Questions tagged [possessives]
The possessives tag has no usage guidance.
14 questions
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Why is 的 at the end of phrases such as 那是他们的 and 钱他们的?
I'm confused with the possessive particle 的, it was explained to me as 's in English and "of" something. Like, Y的X becomes X of Y.
那是他们的。
他们的是那。
Here are two sentences that from that logic ...
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这 vs 这里, 我家 vs 我的家 to translate ”this is my home"?
I am going through some flashcards and was asked to translate "This is my home" into Mandarin. I proposed "这里是我的家" but the answer was "这是我家". Is there anything incorrect about my translation? Namely ...
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To 的 or not to 的
Sometimes you can omit the 的 from possessives. Some examples:
我的太太 → 我太太
他的名字 → 他名字
Sometimes you can not:
我口 to mean "my mouth" is wrong apparently
马克自行车 to mean "Mark's bicycle" is wrong ...
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Is there a difference between "这里 的 天气跟 我 老家 一样", and "这里 的 天气跟 我 老家 的 一样"
In short, when to, and when not to, repeat the possessive "的“ after a comparative '和/跟' or '比' . Thanks!
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Do you let go of some 的 when there are multiple?
if there's an object belonging to an object belonging to an object, do you let go of most 的?
For example: "Our teacher's name?" You basically say "The name of the teacher of ours" like: 他们的老师的名字. Or ...
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Curious structure with 的 in conversation
Above is an exchange taken from qiushibaike.com. As far as I can understand, it goes like this (trying to keep translation literal for example's sake):
Son: Mom, our teacher's a liar!
Mom: Why ...
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人无千日好: Literal Translation Is Completely Different
From here. The literal translation is:
Person no 1000 days good (人无千日好).
The author says this translates into:
There is no person that has 1000 good days in a row
That's a bit of added words ...
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How can I use 其 properly?
I wonder how I should use 其. To express possessive pronoun, you can use 他的，它的，他们的，etc.
So when should I use 其? Can it function as just a replacement for these possessive pronouns?
(And I just found ...
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没有人不喜欢自己的。 what does 的 imply here?
I understand the meaning of this sentence. Nobody doesn't like him/herself. My question is, why is there a 的 at the end? It is not a past tense sentence. And also there isn't any detail so that the 是。。...
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Is “之” usually used as a possessive pronoun (attributive) in Classical Chinese?
True or False Question:
In classical Chinese,
“之” is usually used as a possessive pronoun (attributive), “其” is usually used as a subject, and “彼” is usually used as an object.
a. True b. ...
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Is 我妈妈 or 我的妈妈 more natural?
The possessive particle 的 is often dropped when I see an expression like this, especially when referring to a family member (such as in this case). Which is more natural in casual conversation and are ...
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Possessives in Chinese
I used Google Translate for these sentences but I'm not sure they are correct:
Mom 's white dog 妈妈的白狗
My mom's white dog 我妈妈的白狗
And it is possible if I say
Mom 's white dog 妈妈的白色的狗
My mom's ...
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How to emphasize a word in writing?
I guess in English maybe this would only be done by italics, I am not sure but here is a sample in English and my bad translation to Chinese, what is the best way to emphasis?
I know for example that ...
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Is this an exception in the use of 的?
I know that, when expressing possessives, we add 的 to the usual personal pronouns, such as 我的.
However, in a question in my grammar textbook I saw:
你爸爸忙吗? = Is your father busy?
Why not "你的爸爸忙吗？"?...
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