New answers tagged grammar
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Placement of 了 in 停在了离小岛不太远的地方
我们把船停在了离小岛不太远的地方. Your question may include: (1) What is the function of 了? (2) Why 了 is not immediately after the verb 停? (3) As a preposition, 在 should be "bound" to the rest of the clause ...
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Placement of 了 in 停在了离小岛不太远的地方
Here, 了 is an auxiliary word or particle to indicate the completion of the action described by the verb - 停.
我们把船停在了离小岛不太远的地方 - We parked the boat at a place not too far from the island.
The same ...
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Placement of 了 in 停在了离小岛不太远的地方
现代汉语描写语法 page 233:
[the "了" character for expressing completion] 位于单音节的结果补语与所带的宾语、趋向补语及其所带的非可控宾语之间。
This descriptive rule is quite hard to read. Let me break it down.
Consider the phrase ...
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Help understand this: 每本小人书都用牛皮纸加了层封皮，封皮上用毛笔写上书名
每本小人书都用牛皮纸加了层封皮。
There are several possible ways to analyze this sentence. My opinion is that it is a passive sentence with both subject and 被 omitted.
First notice that 小人书 is not the entity ...
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Help understand this: 每本小人书都用牛皮纸加了层封皮，封皮上用毛笔写上书名
上(in)
Where did you get it? "上" can be "top", "go up" or "up" but "in".
noun + 上 (用在名词后边，表示时间、处所、范围：晚～。桌～。组织～。)
封皮上 = on top of the book cover.
...
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How are the sentences 我第一次挑战这么高难度的手术 and 这么高难度的手术我第一次挑战 grammatical? Where are the verbs?
here is a term called "词类活用" which means flexible utilize "parts of speech"(lexical category), and made it difficult to confirm words belong to verb or noun or other parts of ...
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Repetition of the first verb (separable verbs)
他游泳游得很快. (He swims very fast.) What is the function of the repetition of the verb "游"?
There are different analyses of this sentence. One is to treat it as a combination of two sentences.
&...
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Repetition of the first verb (separable verbs)
First, so-called "separable verbs" are not verbs (it's a misleading name), but rather verb-object pairs with a strong affinity for occurring together (i.e., collocations). E.g. in 跑步 the ...
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Repetition of the first verb (separable verbs)
"他游泳"游得很快，"跑步"跑得很慢。
"他游泳" and "(他)跑步" are phrases used to emphasize the subjects - his ability in swimming and running. The main verbs are "游" and &...
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If A伴随着B, then is it true that B伴随着A?
伴随(to accompany/ to accompany and follow) is a verb
"A" is the subject in "A 伴随 B"
For example, in "我父親的浪琴錶伴随了他六十年" (My father’s Longines watch has been with him for ...
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If A伴随着B, then is it true that B伴随着A?
闪电常常伴随着雷鸣。
Lightning is usually followed by thunder.
The English sentence would be incorrect if we swapped "lightning" and "thunder".
You are correct, but for this case, "...
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If A伴随着B, then is it true that B伴随着A?
ChatGPT is not a reliable source of grammatical information. I am a PhD candidate and in our department there are routine talks about flaws in the capabilities of ChatGPT and new theories about how to ...
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If A伴随着B, then is it true that B伴随着A?
"A伴随着B" usually means B is the main character who needs to go and A is secondary. For example,
(1) 她陪着她妈妈去医院了. (Because her mom is sick.)
(2) 她妈妈陪着她去医院了. (Because she is going to give birth.)...
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How are the sentences 我第一次挑战这么高难度的手术 and 这么高难度的手术我第一次挑战 grammatical? Where are the verbs?
Hi Becky from 3 years ago; don't fret, this is really hard because there are two separate problems here, and both are inhibiting you from resolving the other. (Even years into the future you'd likely ...
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Meaning of 还 other than "still, also, even more"
你还出去做什么？
It means "still". It sounds to me like "(And) you are still going. For what?"
快下雪了，我还以为今天是好天气。
It is for emphasis with no significant meaning.
"It's about to snow. ...
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Accepted
Meaning of 还 other than "still, also, even more"
Your question: What is the purpose of 还 (hai2) in the following sentences?
你还出去做什么？
快下雪了，我还以为今天是好天气。
这些古诗我们现在恐怕还读不了。
明明这几天气温还挺高的。
你要是觉得别扭，就还叫我们先生。
In the sentences, the word 还 leads us to a situation ...
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Meaning of 还 other than "still, also, even more"
你还出去做什么？ - What do you "still" (want to) go out for?
快下雪了，我还以为今天是好天气。- Snow is about to come, "yet" I've guessed it would be a fair weather for today.
这些古诗我们现在恐怕还读不了。I am afraid ...
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Meaning of 还 other than "still, also, even more"
你还出去做什么？
When used in context, this usually means why you are still going out, given some new circumstances. For example, 下雨了，你还出去做什么？ (It's raining, why are you still going out?)
快下雪了，我还以为今天是好天气。
...
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What are the key examples to demonstrate whether Mandarin Chinese has a rigid or flexible word order?
Chinese has a very flexible sentence structure
我昨天晚上睡得不好
昨天晚上我睡得不好
The examples given in the OP are arguably not Chinese per se. Or not the Chinese a Chinese would use.
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Are "v. 不好 n." sentences inherently ambiguous in that 不好 could modify the verb or noun?
Are "v. 不好 n." sentences inherently ambiguous
Yes.
How do you know for sure what category of phrase 不好 is and what it is pointing at?
The Western distinction noun verb is not helpful in ...
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Are "v. 不好 n." sentences inherently ambiguous in that 不好 could modify the verb or noun?
The pattern "v + 不好" shall be interpreted as "not able to perform the act well".
睡不好觉 - not able to sleep well.
写不好字 - not able to write the letters well, or not able to write ...
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Are "v. 不好 n." sentences inherently ambiguous in that 不好 could modify the verb or noun?
Are "v. 不好 n." sentences inherently ambiguous in that 不好 could modify the verb or noun?
In general, you would not confuse "不好" used as an adverb modifying a verb with "不好的&...
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What does 一抹 mean?
What tone is "一" in 一抹 pronounced?
Pronunciation of 一抹 is yī mǒ.
about 抹 :
抹 has three pronunciations, mǒ, mò, and mā.
When pronounced with mǒ, 抹 means to gently wipe(轻轻擦拭), apply(涂抹), or ...
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Are "v. 不好 n." sentences inherently ambiguous in that 不好 could modify the verb or noun?
It is not ambiguous. When inserting 不好 between a verb and a noun, or between a separable verb (made up of a verb and a noun), it always modifies the verb
睡觉(v) --> 睡[不好]觉 = [not] sleeping [well]
写字(...
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What does 一抹 mean?
一抹的拼音：[yī mǒ]
一抹笑意
the wisp of a smile
wisp: a slight trace of something
一抹笑意惊鸿
一点嫣红正浓
人愫情萌
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What are the key examples to demonstrate whether Mandarin Chinese has a rigid or flexible word order?
Chinese grammar, if in a standard manner, is quite like English. It is an SVO structure. In your question, the basic structure is:
她问路。她(subjective), 问(verb), 路(objective)。
All of the other components ...
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What are the key examples to demonstrate whether Mandarin Chinese has a rigid or flexible word order?
Chinese does indeed have templatic word order, but the categories in the post are not the real ones used. That source is laying out the typical ordering, not the required ordering.
Overall, I would ...
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Is 很下面 in 它们静静地躺在身后很下面的地方 considered grammatical?
Confusion from the outset:
下面 is a noun
下面 is a direction adverb
Maybe ChatGPT translated the English? AI is overrated!
它们静静地躺在身后很下面的地方 "sounds strange". Does that mean grammatically ...
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Is 很下面 in 它们静静地躺在身后很下面的地方 considered grammatical?
"它们静静地躺在身后很下面的地方" is not correct. The correct way to express this sentence is "它们静静地躺在身后下面很遥远的地方". The reason is that the word "下面" is a direction adverb, while "很&...
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Is 很下面 in 它们静静地躺在身后很下面的地方 considered grammatical?
The Chinese text here was translated from English. Some areas are not quite smoothly translated
此时，他们回头就能看见已经离开的那片土地，它们静静地躺在身后很下面的地方。
"它们"(they) here is the pronoun for "那片土地"(...
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Why is this sentence grammatical without 的?
Yes, it's rhetorical effect.
「不是」commonly means "be not", as in sentence
「这个苹果不是我的。」(This apple is not mine).
This type of「不是」 is considered as the opposite of 「是」.
But in you example ...
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Accepted
Is 没V着 a pattern?
着 [zháo/ㄓㄠˊ] - a verb complement. When used after an action word, it indicates the result of the completion of that action.
没伤着 - did not get hurt/injured.
没見着 - did not get to see/meet.
没睡着 - did ...
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你在那裏可以安心**地**生活下去 Why not use 的
的 is followed by nouns, it helps the former adjective to describe a noun, e.g. 可爱的人们 (lovely people), 开心的一天 (a happy day).
地 is followed by verbs, it the former adverb to describe an action, e.g. ...
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Is 没V着 a pattern?
着 here is indicating result that the former verb or adjective (伤) didn't make any effect on the subject. In this example 没伤着, 没 is simply the negation of 伤着, and 伤着 indicates the result of getting ...
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