Chinese For Dummies (16 page)

Or a verb indicating that the action occurs habitually, such as

Niú chī cǎo.
牛吃草
. (nyo chir tsaow.) (
Cows eat grass.
)

Nouns that are preceded by a numeral and a classifier, especially when the word
dōu
都
(doe) (
all
) exists in the same breath, are also considered definite:

Sìge xuéshēng dōu hěn cōngmíng.
四个学生都很聪明
. (
四個學生都很聰明
.) (suh-guh shweh-shung doe hun tsoong-meeng.) (
The four students are all very smart.
)

If the word
yǒu
有
(yo) (
to exist
) comes before the noun and is then followed by a verb, it can also mean the reference is indefinite:

Yǒu shū zài zhuōzishàng.
有书在桌子上
. (
有書在桌子上
.) (yo shoo dzye jwaw-dzuh-shahng.) (
There are books on top of the table.
)

If you see the word
zhè
这
(
這
) (juh) (
this
) or
nà
那
(nah) (
that
), plus a classifier used when a noun comes after the verb, it indicates a definite reference:

Wǒ yào mǎi nà zhāng huà.
我要买那张画
. (
我要買那張畫
.) (waw yaow my nah jahng hwah.) (
I want to buy that painting.
)

Adjectives

As you learned in grade school (you were paying close attention, weren't you?), adjectives describe nouns. The question is where to put them. The general rule of thumb in Chinese is that if the adjective is pronounced with only one syllable, it appears immediately in front of the noun it qualifies:

cháng zhītiáo
长枝条
(
長枝
條
) (chahng jir-tyaow) (
long stick
)

lǜ chá
绿茶
(
綠茶
) (lyew chah) (
green tea
)

If the adjective has two syllables, though, the possessive particle
de
的
(duh) comes between it and whatever it qualifies:

cāozá de wǎnhuì
嘈杂的晚会
(
嘈雜的晚會
) (tsaow-dzah duh wahn-hway) (
noisy party
)

gānjìng de yīfu
干净的衣服
(
乾淨的衣服
)
(gahn-jeeng duh ee-foo) (
clean clothes
)

And if a numeral is followed by a classifier, those should both go in front of the adjective and what it qualifies:

sān běn yǒuyìsī de shū
三本有意思的书
(
三本有意思的書
)
(sahn bun yo-ee-suh duh shoo) (
three interesting books
)

yí jiàn xīn yīfu
一件新衣服
(
一件新服裝
)
(ee jyan shin ee-foo) (
a [piece of] new clothing
)

One unique thing about Chinese is that when an adjective is also the predicate, appearing at the end of a sentence, it follows the subject or the topic without needing the verb
shì:

Nà jiàn yīfu tài jiù.
那件衣服太旧
. (
那件衣服太舊
.) (nah jyan ee-foo tye jyoe.) (
That piece of clothing [is] too old.
)

Tā de fángzi hěn gānjìng.
他的房子很干净
. (
他的房子很乾淨
.)
(tah duh fahng-dzuh hun gahn-jeeng.) (
His house [is] very clean.
)

Getting Into Verbs, Adverbs, Negation, and Possession

Some interesting characteristics of the Chinese language include the fact that there's no such thing as first, second, or third person (for example,
I eat
versus
he eats
); no such thing as active or passive voices (for example,
hear
versus
be heard
); and no such thing as past or present (
I like him
versus
I liked him
). In addition, Chinese language has only two aspects — complete and continuous — whereas English has all sorts of different aspects: indefinite, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous, and so on. (Examples include ways of distinguishing among
I eat,
I ate,
I will eat, I said I would eat, I am eating,
and so on.)
Aspects
are what characterize the Chinese language in place of tenses. They refer to how a speaker views an event or state of being.

The following sections give you the lowdown on verbs, their friends the adverbs, and ways you can negate statements and express possession.

Verbs

Good news! You never have to worry about conjugating a Chinese verb in your entire life! If you hear someone say
Tāmen chī Yìdàlì fàn.
他们吃意大利饭
. (
他們吃意大利飯
.) (tah-men chir ee-dah-lee fahn.), it may mean
They eat Italian food.
just as easily as it may mean
They're eating Italian food.
Table 3-2
presents some common verbs; check out
Appendix B
for a more extensive list.

Table 3-2 Common Chinese Verbs

To be or not to be: The verb shì

Does the Chinese verb
shì
是
(shir) really mean
to be?
Or is it not to be?
Shì
is indeed similar to English in usage because it's often followed by a noun that defines the topic, such as
Tā shì wǒde lǎobǎn
.
他是我的老板
. (
他是我的老闆
.) (tah shir waw-duh laow-bahn.) (
He's my boss.
) or
Nà shì yīge huài huà.
那是一个坏话
. (
那是一個壞
話
.) (nah shir ee-guh hwye hwah.) (
That's a bad word
.).

Be careful not to put the verb
shì
in front of an adjective unless you really mean to make an emphatic statement. In the course of normal conversation, you may say
Nà zhī bǐ tài guì.
那支笔太贵
. (
那支筆太貴
.) (nah jir bee tye gway.) (
That pen [is] too expensive.
). You wouldn't say
Nà zhī bǐ shì tài guì.
那支笔是太贵
. (
那支筆是太貴
.) (nah jir bee shir tye gway.) unless you really want to say
That pen IS too expensive!
, in which case you'd emphasize the word
shì
when saying it.

To negate the verb
shì,
put the negative prefix
bù
不
(boo) in front of it:

Shì bú shì?
是不是
? (shir boo shir?) (
Is it or isn't it?
)

Zhè bú shì táng cù yú.
这不是糖醋鱼
. (
這不是糖醋魚
.) (jay boo shir tahng tsoo yew.) (
This isn't sweet and sour fish.
).

Flip to the later section “
Bù and méiyǒu: Total negation
” for more on negation prefixes.

Feeling tense? Le, guò, and other aspect markers

Okay, you can relax now. No need to get tense about Chinese, because verbs don't indicate tenses all by themselves. That's the job of
aspect markers,
which are little syllables that indicate whether an action has been completed, is continuing, has just begun, and just about everything in between.

Take the syllable
le
了
(luh), for example. If you use it as a suffix to a verb, it can indicate that an action has been completed:

Nǐ mǎi le hěn duō shū.
你买了很多书
. (
你買了很多書
.) (nee my luh hun dwaw shoo.) (
You bought many books.
)

Tā dài le tāde yǔsǎn.
他带了他的雨伞
. (
他帶了他的雨傘
.) (tah dye luh tah-duh yew-sahn.) (
He brought his umbrella.
)