Читать книгу Essential Chinese - Philip Yungkin Lee - Страница 7

Basic grammar

Compared to many European languages, Chinese grammar is quite simple. There are no verb conjugations, no plurals, no gender in nouns, no articles and the sentence order is intuitive to English speakers. This section presents Chinese grammar in parts of speech familiar to English speakers.

1 Word order

More often than not, Chinese word order is the same as in English:

	subject – verb – object
Wǒ xué Hànyǔ	我﹣学﹣汉语	I study Chinese

2 Nouns and pronouns

Mandarin words are mostly made up of two characters and nouns are no different. No distinction is made between singular and plural nouns. When it is necessary to distinguish plurals, this is done through the use of measure words which indicate the number of items involved.

For example, the word for “hotel,” bīn'guǎn 宾馆 can be either singular or plural unless it is necessary to indicate that there are more than one. Thus,

yì jiā bīn’guǎn	一家宾馆	“one hotel”
liǎng jiā bīn’guǎn	两家宾馆	“two hotels”
sān jiā bīn’guǎn	三家宾馆	“three hotels”

In the above examples, the noun bīn'guǎn 宾馆 “hotel” is qualified by a number with the appropriate measure word jiā 家, which indicates whether or not it is singular or plural. You will notice that whereas the number èr 二 “two” is used in counting, e.g., yī, èr, sān... 一二三 “one, two, three ...” the word liǎng 两 “a couple of” replaces èr 二 “two” where a measure word is used.

Like nouns, Chinese pronouns do not change form whether they are used as subjects or objects. Simple personal pronouns are: wǒ 我 “I/me,” nǐ 你 “you,” tā 他 “he/him,” tā 她 “she/her” and tā 它 “it” (the last three pronouns share the same pronunciation but are written with different characters).

Unlike nouns, however, Chinese pronouns can take on plural forms with the addition of the suffix -men 们, making the above examples into wǒmen 我们 “we/us,” nǐmen 你们 “you” (plural), tāmen 他们 “they/them” (either all male or mixed) and tāmen 她 们 “they/them” (all female). Similarly, the pronoun for animals or insects is tāmen 它们 “they/them.” The suffix -men 们 is added to nouns only sparingly in greetings, e.g., nǚshìmen, xiānshengmen 女士们、先生们 “ladies and gentlemen,” as it is unnecessary to indicate plural forms in nouns.

In addition to personal pronouns, there are demonstrative pronouns. For example, zhè 这 “this” and nà 那 “that.” It is important to note that a plural measure word xiē 些 is added to give the plural forms of these pronouns: zhèxiē 这些 “these” and nàxiē 那 些 “those,” so it is not a plural form in the sense that -men 们 is used.

3 Possessives and measure words

To make a possessive out of a noun or pronoun, simply add the particle de 的. Thus,

dǎoyóu de	导游的	“the tour guide’s”
Lǐ xiǎojie de	李小姐的	“Miss Li’s”
wǒde	我的	“my” or “mine”
nǐde	你的	“your” (singular) or “yours”
tāde	他/她的	“his/her”
wǒmende	我们的	“our”
nǐmende	你们的	“your” (plural) or “yours” (plural)
tāmende	他们的	“their” or “theirs”

You have learned to use measure words in conjunction with numbers to indicate the plural form of a noun. In English we say “a slice/loaf of bread,” “a piece/ream of paper,” “a school of fish” etc. In Chinese this usage applies to all nouns in order to specify number, e.g., “a book” is yìběn shū 一本书, “a table” is yì zhāng zhuōzi 一张桌子 and “two chairs’ is liǎng bǎ yǐzi 两把椅子. As you can see from the above examples, there isn’t one unique measure word for each noun; measure words tend to describe classes of objects with similar characteristics. Thus the word běn 本 describes bound books, zhāng 张 describes wide, flat objects of many types such as tables, paper, bedsheets, etc., and bǎ describes things with handles including chairs, knives, forks, etc. Luckily for beginners of the language, there is a general-use measure word ge 个 which is used in simple phrases like zhè ge 这 个 “this one,” nà ge 那个 “that one,” nǎ ge 哪个 “which one” or jǐ ge 几个 “how many (items)?”

4 Verbs

Chinese verbs are not conjugated, but keep one simple form regardless of the subject or tense. Thus the verb chī 吃 “eat” is the same whether the subject is I, you, he/she or they, and whether the action took place yesterday or will happen two days from now. There are ways to indicate tense in Chinese sentences, e.g., the use of time words before the verb, the use of the particles guo 过 and le 了 to indicate past and completed action, and the use of yào 要 and huì 会 to indicate future action. For example,

• The use of time words before the verb:

Wǒ zuótiān chī jiǎozi.	我昨天吃饺子	“Yesterday I ate dumplings”
Wǒ jīntiān chī jiǎozi.	我今天吃饺子	“Today I eat dumplings”
Wǒ míngtiān chī jiǎozi.	我明天吃饺子	“Tomorrow I’ll be eating dumplings”

Note that the Chinese verb chī 吃 “eat” does not change to indicate tense; this is done through the use of zuótiān 昨 天 “yesterday,” jīntiān 今天 “today” and míngtiān 明天 “tomorrow.”

• The use of the particle guo 过 after the verb to indicate action occurred in unspecified time in the past:

Wǒ chīguo jiǎozi.

我吃过饺子

“I’ve eaten dumplings previously”

• The use of the particle le 了 after the verb to indicate action has just been recently completed:

Wǒ chīle jiǎozi.

我吃了饺子

“I’ve just eaten (the) dumplings”

• The use of the aspect partices yào 要 “want” or huì 会 “will/shall” before the verb to indicate future action:

Wǒ yào chī jiǎozi.	我要吃饺子	“I’m going to eat (the) dumplings”
Wǒ huì chī (nàxiē) jiǎozi.	我会吃(那些) 饺子的。	“I’ll be eating (the) dumplings”

5 Adjectives

Adjectives in Chinese are simple as they don’t need to agree in gender or number with the nouns they modify. They are sometimes called stative verbs as they incorporate the verb “to be” in the sentence. In their positive form, adjectives are generally preceded by the adverb hěn 很 “very.” Thus Wǒ hěn gāoxìng 我很 高兴 means “I’m very happy.”

When adjectives modify nouns in phrases they generally precede the noun, often using the particle de 的 in between. For example,

xiǎo xióngmāo	小熊猫	“a small panda”
zāng yīfu	脏衣服	“soiled clothings”
hǎo péngyou	好朋友	“good friends”
měilì de fēngjǐng	美丽的风景	“beautiful scenery”
míngguì de lǐwù	名贵的礼物	“expensive gift”
tǎoyàn de wénzi	讨厌的蚊子	“annoying mosquitoes”

6 Adverbs

Just as adjectives precede the nouns they modify, adverbs are placed before verbs, adjectives or other adverbs to express time, degree, scope, repetition, possibility, negotiation and tone of speech. Common examples are: hěn 很 “very,” yě 也 “also,” bǐjiào 比 较 “rather,” jiù 就 “then,” zǒng 总 “always.” For example,

Chángchéng hěn cháng.	长城很长	“The Great Wall is long.”
Wǒ yě xiǎng chángchang Běijīng kǎoyā.	我也想尝尝 北京烤鸭。	“I’d also like to try Beijing Duck.”
Shànghǎi xiàtiān bǐjiào rè.	上海夏天 比较热。	“Shanghai is rather hot in summer.”
Nǐ xiān zǒu, wǒ mǎshàng jiù lái.	你先走, 我 马上就来。	“You go first, I’ll catch up with you later.”
Wǔyuè de shíhou,	五月的时候,	“Around May, it is
zhèlǐ zǒng xiàyǔ.	这里总下雨。	always raining here.”

7 Negatives

There are generally two particles that are used for forming the negative in Chinese. They are bù/bú 不 and méi 没. The one you’re most likely to need is bù 不, sometimes pronounced as bú 不 when it precedes a word in the fourth tone. Both bù 不 and bú 不 are placed before verbs or adjectives to indicate negation in simple present tense. To indicate negation in the past tense, i.e., an action that has not been completed, méi 没 is used.

Guǎngzhōu dōngtiān bù lěng.	广州冬天 不冷。	“Guangzhou is not cold in winter.”
Shànghǎi dōngtiān bú xiàxuě.	上海冬天 不下雪。	“It does not snow in Shanghai in winter.”
Qùnián Běijīng méi xiàxuě.	去年北京没 下雪。	“Last year it didn’t snow in Beijing.”

8 Interrogatives

There are three basic ways to ask questions in Chinese. The most common way is to add the particle ma 吗 to the end of a declarative sentence.

Nǐ lèi ma?	你累吗？	“Are you tired?”
Nǐ gāoxìng ma?	你高兴吗？	“Are you happy?”

The second way is to use the choice-type question which presents the listener with two opposite alternatives. Nǐ lèi bu lèi? 你累不累？ “Are you tired?”

Nǐ lèi bu lèi?	你累不累？	“Are you tired?”
Nǐ gāo(xìng) bu gāoxìng?	你高(兴)不高兴？	“Are you happy?”

The third way is by using an interrogative pronoun. Examples are shéi/shuí 谁 “who,” shénme 什么 “what,” zěnme 怎 么 “how,” nǎ 哪 “which,” nǎli/nǎr 那里/哪儿 “where,” wèishénme 为什么 “why,” jǐ diǎnzhōng/shénme shíhou 几点钟/什么时 候 “when.”

1.	Nǐ shì shéi/shuí?	你是谁?	“Who are you?”
2.	Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?	你叫什么名字?	“What’s your name?”
3.	Nǐ zěnme jìnlái de?	你怎么进来的?	“How did you get in?”
4.	Nǐ cóng nǎ ge mén jìnlái de?	你从哪个门 进来的?	“Which door did you get in?”
5.	Nǐ bàba māma zài nǎli?	你爸爸妈妈在 哪里?	“Where are your parents?”
6.	Nǐ wèishénme bù shuōhuà?	你为什么不 说话?	“Why aren’t you saying anything?”
7.	Xiànzài jǐ diǎnzhōng le?	现在几点钟了?	“What’s the time now?”
8.	Nǐ shénme shíhou jìnlái de?	你什么时候 进来的?	“When did you come in here?”

In answering a question involving the interrogative pronoun, follow the grammar of the question and note its word order, changing the subject of the sentence where appropriate, e.g., nǐ 你 “you” becomes wǒ 我 “I” when you answer a question. Then, just substitute the noun for the interrogative pronoun. For example, when you asked the lost child who wandered into your room the above questions, the answers to some of these questions may be:

1.	Wǒ shī Xiǎohuá.	我是小华。	“I’m Xiaohua.”
2.	Wǒ jiào Wáng Xiǎohuá.	我叫王小华。	“My name is Wang Xiaohua.”
3.	Wǒ mílùle.	我迷路了。	“I’m lost.”
4.	Wǒ cóng nà ge mén jìnlái de.	我从那个门 进来的。	‘I got in from that door.”
5.	Wǒ bàba māma zài lǚguǎn.	我爸爸妈妈在 旅馆。	“My parents are in the hotel.”
6.	Wǒ mílùle, wǒ pà.	我迷路了, 我怕。	”I’m lost, I’m scared.”
7.	Wǒ bù zhīdao shì jǐ diǎnzhōng.	我不知道是几 点钟。	“I don’t know the time.”
8.	Wǒ jìnlái hěn jiǔ le.	我进来很久了。	“I’ve been here a long time.”

9 Yes/no answers

For questions ending with the interrogative particle ma 吗, take away the particle ma 吗, and answer according to the situation that you find yourself in. There are no specific words in Chinese for “yes” and “no.” The closest equivalent is shìde 是的 and búshì 不 是 respectively. Usually, when the Chinese are asked a question, they repeat the verb used in the question to answer in the affirmative. If they want to answer in the negative, they add bù 不 before the verb used in the sentence. Similarly, for choice-type question the opposite alternatives can be either “yes” or “no.” Thus,

“Yes” answer: Hěn lèi.	很累。	“Yes, I’m very tired.”
“No” answer: Bú lèi.	不累。	“No, I’m not tired.”
“Yes” answer: Gāoxìng.	高兴。	“Yes, I’m happy.”
“No” answer: Bù gāoxìng	不高兴。	“No, I’m not happy.”