Glossary entry

Chinese汉语 term or phrase:

是真的在天邊

English英语 translation:

is the true edge of the sky

Added to glossary by Roddy Stegemann
Jan 29, 2004 18:14
20 yrs ago
Chinese汉语 term

真的在天邊

Non-PRO Chinese汉语译成English英语 其它 语言学 中文文法
「遠在天邊」的意思是很遠很遠吧了,不是真的在天邊。

I want to translate this sentence as "The phrase "heaven is far away " means that no matter how far you go, still you will not reach it". Notwithstanding, I am troubled by several points of grammar. This is a three part question:

Question 3: Is it correct to think of the phrase 真的在天邊 in the following associative pattern: 真的(在天邊)? If so, what does it mean?

Proposed translations

+1
1小时
Selected

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I must say the original sentence is pretty pointless to begin with hence creating unnecessary confusion. What the sentence is trying to say is that the idiom is just a figurative expression and is not to be taken literally.

One way to translate it is: The expression "as far as it is to the edge of the sky/heavens" only means it's very very far away, it is not to be taken literally.

Basically agree with Yueyin, but there are two metaphors at work here. First there's the idiom "As far as 天邊", and then 天邊 suggests that there's an edge or another side of the sky/heavens.
Peer comment(s):

agree ysun : Basically, I agree with you! :)
8小时
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "I would like to thank Sun Yue Yin for teaching me that one meaning of 邊 is edge, and Kvasir for explaining the meaning of the sentence. Once again I got tripped up with the word 在 that sometimes acts like o verb and sometimes like a preposition in English. In the end everyone who contributes is appreciated, if only for your confirmation."
+1
37分钟

Not realy at the edge of the sky

because sky has no "edge".

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Note added at 2004-01-29 21:09:55 (GMT)
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天邊 = 天涯

英汉大词典:
天涯海角 - the remotest regions of the earth


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Note added at 2004-01-29 21:13:16 (GMT)
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古人认为天圆地方。天地接壤处为天边。

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Note added at 2004-01-30 03:43:06 (GMT)
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试译: \"Far away at the end of the sky\" means being very, very far, that\'s all. It doesn\'t really mean being at the end of the sky.
Peer comment(s):

agree Kvasir
30分钟
Thanks! Where have you been?
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2天 23分钟

literally at the adge of the sky

真的=in actuality, exactly, really,
不是真的在天邊=
doesn't mean literally at the edge of sky.
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