PhrASe Order In The MAndArIn SenTence
4.11
我昨天晚上睡了八个钟头。
我昨天晚上睡了八個鐘頭。
Wǒ zuótiān wǎnshang shuì le bā gè zhōngtóu.
I yesterday evening slept eight hours. → I slept for eight hours yesterday.
C 39
4.10 Order within the noun phrase
The main noun in the noun phrase, the head noun, occurs as the last word in the phrase. All
phrases that describe or modify the head noun occur before the head noun.
那本很有意思的书
那本很有意思的書
nà běn hěn yǒu yìsi de shū
that very interesting book
C 9
4.11 Phrase order in questions
In Mandarin, the order of phrases in questions is identical to the order of phrases in statements.
Unlike English and many European languages, Mandarin questions are not characterized by a
special question word order.
Statement
我喜欢他。
我喜歡他。
Wǒ xǐhuan tā.
I like him.
Content question
你喜欢谁？
你喜歡誰？
Nǐ xǐhuan shéi?
Who do you like?
Yes–no question
你喜欢他吗？
你喜歡他嗎？
Nǐ xǐhuan tā ma?
Do you like him?
C 28
