Breakdown of wèile bù ràng yóuxìjī yǐngxiǎng chéngjì, gēge juédìng měitiān zhǐ wán bàn gè xiǎoshí.
Used when counting nouns or when specifying a specific instance of a noun.
There are also classifiers for people, for bound items such as books and magazines, for cups/glasses, etc.
The classifier 个 is a general one that can be used for any of these.
Questions & Answers about wèile bù ràng yóuxìjī yǐngxiǎng chéngjì, gēge juédìng měitiān zhǐ wán bàn gè xiǎoshí.
为了 means “in order to / for the sake of” and introduces a purpose.
Structure:
- 为了 + goal/purpose，+ (main action)
In this sentence:
- 为了不让游戏机影响成绩，哥哥决定……
→ For the purpose of not letting the game console affect (his) grades, (the older brother) decided…
Putting 为了… at the beginning emphasizes the reason or purpose first. You could also move it later:
- 哥哥为了不让游戏机影响成绩，决定每天只玩半个小时。
This is also correct and natural, but the focus shifts slightly more onto 哥哥 first, then his purpose.
Both structures are possible, but they feel slightly different.
为了不让游戏机影响成绩
- Literally: In order to not let the game console affect grades
- The negation (不) directly modifies 让: not allow / not let something happen.
为了让游戏机不影响成绩
- Literally: In order to let the game console not affect grades
- The negation (不) modifies 影响 instead: the console does not affect grades.
In practice:
- 为了不让游戏机影响成绩 is more common and feels more direct and natural here.
- 为了让游戏机不影响成绩 is grammatically okay but a bit heavier and less idiomatic in everyday speech.
So 为了不+verb is a very common pattern to express “in order not to do X”.
让 indeed often means “let / allow / make / cause (someone to do something)”.
Pattern here:
- 让 + A + Verb = cause/allow A to do (Verb)
- In our sentence:
让游戏机影响成绩 = let the game console affect the grades
不让游戏机影响成绩 = not let the game console affect the grades
So here 让 expresses causing/allowing something to happen.
It doesn’t mean “give” here; it’s a causative verb.
The pattern is:
- A 影响 B = A affects B / A has an influence on B
So in:
- 游戏机影响成绩
- 游戏机 = subject (the game console)
- 影响 = verb (affect)
- 成绩 = object (grades, results)
The sentence is saying:
The game console affects (his) grades, and the older brother wants to prevent that.
In this sentence, 影响 is a verb: to affect / to influence.
Clues:
- It comes after a subject (游戏机) and before an object (成绩), which is a typical verb position:
游戏机 (S) + 影响 (V) + 成绩 (O).
影响 can also be a noun (“influence, impact”), for example:
- 对成绩有影响 = to have an influence on grades
- 影响 here is a noun after 有.
So you judge by position and what’s around it:
- Verb: between subject and object → A 影响 B
- Noun: often after 有, 没有, 产生, 很大, etc. → 有影响, 很大的影响
成绩 generally means results achieved, especially in school, exams, or performance evaluations.
Common translations:
- school grades / marks
- academic performance
- test results
In context, 不让游戏机影响成绩 suggests:
- Not letting gaming harm his school performance or grades in general, not just one specific test.
Yes. 决定 can be both a verb meaning “to decide” and a noun meaning “decision.”
Here it’s a verb:
- 哥哥决定每天只玩半个小时。
- 哥哥 = subject
- 决定 = decided
- 每天只玩半个小时 = what he decided to do
Common patterns with the verb 决定:
决定 + Verb phrase
- 我决定明年去中国。 = I’ve decided to go to China next year.
- 他决定多学习。 = He decided to study more.
决定 + 不 + Verb for negative decisions
- 我决定不去。 = I’ve decided not to go.
So 决定 + (whole following action) is very normal and natural.
Typical adverb order in Chinese is:
- (Time word) + Subject + (modal/degree adverbs) + Verb + (objects / complements)
In this phrase:
- 每天 = time word (every day)
- 只 = adverb meaning “only”
- 玩 = verb
- 半个小时 = object (duration)
So:
- 每天只玩半个小时
= (every day) (only) (play) (half an hour)
More generally:
- Time words like 每天, 明天, 晚上 usually go before the verb, often right after the subject:
- 哥哥每天只玩半个小时。
- Adverbs like 只, 都, 也, 常常 normally go directly before the verb:
- 只玩, 都去, 也想
只每天玩半个小时 sounds unnatural because 只 is modifying the verb phrase (how much he plays), not the time word 每天.
They are related but not interchangeable.
只
- Basic adverb “only”, very flexible.
- 只 + Verb / Number-Measure phrase / Noun
- 哥哥每天只玩半个小时。
→ He only plays half an hour every day.
只有
- Often means “only if” when used as a conjunction:
- 只有努力学习，才能考上好大学。
→ Only if you study hard can you get into a good university.
- 只有努力学习，才能考上好大学。
- Can also mean “only have” as a verb:
- 我只有三十块钱。 = I only have 30 yuan.
- Often means “only if” when used as a conjunction:
才
- Often expresses “only (then)” with a sense of later than expected / less than expected:
- 他学了三年才会说中文。
→ He studied three years before he could speak Chinese. - 我才十岁。
→ I’m only ten (implying “you thought I was older / it’s less than you think”).
- 他学了三年才会说中文。
- Often expresses “only (then)” with a sense of later than expected / less than expected:
In 每天只玩半个小时, 只 is the natural choice: it simply limits the amount of time.
All three can refer to 30 minutes, but with slight stylistic differences:
半个小时
- Very common in spoken Chinese; feels slightly more casual/natural.
- Literally “half a hour” (half + measure word 个 + hour).
半小时
- Also correct and common; a bit more compact and slightly more formal or written-sounding than 半个小时.
三十分钟
- Literally “30 minutes”; exact and neutral.
- Common in both spoken and written Chinese, especially when you want to emphasize the number of minutes.
In this sentence, all three would be understood:
- 每天只玩半个小时
- 每天只玩半小时
- 每天只玩三十分钟
The original 半个小时 is the most conversational choice.
Good observation. Chinese does something a bit redundant-looking here.
- 小时 is indeed a measure word / classifier for time:
- 一个小时, 两个小时 = one hour, two hours.
But for “half an hour”, people often say:
- 半个小时
- Literally “half (a) hour”: 半 + 个 + 小时
- This is very common and natural in speech.
You will also see/hear:
- 半小时 (without 个), which is also correct.
So:
- With fraction + measure word, Chinese often keeps the intermediate 个 for euphony or habit:
- 一个半小时 = one and a half hours
- 半个小时 = half an hour
Think of 个 here as optional but very common.
Yes, it can, and it still sounds natural:
- 为了不让游戏机影响成绩，哥哥决定每天只玩半个小时。
In context, it’s quite clear that 玩 refers to playing the game console, because we just mentioned 游戏机.
In Chinese:
- If the object has already been mentioned, it is often omitted in later clauses to avoid repetition:
- 他买了一本书，晚上就看。
→ He bought a book and then read (it) in the evening.
- 他买了一本书，晚上就看。
So your shorter version is completely fine in a larger context where 游戏机 is known. The original sentence keeps 游戏机 only once (in the purpose clause), which is already quite concise.
Literally, 哥哥 means “older brother” (a male sibling older than the speaker).
In use:
Literal family meaning
- 我哥哥 = my older brother
Extended / familiar use (in some contexts)
- Sometimes used for:
- An older male cousin or close family friend (similar to “big brother” in English).
- In some dialects or informal speech, addressing a slightly older male in a friendly way.
- But this varies by region, age group, and relationship, and can sound overly intimate or a bit flirtatious in some modern urban contexts if misused.
- Sometimes used for:
In a textbook sentence like this, 哥哥 is best understood as “(my) older brother.”
不 is normally fourth tone (bù), but it changes in certain contexts.
Rule:
- Before another fourth-tone syllable, 不 usually changes to second tone: bú.
Here:
- 让 is fourth tone (ràng).
- So 不让 is pronounced bú ràng, not bù ràng.
Other examples:
- 不要 → bú yào (要 is 4th tone)
- 不对 → bú duì
- 不是 → bú shì
So in this sentence, you’d say:
- 为了 bú ràng 游戏机 影响成绩，哥哥决定每天只玩半个小时。