Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar

(Marvins-Underground-K-12) #1

不 bù in resultative and directional verbs 27.4


根本 gēnběn (+ negation) ‘absolutely not’
那样的话根本没有道理。
那樣的話根本沒有道理。
Nà yàng de huà gēnběn méi yǒu dàoli.
That kind of talk makes no sense.

并/並 bìng (+ negation) ‘absolutely (not)’
我并不愿意跟他一起住。
我並不願意跟他一起住。
Wǒ bìng bù yuànyi gēn tā yīqǐ zhù.
I am absolutely not willing to live with him.
(I am not at all willing to live with him.)

C35.3

27.3.2 the noun modifier 任何 rènhé and negation

任何 rènhé ‘any’
我没告诉任何人。
我沒告訴任何人。
Wǒ méi gàosu rènhé rén.
I didn’t tell anyone.

27.4 不 bù in resultative and directional verbs


不 bù occurs between the verb and the resultative or directional suffix to indicate inability to
achieve the result. Here are some examples.

吃完 chīwán ‘finish eating’
我吃不完。
Wǒ chībuwán.
I am unable to finish eating (the food).

看見 kànjian ‘see, perceive’
这个电影的字幕太小。我根本看不见。
這個電影的字幕太小。我根本看不見。
Zhège diànyǐng de zìmù tài xiǎo. Wǒ gēnběn kànbujiàn.
The subtitles in this movie are too small. I can’t see them at all.

听懂/聽懂 tīngdǒng ‘understand by listening’
他说得太快。我听不懂。
他說得太快。我聽不懂。
Tā shuōde tài kuài. Wǒ tīngbudǒng.
He speaks too quickly. I can’t understand (by listening).

爬上去 páshàngqu ‘climb up’
山太高。我爬不上去。
Shān tài gāo. Wǒ pábushàngqù.
The mountain is too tall. I can’t climb up. (I can’t climb it.)

C18.6, 19.5, 32.2

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