在这之前 你们警察同志不是来调查过吗
“Before this, didn't you police officers come to investigate?”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
是我们小许的照片
“It's Xu's photo.”
在这之前 你们警察同志 不是来调查过吗
“Before this, didn't you police officers come to investigate?”
你们要找的人啊 不是他 还有别的警察找过他呀
“The person you are looking for is not him. Other police officers have looked for him?”
“Didn't your department already come and check this? Why are you questioning him again?”
In mainland China, civilians often respectfully address public service personnel such as military and police officers as 'tongzhi' (comrade), reflecting politeness and respect toward their official role.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
before this; prior to this
A common temporal transitional chunk used to introduce relevant background events that took place in the past.
isn't it the case that...?; didn't...?
A high-frequency spoken rhetorical question pattern used to remind the interlocutor of an established fact, carrying an undertone of confirmation or mild doubt.
Used sentence-finally to form a rhetorical question, emphasizing verification of a known fact and expressing a tone of confusion.
