<p>The structure is modifier + 的 + head noun.</p>
<p>The head noun is I, which is modified by others are sleeping. So it's not a general reference to I, but the delimited I at the time that other people are sleeping.</p>
<p>The Google translation is good yet not perfectly accurate.</p>
<hr />
<p>RESPONSE TO THE COMMENTS</p>
<p>Yes, you're right that 'while' translates something different than 的.</p>
<p>For example, <strong>while</strong> [others are sleeping], I am working. [别人在睡觉]<strong>时</strong>我在工作。The while clause sets the time when I am working.</p>
<p>However, the 的 structure modifies the head noun. Although there's only one person 'I' in the world, the sentence delimits it to the 'I' when others are sleeping.</p>
<p>This is analogous to the concept that the umbrella on a sunny day and that on a rainy day are different. Using the same structure, <strong>天晴时的伞便宜</strong> （The umbrellas on sunny days are very cheap）。[Subject + Predicate] 时, 天+晴+时, it makes a temporal clause, same as the while clause. <strong>的 is the nominalizer. Adding it gives the temporal clause the ability to modify a noun.</strong> It can answer the question, the umbrella of what time is very expensive? 什么时候<strong>的</strong>伞便宜？ English speakers are more used to the other structure, 'when is the umbrella cheap? ' In Chinese it's 什么时候伞便宜？ We are asking when is the event that 伞便宜 take place, rather than which 伞 (伞 of what time) is cheap. The corresponding statement is <strong>天晴时伞便宜</strong>。Their meanings are very close, yet not exactly the same.</p>
<p>The same story goes for 别人在睡觉时的我. It's a noun phrase. It's hard to accurately translate since in English it's awkward to delimit first person pronoun like this. 别人+在睡觉 is a functional sentence with subject + verb predicate. Adding 时 makes it a temporal clause. Adding 的 nominalizes it so that it can modify a noun. <strong>别人在睡觉时的我在工作</strong>。However, it's not as natural as the earlier example of umbrella. Some think a repetition of 在 could be the problem, so <strong>别人睡觉时的我在工作</strong> could be better.</p>
<p>A more important issue here is that Chinese is still in the process of formalizing long and complicate attributives. It started hundreds of years ago, accelerated under the Mongolian influence during the Yuan ruling, and accelerated again after the adoption of the vernacular language as the written form. Rules about long and complicate attributives are still actively developing, which is a reason why sometimes we find a sentence with long and complicate attributives a bit awkward but could not find anything with the exact same meaning but more natural. For me 别人（在）睡觉时的我在工作 is one such example.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-04T11:20:28.450Z
In this example does 的 function as possession or attribute delimiter?
user55570
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-04T13:22:03.377Z
@user55570 it's a marker for the attributive in this case. It cannot be a marker for the possessive in this context because the item before it cannot possess the item after it.
lilysirius
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-05T00:48:55.873Z
I guess the confusion for me is there are 2 possible attribute delimiters:  在 and 的. As a mere beginner, I might interpret 别人在睡觉时  or 在睡觉时的我 as being the primary way of grouping the topics. And my tendency from an English background is to tend towards the latter case. The correct english translation involves "while" and that to me seems to require a different delimiter than 的. Was there a better way to express this statement. Google translate suggests: 别人睡觉的时候我 - so no 的 delimiter at all
user55570
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-05T02:33:29.470Z
@user55570 Hope my updates can help.
lilysirius
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-06T10:10:10.150Z
Thanks so much for the detailed response. It helps a lot. By the way here is where it came from - https://imgur.com/a/Xm15ASg
user55570
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-06T10:56:35.237Z
@user55570 It is perfect for a comic like this, no awkwardness anymore. The predicate is replaced by a picture, and two clauses are juxtaposed to make one larger sentence. The unnaturalness of unbalanced head and predicate is solved by these two devices.
lilysirius
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-07T11:26:34.027Z
ah. Thanks. I learned.
user55570
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-04T10:13:11.767Z
2023-04-05T02:36:56.197Z
2023-04-05T02:36:56.197Z
lilysirius
<p>Google translate looked at this:</p>
<pre><code>别人在睡觉时的我
</code></pre>
<p>And said it means:</p>
<pre><code>me while others are sleeping
</code></pre>
<p>is that correct or should it be:</p>
<pre><code>Others while I am sleeping.
</code></pre>

<mandarin><google-translate>
Does translate actually have it backwards - 别人在睡觉时的我?
# Does translate actually have it backwards - 别人在睡觉时的我?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-04-04)

Google translate looked at this:
别人在睡觉时的我

And said it means:
me while others are sleeping

is that correct or should it be:
Others while I am sleeping.

**Tags:** mandarin, google-translate

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-04-04. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

The structure is modifier + 的 + head noun.

The head noun is I, which is modified by others are sleeping. So it's not a general reference to I, but the delimited I at the time that other people are sleeping.

The Google translation is good yet not perfectly accurate.

---

RESPONSE TO THE COMMENTS

Yes, you're right that 'while' translates something different than 的.

For example, **while** [others are sleeping], I am working. [别人在睡觉]**时**我在工作。The while clause sets the time when I am working.

However, the 的 structure modifies the head noun. Although there's only one person 'I' in the world, the sentence delimits it to the 'I' when others are sleeping.

This is analogous to the concept that the umbrella on a sunny day and that on a rainy day are different. Using the same structure, **天晴时的伞便宜** （The umbrellas on sunny days are very cheap）。[Subject + Predicate] 时, 天+晴+时, it makes a temporal clause, same as the while clause. **的 is the nominalizer. Adding it gives the temporal clause the ability to modify a noun.** It can answer the question, the umbrella of what time is very expensive? 什么时候**的**伞便宜？ English speakers are more used to the other structure, 'when is the umbrella cheap? ' In Chinese it's 什么时候伞便宜？ We are asking when is the event that 伞便宜 take place, rather than which 伞 (伞 of what time) is cheap. The corresponding statement is **天晴时伞便宜**。Their meanings are very close, yet not exactly the same.

The same story goes for 别人在睡觉时的我. It's a noun phrase. It's hard to accurately translate since in English it's awkward to delimit first person pronoun like this. 别人+在睡觉 is a functional sentence with subject + verb predicate. Adding 时 makes it a temporal clause. Adding 的 nominalizes it so that it can modify a noun. **别人在睡觉时的我在工作**。However, it's not as natural as the earlier example of umbrella. Some think a repetition of 在 could be the problem, so **别人睡觉时的我在工作** could be better.

A more important issue here is that Chinese is still in the process of formalizing long and complicate attributives. It started hundreds of years ago, accelerated under the Mongolian influence during the Yuan ruling, and accelerated again after the adoption of the vernacular language as the written form. Rules about long and complicate attributives are still actively developing, which is a reason why sometimes we find a sentence with long and complicate attributives a bit awkward but could not find anything with the exact same meaning but more natural. For me 别人（在）睡觉时的我在工作 is one such example.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: In this example does 的 function as possession or attribute delimiter?  
> **username_1**: @user55570 it's a marker for the attributive in this case. It cannot be a marker for the possessive in this context because the item before it cannot possess the item after it.  
> **username_0**: I guess the confusion for me is there are 2 possible attribute delimiters:  在 and 的. As a mere beginner, I might interpret 别人在睡觉时  or 在睡觉时的我 as being the primary way of grouping the topics. And my tendency from an English background is to tend towards the latter case. The correct english translation involves "while" and that to me seems to require a different delimiter than 的. Was there a better way to express this statement. Google translate suggests: 别人睡觉的时候我 - so no 的 delimiter at all  
> **username_1**: @user55570 Hope my updates can help.  
> **username_0**: Thanks so much for the detailed response. It helps a lot. By the way here is where it came from - https://imgur.com/a/Xm15ASg  
> **username_1**: @user55570 It is perfect for a comic like this, no awkwardness anymore. The predicate is replaced by a picture, and two clauses are juxtaposed to make one larger sentence. The unnaturalness of unbalanced head and predicate is solved by these two devices.  
> **username_0**: ah. Thanks. I learned.  

---

