Chinese Essential Grammar

Contents Preface Introduction The Chinese language Mandarin pronunciation The Chinese vocabulary Part I Nouns Introduction 1 Nouns 1.1 Noun features 1.2 Proper nouns 1.3 Common nouns 1.3.1 The plural suffix -men 1.3.2 Nouns and definite or indefinite reference 1.4 Nouns and conjunctions 1.5 Common nouns: countability 2 Numerals and nouns 2.1 Cardinal numbers 2.1.1 Two forms of the number two 2.2 Ordinal numbers 2.3 ‘Half’ 2.4 Fractions, percentages, decimals, multiples and ‘every’ 2.5 Approximation 3 Measures for nouns 3.1 Measures and gè 3.2 Other measure words 3.3 Abstract nouns 3.4 Material nouns 3.5 Collective nouns 3.6 Relationship between measures and nouns 4 Pronouns 4.1 Personal pronouns 4.2 Possessive pronouns 4.3 Demonstrative pronouns 4.4 Interrogative pronouns 4.5 Other pronouns 4.6 Pronouns and conjunctions 5 Adjectives and attributives 5.1 Attributives 5.2 Adjectives as attributives 5.2.1 Monosyllabic adjectives 5.2.2 Polysyllabic adjectives and de 5.2.3 Disyllabic adjectives and de 5.3 Nominal attributives 5.3.1 Nominal attributives and de 5.4 Prepositional and postpositional phrases as attributives 5.5 Verbal phrases or clauses as attributives 5.6 The order of sequential attributives 5.7 Demonstrative and numeral phrases with other attributives 5.8 Possessive pronoun and other attributives 5.9 Ér between adjectives 5.10 Omission of the noun following an attributive 5.11 Attributives in word-formation Part II Verbs Introduction 6 Adjectival and nominal predicates; the verb shì 6.1 Adjectival predicates 6.2 Adjectival predicates and the verb ‘to be’ 6.2.1 Adjectival predicates and degree adverbs 6.2.2 Adjectival predicates in the negative 6.2.3 Adjectival predicates followed by verbs 6.3 Non-gradable adjectives as attributives 6.3.1 Attributives of shape, colour or material 6.4 Nominal and pronominal predicates 6.4.1 Verbs resembling shì 6.4.2 Nominal predicates without a copula 6.5 The copula shì in its negative form 7 The verb yǒu; comparisons 7.1 The functions of yǒu 7.1.1 Yǒu indicating possession 7.1.2 Měi as negative of yǒu 7.1.3 Yǒu indicating change or development 7.1.4 Yǒu forming idiomatic expressions 7.1.5 Yǒu introducing adjectival predicates 7.2 Comparison 7.2.1 Emphatic or specific comparison 7.2.2 Negative comparison 7.2.3 Comparison: equivalence or similarity 7.3 Comparatives and superlatives 8 Verbs and aspect markers 8.1 Action, state and dative verbs 8.2 Action verbs 8.3 Aspect markers 8.3.1 Le 8.3.2 Guo 8.3.3 Zài 8.3.4 Zhe 8.4 State verb 8.5 Dative verbs 8.5.1 Dative verbs relating to spoken activity 8.5.2 Dative verbs and aspect markers 8.6 Causative verbs 8.7 Imperatives 8.7.1 Polite requests 8.7.2 Imperatives and aspect markers 9 Motion verbs and direction indicators 9.1 Motion verbs and simple direction indicators 9.2 Motion verbs and compound direction indicators 9.3 Motion verbs with metaphorical meaning 9.4 Direction indicators with specific meanings 10 Verbs and time 10.1 Time expressions 10.2 Point of time expressions 10.2.1 Detailed time expressions 10.3 Point-of-time expressions incorporating verbal phrases 10.4 Imprecise points of time 10.5 Indefinite points of time 10.6 Frequency expressions with měi 10.7 Time expressions in existence sentences 10.7.1 Time expressions in emergence or disappearance sentences 11 Verbs and location 11.1 Location expressions 11.2 Zài and postpositional phrases 11.2.1 Disyllabic postpositions 11.2.2 Disyllabic postpositions as location pronouns 11.3 Simple location sentences 11.4 Location phrases modifying main verbs 11.5 Location phrases in existence sentences 11.5.1 Shì in existence sentences 11.5.2 Zhe in existence sentences 11.6 Le in emergence or disappearance sentences 11.7 Order of sequence of time and location phrases 12 Verbs: duration and frequency 12.1 Duration expressions 12.1.1 Duration expressions and noun objects 12.1.2 Repetition of the verb in a noun-object-duration structure 12.1.3 Duration expressions and pronoun objects 12.1.4 Duration expressions in dative construction 12.1.5 Duration expressions and definite reference 12.2 Brief duration 12.2.1 Brief duration and instrumental objects 12.3 Frequency expressions 13 Verbs and complements 13.1 Complements 13.2 Complements of result 13.3 Potential complements 13.3.1 Potential complements using direction indicators 13.3.2 Metaphorical meanings of potential complements 13.4 Complements of manner and of consequential state 13.4.1 Modification of complement of manner 13.4.2 Complement of consequential state 13.4.3 Complements of manner or consequential state with a ‘verb + object’ verb 13.4.4 Adjectival complements of manner in comparisons 13.4.5 Complement-of-manner comparison with a ‘verb + object’ verb 13.5 Complement of location or destination 13.6 Degree complements 14 Verbs and adverbials 14.1 Adverbials of manner 14.1.1 Monosyllabic adjectives as adverbials of manner 14.1.2 Adverbials of manner with marked verbs 14.1.3 Adverbials of manner with unmarked verbs 14.1.4 Monosyllabic adverbial modifiers without de 14.1.5 Particular types of adverbials of manner 14.2 Attitudinal adverbial expressions 14.3 Referential adverbs 14.4 Referential adverbs with negatives 14.5 Order of sequence of referential adverbs 14.6 Order of adverbials in sequence 15 Modal and similar verbs 15.1 Modal, attitudinal and intentional verbs 15.2 Modal verbs 15.2.1 Modal verbs and adverbs of degree 15.2.2 Modal verbs and comparison 15.3 Attitudinal verbs 15.3.1 Wàngle and jìde 15.3.2 Gāoxìng 15.4 Intentional verbs 15.4.1 Negation of intentional verbs Part III Sentences Introduction 16 Statements and the sentence particle le 16.1 Le as a sentence particle 16.2 Functions of sentence le 16.2.1 Summing-up function of le 16.2.2 Le as both sentence particle and aspect marker 16.3 Cases where sentence le is not used 16.4 Ultimate versatility of sentence le 17 Questions 17.1 Question-word questions 17.1.1 Zěnmeyàng 17.1.2 Duō in questions 17.1.3 Ne in questions 17.2 General questions with ma 17.3 Surmise questions with ba 17.4 Affirmative-negative questions 17.5 Alternative questions with háishì 17.6 Tags indicating suggestion 17.7 Tags seeking confirmation 17.8 Rhetorical questions 18 Subject and predicate; topic and comment 18.1 Dual patterning of sentence structures 18.2 Subject-predicate sentences 18.3 Topic-comment sentences 18.3.1 Further ways to form topic-comment sentences 18.4 Topic | subject-predicate sentences 18.4.1 Notional passive sentences 18.5 Subject | topic-comment sentences 19 Prepositions and coverbs 19.1 Coverbs 19.1.1 Coverbs of place and time 19.1.2 Coverbs of methods and means 19.1.3 Coverbs of human exchange and service 19.1.4 Coverbs of reference 19.1.5 Coverbs and comparison 19.2 Disyllabic prepositions 20 Bǎ and bèi constructions 20.1 The bǎ construction 20.1.1 The bǎ construction and complements 20.1.2 Le and zhe as complements in bǎ sentences 20.1.3 Bǎ and resultative complements 20.1.4 Nòng and gǎo in bǎ sentences 20.1.5 Negative bǎ sentences 20.1.6 Bǎ and modal verbs 20.1.7 Bǎ and indefinite reference 20.2 The bèi construction 20.2.1 Ràng and jiào 20.2.2 The bèi construction with an agent 20.2.3 Negative bèi sentences 20.3 The bèi construction versus the notional passives 21 Serial constructions 21.1 General features of serial constructions 21.2 Semantic varieties in serial constructions 21.3 Adjectives or state verbs in serial constructions 21.4 Dative constructions 21.5 Causative constructions 21.5.1 Qǐng in a causative construction 21.5.2 Extended causative constructions 21.6 Extended serial constructions 22 Emphasis and the intensifier shì 22.1 Shì as an intensifier 22.2 The shì … de construction 22.2.1 Subject and object emphasis in shì … de sentences 22.2.2 Shì … de construction and bù 22.3 Shì without de for progression and projection 22.3.1 Contexts for shì (without de) sentences 22.3.2 Shì and comparison 22.3.3 Shì and negation 22.4 Shì and topic-comment sentences 22.4.1 Shì implying reservation 22.4.2 ‘Verb/adjective + shì + verb/adjective’ implying reservation 22.5 Repetition and emphasis 23 Abbreviation and omission 23.1 Three types of abbreviation 23.2 Conventional abbreviations as subjectless sentences 23.3 Contextual abbreviation 23.4 Cotextual omissions 23.4.1 Cotextual omissions and headwords 23.4.2 Cotextual omissions in answers 23.4.3 Contextual/cotextual omissions in extended passages 24 Composite sentences: conjunctions and conjunctives 24.1 Types of composite sentence 24.2 Conjunctions and conjunctives 24.2.1 Meanings and functions of composite sentences 24.2.2 Paired conjunctives 24.3 Composite sentences as parallel structures 24.4 Verbs taking object clauses 25 Exclamations and interjections; appositions; and apostrophes 25.1 Exclamations 25.1.1 Exclamations with tài 25.1.2 Question-word questions as exclamations 25.2 Interjections 25.2.1 Tone variations in interjections 25.3 Appositions 25.4 People being addressed [apostrophe] Part IV Paragraphs Introduction 26.1 A diary 26.2 A letter 26.3 A dialogue 26.4 A welcome speech 26.5 A description 26.6 An explanatory piece of writing The way to learn Chinese words 26.7 An argumentative piece of writing Part V Speech habits: meaning and form Introduction 27.1 Universal, cotextual or contextual omissions and abbreviations 27.1.1 Sentence patterns (1) 27.1.2 Sentence patterns (2) 27.2 Sentence extension following paragraph patterns 27.3 Further features of sentence extension 27.3.1 Sentences extended by illustration or exemplification 27.3.2 Sentences extended by reasoning 27.3.3 Sentences extended by detailing or amplification 27.3.4 Sentences extended by result or purpose Part VI Writing conventions: classical quadrisyllabic patterns or idioms Introduction 28.1 An overview of four-character or quadrisyllabic idioms 28.1.1 The distinction between quadrisyllabic patterns and quadrisyllabic idioms 28.1.2 The internal structure of quadrisyllabic idioms 28.2 Quadrisyllabic idioms at work 28.3 How quadrisyllabic idioms mix comfortably with other rhythms in writing Part VII Contemporary developments in Chinese: new syntatctic and lexical tendencies Introduction 29 Contemporary linguistic developments 29.1 New syntactic tendencies 29.1.1 Shift of word classes 29.1.2 Extensive use of pseudo-)suffixes or (pseudo-)prefixes 29.1.3 Multi-syllabic coinages on 'attributive + headword' syntactic pattern 29.2 New ways of lexicalisation 29.2.1 Direct borrowings 29.2.2 Semantic/phonetic calques (total or partial) 29.2.3 Intra-language transliterations 29.2 4 Internet neologisms 29.2.5 Neologisms occurring in conversational exchanges 29.2.6 Abbreviations from quadrisyllabic idioms Glossary of grammatical terms Index