Comprehensive Grammar

Routledge Comprehensive Grammars
Comprehensive Grammars are available for the following languages:
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Titles of related interest
Basic Chinese: A Grammar and Workbook
by Yip Po-Ching and Don Rimmington
Intermediate Chinese: A Grammar and Workbook
by Yip Po-Ching and Don Rimmington
Colloquial Chinese
by Kan Qian


CHINESE:
A COMPREHENSIVE
GRAMMAR
Yip Po-Ching and
Don Rimmington

Routledge
Taylor &. Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK


First published 2004
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
© 2004 Yip Po-Ching and Don Rimmington
Typeset in Times by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong
Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Yip, Po-Ching, 1935Chinese : a comprehensive grammar / Yip Po-Ching and Don Rimmington.
p. cm. - (Routledge comprehensive grammars)
1. Chinese language-Grammar. I. Title. II. Series.
PL1107.Y56 2003
495.1'82421-dc21
2003010198
ISBN 0-415-15031-0 (hbk)

ISBN 0-415-15032-9 (pbk)


CONTENTS

Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction

xiv
xv
xvi

1

Nouns and Nominalisations
1.1 Nouns and categorisation
1.1.1 Common nouns
1.1.2 Material nouns
1.1.3 Collective nouns
1.1.4 Abstract nouns
1.1.5 Proper nouns
1.1.6 Temporal and spatial nouns
1.2 Nouns and reference
1.2.1 Definite or indefinite/generic reference
1.2.2 Exclusive reference
1.3 Nouns and plurality
1.4 Nouns and syntactic functions
1.5 Nouns and semantic
fields

1.6 Nominalisations

1
1
1
3
4
5
5
6
7
7
9
9
11
13
16

2

Numerals and Measures
2.1 Digits, units and cardinal numbers
2.2 Ordinals
2.3 Enumeration
2.4 Fractions, percentages and decimals
2.4.1 Fractions
2.4.2 Percentages
2.4.3 Decimals
2.5 Imprecise numbers, halves and multiples
2.5.1 Imprecise numbers (^1)iic yueshu)

2.5.2 Halves
2.5.3 Multiples
2.6 Mathematical symbols and simple arithmetic equations
2.7 The multiplication table
2.8 Measure words
2.8.1 Standard measures
2.8.2 Classifying measures

17
17
19
20
20
20
21
21
22
22
25
25
26
26
27
27
32


vi Contents
2.9
2.10

2.11
2.12
2.13
2.14

Measure words and other attributives
Reduplication of measure words
Missing measure words
Disyllabic measure words
Compound measure words
Duration and frequency measures

41
43
44
46
46
46

Pronouns, Pronominals and Pro-words
3.1 Personal pronouns
3.2 Demonstrative pronouns
3.3 Interrogative pronouns
3.4 Indefinite pronouns
3.5 Enumerative pronouns
3.6 Pronominals
3.7 Pro-words

47
47

48
50
52
54
54
56

Adjectives as Attributives and Predicatives
4.1 Adjectives in Chinese
4.2 Qualifiers or quantifiers
4.3 Degree adverbs and complements
4.4 The descriptive indicator #J de
4.5 Attributives and predicatives
4.5.1 Adjectives and their functional capacity
4.5.2 Attributive-only adjectives
4.5.3 Predicative-only adjectives
4.6 Various inherent features of adjectives
4.6.1 Gradable vs non-gradable
4.6.2 Conditional vs unconditional
4.6.3 Derivable vs non-derivable
4.6.4 Reduplicable vs non-reduplicable
4.6.5 Derogatory vs commendatory
4.7 Adjectives and valency
4.8 Adjectives and collocation
4.9 Adjectives and comparison

58
58
59
60

62
65
65
67
68
69
69
70
70
71
72
73
73
74

Attributives other than Adjectives
5.1 The different forms of attributive
5.1.1 Nouns
5.1.2 Verbs
5.1.3 Clauses
5.1.4 Prepositional or postpositional phrases with &5 de
5.1.5 Numerals or demonstratives and measure words
5.1.6 Pronouns
5.1.7 Idioms
5.2 The sequencing of attributives

76
77
77
78

78
78
79
80
80
81


Contents vii
5.3

Combination, embedding and delaying
5.3.1 Commas or conjunctions
5.3.2 Longer attributives

85
85
.-86

Action Verbs
6.1 Transitive and intransitive
6.2 Dynamic and static differences
6.3 Dative verbs
6.4 Causative verbs
6.5 Coverbs
6.6 Agreement between the subject and its action verb predicate
6.7 Agreement between an action verb and its object
6.8 Action verbs: completion and continuation
6.8.1 The completion aspect
6.8.2 The continuation aspect

6.9 Action verbs: manner described and experience explained
6.9.1 Manner of existence with J | zhe
6.9.2 Persistent posture or continuous movement with ^f zhe
6.9.3 Accompanying manner with JJ zhe
6.9.4 Experience and M guo

88
89
91
91
95
98
99
101
102
102
105
107
107
108
108
109

Action Verbs and Time
7.1 Point of time
7.2 Duration
7.3 Brief duration
7.4 Frequency
7.5 ft mei 'every'
7.6 Other time expressions

7.7 Negation and time reference
7.7.1 Negative expository sentences
7.7.2 Negative narrative sentences
7.7.3 Negative descriptive sentences

112
112
113
116
118
120
120
121
121
122
123

Action Verbs and Locations
8.1 Location expressions and position indicators
8.2 4 zai with location expressions
8.3 Location expressions as sentence terminators
8.4 Location expressions as sentence beginners
8.5 Direction indicators
8.5.1 Simple direction indicators 3lt lai 'to come' and
i: qu 'to go'
8.5.2 Disyllabic direction indicators
8.5.3 Direction indicators indicating meaning other than
direction
8.6 The destination indicator 3\ dao 'to arrive'

124
124
126
127
129
131
131
132
134
136


viii Contents
9

10

Adverbials
9.1 Restrictive adverbials
9.1.1 Time expressions
9.1.2 Monosyllabic referential adverbs
9.2 Descriptive adverbials
9.3 Initiator-orientated or action-oriented descriptive adverbials
9.4 Omission of the descriptive marker ife de
9.5 Relative position of adverbials

138
138
138
141

143
145
147
148

Complements
10.1 Resultative complements
10.1.1 Adjectival resultative complements
10.1.2 Verbal resultative complements
10.1.3 Resultative complements in ffi ba, tt bei and
notional passive constructions
10.1.4 Resultative complements and intended/expected
outcomes in imperative sentences
10.2 Potential complements
10.2.1 Adjectival potential complements
10.2.2 Verbal potential complements
10.2.3 Potential directional complements
10.2.4 Figurative uses and other features of resultative
complements
10.3 Complements of manner and consequential state

150
150
150
151

11 Coverbs
11.1

Peer characteristics

11.1.1 Registral
11.1.2 Collocational
11.1.3 Governmental
11.1.4 Prosodic
11.1.5 Sequential
11.1.6 Usage
11.2 Semantic categories
11.2.1 Direction and position
11.2.2 Time
11.2.3 With, for or by someone or something
11.2.4 Instrument and vehicle
11.2.5 By means of, in accordance with, etc.
11.2.6 Grammatical operators
11.3 Coverbal positions
12

ffiba Constructions
12.1 The structural features of fE ba construction

152
153
153
153
154
154
155
155
159
160
160

160
161
162
162
163
163
164
174
180
183
185
193
196
200
200


Contents ix

12.2
12.3
12.4
12.5

12.1.1 Definite-referenced object
12.1.2 The elements after the main verb
12.1.3 The main verb in a ffi ba construction
Intentionality in a ffi ba construction
ffi ba construction and imperatives
A particular feature of ffi ba construction in evaluative

sentences
IE ba versus # jiang

201
201
204
205
206
207
208

13 The Passive Voice and W
ft bei Constructions
13.1 Three forms of passive
13 .2 The notional passive
13.3 The formal passive
13.3.1 Salient features
13.3.2 Basic characteristics
13.3.3 Imperatives
13.3.4 Whole-part relationships
13.3.5 A classical variant
13.4 The lexical passive

209
209
210
217
217
218
220

220
221
221

14

226

Chain Constructions
14.1 The first verb introducing a coverbal phrase that indicates
location, etc.
14.2 The second verb indicating purpose
14.3 The first verb indicating reason or cause
14.4 The first verb expressing accompanying manner or
circumstances
14.5 Consecutive actions
14.6 Simultaneous actions
14.7 An emphatic chain construction
14.8 An articulated chain construction

226
227
232
234
236
240
240
241

15 The Verb Ji shi

15.1 Jl shi introducing a predicative
15.2 Predicatives with an optional Jk shi
15.3 ft shi indicating existence
15.4 JE shi expressing emphasis
15.5 Jl: shi assessing an overall situation
15.6 & shi forming part of a connector
15.7 JH shi as a pivot

243
243
247
248
250
255
256
257

16 The Verb M you
16.1 ^ you indicating possession
16.2 W you indicating existence

258
258
259


x Contents
16.3

W you introducing subjects and time or location expressions

of indefinite reference
16.4
W you specifying degree or extent
16.5
M you introducing comparison
16.6
-fi" you as an adjectival formative
16.7
M you expressing ideas of development and change
16.8
^ you introducing a conditional clause
16.9
$t(W) mei(you) as negator of action verbs
16.9.1 Negator of past action/experience
16.9.2 Affirmative-negative questions and past action/
experience
16.9.3 Another form of the question
16.10 -n you to indicate 'part of
16.11 * you as the first verb in a sequence
17

Verbs that Take Verbal or Clausal Objects
17.1 Intentiorl and aspiration
17.1.1 Positive intentions and aspirations
17.1.2 Negative intentions
17.1.3 Uncertain aspirations
17.1.4 Group intentions
17.1.5 Voiced intentions
17.1.6 Intentions put into practice
17.1.7 Frustration and compulsion

17.2 Attitudes
17.3 Knowing and thinking
17.4 Appearance and value
17.5 Dummy verbs

18 Modal Verbs
18.1 Semantic categories of modal verbs
18.1.1 Permission
18.1.2 Possibility
18.1.3 Probability
18.1.4 Ability or skill
18.1.5 Obligation
18.1.6 Wishing
18.1.7 Willingness
18.1.8 Necessity
18.1.9 Boldness
18.2 Speaker perspective of modal verbs
18.3 Negation of modal verbs
18.4 Grammatical orientation of modal verbs

261
263
264
264
265
265
266
266
266
267

267
268
269

270
270
271
272
272
272
273
273
273
274
275
276
278

278
278
279
280
281
282
283
285
285
286
286
287

288


Contents xi
19

Telescopic Constructions
19.1 Topic and sub-topic
19.2 Topic and subject
19.3 'Subject + predicate' as topic
19.4 '(Subject) + predicate' inserted between 'topic' and
'comment'

290
290
292
294

20

Narration, Description, Exposition and Evaluation
20.1 Narrative sentences
20.2 Descriptive sentences
20.3 Expository sentences
20.3.1 Topic-comment expository sentences
20.3.2 Subject-predicate expository sentences
20.3.3 Negation of expository sentences
20.4 Evaluative sentences
20.4.1 The modal verb evaluative
20.4.2 The modified adjective/complement evaluative

20.5 Comparisons between sentence types
20.6 Concluding remarks

296
297
303
306
306
308
309
310
310
311
311
314

21

7 fe-Expository Sentences
21.1 Change or reversal of a previous situation
21.2 Subjective endorsement behind the objective explanation
21.3 Summing up after a series of actions
21.4 A rhythmic necessity for monosyllabic verbs or verbalised
adjectives
21.5 Two or three functions in one
21.6 /^-expository sentences and the four basic sentence types
21.6.1 Expository sentences
21.6.2 Narrative sentences
21.6.3 Descriptive sentences
21.6.4 Evaluative sentences

315
316
319
320

Conjunctions and Conjunctives
22.1 Conjunctions that link words or phrases
22.1.1 The four conjunctions
22.1.2 W er 'also'
22.1.3 # bing 'also'
22.2 Clausal conjunctions and conjunctives
22.3 Clausal conjunctions and conjunctives in semantic categories
22.3.1 Giving reasons: because, because of, therefore
22.3.2 Making inferences: since
22.3.3 Expressing supposition: if

328
328
328
329
330
330
331
331
333
334

22

294

321
323
323
324
324
325
326


xii Contents
22.3.4
22.3.5
22.3.6
22.3.7
22.3.8
22.3.9

22.4
22.5

Stating conditions: only if, only when
336
Offering concessions: though, although, yet
337
Defying setbacks: no matter
339
Clarifying time: when, as soon as, after, before, etc. 340
Indicating preference: would rather

342
Elucidating one's purpose: in order to, so as to,
so as not to
343
22.3.10 Encoding miscellaneous relational concepts:
apart from, let alone, otherwise
344
Correlations and parallels
344
Zero connectives
345

23

Interrogative Sentences
23.1 Yes-no questions
23.2 Surmise questions
23.3 Suggestions in the form of questions
23.4 Alternative questions
23.5 Affirmative-negative questions
23.6 Question-word questions
23.7 Follow-up queries with % ne
23.8 Rhetorical questions
23.9 Exclamatory questions

347
347
349
350
350

351
352
356
356
357

24

Imperatives and Exclamations
24.1 Verbs in imperatives restricted to voluntary actions
24.2 Imperatives: beginners and end-particles
24.3 Spoken and written requests
24.4 Interjections and exclamatory expressions
24.5 Exclamations: particles and degree adverbials or
complements

359
360
360
364
365

25

Abbreviations and Omissions
25.1 Abbreviations in answers to questions
25.2 Abbreviations in face-to-face exchanges
25.3 Abbreviations in comparisons
25.4 The hidden presence of the narrator in a narrative
25.5 Omissions in a discourse

373
373
374
374
375
375

26

Prosodic Features
26.1 The overall rhythm of Chinese speech
26.2 Syntactic sequences and their underlying rhythm
26.2.1 'Verb + object'patterns
26.2.2 The 'attributive + headword' pattern
26.3 Echoing patterns of rhythm

379
379
385
385
387
389

371


Contents xiii
26.4

27

Expanding, condensing and padding to get into the
appropriate rhythm

Stylistic Considerations in Syntactic Constructions
27.1 The presentational factor
27.1.1 Layered or sequential images
27.1.2 Reiteration for cumulative effect
27.1.3 Factorisation
27.1.4 Parallel matching
27.1.5 Inversion: attributives or adverbials after their
headwords
27.2 The rhetorical factor
27.2.1 Coupling: XY, XY
27.2.2 Progression: XY, XY, XY . . .
27.2.3 Echoing
27.2.4 Alternation: long and short sentences
27.3 Concluding remarks

Bibliography
Index

390
392
392
393
394
396
397

399
399
399
401
402
403
404
405
408


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to thank Ms Li Quzhen for all her help with the pinyin annotations of the illustrative examples. Without her assistance and support the project
would never have been completed.
The authors also wish to thank members of the British Chinese Language
Teaching Seminar (an affiliated body of the British Association of Chinese
Studies, under the Oxford China Centre) for valuable suggestions on grammatical problems.
Any errors are, of course, entirely the responsibility of the authors.
Yip Po-Ching and Don Rimmington
May 2003


ABBREVIATIONS

adj.
cl.
class.
colloq.
cv

dial.
dv
fml.
infml.
lit.
mv
mw
n.
neut.
num.
obs.
Ppron.
s.
svo
vb.
vs.

adjective
clause
classical
colloquial
coverb
dialect
dummy verb
formal
informal
literally
modal verb
measure word
noun

neutral
numeral
obsolete
predicate
pronoun
subject
subject-verb-object
verb
versus


INTRODUCTION

This book aims to provide a comprehensive grammar of Chinese. It is intended
for readers who have some knowledge of the language and are at ease with
its written form, whether in traditional characters or romanisation. We have
endeavoured to minimise the use of technical expressions, but, where linguistic
terms are introduced, we have provided explanations.
We believe that a comprehensive grammar has to be comprehensive in two
senses. First, it must highlight the specific characteristics of the language being
described and, where appropriate, indicate how they differ from those of other
languages. In the case of Chinese, for example, syntactic rules are often seen to
be operational in conjunction with semantic, prosodic and discoursal principles.
Second, the grammar must be able to cover (and therefore generate) all possible
(and acceptable) constructions in the language. We have consequently adopted
an eclectic approach and have made reference to a range of grammatical theories
in order to achieve what we hope is a multi-perspective approach: semantic,
pragmatic, stylistic, prosodic, structural, functional, discoursal, transformational
and generative. In our view syntactic generalisations become comprehensive
only when they are underpinned by judgements on particular language characteristics that draw on theoretical approaches relevant to those characteristics.

THE LAYOUT OF THE GRAMMAR
For ease of reference, each chapter provides an independent exposition of a
particular grammatical feature and can be consulted by readers wishing to investigate that feature. Footnotes offer cross-references to related issues in other
chapters. Lists of language examples are given throughout to illustrate points
under discussion, and each example is in Chinese script and romanisation, with
an English translation and, where needed, a literal translation.
The book lays particular stress on functional types of sentence in Chinese,
and this has influenced the sequencing of chapters. The non-morphological
nature of the language with the resultant absence of noun and verb inflection, and
of general markers for definite and indefinite reference, means that most grammatical features have to be seen in the context of the sentence, or more usefully
the sentence type, as a whole. We have identified four basic sentence types and
a fifth overriding type, and these are discussed in detail in Chapters 20 and 21.
The four basic types are: narrative (action-verb based and associated with the
completed action marker); descriptive (again generally featuring action verbs,
but with continuous action markers); expository (covering a range of explanatory


Numerals and Measures 43

AM&JB

$]—/^M]&

Hang ge laoshi
Hang ge xln lai de
laoshi
xln lai de Hang ge
laoshi

two teachers
two teachers who have
newly arrived
two teachers who have
newly arrived

ba jia shangdian
ba jia mai yifu de
shangdian
mai yifu de ba jia
shangdian

eight shops
eight shops which
sell clothes
eight shops which
sell clothes

yl ge jiating
yl ge fuql jingchang
chaojia de jiating

a family
a family in which
husband and wife
quarrel
a family in which
husband and wife
quarrel

fuql jingchang chaojia
de yl ge jiating

the
often
the
often

In fact, the longer the attributive, the more likely it is for the 'numeral + measure' phrase to go closer to its headword, rather than follow the normal 'numeral
+ measure word + attributive + headword sequence'.

2.10

REDUPLICATION OF MEASURE WORDS

Measure words may often be reduplicated to mean plurality, profusion, or exclusiveness. For example:
tiao tiao dalu tong luoma
ge ge dou you zeren

All roads lead to Rome,
Everybody bears
responsibility.

These reduplications may be preceded by the numeral — yl 'one' to mean
'every' and may be used attributively like a 'numeral + measure word' phrase:

-^nniSS
^i^Jjfe^r

yl duo duo hua

yl men men kecheng
yl ge ge liike

every single flower
each and every course
every passenger

The attributive indicator #J de may also be included after the reduplication to
mean 'many':
yi zuo zuo de qiao
yl tai tai de diannao

many a bridge
many computers


44 Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar
Reduplication of measure words together with their attached numeral — yi 'one',
however, means 'one after another':
"4—-'hite 29 yi ge yi ge de
one after another
—$;—^jft
yf bu yi bil de
step by step
— P — • ML yi kou yi kou de mouthful after mouthful

2.11

MISSING MEASURE WORDS

Measure words, as we have seen, must accompany any noun associated with a
numeral. However, sometimes measure words may seem to be missing from
certain structures. One possibility is that the noun itself may be a measure. For
example:

-A

yi ge ren
yi ren

one person (where A ren is a noun)
one person (where A ren is a measure)

yi ren chuan
yi ge xlngql
yi xlngql

a one-man boat
one week (where
one week (where J

yi xlngql jiaql

a one-week holiday

For example:
-AJJ&

1 xingqi is a noun)
xlngqi is a measure)

For example:

There is some ambiguity with temporal nouns. Some of them are only nouns,
some may be both nouns and measures and while others may only be used as
measures:
"^^M^frt
—'hfrt

yi ge xiaoshi
yi xiaoshi

one hour (where /hftt xiaoshi is a noun)
one hour (where /J^Bt xiaoshi is a measure)

yi ge zhongtou

(colloq.) one hour (#J^ zhongtou can
only be used as a noun)
*one hour

*yl zhongtou
*yi ge tian
yi tian

*one day (A tian is normally used only
as a measure)
one day

1ft de is a particle used to mark descriptive adverbials. See §18.2.

?c tian may sometimes be used as a noun when qualified by an attributive, e.g. —'
da qingtian 'a bright sunny day'.

yi ge


Numerals and Measures 45
yi ge libai
*yl libai
*yl ge zhou

(colloq.) one week (}LIP libai is only
used as a noun)
*one week

yi zhou

*one week (Jl zhou can only be used as
a measure)
(formal) one week

—E

yi ge yue
yi yue

one month (where M yue is a noun)
January (where H yue is still a noun)

*—/j^31

—^

*yj g e n j3n
yi nian

*one year
one year (where ^ nian is a measure)

Another situation, where a measure word seems to be missing, is in quadrisyllabic
expressions and established idioms. As the use of measure words is a relatively
recent development in the history of the language, it is not unusual that in
expressions derived from Classical Chinese one finds numerals directly associated
with nouns. For example:
yi shi wu cheng
(lit. one thing without success) to have accomplished nothing
M yi xie burii yi xie
(lit. one crab smaller than another crab) each one is worst than the last
iil yi ye zhang mil | bu jian taishan
(lit. one leaf screens one's eye, one does not see Mount Tai)
one's view of the important is obscured by the trivial
HWWi§ sanyan liangyu
(lit. three words, two expressions) in a few words
H'MlS'M wuhii sihai (lit. five lakes, four seas) all corners of the world
A speaker/writer of the language can create expressions modelled on this omission
pattern:
(a) when using — yi 'one' with a quadrisyllabic rhythm:
&— |H]M
^~#,&
31

zhei yi wenti
mou yi tedian

this problem
a certain characteristic

¥ nian to indicate period of time may only be used as a measure. The exception is the expression
gei ni bai ge nian 'wish you a Happy New Year1 where it is a noun.


46 Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar
£5^J?>fc32
W - 3 f W?

ling yi yaoqiu
nei yi fangmian

another request/demand
Which aspect?

(b) when using IP nei or 3£ zhei in colloquial speech without — yi:
i£^£E
SWJL

zhei nianji
nei shir

at this age
as far as that matter is concerned

On the other hand, the numeral — yi 'one' is usually omitted before a measure
word and a noun which is the object of a monosyllabic verb: e.g. S 2 ^ mai
ben shu 'to buy a book' instead of 5 £ — ^ ^ mai yi ben shu or »§# S he bei jiu
'to drink a glass of wine' instead of "i§—ffS he yi bei jiu.33

2.12

DISYLLABIC MEASURE WORDS

The number of measure words in Chinese is approximately 450, half of which
are in common use. By far the great majority of them, as we have seen, are
monosyllabic, but a small number of established or ad hoc disyllabic measure
words are used in colloquial speech. For example:
yi dulu putao
yi geda gaor
yi qiazi yan

2.13

(colloq.) a bunch of grapes
(colloq.) a small piece of cake
(dial.) a pinch of salt

COMPOUND MEASURE WORDS

Measure words, particularly in technical texts, can appear as compounded measurements. Generally speaking, the compounding usually takes place between an
average or universal measure and a duration or frequency measure. The average
or standard measure is mentioned first followed immediately by the duration or
frequency measure. For example:
renci

jiaci
qianwa xiaoshi

number of [for example] visits from people
(within a designated period)
number of flights (within a designated period)
kilowatts per hour

2.14 DURATION AND FREQUENCY MEASURES
Duration and frequency measures are used in a different way from nominal
measures. They will be discussed in full in Chapter 8 which deals with duration
and frequency complements.
32

33

If the quadrisyllable rhythm is not adhered to, the necessary measure word needs to be supplied,
e.g. 9>%\—^h^sR lingwai yi ge yaoqiu.
See Chapter 26 on Prosodic Features.


3

PRONOUNS, PRONOMINALS
AND PRO-WORDS

3.1

PERSONAL PRONOUNS

The system of personal pronouns in Modern Standard Chinese is laid out in the
following table:

person

singular

plural
speaker only

m

first person

SflJ
women
'we; us'

wo
'I; me'
normal

polite

ni

nin
'you'

ts

second person
'you'

itL
ta
'he; him'

ta
'she; her'

zanmen
'we; us'

Ml
nimen
'you'

masculine feminine neuter
third person

speaker and hearer

"6
ta
'it'

masculine

feminine

neuter

-en
Ml
Ml
tamen
tamen
tamen
'they; them' 'they; them' 'they; them'

We can see that, first, no distinction is made between subject and object cases
in the pronominal system in Chinese. For example, Sc wo stands for either 'I'
or 'me'.
Second, the distinction between the two forms of first person plural Scfll women
and n|d zanmen as indicated in the table is not always made by native speakers,
particularly those from the south of the country.
Third, the polite form for the second person singular fj nin, is in practice most
commonly used in addressing superiors or new acquaintances. There is no corresponding form in the plural, and, therefore, other supplementary phrases have to
be used to convey the kind of politeness intended, e.g. ifciiJWiii nimen Hang
wei 'you two (honourable sirs)', etc.


48 Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar
Fourth, in the third person singular, the differentiation between genders only
appears in the written script and no attempt is made in the spoken form to
register such differences.
The possessive forms corresponding to these pronouns are expressed by adding
the particle f-ft de after the pronouns; and there is no distinction between possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns. For example:
my; mine

our; ours (inclusive)
your; yours
your; yours (polite)
her; hers
their; theirs (masculine)

MW

mm

wode
zanmende
nide
ninde
tade
tamende

zhe shi ninde cha
This is your tea. (possessive adjective)
zhei feng xin shi ninde
This letter is yours, (possessive pronoun)

3.2

DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

In Modern Standard Chinese, there are only two sets of demonstrative pronouns
in common use:
close to the speaker

away from the speaker

& zhe 'this'

315 na 'that'

&JI zher or i i l t zheli 'here'

M)l nar or 3PS nali 'there'

For example:
zhe shi wode
na shi nide

This is mine.
That is yours.

These two demonstrative pronouns on their own can only be used in the topic1
position. When they function as demonstrative adjectives, they combine with
measure words or 'numeral + measure' phrases, and like other pronouns can
then occur in any position in a sentence:
The forms of topic-comment sentences as opposed to subject-predicate sentences are discussed in
Chapter 21.


Pronouns, Pronominals and Pro-words 49

3P/1*

zhei (yl) ge

zhei Hang ge
zhei (yl) xie

this one
these two
these

nei (yl) ben
nei ji ben
nei (yi) xie

that copy
those few copies
those

wo mai nei Hang ge
wo buyao zhei ji ben
wo dui neixie bu gan
xlngqu

I'd like to buy those two.
I don't want these few copies.
I'm not interested in those.

Note that iK 'this' and 3P 'that' are always pronounced respectively as zhe and
na when used as demonstrative pronouns on their own. However, as demonstrative adjectives, when they are followed by a measure, they are also pronounced
zhei and nei by many speakers. This is almost certainly a phonetic fusion of zhe
+ yi 'one' and na + yi 'one'. Even when yi 'one' is present in its own right in an
utterance, the pronunciation zhei and nei can still be used. For example:
zhei (yl) jian dayl

nei (yl) tian

this overcoat
that day

It also naturally follows that & * 'these' and I P # 'those' are pronounced zheixie
and neixie, since the plural measure * xie 'some' is it itself used only with the
measure — yl 'one'. 2
The location words here and there are also based on the two demonstratives:
here
there

zher

3)1 nar

or
or

am*
IIUL/8PJi. °

M5L zheh
IPS nali
zher/zheli you niunai
nide shubao zai nar/nali

Here is some milk.
Your schoolbag is
over there.

Finally there are a number of demonstratives (used both as pronouns and
adjectives), that occur as established words, expressions, idioms, or sayings.3
These expressions are more literary than colloquial.

2
3

See §1.3.
These demonstratives, being classical in origin, do not occur with measure words and are followed
immediately by nouns.


50 Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar
this

Itk ci

m
t

MM
Mitk
Sift
Wi si

J»A

# zhe ^ S
W. bi

that

Kqi
this or that

!$w

M. shi

^0
\% gai

ciwai
cidi/cichil
cike
congci
youci
si ren
zhe fan
bi shi
qi shi
rushi
shiri
gai xiao

apart from this
this place; here
this moment; now
since then; from now on

from here
(fml.) this person
(obs.) on this occasion
(fml.) at that time
(fml.) just at that time
(fml.) like this
(fml.) that day
(fml.) this or that school

In writings which adopt a more formal tone, itb ci 'this; here' and i% gai 'that;
the said; the above-mentioned' are still commonly used:

formal in tone

English

colloquial equivalent

itfc*/jtt*t cidi/ckhu

SJL/iiM zher/zheli

in this place

itm clshi

S f W J L zhei jian shir

this matter

i £ i p i l # gai xiang gongzuo

S P ^ I # nei xiang gongzuo

that job

i^ifeK gai diqu

i | 5 ^ * K nei ge diqu

that area

3.3

INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS
English

Chinese

human beings

who/whom

it shui or (colloq.) shei

inanimate objects

what

Hk. shenme

human beings or inanimate objects

which

if na/nei + measure word

one of an ordered closed set

which

/I ji (+ measure word)

place

where4

WJL/W1. nar/nali

Though 'where' is an interrogative adverb in English, WJL nar in Chinese is a pronoun, e.g.
3
ni shang nar qu (lit. you to where go) 'Where are you off to?'.


Pronouns, Pronominals and Pro-words 51
From the table we can see that there are only two interrogative pronouns ife shui
(or shei) and ft" 'A shenme, and that there is no case differentiation with i t shui.
shui /shei bu qu
ni zhao shui/shei
zhe shi shenme

ni yao shenme

Who is not going?
Whom are you looking for?
What is this?
What do you want?

i t shui/shei may of course be turned into a possessive pronoun or adjective by
the addition of tfy de:
zhei ben shu shi shuide/sheide
zhe shi shuide/sheide shu

Whose is this book?
Whose book is this?

shenme may also be used as an interrogative adjective:5
Jft?

ni xihuan ting shenme
ylnyue
ni shenme shihou zou

What music do you like
listening to?
What time are you leaving?

On the other hand, SP na/nei is an interrogative adjective which is always used
in conjunction with an appropriate measure word or 'measure + noun' phrase
(preceded or not preceded by a numeral) to form an interrogative pronominal
expression meaning 'which one/two/ etc'. Here are some examples:

§P(—);£?
W( — )^?
W(~)#?

na/nei
na/nei
na/nei
na/nei
na/nei
na/nei
na/nei
na/nei
na/nei

(yi) tian6
(yi) nian
(yi) jian
ben shu
Hang zhi bi
xie yizi
tiao kiizi
ban feijl
ge daifu

Which day?
Which year?
Which jacket/shirt/coat/, etc.?
Which book?
Which two pens?
Which chairs?

Which pair of trousers?
Which flight?
Which doctor?

As we can see, ff na/nei is used to single out a particular one or number from an
unlimited group of people or things. If the selection is made from an ordered and
closed set of items, 71 ji is often used instead. For example:

6

When fr£, shenme is used as an interrogative adjective, it can be linked with human nouns to
connote contempt: e.g. #J6fr&A? ni shi shenme ren 'Who/What are you?', -ft'AVM'jf^
shenme jiji fenzi 'What an activist'.', etc.
As with zhe/zhei 'this' and na/nei 'that' above 9 na followed by — yi may also be pronounced
as nei.


52 Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar
•(—)3c na/nei (yi) tian = JI 4 ! ji hao7
-tB na/nei ge yue
= JIM ji yue
(—)¥ na/nei (yi) nian
\ ji shi

Which day of the month?
Which month?
Which year?8
What time (i.e. which hour, day,
etc.)9
What time (i.e. which hour)?

) ji dian
(zhong)
: ji nianji
Which year (in a school, etc.)?
r ji hao fang Which room?/What number room?
%Jl di ji
What place (in a race, exam, etc.)?
nar has an alternative form in SPJt nali, which is commonly used by
southern speakers:
ni qu nar/nali
ta zai nar/nali
nar/nali you cesuo

3.4

Where are you going?
Where is he?
Where is there a toilet?

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS

By indefinite pronouns we mean words like 'everybody', 'anybody', 'nobody',
'everything', 'anything', 'nothing', and so on. In Chinese, these pronouns are
created by using the appropriate interrogative word10 in conjunction with a reference adverb, either H$ dou 'all' or til ye 'also':
shui/shei dou/ye
shenme dou/ye
na/nei ge dou/ye
nar/nali dou/ye

everyone, anyone
everything, anything
all, any
everywhere, anywhere

They generally occur in the topic position, that is at the beginning of an expository or evaluative sentence,11 and they can be followed by either a positive or
negative comment:

Please note however that the answer to W(~)3c na/nei (yl) tian may for instance be: (a) today;
or (b) Tuesday; or (c) 21st; while to /l-*j ji hao, can only be 21st; likewise the answer to BP^H
na/nei ge yue is either (a) this month; or (b) May; but to SIM ji yue, can only be May.
As ^ nian 'year' is an open set, it is therefore not usually used with /I ji.
W shi 'time' is not normally used on its own but often occurs with /I ji to ask meaning 'which
hour, day, month', etc. in general terms.
In these constructions, the interrogative pronoun becomes indefinite: i% shui/shei 'who(m)ever',
VV'A shenme 'whatever', 9-t na ge/nei ge 'whichever', and WJL/Wfi nar/nali 'wherever'.
See Chapter 20.