Modern Mandarin Chinese grammar: a practical guide

Machine generated contents note: pt. A Structures 1.Overview of pronunciation and Pinyin romanization 1.1.The Mandarin syllable 1.2.Pinyin romanization 2.Syllable, meaning, and word 2.1.The special status of the Mandarin syllable 2.2.Multi-syllable tendency in Mandarin words 2.3.Word-specific tone changes 2.4.Change to neutral tone 2.5.Incorporating foreign words and naming foreign objects 3.The Chinese writing system: an overview 3.1.Traditional and simplified characters 3.2.The structure of Chinese characters: the radical and the phonetic 3.3.The traditional classification of characters 3.4.Character stroke order: bishun 4.Phrase order in the Mandarin sentence 4.1.Basic phrase order 4.2.The position of direct and indirect objects 4.3.The position of prepositional phrases 4.4.The position of location phrases 4.5.The position of 'time when' phrases

Contents note continued: 4.6.The relative order of the 'time when' phrase and the location phrase 4.7.The position of adverbs 4.8.The position of negation 4.9.The position of duration phrases 4.10.Order within the noun phrase 4.11.Phrase order in questions 4.12.The position of aspect particles 5.Nouns 5.1.Common nouns 5.2.Pronouns 5.3.Proper nouns 6.Numbers 6.1.Mandarin numbers 099 6.2.Number 100 and higher 6.3.Formal characters for numbers 6.4.Ordinal numbers 6.5.Estimates and approximations 6.6.Fractions, percentages, decimals, half, and multiples 6.7.Lucky and unlucky numbers 6.8.Numbers used in phrases and expressions 6.9.yi as a marker of sequence 6.10.Numbers that are used as words 7.Specifiers and demonstratives 7.1.zhe 'this' and na 'that' as demonstratives 7.2.zhe, zhei 'this/these' and na, nei 'that/those' as specifiers 7.3.zher and zheli 'here', nar and nail 'there'

Contents note continued: 7.4.Question words that correspond to specifiers 8.Classifiers 8.1.The structure of phrases involving classifiers 8.2.Choosing the classifier 8.3.Omission of the head noun 8.4.Classifiers that occur without a noun 8.5.Money and prices 9.Noun phrases 9.1.Modifying a noun with a specifier and/or number 9.2.Modifying a noun with all other modifiers: modification with de 9.3.Omission of the particle de 9.4.Noun modifiers in a series 9.5.Omission of the head noun 9.6.Modification with Z zhi 10.Adjectival verbs 10.1.Negation of adjectival verbs 10.2.Yesno questions with adjectival verbs 10.3.Modification by intensifiers 10.4.Two-syllable preference 10.5.Comparative meaning 10.6.Superlative meaning 10.7.Adjectival verbs and comparison structures 10.8.Linking adjectival verbs 10.9.Adjectival verbs and expressions that indicate change over time 10.10.Adjectival verbs and sentence final le

Contents note continued: 11.Stative verbs 11.1.Negation of stative verbs 11.2.Modification by intensifies 11.3.Indicating completion, past time, and change of state 11.4.The equational verb shi 'be' 11.5.The equational verb xing 'be family named' 11.6.The verb of possession and existence: you 'have', 'exist' 11.7.The location verb zai 'be located at' 12.Modal verbs 12.1.Expressing possibility: hui 12.2.Expressing ability 12.3.Expressing permission: keyi 12.4.Expressing obligations 12.5.Expressing prohibitions 12.6.Grammatical properties of modal verbs 13.Action verbs 13.1.Indicating that an action is complete 13.2.Indicating that an action has been experienced in the past 13.3.Negating actions 13.4.Asking about actions 13.5.Open-ended action verbs 13.6.Change-of-state action verbs 14.Prepositions and prepositional phrases 14.1.The grammar of the prepositional phrase in the Mandarin sentence

Contents note continued: 14.2.Basic functions of prepositions 14.3.Prepositions that also function as verbs 15.Adverbs 15.1.General properties of adverbs 15.2.Adverbs with logical function: ye, dou, hai, jiu, zhi, and cai 16.Conjunctions 16.1.Conjunctions that indicate an 'additive' or 'and' relationship 16.2.Conjunctions that indicate a disjunctive or 'or' relationship 17.Aspect 17.1.Perfective aspect 17.2.Durative aspect 17.3.Experiential aspect 17.4.A comparison of aspectual distinctions 18.Resultative verbs 18.1.Structure of resultative verbs 18.2.Action verb heads 18.3.Resultative suffixes 18.4.Resultative verbs in affirmative and negative sentences 18.5.Asking yesno questions with resultative verbs 18.6.The potential form of resultative verbs 18.7.Resultative suffixes with figurative or idiomatic meaning 19.Directional verbs 19.1.Structure of directional verbs 19.2.Motion verbs

Contents note continued: 19.3.Directional suffixes 19.4.Sentences with directional verbs 19.5.The potential form of directional verbs 19.6.Asking yes no questions with directional verbs 19.7.Directional verbs and directional suffixes with figurative or idiomatic meaning 20.ba sentences: The 'disposal' construction 20.1.The structure of ba sentences 20.2.Properties of the subject and object in ba sentences 20.3.Properties of the verb in ba sentences 20.4.Negation in ba sentences 20.5.Adverbs and modal verbs in ba sentences 21.The passive 21.1.The structure of the Mandarin passive 21.2.The passive and negation 21.3.Conditions for using the passive in Mandarin 21.4.Differences between the passive markers bei, jiao, and rang 21.5.Additional functions of rang, jiao, and gei 21.6.Other Mandarin structures that highlight the affected object and de-emphasize the agent pt. B Situations and functions

Contents note continued: 22.Names, kinship terms, titles, and terms of address 22.1.Names: xingming 22.2.Kinship terms 22.3.Titles 22.4.Addressing others 22.5.Addressing new acquaintances and negotiating terms of address 22.6.Name cards and business cards 22.7.Addressing letters and envelopes 23.Introductions 23.1.The general format of introductions 23.2.Sample introductions 23.3.Common occupations and fields of study 24.Greetings and goodbyes 24.1.Greetings in conversations 24.2.Saying goodbye in conversations 24.3.Greetings and goodbyes in letters 25.Basic strategies for communication 25.1.Attracting someone's attention 25.2.Responding to a call for attention 25.3.Checking whether people have understood you 25.4.Indicating understanding or lack of understanding 25.5.Requesting repetition or clarification of spoken language 25.6.Asking for assistance in identifying a Chinese character

Contents note continued: 25.7.Providing information about the identification of Chinese characters 25.8.Signaling that you are following the speaker 25.9.Interrupting a speaker 25.10.Using fillers 25.11.Formal development of a topic 26.Telecommunications and e-communications: telephones, the internet, and faxes 26.1.Making and receiving phone calls; sending and receiving faxes and email messages 26.2.Dialing a number and entering a number 26.3.Using the internet 26.4.Telephone etiquette 26.5.Writing and reciting phone numbers and fax numbers 27.Negating information 27.1.Negation of verbs and verb phrases 21.2.The relative order of negation and adverbs 27.3.Words that occur with negation 27.4.bu in resultative and directional verbs 27.5.Literary markers of negation: wu and fei 28.Asking questions and replying to questions 28.1.Yes-no questions 28.2.Asking for agreement

Contents note continued: 28.3.Choosing between alternatives with haishi 'eitheror' questions 28.4.Rhetorical questions 28.5.Follow-up questions with ne 28.6.Content questions 29.Expressing identification, possession, and existence 29.1.Expressing identification 29.2.Expressing possession 29.3.Expressing existence 30.Describing people, places, and things 30.1.Equational sentences: identifying or describing the subject with a noun phrase in the predicate 30.2.Describing the subject with a predicate that is an adjectival verb 30.3.Identifying or describing a noun with a modifying phrase 30.4.Asking questions about the attributes of a person, place, or thing 30.5.Describing an item in terms of the material that it is made of 30.6.Describing nouns in terms of attributes that imply comparison 30.7.Describing people in terms of age 30.8.Describing the weather 30.9.Talking about illness and other medical conditions

Contents note continued: 31.Describing how actions are performed 31.1.Describing the general or past performance of an action with a manner adverbial phrase 31.2.Asking about the performance of an action 31.3.Describing the performance of an entire action with an adverbial modifier 32.Indicating result, conclusion, potential, and extent 32.1.Indicating the result or conclusion of an action with resultative verbs 32.2.Indicating the ability to reach a conclusion or result: the potential infixes de and bu 32.3.Summary of the functions of resultative verbs 32.4.Indicating the ability to perform the verb: the potential suffixes deliao and buliao 32.5.Resultative suffixes with special meanings or properties 32.6.Indicating the extent or result of a situation 33.Making comparisons 33.1.Similarity 33.2.Difference 33.3.More than 33.4.Less than 33.5.Comparative degree 33.6.Superlative degree 33.7.Relative degree

Contents note continued: 34.Talking about the present 34.1.Time expressions that indicate present time 34.2.Using zai and zhengzai to indicate ongoing actions in present time 34.3.Using the final particle ne to indicate ongoing situations in present time 34.4.Using zhe to emphasize ongoing duration or an ongoing state in the present time 34.5.Indicating present time by context 34.6.Negation in present time situations 34.7.Talking about actions that begin in the past and continue to the present 34.8.Describing situations that are generally true 35.Talking about habitual actions 35.1.Expressing habitual time with the word mei 'every/each' 35.2.Expressing habitual time with tiantian and niannian 35.3.Adverbs that describe habitual action 36.Talking about the future 36.1.Time words that refer to future time 36.2.Adverbs that refer to future time 36.3.Indicating future time with the modal verb hui

Contents note continued: 36.4.Verbs that refer to the future 37.Indicating completion and talking about the past 37.1.Marking an action as complete: perfective aspect le 37.2.Talking about sequence with perfective le 37.3.Indicating that an action did not occur in the past 37.4.Asking whether an action has occurred 37.5.Indicating that an action occurred again in the past: you verb le 37.6.Talking about past experience: verb suffix guo 37.7.Comparing the aspect markers guo and le 37.8.Time words and adverbs that refer to past time 37.9.Focusing on a detail of a past event with shi ... de 38.Talking about change, new situations, and changing situations 38.1.Indicating that a situation represents a change 38.2.Comparing sentences with and without sentence final le 38.3.Indicating change over time 38.4.Nouns and verbs that express change 39.Talking about duration and frequency

Contents note continued: 39.1.Specifying the length of an action with a duration phrase 39.2.Emphasizing ongoing duration 39.3.Indicating the ongoing duration of a background event 39.4.Indicating frequency 40.Expressing additional information 40.1.ye 'also' 40.2.hai 'in addition, also' 40.3.hai you 'in addition' 40.4.bingqie 'moreover' 40.5.zai shuo 'besides, moreover, to put it another way' 40.6.er 'and, but' 40.7.he and gen 'and' 40.8.... ... budan ... erqie ... 'not only ... but also ...' 40.9.... ... you ... you ... 'both ... and ...' 40.10.... chule ... yiwai 'besides ...' 40.11.lingwai 'in addition', '(an)other' 41.Expressing contrast 41.1.Expressing contrast with paired connecting words 41.2.Adverbs that indicate contrast 41.3.Qualifying a statement with an adjectival verb or stative verb 42.Expressing sequence 42.1.Expressing the relationship 'before'

Contents note continued: 42.2.Expressing the relationship 'after' in a single sentence 42.3.Indicating that one event happens first and another event happens afterwards 42.4.Indicating 'afterwards' in a separate sentence 42.5.Comparing yiqian 'before' with yihou 'after' 43.Expressing simultaneous situations 43.1.Indicating that one situation is the background for another situation 43.2.Indicating that two actions occur at the same time 43.3.Indicating that two actions occur in the same time frame 43.4.Describing a subject in terms of two qualities that exist at the same time 43.5.Indicating that a situation is reached at a specific point in time 43.6.Presenting simultaneous situations 44.Expressing cause and effect or reason and result 44.1.Expressing cause and effect or reason and result in a single sentence 44.2.Introducing the cause or reason 44.3.Introducing the effect or result 44.4.Inquiring about cause or reason

Contents note continued: 45.Expressing conditions 45.1.'If ... then' conditional sentences 45.2.'even if' 45.3.'as long as' 45.4.'only if', 'unless' 45.5.'otherwise' 46.Expressing 'both', 'all', 'every', 'any', 'none', 'not any', and 'no matter how' 46.1.Expressing 'both' and 'all' 46.2.Expressing 'none' 46.3.Expressing 'every' 46.4.Expressing 'every', 'any', 'not any', and 'no matter how' with question words 47.Expressing location and distance 47.1.Location 47.2.Indicating that an object exists or does not exist at a location 47.3.Using location as a description 47.4.Talking about distance 47.5.Asking about distance 48.Talking about movement, directions, and means of transportation 48.1.Talking about 'going' and 'coming' 48.2.Talking about turning 48.3.Talking about crossing 48.4.Talking about arriving 48.5.Talking about means of transportation 48.6.Asking about locations and asking for directions

Contents note continued: 48.7.Asking for and giving directions: sample conversations 48.8.Talking about directional movement 49.Talking about clock time and calendar time 49.1.Clock time 49.2.Calendar time 50.Expressing obligations and prohibitions 50.1.Expressing obligations 50.2.Expressing prohibitions: must not, should not 51.Expressing commands and permission 51.1.Commands 51.2.Permission 52.Expressing ability and possibility 52.1.Expressing ability 52.2.Expressing possibility 53.Expressing desires, needs, preferences, and willingness 53.1.Expressing desires 53.2.Expressing needs 53.3.Expressing preferences 53.4.Expressing willingness 54.Expressing knowledge, advice, and opinions 54.1.Expressing knowledge 54.2.Advice and opinions 55.Expressing fear, worry, and anxiety 55.1.Expressing fear of something 55.2.Expressing nervousness or anxiety 55.3.Indicating that something is scary

Contents note continued: 55.4.Indicating that something scares someone 56.Expressing speaker attitudes and perspectives 56.1.Interjections 56.2.Sentence final particles 57.Topic, focus, and emphasis 57.1.Introducing a topic 57.2.Focus 57.3.Emphasis 58.Guest and host 58.1.Welcoming the guest 58.2.Offering food and drink 58.3.Inviting the guest to get comfortable 58.4.Saying goodbye and seeing the guest off 58.5.Additional expressions involving guest and host 59.Giving and responding to compliments 59.1.Cultural conventions regarding praise 59.2.Expressions used in deflecting praise 59.3.Compliments and appropriate responses 60.Expressing satisfaction and dissatisfaction 60.1.Expressing satisfaction 60.2.Expressing dissatisfaction 61.Expressing gratitude and responding to expressions of gratitude 61.1.Expressing gratitude 61.2.Replying to expressions of gratitude 62.Invitations, requests, and refusals

Contents note continued: 62.1.Invitations

62.2.Requests

62.3.Refusals

62.4.Abandoning a request

63.Expressing apologies, regrets, sympathy, and bad news

63.1.Apologies and regrets

63.2.Expressing sympathy

63.3.Conveying bad news

64.Expressing congratulations and good wishes

64.1.General expressions of congratulations and good wishes

64.2.Fixed phrases of congratulations and good wishes for special events

64.3.Replying to expressions of congratulations and good wishes.