Learn Mandarin Chinese, how to say: It is not fun at all, she got a speeding ticket tonight.
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她今晚因超速被开了一张罚单，真是一点都不好玩。
tā jīn wǎn yīn chāo sù bèi kāi le yī zhāng fádān , zhēn shì yī diǎn dōu bù hǎowán .
她 (pronoun, she) 今晚 (noun phrase, tonight) 因 (conjunction, because) 超速 (noun phrase, speeding) 被 (indicates passive-voice clauses, similar to was + verbed in English) 开 (verb, originally means open, but here it means write out) 了 (past tense marker/ a particle to show action occurred) 一 (number, one) 张 (measure word for ticket), 罚单 (noun phrase, violation ticket / infringement notice ) 真 (adverb, really) 是 (verb, is) 一点 (adverb, a bit or a little; it is common to add an er sound after it — 一点儿） 都 （adverb, all) 不 (negate word- not) 好玩 (adjective phrase, fun or interesting).
“Tonight” in the above English sentence is placed at the end, however, in Chinese, we have to put the time phrase –今晚 tonight– at the beginning of the sentence or right after the subject.
**今晚**她因超速被开了一张罚单，真是一点都不好玩。
她**今晚**因超速被开了一张罚单，真是一点都不好玩。
It is not fun at all, she got a speeding ticket tonight.
If you want to express “not at all” in Chinese, you can use the phrases “一点也不 (Adj)” or “一点都不 (Adj)” structure, and both means “not at all (Adj) or not (Adj) at all.”
In today’s sample sentence
一点都不好玩 = 一点也不好玩
好玩 is an adjective phrase
一点都不 = not at all
thus,
一点都不好玩/一点也不好玩 = not fun at all or not at all fun
If you want to exaggerate the degree of the no-fun-ness then you can add 真是 (really is) in front of the 一点也不 structure.
For example, you want to borrow one dollar from your friend, but your friend is too stingy to lend you one dollar. Then you can say:
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My friend is really not generous at all.
我的朋友真是一点都不大方。
Wǒ de péngyou zhēnshì yīdiǎn dōu bù dàfāng .
大方= generous
or
我的朋友真是一点也不大方。
Wǒ de péngyou zhēnshì yīdiǎn yě bù dàfāng .
You can also express the same meaning with
My friend is really stingy.
我的朋友真是小气。
Wǒ de péngyou zhēnshì xiǎoqì .
小气= stingy or extremely thrifty
or you can use the Chinese idiom 一毛不拔 (yi mao bu ba) stingy, and say:
我的朋友真是一毛不拔。
Wǒ de péngyou zhēnshì yī máo bù bá .
My friend is really stingy.
This idiom comes from a story about a super rich Chinese old man. The day before he died, he told his family:
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“我死后，别用棺材来盛我，挖个坑，把我埋了。”
” Wǒ sǐ hòu, bié yòng guāncái lái shéng wǒ , wā ge kēng , bǎ wǒ mái le . ”
After I die, don’t put me in a coffin. Just dig a hole and bury me.
“我死后，不要请和尚念经，我在黄泉下自己会念经的。”
” Wǒ sǐhòu, bù yào qǐng héshang niànjīng, wǒ zài huángquán xià zìjǐ huì niànjīng de . ”
After I die, don’t hire a monk to chant Buddhist scripture for me. I will chant Buddhist scripture for myself in the underworld.
(黄泉: literally, it means Yellow Springs, and it refers to the underworld in Chinese mythology; the equivalent phrase of Hades or Hell in English.)
“我死后，把我的皮剥下来，卖给皮匠；把我的毛拔下来卖给做刷子的人，一根都别丢了.”
” Wǒ sǐ hòu, bǎ wǒ de pí bāo xià lái , mài gěi píjiàng ；bǎ Wǒ de máo bá xià lai mài gěi zuò shuāzi de rén , yī gēn dōu bié diū le .”
After I die, peel off my skin and sell it to a cobbler; pull out my hair and sell it to the person who sells brushes. Don’t lose any single string of hair.
(根 is the classifier for long slender objects, thus, 一根 means 一根毛 a single string of hair.)
Thus, the Mandarin Chinese idiom 一毛不拔 means a person can’t afford to lose a single string of hair; the idiom is used to describe a person is extremely stingy and selfish.
Now, back to our topic about traffic / parking fine:
Have you ever been fined for parking, speeding or other traffic violations? I know it is not fun at all to be stopped by a police officer on the road or see a parking ticket on your windshield.
If you have a good reason, you might be able to challenge a parking ticket by writing a parking ticket appeal letter. However, the followings are a dozen of lame excuses which are not good enough to win the parking appeal:
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1.There was no sign that said I couldn’t park there.
那儿没有标志说我不能在那儿停车。
nàr méiyǒu biāozhì shuō wǒ bù néng zài nàr tíngchē .
2. I couldn’t find another parking space.
我找不到别的停车位子。
Wǒ zhǎo bù dào bié de tíngchē wèizi .
3. A lot of people were parking there too.
许多人也都停在那儿。
xǔduō rén yě dōu tíngzàinàr .
4. I didn’t see any signs saying: NO PARKING.
我没看到禁止停车标志。
Wǒ méi kàn dào Jīnzhǐ tíngchē biāozhì.
5. I was late for a meeting.
我开会迟到。
Wǒ kāihuì chídào .
6. I had a stomachache.
我肚子痛。
Wǒ dǔzǐtòng .
7. The meter expired before I got back.
我回来的时候停车计时器的时间已经用完了。
Wǒ huílai de shíhou tíngchē Jìshíqì de shíjiān yǐjīng yòng wán le .
8. I only parked there for 5 minutes.
我只在那儿停了五分钟。
Wǒ zhǐ zài nàr tíng le wǔ fēnzhōng .
9. I’ve always parked there and you never gave me a ticket before.
我总是在那儿停车，你们以前从来也没给过我罚单。
Wǒ zǒngshì zài nàr tíngchē , nǐmen yǐqián cónglái yě méi gěiguò wǒ fádān .
10. Other cars parked there and they didn’t get a ticket.
别的车也停在那儿，可是他们没被开罚单。
biéde chē yě tíngzàinàr , kěshì tāmen méi bèi kāi fádān .
11. Your parking regulation is not reasonable.
你们的停车规定不合理。
nǐmen de tíngchē guīdìng bù hélǐ .
12. It was raining and the road was slippery.
下雨，路很滑。
xiàyǔ , lù hěn huá .
Learn how to say some of the most common traffic violations in Chinese
Speeding
超速 chāosù
Running a red light
闖紅燈 chuǎng hóngdēng
Not signaling
未打方向灯 wèi dǎ fāngxiàng dēng
Crossing the median
超越中线 chāoyuè zhōngxiàn
Driving without valid vehicle registration
驾驶未经登记车辆 jiàshǐ wèi jīng dēngjì chēliàng
Not stopping for pedestrians
未禮讓行人 wèi ràng xíngrén
Not using seat belt
未系安全带 wèi xì ānquándài
Driving on shoulder
路肩驾驶 lù jiān jiàshǐ
Passing in a no passing zone
於禁止抄车处超车 yú jìnzhǐ chāo chē chù chāochē
Drunk driving
酒醉驾车 jiǔzuì jiàchē
Reckless driving
危險駕車 wēixiǎn jiàchē
Driving without a license
無照行駛 wú zhào xíngshǐ
Running a stop sign
禁止标志未停车 jìnzhǐ biāozhìwèi tíngchē
Leaving the Scene of an accident/hit and run
逃离肇事现场／撞人逃跑 táolí zhàoshìxiànchǎng ／zhuàng rén táopǎo
Illegal U-Turn
违法掉头 wéifǎ diàotóu
Not yield to a pedestrian
未禮讓行人 wèi ràng xíngrén
Failing to turn on headlight
未開大燈 wèi kāi dà dēng
FUN Some Nights Lyrics