Questions tagged [grammar]
Questions about the grammatical rules governing Chinese structure and composition.
209
questions
55
votes
13
answers
55k
views
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 ...
- 1,033
10
votes
3
answers
897
views
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:
...
- 983
35
votes
9
answers
4k
views
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?
- 3,455
37
votes
8
answers
12k
views
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 ...
- 2,425
5
votes
4
answers
236
views
What does the second 幅 mean in 真是一幅幅美丽的山水画?
...真是一幅"幅"美丽的山水画...
VS
...真是一幅美丽的山水画...
I am having some problems figuring out why there is a second ”幅” in the sentence and what it means? If I took out the second "幅” what would the meaning then be ...
- 401
17
votes
4
answers
3k
views
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 ...
- 4,627
10
votes
1
answer
1k
views
When should I use the 是...的 construction?
I've been told that 是...的 is used to put emphasis on something, but I'm not sure when or why I should use it.
- 418
2
votes
5
answers
403
views
What does "了" do in the sentence "呆在家里， 这样你就能接电话了"?
In the sentence "呆在家里， 这样你就能接电话了", I can't see why "了" is used in this sentence.
I study Chinese these days, and I think that I can just say "这样你就能接电话", but in this ...
- 127
12
votes
4
answers
16k
views
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 ...
- 3,455
8
votes
3
answers
1k
views
To 了 or not to 了
I'm Chinese learner and as everybody else I'm puzzled by the verbal aspect 了. My research into the subject gave such results:
了 belongs to a class of perfective aspect markers just as many other ...
- 2,073
5
votes
6
answers
3k
views
Why use combined characters that have the same meaning?
(rèn shí ) both characters means ( to know)and when combined it still have the same meaning.
So why can't I use only one of them ?
- 51
5
votes
4
answers
938
views
How and when is 做 used as the verb "to be"?
Can someone please clarify how and when 做 is used to mean "to be" e.g.
不愿做奴隶人们
I am familiar with 做 meaning "to do" or "to make", and I would expect that if I was saying "I am a slave", “我是一个奴隶“ ...
- 3,455
19
votes
4
answers
11k
views
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'...
- 3,367
18
votes
6
answers
1k
views
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, ...
- 1,841
17
votes
5
answers
11k
views
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 ...
- 289