Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar

17 aspect Aspect refers to the way that an action is viewed, either from the outside, as a bounded event, or from the inside, as ...

Perfective aspect 17.1 (specifier) + number + classifier + noun 我看了(这)两本书。 我看了(這)兩本書。 Wǒ kàn le (zhè) liǎng běn shū. I read (the ...

ASPecT 17.1 你看完了那本书吗？ 你看完了那本書嗎？ Nǐ kànwán le nǎ běn shū ma? Have you finished reading that book? 你看完了那本书没有？ 你看完了那本書沒有？ Nǐ kànwán ...

durative aspect 17.2 overlap between perfective aspect in Mandarin and past tense in English, especially in simple affirmative s ...

ASPecT 17.2 她正在给妈妈打电话。 她正在給媽媽打電話。 Tā zhèngzài gěi māma dǎ diànhuà. She’s phoning her mom right now. 她在跟朋友唱歌。 她在跟朋友唱歌。 Tā zài gēn ...

durative aspect 17.2 17.2.3 duration vs. progression Sometimes, either 着/著 zhe or 在 zài can occur with a verb. The choice of 着/著 ...

ASPecT 17.2 Here are two examples, one with an action verb, one with an adjectival verb, that include both the durative suffix 着 ...

experiential aspect 17.3 17.3 experiential aspect Experiential aspect focuses on an action that has occurred in the past and sig ...

ASPecT 17.4 The negation of verb-过/過 guo is 没/沒(有) méi(yǒu) + verb- 过/過 guo. 我没看过那部电影。 我沒看過那部電影。 Wǒ méi kànguo nà bù diànyǐng. I ...

18 resultative verbs 18.1 Structure of resultative verbs Resultative verbs consist of an action verb ‘head’ and a resultative su ...

reSuLTATIve verbS 18.3 ‘look for’ something, not ‘find’ something, the open-ended action verb 买/買 mǎi means ‘shop for’ things, n ...

resultative suffixes 18.3 听见/聽見 tīngjiàn ‘hear’ 看见/看見 kànjiàn ‘see’ 闻见/聞見 wénjiàn ‘smell, perceive by smelling’ 遇见/遇见 yùjiàn ‘en ...

reSuLTATIve verbS 18.3 开/開 kāi ‘open, separate, (move) away’ This suffix follows a limited number of action verbs whose meanin ...

resultative verbs in affirmative and negative sentences 18.4 18.4 resultative verbs in affirmative and negative sentences In aff ...

reSuLTATIve verbS 18.5 18.5 Asking yes–no questions with resultative verbs To ask a yes–no question with 吗/嗎 ma, simply end your ...

The potential form of resultative verbs 18.6 18.6 The potential form of resultative verbs The potential form of resultative verb ...

reSuLTATIve verbS 18.6 那个山上有一个人，你看得見吗？ 那個山上有一個人，你看得見嗎？ Nèige shānshàng yǒu yī gè rén, nǐ kàndejiàn ma? There is a person on that ...

The potential form of resultative verbs 18.6 北京的房子太贵了。一般人住不起了。 北京的房子太貴了。一般人住不起了。 Běijīng de fángzi tài guì le. Yībānrén zhùbuqǐ ...

reSuLTATIve verbS 18.7 不定 budìng. This suffix only occurs in the negative potential form. It is most commonly used as a suffix ...

resultative suffixes with figurative or idiomatic meaning 18.7 今天我做了这么多事，真把我累坏了。 今天我做了這麽多事，真把我累壞了。 Jīntiān wǒ zuò le zhème duō s ...