Expressing "while you're at it" with "shunbian"

Revision as of 04:08, 29 November 2016 by ChenShishuang (talk | contribs)

Although sometimes translated as "in passing" or even "conveniently," the most common way that the idea of adverb 顺便 (shùnbiàn) is expressed in English is "while you're at it" (or "while I'm at it," etc.). It's the idea of doing something at a convenient and logical time to save effort. Now you just have to get used to expressing this concept as an adverb.

Structure

Subj. +Verb Phrase 1,顺便 + Verb Phrase 2

Example

  • 你 去 超市 能 不 能 顺便 帮 我 买 一 瓶 牛奶?Nǐ qù chāoshì néng bù néng shùnbiàn bāng wǒ mǎi yī píng niúnǎi? .
  • 我 下周 去 北京 出差,顺便 去 看 一 个 朋友。Wǒ xià zhōu qù Běijīng chūchāi, shùnbiàn qù kàn yīgè péngyou. .
  • 我 每天 出门 的 时候 都 会 顺便 扔 垃圾。Wǒ měi tiān chūmén de shíhòu dōu huì shùnbiàn rēng lājī. .
  • 你 见 他 的 时候 顺便 问 一下 他 周末 来 不 来。Nǐ jiàn tā de shíhòu shùnbiàn wèn yīxià tā zhōumò lái bu lái. .
  • 我 开车 回去,顺便 去 加 点 油。shùnbiàn . .
  • 顺便shùnbiàn . .
  • 顺便shùnbiàn . .
  • 顺便shùnbiàn . .
  • 顺便shùnbiàn . .
  • 顺便shùnbiàn . .

See aslo

Sources and further reading

Books

Dictionaries