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English translation: secretly, in secret

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Chinese term or phrase:偷偷的 （偷偷地）
English translation:secretly, in secret
Entered by: Roddy Stegemann

04:45 Oct 7, 2006
Chinese to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Education / Pedagogy / Grammatical Analysis
Chinese term or phrase: 偷偷的
Sentence: 她偷偷的告訴我，明天是張小姐的生日，我一定要送一件好的禮物給她。

First Attempt: She told me in confidence that tomorrow is Miss Zheung's birthday, and that I must not fail to give her a present.

Question: My question is about the use of 的 in the construction 偷偷的.

In my interpretation I have assumed that this phrase is used as an adverb telling how the speaker was told. However, in my online dictionary I find only the expression 偷偷 -- not 偷偷的. Can someone explain the use of 的 in this and perhaps other similar instances?

The PRO aspect of this question is your ability to answer the question -- not simply provide a correct translation of the term.

Reference: http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/tsongkit/contents.html#p...

As always you are welcome to comment on other parts of the translation.

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.
Roddy Stegemann
United States
Local time: 05:15
stealthy
Explanation:
Dont want to be heard by others

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 23 mins (2006-10-07 05:09:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

It is not 的， it should be 地。
偷偷 is an Adj. If it is followed by 地, It then become an Adverb.
Just like Adj + ly=Adverb
Selected response from:

yuzouren
Japan
Local time: 21:15
Grading comment
Final Rendering: She told me in secret that tomorrow is Miss Zheung's birthday, and that I must not fail to give her a present.

Acknowledgment: With everyone working together I was certainly able to formulate a reasonable explanation and an improved translation. I am awarding my points to Yuzouren because he was the first to provide an explanation that everyone could agree with. Nevertheless, I used Jennifer's entry for the gloss, because it appears to be a more accurate rendering of the phrase than my own.

Unfortunately, I cannot agree with Gio about the mistaken identity of the character 的, as the author of these sentences is a native speaker of Cantonese and would not likely fall victim to the trap described by Gio. Certainly PK has made it clear that some Chinese find nothing wrong with the phrasing 偷偷的告訴. As both PK and the author are Hong Kong natives, perhaps we have identified a HK colloquialism.

Though Randy's advice is certainly not to be ignored, I find it useful only as a last resort. Fillers in any language, no matter where they appear, reveal information about the speaker and his or her social and physical environments, that are not a direct part of the message, but still important to the translation. They may not always be directly translatable, but they can work their way into the choice of other words that share the same general context.

Finally, I would like to thank both wherestip and Jennifer for their many examples and Aaron for his confirmatory support.

Discussion: Please see http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/tsongkit/part3/III-2b-g.html#s17 for further discussion regarding the context of this question.

My very best from the land of no mountains surrounded by sea on many sides.
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +2Incorrect in the written but pronounced as "de" in spoken Chinese
Giovanni Valenti
5stealthy
yuzouren
3 +1tell me in secret
Jennifer Li (X)
4FYI
pkchan
3furtively
randyzou


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


21 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
stealthy


Explanation:
Dont want to be heard by others

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 23 mins (2006-10-07 05:09:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

It is not 的， it should be 地。
偷偷 is an Adj. If it is followed by 地, It then become an Adverb.
Just like Adj + ly=Adverb

yuzouren
Japan
Local time: 21:15
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese
PRO pts in category: 7
Grading comment
Final Rendering: She told me in secret that tomorrow is Miss Zheung's birthday, and that I must not fail to give her a present.

Acknowledgment: With everyone working together I was certainly able to formulate a reasonable explanation and an improved translation. I am awarding my points to Yuzouren because he was the first to provide an explanation that everyone could agree with. Nevertheless, I used Jennifer's entry for the gloss, because it appears to be a more accurate rendering of the phrase than my own.

Unfortunately, I cannot agree with Gio about the mistaken identity of the character 的, as the author of these sentences is a native speaker of Cantonese and would not likely fall victim to the trap described by Gio. Certainly PK has made it clear that some Chinese find nothing wrong with the phrasing 偷偷的告訴. As both PK and the author are Hong Kong natives, perhaps we have identified a HK colloquialism.

Though Randy's advice is certainly not to be ignored, I find it useful only as a last resort. Fillers in any language, no matter where they appear, reveal information about the speaker and his or her social and physical environments, that are not a direct part of the message, but still important to the translation. They may not always be directly translatable, but they can work their way into the choice of other words that share the same general context.

Finally, I would like to thank both wherestip and Jennifer for their many examples and Aaron for his confirmatory support.

Discussion: Please see http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/tsongkit/part3/III-2b-g.html#s17 for further discussion regarding the context of this question.

My very best from the land of no mountains surrounded by sea on many sides.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Giovanni Valenti: agree with explanation but not with word choice in this instance
2 hrs
  -> Thanx/ HOMO-san definitely know what i am talking about.
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52 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
tell me in secret


Explanation:
I agree with yuzouren
It should be an adv. "地" instead of adj. "的". The verb of "tell" is modified by the adv.

祕密地,偷偷地,非法地 secretly／in secret／privately／in private／out of view／in seclusion／covertly clandestinely／surreptitiously／furtively／stealthily／on the sly／sneakily／sneakingly／underhandedly／illegally／unlawfully／

Just for your reference.


Jennifer Li (X)
Local time: 20:15
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese
PRO pts in category: 12

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  wherestip
17 hrs
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +2
Incorrect in the written but pronounced as "de" in spoken Chinese


Explanation:
I think that the problem is that the author used the wrong character in the written as they might have been transcribing what is actually said in spoken Chinese.

Yuzouren is correct when he says that “It is not 的， it should be 地。偷偷 is an Adj. If it is followed by 地, It then become an Adverb. Just like Adj + ly=Adverb"... if it is written Chinese. What is possible is that the writer was thinking of the spoken language as he was writing and inadvertently used the 的 character because in spoken Chinese 偷偷地 would be said as "tou tou de"


Kingsoft:
地
de
助
用在状语和中心词之间 [used after an adj.,noun,adverb or verb,etc.to form an adverbial adjunct]。如:他认真地学习;天气渐渐地冷了;有计划地安排生活。又表示动态,相当于“着”。常附在立、卧、坐等不及物动词的后头

Giovanni Valenti
United States
Works in field
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Aaron Gilkison (X)
15 hrs
agree  wherestip
15 hrs
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
furtively


Explanation:
as a foreigner , u don have to pay attention to many of the chinese words, ther are of no use in meaning, just for the completion of the sentence structure, like "的","了","吗","之",etc.
just omit them in translation, no biggie.


randyzou
Local time: 20:15
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese
PRO pts in category: 1
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
FYI


Explanation:
偷偷的=暗地裡的, 如：他偷偷的買了一份禮物，準備給母親一個驚喜。

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    Reference: http://140.111.34.46/cgi-bin/dict/GetContent.cgi?Database=di...
pkchan
United States
Local time: 08:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese
PRO pts in category: 40
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