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Please use simplified characters.

In English we sometimes say:

'My teacher taught us about Chinese'

‘My friend was telling me about Chinese'

'You're not intelligent enough to talk about complex Chinese grammar'

'The novel is about dragons'

All of these use the word about. I've wanted to express these kinds of sentences in Chinese for ages. How would I do it?

  • Please explain how to express the word 'about' in Chinese.

  • Please translate or create your own example sentences.

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  • 1
    see dictionaries about 关于，where E uses an intervening prep. C often uses none, （１）我老师教我们汉语／中文，（２）我朋友谈到、讨论汉语。（３）你不是足够聪明可以讨论复杂汉语语法。（４）该小说是讲述龙的。 Feed "关于，teach,tell,talk,is,are about" to jukuu, get lots of examples.
    – user6065
    Feb 7, 2017 at 19:39
  • re comment #1: teach sth.≠ teach about sth.，as web search seems to show "teach sb. about sth." may not be part of standard English, (whereas "tell,talk,be about" are)
    – user6065
    Feb 7, 2017 at 20:20

1 Answer 1

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[About + adjective phrase]= [有关 + adjective phrase + 的] or [关于 + adjective phrase + 的]

'My teacher taught us (knowledge) about Chinese'

我老师教我们有关中文的 (知识)

'Chinese'(中文) is a part of the adjective phrase '中文的'

The object '知识'(knowledge) can be omitted in English, but cannot be omitted in Chinese.

有关 can also be omitted: 我老师教我们中文的 (知识)

~

‘My friend was telling me (things) about Chinese'

我朋友告诉我有关中国人的(事情)

'Chinese'(中国人) is a part of the adjective phrase '中国人的'

The object '事情'(things) can be omitted in English, but cannot be omitted in Chinese.

有关 can be omitted: 我朋友告诉我中国人的(事情)

~

'You're not intelligent enough to talk about complex Chinese grammar'

你还没聪明到能够谈论有关复杂的中文语法的(程度)

'复杂的中文语法' (complex Chinese grammar) is a part of the adjective phrase '复杂的中文语法的'

The object '程度'(level) can be omitted in English, but cannot be omitted in Chinese.

有关 can be omitted :你还没聪明到能够谈论复杂的中文语法的(程度)

~

'The novel is (a novel) about dragons'

'这小说是关于龙的(小说)'

'龙'(dragons) is a part of the adjective phrase '龙的'

Since the object 'novel'(小说) is the same as the subject, it can be omitted in both English and Chinese.

有关 can not be omitted here -- because 龙 is a noun that can be either part of the adjective phrase or the subject. '这小说是龙的(小说)' could mean 'it is a novel about dragons' or 'dragons own this novel'

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  • For a question about the chinese language, could you say 我有一個問題關於中文的語言 with 的語言 instead of 的知識？
    – MuchAppreciated25
    Sep 15, 2020 at 1:42
  • 1
    @MuchAppreciated25 yes you can 語言 and 知識 are both noun
    – Tang Ho ♦
    Sep 15, 2020 at 1:45

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