Basic Chinese Grammar - Index - Alison

[Pages:26]Basic Chinese Grammar - Index

Personal pronouns

(men) plurals

Questions

Adjectives / and

Adverbs Preposition (location) Negation Conjunctions Aspect Attitude Modals

Nominal measure words Verbal measure words Complements

Time/Duration Location/Direction Passive

construction ...... construction

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Chinese Grammar - Personal pronouns

The most common personal pronouns in Chinese are:

w

I

t

he

n

you (informal)

t

she

n?n

you (formal) [1][4]

t

it[2]

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wmen z?nmen nmen

we we[3] you

tmen tmen tmen

they they they

Notes:

[1] [2] [3] [4]

is used to show respect explicitly (to superiors, customers, older people). Where there is no need to emphasise respect is used instead.

and are used much less then`it'o`r they'in English. Where the reference is obvious / is usually omitted.

is used by the speaker to explicitly include the listener as a member o`f we'. It can always be replaced with the more neutral .

There is no plural form for Instead a measure word and numeral is used:

n?n ?r w?i the two of you ? n?n j w?i how many are you?

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Chinese Grammar - Personal pronouns

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Examples:

?

w sh? xu?sheng n y sh? xu?sheng ma t sh? losh t sh? ji?osh?u

wmen sh? zhnggu?r?n

! ?

z?nmen zu ba! nmen sh? ynggu?r?n tmen sh? migu?r?n tmen sh? gshu

zh? sh? t de hudu. tmen

hn pi?oliang

I am a student.

Are you also a student?

He is a teacher.

She is a professor. We are Chinese. (including or excluding the listener) Let's go! (including the listener)

Are you English?

They are Americans.

They (group of women) are singers. These are her flowers. They are beautiful.

( would usually be omitted.)

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Chinese Grammar - (men) plurals

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is a plural suffix. It is only used with nouns or pronouns that refer to people. It cannot be used in noun

phrases that contain a numeral or a quantifier.

-> -> ,

wmen loshmen nsh?men, xinshngmen

we teachers Ladies and gentlemen

You cannot say:

* w de bn yu ?rsh?w g?

xu?shengmen.

Instead say:

w de bn yu ?rsh?w g? xu?sheng.

My class has twenty-five pupils. My class has twenty-five pupils.

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Chinese Grammar - Questions

Use the following interrogative pronouns ask questions:

who? when? what? why? where? how? how many? how long?

, , ,

sh?i sh?nme sh?h?u sh?nme w?ish?nme nl, nr znmey?ng j [for up to ten], dusho [ten and more] dusho sh?jin, duji

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Chinese Grammar - Questions

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Note that the interrogative pronoun appears in place of that part of the sentence, that the pronoun asks about. Examples:

?

sh?i zh? z?i bijng

?

t sh?nme sh?h?u l?i bijng

?

t gn sh?nme

?

t w?ish?nme zu? fij

?

t zh? z?i nli

? t xu? zhngw?n xu? de znmey?ng

?

t yu j g? xingd?

?

t yu dusho qi?n

? t zh? z?i bijng dusho sh?jin le

Who lives in Beijing? When will he come to Beijing? What does he do? Why is he taking the plane? Where does he live? How does he learn Chinese? How many brothers does he have? How much money does he have? How long did he live in Beijing?

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Chinese Grammar - Questions

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To ask if something is the case add (ma) to a statement:

-> ? t sh? losh. -> t sh? losh ma?

He is a teacher. Is he a teacher?

or use an affirmitive / negative structure:

-> ?

t sh? losh. -> t sh? b? sh? losh ma?

He is a teacher. Is he a teacher?

You can also form a follow-up question with (ne):

, ?

w sh? xu?sheng, n ne?

I am a student, and you?

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Chinese Grammar - Adjectives, and

Common single syllable adjectives in Chinese are:

d? large xio small ho good lo old ku?i fast

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Common single syllable adjectives in Chinese are:

gnj?ng clean cngm?ng

clever h?tu

confuse

Common single syllable adjectives in Chinese are:

y zu? d? f?ngzi

y g? xio h?izi ho zhy? lo r?n

a large house

a small child

good idea old people

y li?ng ku?i ch a fast car

Multiple syllable adjectives are linked to the noun with :

y g? cngm?ng de gniang

y pin h?tu de w?nzhng

a clever girl

a confused essay

y jin gnj?ng de ch?f?ng a clean kitchen

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