Chinese grammar
[
meaning "Chinese grammar", written vertically in simplified (left) and traditional (right) forms
The grammar of Standard Chinese shares many features with other varieties of Chinese. The language almost entirely lacks inflection; words typically have only one grammatical form. Categories such as number (singular or plural) and verb tense are often not expressed by grammatical means, but there are several particles that serve to express verbal aspect and, to some extent, mood.
The basic word order is subject–verb–object (SVO), as in English. Otherwise, Chinese is chiefly a head-final language, meaning that modifiers precede the words that they modify. In a noun phrase, for example, the head noun comes last, and all modifiers, including relative clauses, come in front of it. This phenomenon, however, is more typically found in subject–object–verb languages, such as Turkish and Japanese.
Chinese frequently uses serial verb constructions, which involve two or more verbs or verb phrases in sequence. Chinese prepositions behave similarly to serialized verbs in some respects,[a] and they are often referred to as coverbs. There are also location markers, which are placed after nouns and are thus often called postpositions; they are often used in combination with coverbs. Predicate adjectives are normally used without a copular verb ("to be") and so can be regarded as a type of verb.
As in many other East Asian languages, classifiers (or measure words) are required when numerals (and sometimes other words, such as demonstratives) are used with nouns. There are many different classifiers in the language, and each countable noun generally has a particular classifier associated with it. Informally, however, it is often acceptable to use the general classifier gè (个;
Word formation[edit]
In Chinese, the difference between words and Chinese characters is often not clear,[b] this is one of the reasons the Chinese script does not use spaces to separate words. A string of characters can be translated as a single English word, but these characters have some kind of independence. For example, tiàowǔ (
Chinese morphemes (the smallest units of meaning) are mostly monosyllabic. In most cases, morphemes are represented by single characters. However, two or more monosyllabic morphemes can be translated as a single English word. These monosyllabic morphemes can be either free or bound – that is, in particular usage, they may or may not be able to stand independently. Most two-syllable compound nouns often have the head on the right (e.g. 蛋糕; dàngāo; 'egg-cake' means "cake"), while compound verbs often have the head on the left (e.g. 辩论; biànlùn; 'debate-discuss' means "debate").[2]
Some Chinese morphemes are polysyllabic; for example, the loanwords shāfā (
Many monosyllabic words have alternative disyllabic forms with virtually the same meaning, such as dàsuàn (
Reduplication[edit]
Reduplication (the repetition of a syllable or word) is a common feature in Chinese:
- Family members: māma (妈妈; 媽媽, "mother"); dìdi (
弟 弟 , "younger brother") - Adjectives or adverb: to emphasize the state described by the adjective/adverb,[3] or as a childish expression.
- hóng-hóng-de (红红
的 ;紅 紅 的 "red"), from hóng (红;紅 , "red");- ex.
手心 看 起 来 红红的 ;手心 看 起 來 紅 紅 的 (Shǒuxīn kàn qǐlái hóng-hóng-de, "palm looks red")
- ex.
- gāo-gāo-xìng-xìng-de (
高高 兴兴地 ;高高 興 興 地 "very happily"), from gāo-xìng (高 兴;高 興 , "happy, happiness");- ex.
高高 兴兴地 吃 ;高高 興 興 地 吃 (Gāo-gāo-xìng-xìng-de chī, "eat happily")
- ex.
- bīng-bīng-liáng-liáng-de (冰冰凉凉
的 , "ice-cool" ), from bīng-liáng (冰凉, "ice-cool");- ex. 冰冰凉凉
的 饮料; 冰冰涼 涼 的 飲料 (Bīng-bīng-liáng-liáng de yǐnliào, "ice-cold drink")
- ex. 冰冰凉凉
- Other adjectives have ABB reduplication structure:
- xiāng-pēn-pēn (
香 喷喷, literally" good smell spray out", means "smell very good"), from xiāng (香 , "to smell good, smell") and pēn (喷, "spray"); - liàng-jīng-jīng (
亮 晶 晶 , "shining, bright and clear"), from liàng (亮 , "bright") and jīng (晶 , "shiny like a star");
- Verbs: to mark the delimitative aspect ("to do something for a little bit") or for general emphasis – see the § Aspects section:
- xiě-xiě-zuòyè (
寫 寫 作業 ;写 写 作 业 "write homework / write homework for a while"), from the verb xiě (寫 ;写 "write") and the noun zuò-yè (作業 ;作 业 "homework")
- Single morphemes:
- xīngxīng (
星 星 , "star"), from xīng (星 , "star"); - chángcháng (
常常 , "often"), from cháng (常 , "constant"); - gǒugǒu (
狗 狗 , "puppy/doggy"), from gǒu (狗 , "dog")
- Chinese classifiers, to produce a phrase meaning "every" or "many":
- Nǐmen yī gè gè dōu zhǎng dé yī fù cōng-míng xiāng (你們
一 個個 都 長 得一 副 聰明 相 , "You all look smart", from Crystal Boys), where ordinarily gè (个;個 ) is the general classifier. Literally, the phrase一 個個 ; yī gè gè dōu means "every", and the character都 ; dōu means "all". - Yī-zuò-zuò qīng-shān (
一 座 座 青山 , "many green hills"), where ordinarily zuò (座 ) is a proper classifier for shān (山 , "hill").
Prefixes[edit]
可 — "-able"可 靠 — "reliable"可 敬 — "respectable"
反 — "anti-"反 恐 [反 恐 ] — "anti-terror"反 教 权的 [反 教權 的 ] — "anti-clerical"反 法 西 斯 [反 法 西 斯] — "anti-fascist"
Suffixes[edit]
化 — used to form verbs from nouns or adjectives国 际化 [國際 化 ] — "internationalize", form国 际 ("internationality")- 恶
化 [惡化 ] — "worsen", form 恶 ("bad")
性 — "attribute"安全 性 — "safety"有效 性 — "effectiveness"
Intrafixes[edit]
Sentence structure[edit]
Chinese, like Spanish or English, is classified as an SVO (subject–verb–object) language. Transitive verbs precede their objects in typical simple clauses, while the subject precedes the verb. For example:[4]
tā
He
dǎ
hit
rén
person
He hits someone.
Chinese can also be considered a topic-prominent language:[5] there is a strong preference for sentences that begin with the topic, usually "given" or "old" information; and end with the comment, or "new" information. Certain modifications of the basic subject–verb–object order are permissible and may serve to achieve topic-prominence. In particular, a direct or indirect object may be moved to the start of the clause to create topicalization. It is also possible for an object to be moved to a position in front of the verb for emphasis.[6]
Another type of sentence is what has been called an ergative structure,[7] where the apparent subject of the verb can move to object position; the empty subject position is then often occupied by an expression of location. Compare locative inversion in English. This structure is typical of the verb yǒu (
yuànzi
Courtyard
lǐ
in
tíngzhe
park
车。
chē
vehicle
[
In the courtyard is parked a vehicle.
Chinese is also to some degree a pro-drop or null-subject language, meaning that the subject can be omitted from a clause if it can be inferred from the context.[8] In the following example, the subject of the verbs for "hike" and "camp" is left to be inferred—it may be "we", "I", "you", "she", etc.
jīntiān
Today
爬
pá
climb
shān
mountain,
míngtiān
tomorrow
lù
outdoors
营。
yíng
camp
[
Today hike up mountains, tomorrow camp outdoors.
In the next example the subject is omitted and the object is topicalized by being moved into subject position, to form a passive-type sentence. For passive sentences with a marker such as
Adverbs and adverbial phrases that modify the verb typically come after the subject but before the verb, although other positions are sometimes possible; see Adverbs and adverbials. For constructions that involve more than one verb or verb phrase in sequence, see Serial verb constructions. For sentences consisting of more than one clause, see Conjunctions.
Objects[edit]
Some verbs can take both an indirect object and a direct object. Indirect normally precedes direct, as in English:
With many verbs, however, the indirect object may alternatively be preceded by prepositional gěi (给;
To emphasize the direct object, it can be combined with the accusative marker bǎ (
Other markers can be used in a similar way as bǎ, such as the formal jiāng (
Jiāng
Jiāng
办理
bàn-lǐ
handle
qíng-xíng
status
签
qiān
sign
报
bào
report
长官。
zhǎng-guān
superior
[
Submit the implementation status report to the superior, and ask for approval.
and colloquial ná (拿, literally "get")
Tā
he
néng
can
拿
ná
ná
wǒ
me
怎样?
zěn-yàng
what
[
What can he do to me? (He can't do anything to me.)
To explain this kind of usage, some linguists assume that some verbs can take two direct objects, called the called "inner" and "outer" object.[10] Typically, the outer object will be placed at the start of the sentence (which is the topic) or introduced via the bǎ phrase. For example:
Noun phrases[edit]
The head noun of a noun phrase comes at the end of the phrase; this means that everything that modifies the noun comes before it. This includes attributive adjectives, determiners, quantifiers, possessives, and relative clauses.
Chinese does not have articles as such; a noun may stand alone to represent what in English would be expressed as "the ..." or "a[n] ...". However the word yī (
The demonstratives are zhè (这; 這, "this"), and nà (
The plural marker xiē (些, "some, several"; also used to pluralize demonstratives) is used without a classifier. However jǐ (几;
For adjectives in noun phrases, see the Adjectives section. For noun phrases with pronouns rather than nouns as the head, see the Pronouns section.
Possessives are formed by adding de (
Relative clauses[edit]
Chinese relative clauses, like other noun modifiers, precede the noun they modify. Like possessives and some adjectives, they are marked with the final particle de (
There is usually no relative pronoun in the relative clause. Instead, a gap is left in subject or object position as appropriate. If there are two gaps—the additional gap being created by pro-dropping—ambiguity may arise. For example, chī de (
If the relative item is governed by a preposition in the relative clause, then it is denoted by a pronoun, e.g. tì tā (
For example sentences, see Relative clause → Mandarin.
Classifiers[edit]
Some English words are paired with specific nouns to indicate their counting units. For example, Bottle in "two bottles of wine" and sheet in "three sheets of paper". However, most English nouns can be counted directly without specifying units, while counting of most Chinese nouns must be associated with a specific classifiers, namely liàng-cí (
yī
one
píng
bottle
jiǔ
wine
[
a bottle of wine
两
liǎng
two
bēi
cup
jiǔ
wine
[
two glasses of wine
píng (
While there are dozens of classifiers, the general classifier gè (个;
Most classifiers originated as independent words in Classical Chinese, so they are generally associated with certain groups of nouns with common properties related to their own classical meaning, for example:[15]
| Classifier
(Original meaning) |
Common Properties | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| tiáo ( |
long or thin
(twigs are long and thin) |
yī-tiáo-shéngzi ( liǎng-tiáo-shé (两 |
| bǎ ( |
with a handle
(a handle to hold) |
yī-bǎ-dāo ( liǎng-bǎ-sǎn (两 |
| zhāng (张; |
flat or sheet-like
("extended" like a bow) |
yī zhāng zhào-piàn ( liǎng zhāng máo-pí (两张 |
Therefore, collocation of classifiers and noun sometimes depends on how native speakers realize them. For example, the noun zhuōzi (桌子, "table") is associated with the classifier zhāng (张;
Classifiers are also used optionally after demonstratives, and in certain other situations. See the Noun phrases section, and the article Chinese classifier.
Numerals[edit]
Pronouns[edit]
The Chinese personal pronouns are wǒ (
Possessives are formed with de (
The demonstrative pronouns are zhè (这; 這, "this", colloquially pronounced zhèi as a shorthand for 这一; 這一[18]) and nà (
Adjectives[edit]
Adjectives can be used attributively, before a noun. The relative marker de (
Gradable adjectives can be modified by words meaning "very", etc.; such modifying adverbs normally precede the adjective, although some, such as jíle (极了;
When adjectives co-occur with classifiers, they normally follow the classifier. However, with most common classifiers, when the number is "one", it is also possible to place adjectives like "big" and "small" before the classifier for emphasis.
Adjectives can also be used predicatively. In this case they behave more like verbs; there is no need for a copular verb in sentences like "he is happy" in Chinese; one may say simply tā gāoxìng (
It is nonetheless possible for a copula to be used in such sentences, to emphasize the adjective. In the phrase tā shì gāoxìng le, (
Adverbs and adverbials[edit]
Adverbs and adverbial phrases normally come in a position before the verb, but after the subject of the verb. In sentences with auxiliary verbs, the adverb usually precedes the auxiliary verb as well as the main verb. Some adverbs of time and attitude ("every day", "perhaps", etc.) may be moved to the start of the clause, to modify the clause as a whole. However, some adverbs cannot be moved in this way. These include three words for "often", cháng (
Adverbs of manner can be formed from adjectives using the clitic de (
Some verbs take a prepositional phrase following the verb and its direct object. These are generally obligatory constituents, such that the sentence would not make sense if they were omitted. For example:
There are also certain adverbial "stative complements" which follow the verb. The character de (
The typical Chinese word order "XVO", where an oblique complement such as a locative prepositional phrase precedes the verb, while a direct object comes after the verb, is very rare cross-linguistically; in fact, it is only in varieties of Chinese that this is attested as the typical ordering.[25]
Locative phrases[edit]
Expressions of location in Chinese may include a preposition, placed before the noun; a postposition, placed after the noun; both preposition and postposition; or neither. Chinese prepositions are commonly known as coverbs – see the Coverbs section. The postpositions—which include shàng (
In the following examples locative phrases are formed from a noun plus a locative particle:
桌子
zhuōzi
table
shàng
on
on the table
fángzi
house
lǐ
in
[
in the house
The most common preposition of location is zài (
zài
in
měiguó
America
[
in America
However other types of nouns still require a locative particle as a postposition in addition to zài:
zài
in
报纸
bàozhǐ
newspaper
shàng
on
[
in the newspaper
If a noun is modified so as to denote a specific location, as in "this [object]...", then it may form locative phrases without any locative particle. Some nouns which can be understood to refer to a specific place, like jiā (
In certain circumstances zài can be omitted from the locative expression. Grammatically, a noun or noun phrase followed by a locative particle is still a noun phrase. For instance, zhuōzi shàng can be regarded as short for zhuōzi shàngmiàn, meaning something like "the table's top". Consequently, the locative expression without zài can be used in places where a noun phrase would be expected – for instance, as a modifier of another noun using de (
The word zài (
Comparatives and superlatives[edit]
Comparative sentences are commonly expressed simply by inserting the standard of comparison, preceded by bǐ (
If there is no standard of comparison—i.e., a than phrase—then the adjective can be marked as comparative by a preceding adverb bǐjiào (
Adverbial phrases meaning "like [someone/something]" or "as [someone/something]" can be formed using gēn (跟), tóng (
The construction yuè ... yuè ...
Copula[edit]
The Chinese copular verb is shì (
For another use of shì, see shì ... [de] construction in the section on cleft sentences. The English existential phrase "there is" ["there are", etc.] is translated using the verb yǒu (
Aspects[edit]
Chinese does not have grammatical markers of tense. The time at which action is conceived as taking place—past, present, future—can be indicated by expressions of time—"yesterday", "now", etc.—or may simply be inferred from the context. However, Chinese does have markers of aspect, which is a feature of grammar that gives information about the temporal flow of events. There are two aspect markers that are especially commonly used with past events: the perfective-aspect le (
The perfective le presents the viewpoint of "an event in its entirety".[30] It is sometimes considered to be a past tense marker, although it can also be used with future events, given appropriate context. Some examples of its use:
wǒ
I
dāng
serve as
le
le
bīng
soldier.
[
I became a soldier.
Using le (
tā
He
kàn
watch
le
le
sān
three
场
chǎng
sports-CL
qiúsài
ballgames.
[
He watched three ballgames.
This format of le (
The above may be compared with the following examples with guo, and with the examples with sentence-final le given under Particles.
The experiential guo "ascribes to a subject the property of having experienced the event".[31]
wǒ
I
dāng
serve-as
过
guo
guo
bīng
soldier.
[
I have been a soldier before.
This also implies that the speaker no longer is a soldier.
tā
He
kàn
watch
过
guo
guo
sān
three
场
chǎng
sports-CL
qiúsài
ballgames.
[
He has watched three ballgames up to now.
There are also two imperfective aspect markers: zhèngzài (
wǒ
I
[
zhèng zài
in-middle-of
挂
guà
hang
huà
pictures
[
I'm hanging pictures up.
墙
qiáng
Wall
shàng
on
挂
guà
hang
zhe
ongoing
yì
one
fú
picture-CL
huà
picture
[牆上
A picture is hanging on the wall.
Both markers may occur in the same clause, however. For example, tā zhèngzai dǎ [zhe] diànhuà, "he is in the middle of telephoning someone" (
The delimitative aspect denotes an action that goes on only for some time, "doing something 'a little bit'".[33] This can be expressed by reduplication of a monosyllabic verb, like the verb zǒu (
wǒ
I
dào
to
gōngyuán
park
zǒu
walk
zǒu
walk
[
I'm going for a walk in the park.
An alternative construction is reduplication with insertion of "one" (
Some compound verbs, such as restrictive-resultative and coordinate compounds, can also be reduplicated on the pattern tǎolùn-tǎolùn (讨论讨论;
Passive[edit]
As mentioned above, the fact that a verb is intended to be understood in the passive voice is not always marked in Chinese. However, it may be marked using the passive marker
wǒmen
We
bèi
by
tā
him
骂
mà
scolded
le
PFV
[
We were scolded by him.
tā
He
bèi
by
wǒ
me
dǎ
beaten
le
PFV
yí
one
顿。
dùn
event-CL
[
He was beaten up by me once.
Negation[edit]
The most commonly used negating element is bù (
For negation of a verb intended to denote a completed event, méi or méiyǒu is used instead of bù (
In coverb constructions, the negator may come before the coverb (preposition) or before the full verb, the latter being more emphatic. In constructions with a passive marker, the negator precedes that marker; similarly, in comparative constructions, the negator precedes the bǐ phraseNot clear (unless the verb is further qualified by gèng (
The negator bié (别) precedes the verb in negative commands and negative requests, such as in phrases meaning "don't ...", "please don't ...".
The negator wèi (
A double negative makes a positive, as in sentences like wǒ bú shì bù xǐhuān tā (
Questions[edit]
In wh-questions in Chinese, the question word is not fronted. Instead, it stays in the position in the sentence that would be occupied by the item being asked about. For example, "What did you say?" is phrased as nǐ shuō shé[n]me (你说什么?; 你說
Other interrogative words include:
- "Who": shuí/shéi (谁;
誰 ) - "What": shénme (什么;
什麼 ); shá (啥, used informally) - "Where": nǎr (哪儿; 哪兒); nǎlǐ (哪里; 哪裡); héchù (
何 处;何處 ) - "When": shénme shíhòu (什么时候;
什麼 時候 ); héshí (何 时;何時 ) - "Which": nǎ (哪)
- When used to mean "which ones", nǎ is used with a classifier and noun, or with xiē (些) and noun. The noun may be omitted if understood through context.
- "Why": wèishé[n]me (为什么;
為 什麼 ); gànmá (干 吗;幹 嘛) - "How many": duōshǎo (
多少 )- When the number is quite small, jǐ (几;
幾 ) is used, followed by a classifier.
- When the number is quite small, jǐ (几;
- "How": zěnme[yang] (怎么[样]; 怎麼[
樣 ]); rúhé (如何 ).
Disjunctive questions can be made using the word háishì (还是;
Yes–no questions can be formed using the sentence-final particle ma (吗; 嗎), with word order otherwise the same as in a statement. For example, nǐ chī jī ma? (你吃鸡吗?; 你吃雞嗎？; 'you eat chicken MA', "Do you eat chicken?").
An alternative is the A-not-A construction, using phrases like chī bu chī (
The negator méi (
For answering yes–no questions, Chinese has words that may be used like the English "yes" and "no" – duì (对;
Imperatives[edit]
Second-person imperative sentences are formed in the same way as statements, and like in English, the subject "you" is often omitted.
Orders may be softened by preceding them with an element such as qǐng (请, "to ask"), in this use equivalent to English "please". See Particles for more. The sentence-final particle ba (吧) can be used to form first-person imperatives, equivalent to "let's...".
Serial verb constructions[edit]
Chinese makes frequent use of serial verb constructions, or verb stacking, where two or more verbs or verb phrases are concatenated together. This frequently involves either verbal complements appearing after the main verb, or coverb phrases appearing before the main verb, but other variations of the construction occur as well.
Auxiliaries[edit]
A main verb may be preceded by an auxiliary verb, as in English. Chinese auxiliaries include néng and nénggòu (
Verbal complements[edit]
The active verb of a sentence may be suffixed with a second verb, which usually indicates either the result of the first action, or the direction in which it took the subject. When such information is applicable, it is generally considered mandatory. The phenomenon is sometimes called double verbs.
Complement of result[edit]
A complement of result, or resultative complement (结果补语;
听
tīng
hear
懂
dǒng
understand
[聽懂]
to understand something you hear
Since they indicate an absolute result, such double verbs necessarily represent a completed action, and are thus negated using méi (
méi
not
听
tīng
hear
懂
dǒng
understand
[
to have not understood something you hear
The morpheme de (
听
tīng
hear
de
possible/able
懂
dǒng
understand
[聽得懂]
to be able to understand something you hear
This is equivalent in meaning to néng tīng dǒng (
To negate the above construction, de (
听
tīng
hear
bù
impossible/unable
懂
dǒng
understand
[聽不懂]
to be unable to understand something you hear
With some verbs, the addition of bù and a particular complement of result is the standard method of negation. In many cases the complement is liǎo, represented by the same character as the perfective or modal particle le (
The complement of result is a highly productive and frequently used construction. Sometimes it develops into idiomatic phrases, as in è sǐ le (饿死
Some more examples of resultative complements, used in complete sentences:
tā
he
bǎ
object-CL
盘子
pánzi
plate
dǎ
hit
pò
break
le
PRF
[
He hit/dropped the plate, and it broke.
Double-verb construction where the second verb, "break", is a suffix to the first, and indicates what happens to the object as a result of the action.
这
zhè(i)
this
bù
电影
diànyǐng
movie
wǒ
I
kàn
watch
bù
impossible/unable
懂。
dǒng
understand
[這部
I can't understand this movie even though I watched it.
Another double-verb where the second verb, "understand", suffixes the first and clarifies the possibility and success of the relevant action.
Complement of direction[edit]
A complement of direction, or directional complement (趋向补语;
tā
he
zǒu
walk
shàng
up
lái
come
le
PRF
[
He walked up towards me.
- The directional suffixes indicate "up" and "towards".
If the preceding verb has an object, the object may be placed either before or after the directional complement(s), or even between two directional complements, provided the second of these is not qù (
The structure with inserted de or bù is not normally used with this type of double verb. There are exceptions, such as "to be unable to get out of bed" (
Coverbs[edit]
Chinese has a class of words, called coverbs, which in some respects resemble both verbs and prepositions. They appear with a following object (or complement), and generally denote relationships that would be expressed by prepositions (or postpositions) in other languages. However, they are often considered to be lexically verbs, and some of them can also function as full verbs. When a coverb phrase appears in a sentence together with a main verb phrase, the result is essentially a type of serial verb construction. The coverb phrase, being an adverbial, precedes the main verb in most cases. For instance:
wǒ
I
帮
bāng
help
你
nǐ
you
找
zhǎo
find
tā.
him
[
I will find him for you.
Here the main verb is zhǎo (找, "find"), and bāng (帮; 幫) is a coverb. Here bāng corresponds to the English preposition "for", even though in other contexts it might be used as a full verb meaning "help".
wǒ
I
zuò
sit
飞机
fēijī
airplane
从
cóng
from
Shànghǎi
Shanghai
dào
arrive(to)
Běijīng
Beijing
qù.
go
[
I'll go from Shanghai to Beijing by plane.
Here there are three coverbs: zuò (
A very common coverb that can also be used as a main verb is zài (
wǒ
I
给
gěi
to
你
nǐ
you
dǎ
strike
电话。
diànhuà
telephone
[
I'll give you a telephone call
Because coverbs essentially function as prepositions, they can also be referred to simply as prepositions. In Chinese they are called jiè cí (
Coverbs normally cannot take aspect markers, although some of them form fixed compounds together with such markers, such as gēnzhe (跟着; 跟著; 'with +[aspect marker]'), ànzhe (按着; 按著, "according to"), yánzhe (沿着; 沿著, "along"), and wèile (为了;
Other cases[edit]
Serial verb constructions can also consist of two consecutive verb phrases with parallel meaning, such as hē kāfēi kàn bào, "drink coffee and read the paper" (
Consecutive verb phrases may also be used to indicate consecutive events. Use of the le aspect marker with the first verb may imply that this is the main verb of the sentence, the second verb phrase merely indicating the purpose. Use of this le with the second verb changes this emphasis, and may require a sentence-final le particle in addition. On the other hand, the progressive aspect marker zài (
For constructions with consecutive verb phrases containing the same verb, see under Adverbs. For immediate repetition of a verb, see Reduplication and Aspects.
Another case is the causative or pivotal construction.[42] Here the object of one verb also serves as the subject of the following verb. The first verb may be something like gěi (给, "allow", or "give" in other contexts), ràng (让;
tā
he
yào
want
wǒ
me
请
qǐng
invite
tā
him
hē
drink
啤酒。
píjiǔ
beer
[
He wants me to treat him [to] beer.
Particles[edit]
Chinese has a number of sentence-final particles – these are weak syllables, spoken with neutral tone, and placed at the end of the sentence to which they refer. They are often called modal particles or yǔqì zhùcí (语气
- ma (吗; 嗎), which changes a statement into a yes–no question
- ne (呢), which expresses surprise, produces a question "with expectation", or expresses a currently ongoing event when answering a question
- ba (吧), which serves as a tag question, e.g. "don't you think so?"; produces a suggestion e.g. "let's..."; or lessens certainty of a decision.
- a (啊),[k] which reduces forcefulness, particularly of an order or question. It can also be used to add positive connotation to certain phrases or inject uncertainty when responding to a question.
- ou (呕; 噢), which signals a friendly warning
- zhe (
着 ;著 ), which marks the inchoative aspect, or need for change of state, in imperative sentences. Compare the imperfective aspect marker zhe in the section above) - le (
了 ), which marks a "currently relevant state". This precedes any other sentence-final particles, and can combine with a (啊) to produce la (啦); and with ou (呕; 噢) to produce lou (喽; 囉).
This sentence-final le (
wǒ
I
méi
no
钱
qián
money
le
PRF
[
I have no money now or I've gone broke.
wǒ
I
dāng
work
bīng
soldier
le
PRF
[
I have become a soldier.
The position of le in this example emphasizes his present status as a soldier, rather than the event of becoming. Compare with the post-verbal le example given in the Aspects section, wǒ dāng le bīng. However, when answering a question, the ending should be 呢 instead of
wǒ
I
dāng
work
bīng
soldier
呢。
ne
ongoing
[
I am being a soldier.
tā
He
kàn
watch
sān
three
场
chǎng
sports-CL
qiúsài
ballgames
le
PRF
[
He [has] watched three ballgames.
Compared with the post-verbal le and guo examples, this places the focus on the number three, and does not specify whether he is going to continue watching more games.
The two uses of le may in fact be traced back to two entirely different words.[45][46] The fact that they are now written the same way in Mandarin can cause ambiguity, particularly when the verb is not followed by an object. Consider the following sentence:
妈妈
māma
lái
le
[媽媽
Mom come le
This le might be interpreted as either the suffixal perfective marker or the sentence-final perfect marker. In the former case it might mean "mother has come", as in she has just arrived at the door, while in the latter it might mean "mother is coming!", and the speaker wants to inform others of this fact. It is even possible for the two kinds of le to co-occur:[47]
tā
He
chī
eat
le
PFV
饭
fàn
food
le
PRF
[
He has eaten.
Without the first le, the sentence could again mean "he has eaten", or it could mean "he wants to eat now". Without the final le the sentence would be ungrammatical without appropriate context, as perfective le cannot appear in a semantically unbounded sentence.
Plural[edit]
Chinese nouns and other parts of speech are not generally marked for number, meaning that plural forms are mostly the same as the singular. However, there is a plural marker men (们; 們), which has limited usage. It is used with personal pronouns, as in wǒmen (
The demonstrative pronouns zhè (这; 這, "this"), and nà (
Cleft sentences[edit]
There is a construction in Chinese known as the shì ... [de] construction, which produces what may be called cleft sentences.[50] The copula shì (
tā
He
shì
shi
zuótiān
yesterday
lái
come
[
[de]
[de].
[
It was yesterday that he came.
Example with a sentence that ends with a complement:
tā
He
shì
shi
zuótiān
yesterday
买
mǎi
buy
[
[de]
[de]
cài
food
[
It was yesterday that he bought food.
If an object following the verb is to be emphasized in this construction, the shì precedes the object, and the de comes after the verb and before the shì.
tā
He
zuótiān
yesterday
买
mǎi
buy
de
de
shì
shi
cài
vegetable.
[
What he bought yesterday was vegetable.
Sentences with similar meaning can be produced using relative clauses. These may be called pseudo-cleft sentences.
zuótiān
yesterday
shì
is
tā
he
买
mǎi
buy
cài
food
de
de
时间。
shíjiān
time
[
Yesterday was the time he bought food.[51]
Conjunctions[edit]
Chinese has various conjunctions (连词;
Two or more nouns may be joined by the conjunctions hé (
Certain adverbs are often used as correlative conjunctions, where correlating words appear in each of the linked clauses, such as búdàn ... érqiě (
Similarly, words like jìrán (
In some cases, the same word may be repeated when connecting items; these include yòu ... yòu ... (
Conjunctions of time such as "when" may be translated with a construction that corresponds to something like "at the time (+relative clause)", where as usual, the Chinese relative clause comes before the noun ("time" in this case). For example:[54]
dāng
At
wǒ
I
huí
return
jiā
home
de
de
时候...
shíhòu...
time
[
When I return[ed] home...
Variants include dāng ... yǐqián (
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ Several of the common prepositions can also be used as full verbs.
- ^ The first Chinese scholar to consider the concept of a word (词;
詞 ; cí) as opposed to the character (字 ; zì) is claimed to have been Shizhao Zhang in 1907. However, defining the word has proved difficult, and some linguists consider that the concept is not applicable to Chinese at all. See San, Duanmu (2000). The Phonology of Standard Chinese. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198299875. - ^ A more common way to express this would be wǒ bǎ júzi pí bō le (
我 把 橘 子 皮剥 了 ;我 把 橘 子 皮 剝了, "I BA tangerine's skin peeled"), or wǒ bō le júzi pí (我 剥 了 橘 子 皮 ;我 剝了橘 子 皮 , "I peeled tangerine's skin"). - ^ 妳 is an alternative character for nǐ (你, "you") when referring to a female; it is used mainly in script written in traditional characters.
- ^ Also used after possessives and relative clauses
- ^ Not the same character as the de used to mark possessives and relative clauses.
- ^ This is a different character again from the two types of de previously mentioned.
- ^ This is similar to the English "by", though it is always followed by an agent.
- ^ Either the verb or the whole verb phrase may be repeated after the negator bù; it is also possible to place bù after the verb phrase and omit the repetition entirely.
- ^ Néng (
能 ) does not mean "may" or "can" in the sense of "know how to" or "have the skill to". - ^ alternately ya (呀), wa (哇), etc. depending on the preceding sound
References[edit]
- ^ However, like 'dance',
舞 can also be used as a verb: for example, 「項 莊 舞 劍 」; "Xiang Zhuang danced with a sword" - ^ Sun (2006), p. 50.
- ^ Melloni, Chiara; Basciano, Bianca (2018). "Reduplication across boundaries: The case of Mandarin". The Lexeme in Theoretical and Descriptive Morphology. 4: 331 – via OAPEN.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 147.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 184.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 185.
- ^ Li (1990), p. 234 ff..
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 161.
- ^ Li & Thompson (1981), pp. 463–491.
- ^ Li (1990), p. 195.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 159.
- ^ a b Sun (2006), p. 165.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 188.
- ^ However, classifiers are not commonly used in Classical Chinese, for example
三 人 行 (sān-rén-xíng, literally "three-person-walk", means "three persons walk together", from Analects). - ^ The following original meaning in Classical Chinese are referenced from Shuowen Jiezi, an old dictionary written during the Eastern Han dynasty.
- ^ ""怹"
字 的 解 释 | 汉典". www.zdic.net (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 14 May 2023. - ^ "汉语
我 们和咱们有 区 别吗？". Retrieved 2022-01-08. - ^ ""这"
字 的 解 释 | 汉典". www.zdic.net (in Chinese (China)). - ^ ""
那 "字 的 解 释 | 汉典". www.zdic.net (in Chinese (China)). - ^ Sun (2006), pp. 152, 160.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 151.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 154.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 163.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 203.
- ^ "Chapter 84: Order of Object, Oblique, and Verb". World Atlas of Language Structures. 2011.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 81 ff.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 85.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 199.
- ^ Yip & Rimmington (2004), p. 107.
- ^ Li & Thompson (1981), p. 185.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 70.
- ^ Yip & Rimmington (2004), p. 109.
- ^ Li & Thompson (1981), pp. 29, 234.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 211.
- ^ Yip & Rimmington (2004), p. 110.
- ^ Sun (2006), pp. 209–211.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 181.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 52.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 53.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 208.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 200.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 205.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 76 ff.
- ^ Li & Thompson (1981), quoted in Sun (2006), p. 80.
- ^ Li & Thompson (1981), pp. 296–300.
- ^ Chao (1968), p. 246.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 80.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 64.
- ^ Yip & Rimmington (2004), p. 8.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 190.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 191.
- ^ Yip & Rimmington (2004), p. 12.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 197.
- ^ Sun (2006), p. 198.
Bibliography[edit]
- Chao, Yuen Ren (1968). A Grammar of Spoken Chinese. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-00219-7.
- Li, Charles N.; Thompson, Sandra A. (1981). Mandarin Chinese: A functional reference grammar. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-06610-6.
- Li, Yen-hui Audrey (1990). Order and Constituency in Mandarin Chinese. Springer. ISBN 978-0-792-30500-2.
- Lin, Helen T. (1981). Essential Grammar for Modern Chinese. Cheng & Tsui. ISBN 978-0-917056-10-9.
- Ross, Claudia; Ma, Jing-Heng Sheng (2006). Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-70009-2.
- Sun, Chaofen (2006). Chinese: A Linguistic Introduction. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-82380-7.
- Yip, Po-Ching; Rimmington, Don (2004). Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-15031-0.
- Yip, Po-Ching; Rimmington, Don (2006). Chinese: An Essential Grammar (2nd ed.). Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-96979-3.
- Lü Shuxiang (吕叔湘) (1957). Zhongguo wenfa yaolüe
中国 文法 要略 [Summary of Chinese grammar]. Shangwu yinshuguan. OCLC 466418461. - Wang Li (1955). Zhongguo xiandai yufa
中国 现代语法 [Modern Chinese grammar]. Zhonghua shuju.
Further reading[edit]
- W. Lobscheid (1864). Grammar of the Chinese language: in two parts, Volume 2. Office of Daily Press. p. 178. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
- Joshua Marshman, Confucius (1814). Elements of Chinese grammar: with a preliminary dissertation on the characters, and the colloquial medium of the Chinese, and an appendix containing the Tahyoh of Confucius with a translation. Printed at the Mission press. p. 622. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
External links[edit]
| Major groups | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard forms | |||||||||
| Phonology | |||||||||
| Grammar | |||||||||
| Idioms | |||||||||
| Input | |||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| Literary forms |
| ||||||||
| Scripts |
| ||||||||
