Questions tagged [grammar]
Questions about the grammatical rules governing Chinese structure and composition.
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的, 地, 得, when do you use which?
So the age old question of 的, 地, 得, when do you use which? When spoken, it all sounds the same, but on paper it depends on if it's a verb, noun, adjective. But I don't quite remember if that is all ...
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How do I decide whether to use 可以, 会 or 能?
According to every dictionary I've seen so far, there is a big overlap in these:
可以 = can, may, be able to
会 = can, be able to, able
能 = can, may, able, capable
How do I properly choose which ...
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Tense and use of 了
I struggle a bit to get my head around tenses in Mandarin, and in particular when I need to use 了 (le).
Do you have any tips, examples or resources to help me out with this?
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What is the difference in use between 以及, 和 and 与?
I have a book with the following lesson titles:
中文以及中国
聚会和饮食
交通与环境
Why are these terms connected with 以及 / 和 / 与, why not always use 和 for example?
Are there any rules for proper use of these ...
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Difference between 如果 and 要是?
In the Pimsleur Mandarin course it uses 如果 (rúguǒ) to mean 'if', but the dictionary shows 要是 (yàoshì) to have a similar meaning:
如果: if; in case; in the event that
要是: if
Are there any ...
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How do I decide whether to use 還是/还是 or 或者
還是/还是 (háishì) and 或者 (huòzhě) seem to have very similar meanings:
還是/还是: or; still; nevertheless
或者: or; possibly; maybe
When I want to say 'or', how to I choose which to use, and are there any ...
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Why use 的 at the end of a sentence such as 我一定會去看他的?
I'm looking for confirmation of the way I'm parsing a sentence with 的 at the end, and I'd appreciate some background or other examples of this usage.
I found this sentence on tatoeba.org:
我一定會去看他的。
I'...
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Learning how to use measure / count words properly
Chinese has measure (or count) words like “个” (一个人), “部” (三部车), etc.
These always get me confused, and there way too many of them. Are there any general rules that can help me memorize them?
Also, ...
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Does 多 always come after the measure word？
I've realized that I still don't fully understand the placement of "多“ a relatively common word. Can you never place 多 before a measure word?
A friend recently corrected my "四多快美金“ into 四块多美金” but ...
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What are the rules in Chinese for adjective order when multiple adjectives describe a noun
See https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/1155/what-is-the-rule-for-adjective-order for the equivalent question in English. I didn't find any discussion online of the order for multiple Chinese ...
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Why do Chinese translations of English names sound very inaccurate?
I have noticed that most Chinese translation of English names sounds really inaccurate and weird.
For example, the common translation of person's name "Robert Wilson" is "罗伯特·威尔逊", which is not ...
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Does an Alarm clock 吵醒 or 叫醒？
I'm trying to figure out whether an alarm clock 吵醒我， or 叫醒我。
I'd like to say the sentence
my alarm clock woke me up at 5:30 today
my translation so far is
今天早上五点半， 我手机的闹钟叫醒了我。
Can 叫醒 be done by ...
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Why is 我很要... an invalid statment
Why is it that to say I very much or really want something I have to say 我很想要... and not just 我很要...
So if I wanted a cup of coffee I would say
我要一杯咖啡
But if I want to say I really want coffee I ...
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Use of 十年中 to express duration
Does 十年中 mean "in ten years"? I found it in this sentence from tatoeba.org:
他十年中第一次回家。
He returned home for the first time in ten years.
It seems like I could use the same pattern to say, &...
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What is the difference in use between 完 and 了?
If I understood correctly, both 完 and 了 can be used to indicate a completed action, so what is the difference in use? How do we properly use 完 in a sentence? Which contexts would be valid?
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Where should I place the comma in large numbers?
If writing for an exclusively Chinese audience, would the number 五萬 be written as 5,0000 or 50,000?
To flesh out the question, we could consider:
五千 5000 or 5,000
五萬 5,0000 or 50,000
...
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被 (bèi) vs. 叫 (jiào) vs. 让 (ràng): regional difference? formality difference?
I know that with a 被 (bèi) sentence, you are allowed omit the object: S + 被 + (O) + Other elements, e.g. 河里的鱼都被毒死了 (Hé lǐ de yú dōu bèi dú sǐ le) whereas, when using 叫 (jiào) or 让 (ràng,) the object ...
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Differences between 咱们 and 我们？
我们 [wǒmen] and 咱们 [zánmen] both means: we, but when I should use 咱们， 我们？
What is the difference?
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What is the pattern for 'instead of x, y...'
For example, how would I say, 'instead of x, we should do y'?
I find it hard to balance the sentence correctly in chinese.
Do I need to use, 反而 or 而且? Or is there some better method?
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Is 了 optional when a time word is present?
In sentences that already have a point in time word that indicates that the event happened in the past, is 了 optional? Or could there be some additional meaning with it present? For instance:
...
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What is the difference between 一只狗 and 一条狗?
I've been told by native speakers that the former refers to little dogs while the latter is for bigger dogs. I also have been told that the latter has a negative connotation. I'm wondering:
how ...
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Indefinite article vs numeral: use of "一" (yī)
Sometimes, when the English has an indefinite article ("a", "an"), the Chinese translation has a numeral ("一", yī).
So, for example, "I want to buy a ticket" sounds like "I want to buy one ticket".
...
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Quotation Marks ("") and Angle Quotation Marks (《》)
Based on my recent observation, most people use "" to enclose a quote and use 《》 to enclose the name of a book (or a movie?). However, since I began my Chinese study, I have been learning to use 「」 as ...
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What is the difference between 古怪 and 古里古怪?
According to my book, there is a pattern for building further adjectives from adjectives.
If the original adjective is AB (two different characters), its derivation is A里AB.
Unfortunately, this ...
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Measure Words and their English Analogue
I was taught that the closest analogue in English of Chinese measure words are 'units', e.g. "a pile of wood", "a cup of water", etc.
What strikes me as a bit odd about this analogy is that the units ...
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Why does the construction of 要是…的话 mean "if"?
I know other words like 如果 also mean "if", but why would 要是...的话 mean "if"?
An example sentence:
要是你喜欢汉语（的话），你该听中国的音乐。
If you like Chinese, you should listen to Chinese music.
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What software can detect the parts of speech of written text?
What software or online tools can detect the parts of speech in a piece of written text (e.g. to predict if a word is a verb, adjective, etc.)?
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How is 就 (jiù) used?
Pimsleur's Mandarin course teaches "I'm leaving very early tomorrow morning" as:
我明天早上很早就走 (wŏ míngtiān zăoshàng hĕn zăo jiù zŏu)
It says that 就 (jiù) doesn't have a corresponding meaning in ...
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Using 一样 instead of 同一 for "the same school"
In my study software, I recently had the following sentence:
我想我们会上一样的学校.
The context (a girl speaking to another girl who had just moved into the neighborhood) made it seem like the correct ...
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What's the difference between classifiers and measure words?
The terms classifier and measure word are often used interchangeably, with the latter being (reportedly) more common in language courses.
They both translate to 量词 (literally "measure word") ...
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Why should I use 由 here and not 被?
I could choose 由 or 被. Why should I choose 由? Are there any good reasons for this choice?
这件事 _______ 公司负责。My girlfriend immediately said 由， but she couldn't say why.
Considering the answers below ...
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What grammar makes 同 品 項 第 2 仵 6折 mean "Buy one, get the second at 60% of base price"?
So in the convenience store, there were bottles of iced coffee with the slogan:
同 品 項 第 2 仵 6折
I was told that this meant: "Buy the first item, get the second item at 60% of base price."
I was ...
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Can I say 在..住? Why do we say 我住在..？
As far as I know in Chinese sentences we should use adverb after subject and before the verb. For example: 我在上网聊天儿。
So can I say 我(S)在北京(adverb)住(verb)？ Why do we say 我住在北京？
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Is it 一些东西 or 一点东西?
I know that 东西 translates to "something" in English.
So I would like to know,
can both 一些东西 and 一点东西 be used? If so, what are their differences in meaning?
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What's the difference between 了, 著 and 到 when used as verb complements?
I need help with sorting out the difference between 了, 著 and 到 when used as verb complements. I have learnt most of my Chinese in Taiwan and in my experience, Taiwanese people don't use 著 as a verb ...
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What's the correct translation for 1.5 months? Is it "一个月半" or "一个半月“?
What's the correct translation for 1.5 months?
Is it "一个月半" or "一个半月“?
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When do I use 着 to indicate action in progress?
It seems like for some verbs (正)在 is used to indicate action in progress, but I have also encountered 着 for some, like 穿着. When should it be used, is there a rule to follow?
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Is the measure word optional in 这件毛衣?
I've heard the sentence 这毛衣, (so without measure word), but my chinese manual always use a measure word after 这:
这件毛衣
这件苹果
Is the measure word optionnal in after 这 ?
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What is the difference in usage between 以后 and 之后？
Today John Pasden linked to an old Sinosplice post in which he discussed how Chinese grammatical categories cannot be mapped neatly onto those of Indo-European languages.
http://www.sinosplice.com/...
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Why is it possible to replace 都 with 也 in 什么都没有?
I know 也 only as "also", but I see it now and then used in ways difficult to understand, especially in some negative statements. Why is this so? Does 也 also have some meaning not mentioned in ...
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V + 到。。。。头上来: Exact meaning and how to use?
I know that the abovementioned formula expresses a negative result, but I am not exactly sure how to translate it. Some questions:
1 How to translate it well into English?
2 Can I use it ...
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What is the function of 了 in the sentence "她会杀了你的"?
What is the function of 了 in the following sentence? Does it imply a sequence of actions?
她会杀了你的。"She will kill you."
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Can 您 to be used in plural form?
Can 您 be used as a plural form? For example, if a child tries to address to both parents at the same time: 请您放心.
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Why 你在笑什么？, why not 你笑在什么？
In English, you say
What are you laughing at?
I'm laughing at this situation.
Here, the preposition "at" refers to "this situation" and "what", respectively. In German it's more clear, since the ...
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Why there is no 的 after 你 in 你国家的医院好吗?
I got a translation of “Are hospitals in your country good?” from a native speaker of Mandarin as:
你国家的医院好吗？
Why there is no 的 after 你? It is after a pronoun for instance in such a sentence:
...
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Difference between 常常 and 往往
I'm fairly certain I understand how to use 常常，but I don't know if 往往 is used any differently (they both have the same translations). Are there any differences in usage I should be aware of?
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What is the meaning of the sentence 字了一?
I ve found this sentence between two other sentences in an article about the scholar wang li:
中国语言学家、诗人。字了一。广西壮族自治区博白县人
I understand both sentences before and after 字了一, but i am clueless what this ...
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When to use "们"
In Chinese, using "们" after a noun is, in some sense, equivalent to adding an "s" after an English word. Yet I find the rules in Chinese of using 们 to be very puzzling; I am a native speaker yet I ...
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Is it correct to say “在手机”？
Would it be correct to use the phrase "在手机”/“在手机上” etc. to express that I am doing something on my phone? For example, could I say
我听音乐在我的手机上。
Or can 在 only be used for my actual physical location?...
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求解释: "我有问题" 和 "我有个问题" 中英 | Chinese & English
这个问题我找不到解释， 希望哪位高手可以帮下 ^^
学生想说 I have a question, 常常会说成 "我有问题."
我会教他们用 “我有个问题” 或者 “我有一个问题。”
原因是听到 “我有问题”的时候， 我的第一联想就是 “我脑子有问题。" 可是我语法上面解释不来也查不到。
现在我自己都快糊涂了。 所以我想问：
1） “我有问题” 是正确的吗？ 我左看右看都觉得是错的。 ...
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