Chinese Language Learning » Classroom

Learn Mandarin grammar –Modal particle

Miguel — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 07:27:45 +0000

In linguistics, modal particles are always uninflected words, and are a type of grammatical particle. Mandarin Chinese depends highly on the use of modal particles. Changing the pitch of the sentence or phrase would make the meaning of the sentence different.

啊: placed at the end of a sentence to express admiration or affirmation, for example:

duō hǎo de dì fɑnɡ a

多好的地方啊！
What a place!

nǐ kě yào xiǎo xīn a

你可要小心啊！
Do be careful!
Or to indicate a question, for example:

nǐ men nǎ tiān qù lǚ xínɡ a

你们哪天去旅行啊？
When are you going to start on your journey?
啊can also be placed in the sentence to pause for a second and draw attention to the following sentences, for example:

nǐ a lǎo zhè yànɡ xià qu kě bù xínɡ
你啊，老这样下去可不行！
Look! You can’t go on like this.
Or placed after a repetitive verb to indicate that it is a very long process:

tā men zǒu a zǒu a yì zhí zǒu dào hé biān
他们走啊，走啊，一直走到河边。
They went on and on till they came to a river.

呀: ah; oh

ya xià xuě le
呀，下雪了！
Oh, it’s snowing!

shuí ya
谁呀？
Who is it?

zhēn shānɡ xīn ya
真伤心呀！
Woe is me!

ò
哦: Oh; ah; I see

ò wǒ dǒnɡ le
哦，我懂了。
Oh! I see. Oh! Now I understand.

ò zhēn de
哦？真的？
Oh, you do?

吗: placed at the end of a sentence to indicate a question

shì ma

是吗？
That so?

ké yǐ ma

可以吗？
Would you?

tánɡ cù yú hǎo chī ma

糖醋鱼好吃吗？
How do you like the sweet and sour fish?

ma
嘛: to indicate it is obvious

zhè yě bù nénɡ ɡuài tā tóu yì huí ma
这也不能怪他，头一回嘛。
He’s not to blame. After all, it was the first time he’d done it.
Or, placed at the end of a sentence to draw attention to the following sentences:

nǐ ma jiù bú yònɡ qīn zì qù le
你嘛，就不用亲自去了。
As for you, I don’t think you have to go in person.

How to tell the difference between 有点yǒudiǎn and一点 yìdiǎn

Panpan — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:06:33 +0000

有点yǒudiǎn and一点 yìdiǎn both mean a little, but how to tell the difference? Well, the grammar function is different.

有点yǒudiǎn +adj./v.

adj./v.+ 一点 yìdiǎn

For example:

我有点冷。 wǒ yǒudiǎn lěng. I’m a little cold.

我有点感冒。 wǒ yǒudiǎn gǎnmào. I have a slight cold.

你有大一点的吗? Nǐ yǒu dà yìdiǎn de ma? Do you have a bigger one?

我吃了一点东西. wǒ chīle yìdiǎn dōngxī. I ate a little stuff.

Measure words for people

Panpan — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 07:02:00 +0000

Adjectives as verbs

Panpan — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 05:40:24 +0000

In Chinese, adjectives are used to describe people and situations directly as predicate.

For example:

我很好。 wǒ hěn hǎo. I’m fine.

你很漂亮。 nǐ hěn piàoliang. You are pretty.

However, when an adjective is used by itself, it also has the implication of comparing.

For example:

他好还是你好？ tā hǎo háishì nǐ hǎo? Who is better, he or you?

我好。 wǒ hǎo. I’m better.

二（èr） vs 两（liǎng）

Panpan — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 02:45:18 +0000

二（èr）is used for counting.
一二三……(numeral)
yī èr sān
第一，第二，第三……(ordinal number)
dìyī, dìèr dìsān
两（liǎng），as an initial number for 2,has to be used if a measure word follows it.
2 people 两个人 liǎnggè rén
2 o’clock 两点 liángdiǎn
2 dollars 两美元 liángměiyuán

A book signing

Pippo — Sun, 02 May 2010 07:38:03 +0000

Jīntiān qù wángfǔjǐng shūdiàn ma?

Lucy 今天去王府井书店吗？

Are you going to the Wangfujing Book Store today?

Zěnme le? bùshì shàngzhōumò gāng qùguò ma?

Chen Hong 怎么了？不是上周末刚去过吗？

What’s up? Didn’t we just go there last weekend?

Jīntiān bùyīyàng. yì zhōngtiān jiàoshòu yào zài wángfǔjǐng shūdiàn qiānmíng shòushū.

Lucy 今天不一样。易中天教授要在王府井书店签名售书。

Yes, I know. But Professor Yi Zhongtian is going to sign books at the book store.

Zhè yǒu shénme dàbùliǎo de！wángfǔjǐng shūdiàn yòu bùshì dì-yī cì gǎo zhèzhǒng huódòng.

Chen Hong 这有什么大不了的！王府井书店又不是第一次搞这种活动。

What’s the big deal! It’s not the first time that someone has signed books at the store.

Nǐ bù zhīdào,yì jiàoshòu shì wǒ de ǒuxiàng. wǒ yīdìng yào nádào tā qīnbǐ qiānmíng de shū.

Lucy 你不知道，易教授是我的偶像。我一定要拿到他亲笔签名的书。

But it’s Professor Yi Zhongtian. He’s my idol. I’m going to get a book with his signature.

Hǎobā hǎobā,wǒ péi nǐ qù.

Chen Hong 好吧好吧，我陪你去。

Ok, I’ll go with you.

Address

Pippo — Sun, 02 May 2010 06:38:58 +0000

               O, tiān na.
David     哦，天哪。
               Oh, Gosh.

              Zěnme le?
Tom     怎么了？
              What’s the matter?

               Jì gěi wǒ āyí de xìn tuì huílái le.
David    寄给我阿姨的信退回来了。
               The letter to my aunt was sent back.

              Zěnme huì zhèyàng?
Tom     怎么会这样?
              What’s wrong?

               Shuí zhīdào!
David    谁知道！
               Who knows!

              Dìzhǐ shì ***, duì ma?
Tom      地址是***，对吗？
              The address is ***. Is that right?

               O, wǒ lòu le gè líng.
David     噢，我漏了个零。
               Oh, I forgot a "0".

How young are you?

Pippo — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:50:40 +0000

	Qǐng wèn nín duōdà niánjì le?
Li Lei	请问您多大年纪了？
	Excuse me, but could I ask you how old you are?
	Wǒ jīnnián bāshíjiǔ le.
Old man	我今年八十九了。
	I’m turning 89 this year.

	Nín kànqǐlái hěn niánqīng ā!
Li Lei	您看起来很年轻啊！
	You still look so young!
	Wǒ měitiān dōu dǎ Tàijíquán.
Old man	我每天都打太极拳。
	Well, I practice Tai chi every day.

Traffic accident

Pippo — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:33:16 +0000

	Kàn, zhuàngchē le. zěnme bàn?
Alice	看，撞车了。怎么办？
	Look, there’s an accident. What should we do?
	Bàojǐng!
Tom	报警！
	Call the police！

	Hǎo de, bùguò hàomǎ duōshǎo?
Alice	好的，不过号码多少？
	Yes, but what’s the number?
	Yāo yāo líng
Tom	一一零！
	110!

	Yǒurén liúxiě le.
Alice	有人流血了。
	Somebody is bleeding.
	Gǎnjǐn jiào jiùhùchē！
Tom	赶紧叫救护车！
	Call an ambulance, quick!

A plane Crash

Pippo — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:22:40 +0000

	Zuótiān yǒu jià fēijī chūshìle.
Chen Hong	昨天有架飞机出事了。
	A plane crashed yesterday.
	Shì ma? zài nǎr?
Kate	是吗？在哪儿？

	Zài Dàlián fùjìnde hǎiyù zhuìhuǐle.
Chen Hong	在大连附近的海域坠毁了。
	It happened off the coast near Dalian.
	Nà jī shàngde chéngkè zěnmeyàng?
Kate	那机上的乘客怎么样？
	Are the passengers alright?

	Fēijī shàng gòng yǒu yībǎi èrshí míng chéngkè. Yǒu bāshí duō rén yùnànle.
Chen Hong	飞机上共有一百二十名乘客，有八十多人遇难了。
	There were 120 passengers in total. More than 80 people were killed.
	Zhēn shì tài cǎn le.
Kate	真是太惨了。
	What a terrible disaster.

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