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I got it from a textbook awhile reading about demonstrative pronouns. The textbook translate the sentence as "So many people have come to attend the meeting." Can someone explain why "這麼些" isn't at the front of the sentence, "開會的人來了這麼些"? Is it because it's a quantity complement(I'm new to complements)? Does all sentences containing "這麼些" have it after the verb or at the end of the sentence?

There's also the sentence "工作已经做了那麼些", which the textbook translated it as "Much (A lot of) work has been done." Again, I have the same questions about "那麼些" as I have for about "這麼些".

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  • "開會的人來了這麼些" sounds like a complain, that only a few members have arrived.
    – Henry HO
    Oct 29, 2014 at 8:46

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這麼些 can be directly translated to this many/much, 那麼些 is that many/much, and like it is in English, it doesn't necessarily mean "a lot":

A: How much pizza did you eat?

B: This much.

A: I can see why you are so slim.

If you do want to say "many", you want to use 這麼多 or 那麼多.

Back to the original sentence, of course they can be put to the front.

So many people have come to attend the meeting. should be translated to 這麼多人來開會了.

Much (A lot of) work has been done. should be translated to 很多工作已经做了.

By the way, if you use a a quantity complement in Chinese, it usually indicates that you have something else to say:

This meeting only attracts this many people. Is it organized by baboons? //会议只来了这么些人，组织会议的是狒狒吧？

That much work has been done. If you change the plan I'll eat you alive. //工作已经完成了那么多，你要是再改计划我就把你生剥了吃掉。

To sum up, "開會的人來了這麼些" and "工作已经做了那麼些" are not accurate translations. Your book is weird.

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  • Sorry for the super late reply. I will be avoiding that book then. So if I want to say “This many/much people have come to attend the meeting.”, ‘這麼些’ must be place in the front of the noun that it’s describing about? So it will be ‘這麼些人來開會了” ? Thanks for your explanation and the humorous examples. If you could please translate the two examples for quantity complement, that would be awesome. If not, it’s fine.
    – chinese_beginner_need_help
    Dec 2, 2014 at 0:16
  • @chinese_beginner_need_help Updated my answer. See if it's what you need.
    – Wang Dingwei
    Dec 2, 2014 at 11:42

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