我是，还是不是。To be, or not to be. More elegantly put as in the nuance of Shakespear... 是也, 非也
我是，还是不是。I know the above is so wrong, though what I am wondering is how I can convey the same feeling in 普通话。
谢谢你们。
A small entry so it shouldn't tax you guys so much.
The original meaning is that he wondering to commit suicide or not ...
要去自殺, 還是不要自殺?
Now lots of people use this sentence as feelings as
要做, 還是不要做? Do or not to do
要去, 還是不要去? Go or not to go
生存还是毁灭，这是一个值得考虑的问题
I know the above is so wrong, though what I am wondering is how I can convey the same feeling in 普通话。
谢谢你们。
A small entry so it shouldn't tax you guys so much.
Ronan
1. You would be interested in this brief academic survey on the Chinese translation of Shakespeare, "Hamlet in China" by Ruru Li of Leeds University, if you are not already familiar with it.
2. Translating this famous line of Shakespeare has become such a major and oft-visited academic topic that only the most foolhardy or the most learned would dare put forward yet another Chinese version.
3. 剧情背景: 哈姆雷特的父王被叔父杀害，母亲改嫁叔父，他在痛苦的独白中的第一句，就是这一句: To be, or not to be; that is the question.
4. The existing "authoritative" Chinese translations of this line are varied and well known, but not all of them are good. There have been no less than 12 published Chinese translations of Hamlet since 1922.
The respected 梁实秋 translated it like this:
"死后是存在，还是不存在 - 这是问题"
This is not, in my view, a good translation at all.
朱生豪的翻译是: "生存还是毁灭，这是一个值得考虑的问题。" 这个还可以。
反而香港学者何文汇译得好: "忍辱偷生，还是一死了之?"
有些译者喜欢说得直白一些，大概是"为父报仇还是苟且偷生"之类，总之是这个意思的都算及格。
何的译法接近原文风格，留白，好让观众有想象空间。有人就可以想象在牛棚有这样的内心独白。
5. The hip street-smart Chinese internet version is of course:
2逼还是不2逼?
“to be or not to be, that is a question."
——Shakespeare
We translate it like:生存还是灭亡，这是一个问题
And"to be or not to be"is used usually now, so how we translate it depends on the meaning of "be".
For example:
To be or not to be,(To have or to go on to rent a house,)this is a problem.买房还是租房，这是一个问题。
总之，要理解上下文意思再翻译。另外，它的字面意思是“是或不是/做或不做”
