Lesson Fourteen 第十四課 Dì Shísì Kè Birthday Party 生日晚會 Shēngrì Wǎnhuì GRAMMAR 1. 呢 (ne) Indicating an Action in Progress 呢 (ne), at the end of a sentence, indicates that the action is in progress. It is like 在 (zài), which is never used at the end of a sentence, but rather before a verb. (1) 你寫什麼呢? Nǐ xiě shénme ne? (What are you writing?) (2) 你找什麼呢? Nǐ zhǎo shénme ne? (What are you looking for?) 呢 (ne) can be used in conjunction with 在 (zài): (3) 你在寫什麼 ( 呢 )? Nǐ zài xiě shénme ne? (What are you writing?) (4) 你在找什麼 ( 呢 )? Nǐ zài zhǎo shénme ne? (What are you looking for?) 在 (zài) can be preceded by 正 (zhèng). The phrase 正在 (zhèngzài) places extra emphasis on the progressive nature of an action. (5) 我昨天打電話給他的時候, 他正在寫功課呢 Wǒ zuótiān dǎ diànhuà gěi tā de shíhou, tā zhèngzài xiě gōngkè ne. (When I called him yesterday, he was in the middle of doing his homework.)
(6) 我去找他的時候, 他正在睡覺呢 Wǒ qù zhǎo tā de shíhou, tā zhèngzài shuì jiào ne. (When I went to see him, he was sleeping.) Note: 在 (zài) alone indicates that an action is in progress; therefore, the 呢 (ne) in sentences 3 and 4 above can be omitted. P.108.A
2. Verbal Phrases and Subject-Predicate Phrases Used as Attributives In Chinese attributives always appears before they modify. The particle 的 (de) is often used to link the two. Verbs, verbal phrases, and subject-object phrases can all serve as attributives. (1) 吃的東西 (chī de dōngxi) (something to eat) (2) 穿的衣服 (chuān de yīfu) (clothes to wear) (3) 買的書 (mǎi de shū) (the books bought) (4) 寫的字 (xiě de zì) (the characters written) (5) 新買的衣服 (xīn mǎi de yīfu) (newly-bought clothes) (6) 昨天來的同學 (zuótiān lái de tóngxué) (the classmates who came yesterday) (7) 以前認識的朋友 (yǐqián rènshi de péngyou) (the friends [one] got acquainted with in the past) (8) 我媽媽做的豆腐 (wo māma zuò de doufu) (the tofu that my mother made) (9) 老師給我們的功課 (lǎoshī gěi wǒmen de gōngkè) (the homework assigned by the teacher) (10) 朋友送的蘋果 (péngyou sòng de pingguo) (the apples given by my friend) (11) 請你跳舞的那個人 (qǐng nǐ tiào wǔ de nà gè rén) (the person who asked you to dance) (12) 我妹妹愛的那個很帥的男人 (wǒ meimei ài de nà ge hěn shuài de nánren) (that very handsome man that my sister love) P.109 B&C
3. Time Duration To indicate the duration of an action, the following structure is used: A: Subject + Verb + (Object + Verb) + ( 了 ) +Duration of time (1) 老高想在上海住一年 Lǎo gāo xiǎng zài shànghǎi zhù yī nián (Old Gao wishes to live in Shanghai for a year.) (2) 我每天在書店工作三個鐘頭 Wǒ měitiān zài shūdiàn gōngzuò sān gè zhōng tóu (I work in a booktore for three hours every day.) (3) 昨天下雪下了二十分鐘 Zuótiān xiàxuě xià le èr shí fēnzhōng (It snowed for twenty minutes yesterday.) (4) 你上暑期班上了多長時間? Nǐ shàng shǔqī bān shàng le duō chǎng shíjiān? (How long were you in summer school?) Sentences in this pattern must be in the affirmative. If the verb takes an object, the verb has to be repeated, as in (3) and (4). If the verb has an object, the following alternative pattern can be used to express the same idea. B: Subject + Verb + ( 了 ) +Duration of time + ( 的 ) + Object (5) 昨天下了二十分鐘 ( 的 ) 雪 Zuótiān xià le èr shí fènzhōng (de) xuě. (It snowed for twenty minutes yesterday.) (6) 我上了四個星期 ( 的 ) 暑期班 Wǒ shàng le sì gè xīng qī (de) shǔqī bān. (I was in summer school for four weeks.) (6a) * 我四個星期上了暑期班 P. 124-125 H&I
4. Sentences with 是... 的 (shì...de) To describe or inquire about the time, the place, the manner, or the initiator of an action that we know already happened, we need to use the 是... 的 (shì...de) structure. The use of 是 (shì), however, is optional. (1) A: 你去過中國嗎? A: Nǐ qù guo Zhōngguó ma? (Have you been to China?) B: 我去過中國 B: Wǒ qùguo Zhōngguó. (Yes, I ve been to China.) Person A now becomes aware of person B s action of 去中國 (went to China), and wants to find out when, how, and with whom that action was performed. A: 你是跟誰一起去的? Nǐ shì gēn shuí yìqǐ qù de? (With whom did you go there?) B: 我是跟我表姐一起去的 Wǒ shì gēn wǒ bǐaojǐe yìqǐ qù de. (I went there with my elder female cousin.) A: 你們是什麼時候去的? Nǐmen shì shénme shíhou qù de? (When did you go there?) B: 我們是寒假去的 Wǒmen shì hánjià qù de. (We went there during the winter break.)
A: 你們是怎麼去的? Nǐmen shì zěnme qù de? (How did you go there?) B: 我們是坐飛機去的 Wǒmen shì zuò fēijī qù de. We went there by airplane.) (2) A: 你看過這張碟嗎? Nǐ kànguo zhè zhāng dié ma? (Have you watched this DVD?) B: 看過 Kànguo. (Yes, I have.) A: 是什麼時候看的? Shì shénme shíhou kàn de? (When did you watch it?) [The action 看 (kàn) was completed.] B: 上個週末看的 shàngge zhoumo kàn de. (It was last weekend that I watched it.) (3) 你這條褲子真好看, 是在哪兒買的? Nǐ zhè tiáo kùzi zhen hǎokàn shì zài nǎr mǎi de? (These pants of yours look great. Where did you get them?) [It s assumed one generally buys pants (as opposed to making them at home, etc.), so the action 買 (mǎi) is known.]
(4) A: 你吃飯了嗎? Nǐ chī fàn le ma? (Have you eaten yet?) B: 吃了 Chī le. (Yes, I have.) [The action 吃 (chī) is now known.] Α: 在哪兒吃的? Zài nǎr chī de? (Where did you eat?) B: 在學生餐廳吃的 Zài xuésheng cāntīng chī de. (In the dining hall.) (5) A: 你學過電腦嗎? Nǐ xuéguo diànnǎo ma? (Have you ever studied computers?) B: 學過 Xuéguo. (Yes, I have.) A: 是跟誰學的? Shì gēn shéi xué de? (With whom did you study?) B: 是跟王老師學的 Shì gēn Wáng lǎoshī xué de. (With Teacher Wang.) P. 123 E, F&G
5. 還 (hái; still) 還 (hái), as an adverb, can mean still. (1) 上午十一點了, 他還在睡覺 Shàng wǔ shíyī diǎn le, tā hái zài shuì jiào. (It s 11 a.m., and he is still bed.) (2) 今天的功課, 我還沒寫完 Jīntiān de gōngkè, wǒ hái méi xiě wán. (I ve been doing my homework for two hours so far, and I m still not done.) (3) 這個語法老師教了, 可是我還不懂 Zhè ge yǔfǎ lǎoshī jiào le, kěshì wǒ hái bù dǒng. (The teacher has taught this grammar point, but I still don t understand it.) 6. 又 又 (yòu yòu, Both and ) The two adjectives used in this structure are either both positive or both negative in meaning, e.g., 又聰明又用功 (smart and hardworking) [both adjectives are positive in meaning], 又多又難 (too much and difficult) [both adjectives are negative in meaning].