Practical Grammar of Modern Chinese III

Sentence Constituents

Liu Yuehua, Pan Wenyu, Gu Wei

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780367563011
• eBook ISBN: 9781000200201
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Languages
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Chinese grammar is characterized by its simple structure, lack of inflections, and wide use of monosyllabic morphemes. With the increased popularity of learning Chinese as a second language, there is a demand for a guide to Chinese grammar that's targeted at second language learners.

This four-volume set is one of the earliest and most influential works of Chinese grammar, with a special focus on teaching and learning Chinese as a second language. Drawing on rich teaching experience, the authors analyze a myriad of real world examples to describe Chinese grammatical phenomena and rules while introducing the general grammar system of Chinese. This volume introduces sentence constituents in modern Chinese grammar, including subjects, objects, attributes, adverbials, complements, double references, and parentheses.

Since the first edition came out in 1983, this set has been revised twice and remained one of the best sellers in the field. Practitioners and scholars of teaching Chinese as a second language, as well as students with a basic knowledge of Chinese, will find it to be a handy reference.

1
Subjects and predicates

Section one: features of subjects and predicates

A sentence can usually be divided into two parts. One is the subject part and the other is the predicate part. The subject part narrates, explains, or describes an object; the predicate part narrates, explains, or describes the subject. The cores of the two parts are subject and object respectively.

Example 1 他们上个星期游泳了。 [tā men shàng gè xīng qī yóu yǒng le.]

(They went swimming last week.)

Example 2 街上的人真多。 [jiē shàng de rén zhēn duō.]

(There are so many people in the street.)

In Example 1, “他们 [tā men] (they)” is the subject part as well as the subject in the sentence. “上个星期游泳了 [shàng gè xīng qī yóu yǒng le] (went swimming last week” is the predicate part, in which “游泳 [yóu yǒng] (swimming)” is the predicate verb in it. In Example 2, “街上的人 [jiē shàng de rén] (people in the street)” is the subject part, in which “人 [rén] (people)” is the subject. “真多 [zhēn duō] (so many)” is the predicate part, in which “多 [duō] (many)” is the predicate. Generally speaking, subject and object are two main and indispensable constituents in the sentence, except for the sentence with no subject or the single-word/phrase sentence. For example, without the definite context, “他们 [tā men] (they)” or “游泳 [yóu yǒng] (swimming)” cannot clearly represent the complete meaning of the entire sentence “他们游泳。 [tā men yóu yǒng.] (They went swimming.).”

In Chinese, the subject in the sentence with verb as predicate doesn’t always refer to the doer of an action. Actually, it can indicate the doer, the recipient of an action, or neither of them.

Example 3 我吃了两个馒头。 [wǒ chī le liǎng gè mán tou.]

(I ate two steamed buns.) (“I” as the doer of eating)

Example 4 我的馒头叫哥哥吃了。 [wǒ de mán tou jiào gē gē chī le.]

(My steamed buns were eaten by my elder brother.) (“steamed buns” as the recipient of eating)

Example 5 我是老师。 [wǒ shì lǎo shī.]

(I am a teacher.) (“I” as neither the doer or the recipient)

These examples sound appropriate without any context, in which the subjects would be the topics as well if they appeared in a discourse.

In the existential sentence, a locational word can function as the subject.

Example 6 桌子上放着一本书。 [zhuō zi shàng fàng zhe yī běn shū.]

(There is a book on the desk.) (“on the desk” as the location)

Example 7 前边来了一个人。 [qián biān lái le yī gè rén.]

(A man got ahead.) (“ahead” as the location)

The sentence structure in Chinese is greatly restricted by discourse or context. Therefore, if the recipient of an action or the tool involved in an action is known, it will change into the topic and stand before the predicate. On the discourse level, the recipient as topic cannot be parsed further.

In Chinese, adjectives, nominals (phrases), and subject-predicate phrases can function as the predicate: adjectives as the predicate describe the property, state, or change of a person or a thing; nominals as the predicate show features or quantities of people or things; subject-predicate phrases as the predicate explain or describe people or things.

Example 8 他很努力。 [tā hěn nǔ lì.]

(He is working very hard.) (adjective as the predicate)

Example 9 他北京人, 瘦高个儿, 圆脸庞, 大眼睛。 [tā běi jīng rén, shòu gāo gè er, yuán liǎn páng, dà yǎn jīng.]

(He is a thin Beijinger with a round face and big eyes.) (noun phrase as the predicate)

Example 10 他学习好, 工作好, 身体好, 是个三好学生。 [tā xué xí hǎo, gōng zuò hǎo, shēn tǐ hǎo, shì gè sān hǎo xué shēng.]

(He is a merit student who studies well, works hard, and is fit.) (subject-predicate phrase as the predicate)

In Chinese, the predicate generally goes after the subject, except for the inverted sentence in which the predicate comes before the subject. In this case, the subject is often pronounced slightly and divided from the predicate by a comma.

Example 11 真多啊, 街上的人。 [zhēn duō ā, jiē shàng de rén.]

(There are so many people in the street.)

Example 12 回来了吗, 你妈妈? [huí lái le ma, nǐ mā mā?]

(Has your mom come back yet?)

In the following situations, the subject can be absent or invisible.

1. In a conversation or continuous utterances
   Example 13
   A: 那个人的照片你看过了吗? [nà gè rén de zhào piàn nǐ kàn guò le ma?]
   (Have you seen that man’s photo?)
   B: 看过了。 [kàn guò le.]
   B: (Yes, I have.)
   A:喜欢吗? [xǐ huān ma?]
   (Do you like it?)
   B: 长得不错。 [zhǎng dé bú cuò.]
   (He is good looking.)
   Example 14 我今天上午去北海划了两个钟头船, 下午又去操场打了一 场球, 所以很累。 [wǒ jīn tiān shàng wǔ qù běi hǎi huá le liǎng gè zhōng tóu chuán, xià wǔ yòu qù cāo chǎng dǎ le yī chǎng qiú, suǒ yǐ hěn lèi.]
   (I went boating in Beihai for two hours this morning and played a ball game on the playground this afternoon, so I was very tired.)
2. In the imperative sentence
   In an imperative sentence, the subject can be present or absent.
   Example 15 劳驾, 让开点儿。 [láo jià, ràng kāi diǎn er.]
   (Excuse me. Step aside please.)
   Example 16 快去开门。 [kuài qù kāi mén.]
   (Open the door quickly.)
   In a certain context, the predicate verb or object can be absent, too.
   Example 17
   A: 黑板上的字是谁写的? [hēi bǎn shàng de zì shì shuí xiě de?]
   (Who wrote these words on the blackboard?)
   B: 我。 [wǒ.]
   (It’s me.)
   Example 18
   A: 玻璃是谁打破的? [bō li shì shuí dǎ pò de?]
   (Who broke the window?)
   B: 张小明。 [Zhāng Xiǎo míng.]
   (Zhang Xiaoming.)
   Example 19
   A:下星期, 咱们老校友在北京聚会, 你参加吗? [xià xīng qī, zán men lǎo xiào yǒu zài běi jīng jù huì, nǐ cān jiā ma?]
   (We alumni will gather together in Beijing next week. Will you join us?)
   B: 参加。 [cān jiā.]
   (Yes.)
   A: 在哪儿? [zài nǎ er?]
   (Where shall we meet?)
   B: 未名湖畔。 [wèi míng hú pàn.]
   (By the lakeside of Weiming Lake.)

Section two: words or phrases as subjects

In Chinese, almost all notional words can function as a subject.

I. Nouns (phrases) or pronouns

These words are the most common subjects.

Example 1 王英是我的朋友。 [Wáng Yīng shì wǒ de péng you.]

(Wang Ying is my friend.)

Example 2 月亮渐渐地升起来了。 [yuè liàng jiàn jiàn de shēng qǐ lái le.]

(The moon rises gradually.)

Example 3 我们的事业一定会取得胜利。 [wǒ men de shì yè yī dìng huì qǔ dé shèng l...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• 1 Subjects and predicates
• 2 Objects
• 3 Attributes
• 4 Adverbials
• 5 Complements
• 6 Double references and parentheses
• Bibliography
• Index