Monday, April 6, 2015

Rhetorical Question (Part. 3) -- 难道 (nándào)

Rhetorical questions use the form of a question to emphasize a point, and as such the question does not require an answer. A typical English rhetorical question might be: "you're not saying you actually believe him, are you?". In Chinese, 难道 (nándào) is used as a marker to form this kind of question. For example, 难道你真的相信他吗?The structure is 难道 + [rhetorical question]. Here are more examples:

  • 难道你忘了吗?Can you have forgotten it already?
  • 难道这个问题很难吗?Isn't this question very difficult?

Note that 难道 can only be used for rhetorical questions which could be answered with yes or no, and generally end with 吗.

  • 难道我怎么会明白呢?[WRONG!!!: not a yes/no question.
  • 难道我什么时候才可以做完呀?WRONG!!!: not a yes/no question.
Please translate the sentences:
1. Don't you think this book is interesting?
2. Don't you think it is kind of like cute.
3. You talked with him. Aren't you friends? 
4. You grew up in America. Can't you speak English?
5. She's leaving Buffalo. Shouldn't you say goodbye to her?



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