The people at tennis are all very nice.

yuechu

yuechu

Senior Member
Canada
Canadian English
大家好！

If I wanted to describe the people I play tennis with (who are all the people who show up on the courts certain days of the week), how could I say "The people at tennis are all very nice." in Chinese?
Would it be something like “在网球场，打球的人都<人很好>"? 他们都很好心（?）友好（?）
(Also, in English, there is a difference between "The people at tennis" and "People who play tennis" (in general). Is it possible to make this distinction in Chinese as well?)

Thanks! :)
 
    • Hi
    I am only a Junior high school student in china, so I can't give professional advice. I can only tell you what we local people usually use.
    I use “友好” to describe a friendly person. When someone did me a favor and I am very thankful, I will say"你是一个好心人". So "好心" is usually used for showing gratefulness in China. If you want to say the people are nice, use“友好” will be better.
    Emm...I don't really know the differences between "The people at tennis" and "People who play tennis" . So I can only help you here.
     
    yuechu said:
    大家好！

    If I wanted to describe the people I play tennis with (who are all the people who show up on the courts certain days of the week), how could I say "The people at tennis are all very nice." in Chinese?
    Would it be something like “在网球场，打球的人都<人很好>"? 他们都很好心（?）友好（?）
    Click to expand...
    打球的人都很好 they are nice (in general. not sure about how)
    好心 warm-hearted, kind (they'll call you if you forget your wallet)
    友好 friendly (they'll say hi and smile when they see you)

    yuechu said:
    (Also, in English, there is a difference between "The people at tennis" and "People who play tennis" (in general). Is it possible to make this distinction in Chinese as well?)
    Click to expand...
    What does “the people at tennis” mean? Probably 球场的人？
    "People who play tennis" 打球的人
     
    Thanks for your explanations, Alex and SuperXW! :)

    SuperXW said:
    What does “the people at tennis” mean? Probably 球场的人？
    "People who play tennis" 打球的人
    Click to expand...
    Yes, that's probably what it would be in Chinese!
    "the people at tennis" = the people who are there to play tennis
    "people who play tennis" = anyone who plays tennis


    SuperXW said:
    打球的人都很好
    Click to expand...
    Is "人" here part of "the people"? or is it part of the words used to describe someone who's "nice"?
    (I probably didn't explain it well!) For example, if you are describing someone as being nice, you can say "他/她的人很好", right? ("人" being part of being "nice"?) In your sentence, is it "人都很好" = nice or is it just "好" = nice?
    (It is also very possible that I may have misunderstood something about this structure, in which case I apologize! :oops:)
     
    yuechu said:
    Yes, that's probably what it would be in Chinese!
    "the people at tennis" = the people who are there to play tennis
    "people who play tennis" = anyone who plays tennis
    Click to expand...
    Oh! I didn't get that!
    In Chinese, 打球的人 is general. It can refer to either "the people at tennis" or "people who play tennis".
    If you've already said 在网球场, then it refers to the first one.
    yuechu said:
    Is "人" here part of "the people"? or is it part of the words used to describe someone who's "nice"?
    (I probably didn't explain it well!) For example, if you are describing someone as being nice, you can say "他/她的人很好", right? ("人" being part of being "nice"?) In your sentence, is it "人都很好" = nice or is it just "好" = nice?
    (It is also very possible that I may have misunderstood something about this structure, in which case I apologize! :oops:)
    Click to expand...
    It's hard to say.

    First,
    "Somebody 很好" may mean "anything" of the person is good, including but not limited to the personality, health condition, capability, etc.
    "Somebody 人很好" 人 means 为人, which refers to the person's personality, or how he/she treats others.

    Then,
    For 他的人很好, it seems more reasonable to analyze it as 他的人|很好, following a subject-description structure.
    For 他人很好, it may be analyzed as 他|人很好, following a topic-comment structure.

    And,
    For 人很好, it is usually for some specific one, or a small group of people, such as "people who play tennis WITH YOU".
    It is unlikely we are talking about a big group of people 人很好, such as "ALL people who play tennis".

    Also,
    If the subject is already ...人, it is unlikely for us to repeat 人, like a tongue-twister.
    i.e. 球场的人人都很好。 :confused: Unless there's a big pause, 球场的人，人都很好。
    球场的人都很好。 is usually enough. We can usually get it means "they are nice" from the context.
     
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