<p>There's nothing wrong with "每当我爸忙时就让我吃" I replaced "忙时" with "忙的时侯" because it is how modern colloquial Chinese would phrase it. </p>

<p>The pronoun(他) in "我爸忙时(他)就让我吃" is not necessary because we know the subject is "我爸" from the context</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-25T04:04:18.653Z
2019-11-25T04:04:18.653Z
Tang Ho
<p>我爸忙时(他)就让我吃 is a correct translation for <em>When my father was busy, he would let me eat ...</em>.</p>

<p>But I guess your intended meaning is probably: <em>When my father was busy, he would <strong>not forbid</strong> me from eating ...</em>, 我爸忙时(他)就不管我吃东西</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-25T03:43:02.150Z
2019-11-25T03:43:02.150Z
dan
<p>I'm having trouble with one part of <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/35764/8099">this answer from Tang Ho</a> relating to the story <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/35763/writing-critique-request-zhou-ziwang-was-fat-when-she-was-young">Writing critique request: Zhou Ziwang was fat when she was young</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>我爸忙时就让我吃， --> (每当)我爸忙(的)时(侯)(他)就让我吃，<br>
  When my father was busy, he would let me eat ...</p>
</blockquote>

<p>(On the left is my writing, and on the right is Tang Ho's suggestions/corrections.  The mental image I have is a father busy working on a computer, ignoring his daughter and distracting her with junk food.)</p>

<p>In my writing, I was trying to be succinct.  I certainly feel like adding <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E6%AF%8F%E5%BD%93" rel="nofollow noreferrer">每当</a> is an improvement (it's a new word for me) and conveys the idea that it happens repeatedly.  But maybe the other additions are unnecessary (?); I've seen these things omitted in writing previously.</p>

<p><strong>Question</strong>: How do we trade-off succinctness for accuracy in 每当我爸忙的时侯他就让我吃?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-25T18:33:20.317Z
I wouldn't critique your original as it sounded okay to me.
sylvia
<word-choice>
How do we trade-off succinctness for accuracy in 每当我爸忙的时侯他就让我吃?
# How do we trade-off succinctness for accuracy in 每当我爸忙的时侯他就让我吃?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-11-25)

I'm having trouble with one part of [this answer from username_2 Ho](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/35764/8099) relating to the story [Writing critique request: Zhou Ziwang was fat when she was young](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/35763/writing-critique-request-zhou-ziwang-was-fat-when-she-was-young):

> 我爸忙时就让我吃， --> (每当)我爸忙(的)时(侯)(他)就让我吃，  
> When my father was busy, he would let me eat ...

(On the left is my writing, and on the right is username_2 Ho's suggestions/corrections. The mental image I have is a father busy working on a computer, ignoring his daughter and distracting her with junk food.)

In my writing, I was trying to be succinct. I certainly feel like adding [每当](http://youdao.com/w/%E6%AF%8F%E5%BD%93) is an improvement (it's a new word for me) and conveys the idea that it happens repeatedly. But maybe the other additions are unnecessary (?); I've seen these things omitted in writing previously.

**Question**: How do we trade-off succinctness for accuracy in 每当我爸忙的时侯他就让我吃?

**Tags:** word-choice

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I wouldn't critique your original as it sounded okay to me.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-11-25. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

There's nothing wrong with "每当我爸忙时就让我吃" I replaced "忙时" with "忙的时侯" because it is how modern colloquial Chinese would phrase it.

The pronoun(他) in "我爸忙时(他)就让我吃" is not necessary because we know the subject is "我爸" from the context


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### Answer by username_3 on 2019-11-25. Score: 1

我爸忙时(他)就让我吃 is a correct translation for *When my father was busy, he would let me eat ...*.

But I guess your intended meaning is probably: *When my father was busy, he would **not forbid** me from eating ...*, 我爸忙时(他)就不管我吃东西


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