Questions tagged [grammar]
Questions about the grammatical rules governing Chinese structure and composition.
10
questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
2
votes
3answers
143 views
What does 大出天下 mean?
It is found in an exhibition of Qin Dynasty held in Xi'an city. The exact words are 秦国35代国君发奋图强，做好了“大出天下”的准备。I have checked the words online for the meaning, but finding no answer.But roughly I think ...
2
votes
2answers
120 views
Comparing 到 and 得 to emphasize results
I am trying to understand the usage of 到 and 得 when used to emphasize results. Take, for example, the lyrics from "吻别":
我的世界開始下雪
冷得讓我無法多愛一天
In this adjective + 得 + clause construction, can ...
2
votes
3answers
179 views
Translating as Past or Present tense
I am translating an excerpt of a Chinese short story. In general, do any indicators in Chinese grammar exist that would require the usage of past tense (in English) instead of present tense? In this ...
2
votes
1answer
136 views
Can the 的 particle ever function without “nominalizing”?
From my answer in What is the meaning of 的 in “有一天你会明白的”? and according to Charles N. Li, Sandra A. Thompson - Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar, I believed the function of the particle ...
1
vote
2answers
73 views
How can I make sense of 落家里 within 张东把钥匙落家里了?
The following problem is from a mock exam question from HSK5级应试指南; we're meant to arrange the sentence fragments into a grammatical sentence:
钥匙、落、把、了、张东、家里
(image)
I didn't get this answer correct (...
1
vote
2answers
113 views
Subject + predicate as topic and prepositional phrases
I found this sentence while doing some listening practice:
长时间看电脑，对眼睛不好。
At first, I didn't understand why 长时间, expressing duration, is at the beginning of the sentence acting as topic 长时间看电脑, since I ...
0
votes
0answers
5 views
Is it just me or is 却向人类早已认定为准则的定义提出了质疑 terribly unnatural?
俗话说万物生长靠太阳。人们之所以这样说，是因为历来植物生长离不开阳光，而动物又靠植物维持生命，所以没有阳光，就没有万物，这是众所周知的真理。然而科学家们的深海考察，却向人类早已认定为准则的定义提出了质疑。
HSK Standard Course 6上, chapter 19 (original).
This is the first paragraph from a chapter in the ...
0
votes
3answers
62 views
what is the use of 前面 in this sentence
That depends on what you're using the computers for. - 那得看你坐在电脑前面做什么
Why do we use 前面 in this sentence. I thought 前面 was infront, why is there a location in a sentence involving use of something? ...
0
votes
2answers
130 views
How can I answer the question “你什么时候开始学中文的?”
How can I answer the question "你什么时候开始学中文的?"
I cannot answer the "什么时候" questions. Can anybody help me please?
0
votes
2answers
180 views
What exactly are the meaning/function of 的 and 了?
In my experience, not 1 single 对外汉语教师 can explain these two words, the most popular-used, to the students, unfortunately, including myself. Can anyone explains is this sequence: 1. basic/fundamental ...
