Thank you very much!!
Is it still correct if it’s:
可是 那些 以前想和香香和美美结婚, 商人们 现在都不见了
Or
可是 商人们 以前想和香香和美美结婚现在都不见了
Thank you!
Both examples are incorrect.
I’m not sure if this would make it easier for you to understand, but you can break up the original sentence into two different parts:
- 可是那些商人们现在都不见了 (But those merchants have all disappeared now.)
- 那些是以前想和香香和美美结婚的商人们 (Those are the merchants who wanted to marry Xiang Xiang and Mei Mei back then.)
The “以前想和香香和美美结婚” can be said to be describing the “商人们”. Therefore, the “的” is required between the two phrases. I suppose, you can say that it’s similar to English - “Those merchants, who wanted to marry Xiang Xiang and Mei Mei back then, have all disappeared now.”
As for your second example, the sentence structure is simply wrong.
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Thanks for your help, Soya.
I’m not sure to have understood it correctly, does that mean that the original sentence structure is correct?
可是那些以前想和香香和美美结婚的商人们现在都不见了
Another example, can we say:
可是以前想和香香和美美结婚的商人们现在都不见了
I will also ask about this sentence and other examples’ structure to my teacher tomorrow. Many thanks!
Sorry for the confusion!
Yes, this original sentence is correct. I was just wondering if splitting up this sentence would make it easier for you to understand, but seems like it caused more confusion! 
However, these two sentences are incorrect.
Yes, this is correct! 
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Thank you a lot, Soya!
I’ve understood why it was wrong. It’s clear!
May I ask for some help for another sentence structure?
It’s from a version of 《叶限 》:
但是叶限是个好女儿，对家人十分尊重，她说：“伟大的国王，请不要杀他们。我的继母只是想帮助自己的女儿找到一个好丈夫，能让她们两个过上更好的生活。”
“你非常善良。” 国王回答。“你比你的继母更善良。但是我会按照你的要求去做。我不会杀死他们的。”
Why is there “的” at the end of the sentence? Is it because “生活” is implied?
The English translation provided in the book is: “I will not have them killed.” Why is it not “I won’t kill them”?
Another English translation from the book that I don’t understand is:
首先，他们让继母试穿鞋子，但对她的脚来说，拖鞋太小了。
First they told the stepmother to try on the shoe, but the slipper was too small for her foot.
Where is “told”?
Can we use “对object来说”? I thought the expression was “对person来说” (= in one’s opinion)?
国王仍然对继母杀死有魔法的鱼而生气。
English translation from the book: The king was still angry about the stepmother killing the magic fish.
What’s the use of “而” here? Can we omit it?
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The word 的 has many functions. Please take a look here for them. In this specific case, I would say that 的 functions as a modal particle (please see here). The king is emphasizing that he won’t kill them, but the emphasis is not as strong as 真的 or 一定 which are common phrases that show emphasis. Personally, if I translated this sentence as “I won’t be killing them.”
I would like to point out that when translating from Chinese to English, literal translations do not always work. For exmaple, 心 is literally translated as “heart” but it can also mean “mind” in many cases like 心事 - depends on context.
As for 对她的脚来说, you can translate it as “in regards to her feet, the slipper was too small.” However, essentially that phrase just means “the slipper was too small for her foot.”
When translating, literal translations do not always work and keeping it concise is usually better.
No, you cannot omit 而。It is used to indicate that the anger is because the stepmother killed the magical fish. If it is omitted, the sentence becomes too ambiguous. The sentence, 国王仍然对继母杀死有魔法的鱼生气 (without 而), can mean “The king was still angry at the stepmother for killing the magical fish” or “The king was still angry at the magical fish killed by the stepmother.” We don’t really know which with this sentence structure.
Hope my explanations make sense. 
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That makes sense, thank you!
而 can be used without 因为 at the beginning?
How do you know between future tense and future continuous tense?
May I ask for some help?
It’s from a podcast with transcripts, but without English translation. There are some sentences I am not sure to understand:
作为中国最重要的经济中心，上海代表着一种现代、精致和融合的文化。站在外滩，你的背后是各种欧式风格的百年建筑，隔着黄浦江的对岸则是一幢幢摩天大厦。漫步在市区的林荫小道，沿街既有精美的咖啡馆、进口超市，也有吵闹的菜市场和小饭馆。一切那么不同，一切却又那么和谐。
融合的文化: a mixed culture? How do you translate it?
隔着黄浦江的对岸则 是: I don’t understand this sentence structure. “Separated from the opposite side of Huangpu River is…??”
What’s the use of 则 here? Contrast?
幢幢: I think it is the classifier for buildings, but why is it repeated twice? Or the second time is an adjective to qualify 摩天大厦?
林荫小道: what does that mean? I only found 林荫大道 on pleco dictionary and they say it’s boulevard.
进口超市: supermarkets with imported goods or supermarkets chains from another country implanted there?
来到上海，别忘了品尝一下上海的风味美食。上海菜喜欢放酱油和糖，糖醋排骨、八宝鸭一定会让你停不了筷子。更不能错过的是小笼包，轻轻咬一口，里面的汤汁就会流出来，只是小心别烫到舌头哦。当然，除了本帮上海菜，还有世界各地的美食应有尽有，绝对能找到你想吃的。
如果你喜欢精致的风景、热爱国际化的美食，享受便利的都市生活，那你一定会爱上上海。
更不能错过的是: what you can’t miss is. How do you keep 更 in English for this sentence?
里面的汤汁: in the soup in the pleco dictionary, but I don’t understand the second part. Is it about the garniture inside the steamed dumpling that leaks out?
还有世界各地的美食应有尽有: how do you translate it?
享受便利的都市生活: if you enjoy the comfortable city life? How do you translate it?
Thank you!!
I’m now translating a Taiwanese series and I have a question about one scene. A man is talking about his boss who is a bit of a womanizer and the English subs says:
‘He does great planning the time. He perfectly arranges the movie time and never interfered with another time’.
When I looked at the Chinese subs on YT, I think it should be more like:
'He is very good at planning. He perfectly arranges a movie date and he never runs into another woman (that he dates).
Would this interpretation be correct? He says this to the woman his boss likes and right after his colleague gets kinda angry and asks what’s wrong with him.
The scene is from Love Now, episode 37 starting at 41:54
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It would need a Chinese subber or TE for this. Hope someone can see this.
The transcript in Simplified Chinese:
1.- 他时间规划非常的棒。
2.- 档期(I hear qiao? IDK. On YT, they wrote 安排)得刚刚好。
3.- 都不会撞期。
Since I heard it, I also tried like you 
1.- He is very good at planning.
2.- His schedule is perfectly arranged. (档期 => I am not sure it refers to movie for this sentence, because I saw other examples of sentences with this word. Then I miss 1 word.)
3.- He never runs into another date. => 期 I don’t know if we can say another woman or date, because I mostly saw 期 used for a period of time or scheduled time.
I am not sure though…
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I asked a Chinese teacher, but he didn’t watch the scene. He told me this:
“The translation would be, his time schedule is planned very well, the time schedule is always accurate and never planned into the wrong slots.”
After watching the scene, he said:
“In here he’s saying, the guy is really good at managing time, his appointment or in this case dates (with girls) will never be at the same time (interfere with each other).”
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Hi, I’m a Chinese-English subber 
I’m not an expert by any means, but I’ll do my best! I’ve never watched this drama. I did watch a few minutes before and after the time stamp you mentioned to get some context. I think your interpretation is correct.
The man is saying that the boss plans his time well and ensures that his schedule doesn’t clash with others. In this context, I think the idea he’s trying to get across is that the boss doesn’t deliberately try to meet other women. I would say that the translation on Viki is not wrong per se, but your interpretation might fit better in this context
Hope this helps!
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Thank you for taking the time to ask someone about it.
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Thank you for your explanation. I now know better how to translate it in my own language.
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I remember seeing this translation one too many times, in a drama I watched. Now I know why 
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