mandarin: Translation (Advanced) #128
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Over these two weeks, in CGG #127 and CGG #128, we looked at how Mandarin moves from what you observe to what you conclude.
Today’s exercises will help you pick the word that fits the moment. Each one carries its own level of certainty and its own register, and choosing well is what makes these sentences sound like a native speaker wrote them. With practice, the right word will come to you before you have to think about it.
Let’s put these conclusions to work!
🌳 Today’s Advanced Exercises
Translate these English sentences into Mandarin:
In recent years, more and more young people seem to prefer moving back to smaller cities.
The way things are going, this team probably won’t make it to the final this season.
If you go to Yunnan this time of year, the weather will most likely be sunny, just very windy.
When he plays the piano, his fingers fly across the keys as if he doesn’t need to think at all.
Take your time, and remember: practicing will help you sound more natural and confident in your Mandarin conversations. You’ve got this! 💫
🌳 Translation #1
In recent years, more and more young people seem to prefer moving back to smaller cities.
Sometimes you want to report a trend without claiming it as settled fact. English handles that with “seem,” and the register matters here, because this sentence reads like something from an article rather than a chat with your friends. That’s where 似乎 (sìhū) comes in: it means much the same as 好像 (hǎoxiàng), but it’s the formal version. It sits directly before the verb or adjective, so the rest of the sentence keeps its normal shape.
📚 Structure: [Time Phrase]，[Subject] + 似乎 + [Verb Phrase]
Let’s break down the translation step by step:
这 [這] (zhè) means “this.”
几 [幾] (jǐ) means “a few.”
年 (nián) means “year.”
这几年 [這幾年] (zhè jǐ nián) means “these past few years” or “in recent years.”
Time phrases like this open the sentence, before the subject.
越来越 [越來越] (yuè lái yuè) means “more and more.”
📖 Learn more about 越来越 [越來越] in CGG #41.
多 (duō) means “many.”
的 (de) is the attributive particle linking the description to the noun.
年轻人 [年輕人] (niánqīngrén) means “young people.”
似乎 (sìhū) means “to seem” or “apparently.”
This is the formal twin of 好像 (hǎoxiàng).
It goes before the verb or adjective, never at the end of the sentence.
更 (gèng) means “more.”
Here it works without 比 (bǐ), comparing against an alternative the reader can infer (staying in big cities).
📖 Learn more about 更 and comparison patterns in CGG #119.
愿意 [願意] (yuànyì) means “to be willing to.”
更愿意 [更願意] (gèng yuànyì) is how Mandarin expresses “prefer to” with a verb following.
回 (huí) means “to return to.”
小 (xiǎo) means “small.”
城市 (chéngshì) means “city.”
生活 (shēnghuó) means “to live.”
Notes
似乎 (sìhū) can pair with 是 (shì) or 有 (yǒu) when you’re identifying something or saying it appears to exist, as in 似乎有问题 [似乎有問題] (sìhū yǒu wèntí, “there seems to be a problem”).
Don’t use 貌似 (màosì) here. It shares the same 似 (sì) but sits at the opposite end of the formality scale, and it would make this trend report sound like a casual online comment.
回 (huí) alone already carries “back,” so no extra word for “back” is needed.
Recap
这几年，越来越多的年轻人似乎更愿意回小城市生活。
這幾年，越來越多的年輕人似乎更願意回小城市生活。
这 / 几 / 年 / ，/ 越来越 / 多 / 的 / 年轻人 / 似乎 / 更 / 愿意 / 回 / 小 / 城市 / 生活 / 。
zhè jǐ nián, yuè lái yuè duō de niánqīngrén sìhū gèng yuànyì huí xiǎo chéngshì shēnghuó.
In recent years, more and more young people seem to prefer moving back to smaller cities.
this / few / year / more and more / many / (attributive particle 的) / young people / seem / more / willing / return / small / city / live.
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🌳 Translation #2
The way things are going, this team probably won’t make it to the final this season.
