Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar

exPreSSiNG Fear, Worry, aNd aNxiety 55.2 害怕 hàipà ‘to be afraid’ 我很害怕。 Wǒ hěn hàipà. I’m very afraid. 恐惧/恐懼 kǒngjù ‘to be terrif ...

indicating that something scares someone 55.4 To tell someone not to worry or be nervous, say: 别着急。 别紧张。 別緊張。 Bié zháojí. Bié jǐ ...

56 expressing speaker attitudes and perspectives Mandarin uses interjections at the beginning of the sentence and syllables at t ...

interjections 56.1 啊 à agreement, approval, acknowledgement 啊，你说得很对。 啊，你說得很對。 À, nǐ shuō de hěn duì. Yes. What you said was righ ...

exPreSSiNG SPeaker attitUdeS aNd PerSPeCtiVeS 56.2 56.2 Sentence final particles Sentence final particles occur in neutral tone. ...

57 Topic, focus, and emphasis 57.1 Introducing a topic The topic is the thing that is being discussed or written about. Mandarin ...

toPiC, FoCUS, aNd emPhaSiS 57.1 谈(到)/談(到) tán (dào) ‘speaking about (topic)’ 谈到中英两国的历史，他比谁都有兴趣。 談到中英兩國的歷史，他比誰都有興趣。 Tán dào Zhōng ...

Focus 57.2 In this example, the first reference and the omitted noun phrase are objects of the verb: 她买了裙子，到家以后马上穿上了(_)。 她買了裙子，到 ...

toPiC, FoCUS, aNd emPhaSiS 57.2 她把论文写完了。(verb with resultative ending) 她把論文寫完了。 Tā bǎ lùnwén xiěwán le. She finished writing her ...

Focus 57.2 除了 chúle... 以外 yǐwài marking an additional example: ‘in addition to noun phrase’ In this use of 除了 chúle... 以外 yǐwài, ...

toPiC, FoCUS, aNd emPhaSiS 57.2 谁都喜欢这个电影。连爸爸也喜欢。 誰都喜歡這個電影。連爸爸也喜歡。 Shéi dōu xǐhuan zhège diànyǐng. Lián bàba yě xǐhuan. Everyone ...

emphasis 57.3 If the object of the verb is a pronoun, 的 de can only occur after the pronoun, at the end of the sentence. Say thi ...

toPiC, FoCUS, aNd emPhaSiS 57.3 Neutral With emphasis 我们在小王家吃饭。 我们是在小王家吃饭。 我們在小王家吃飯。 我們是在小王家吃飯。 Wǒmen zài Xiǎo Wáng jiā chī fàn. ...

58 Guest and host The present-day roles of guest and host are based on centuries of tradition. In their simplest form, the roles ...

GUeSt aNd hoSt 58.4 58.2 Offering food and drink When the host offers the guest something to eat or drink, he or she either serv ...

additional expressions involving guest and host 58.5 有空再来。 有空再來。 Yǒu kòng zài lái. Come again when you have time. 慢走。 Màn zǒu. D ...

59 Giving and responding to compliments 59.1 Cultural conventions regarding praise Traditionally, Chinese people do not say 谢谢/謝 ...

Compliments and appropriate responses 59.3 59.3 Compliments and appropriate responses The type of compliment determines the type ...

60 expressing satisfaction and dissatisfaction 60.1 Expressing satisfaction 60.1.1 expressions used to indicate satisfaction The ...

expressing dissatisfaction 60.2 60.1.2 Situations in which satisfaction is expressed Question Response indicating satisfaction 这 ...