noun modifiers in a series
9.4
9.3 Omission of the particle 的 de
The particle 的 de is sometimes omitted from the modifier.
的 de may be omitted:
- when the modifier is an unmodified one-syllable adjectival verb.
贵的车/貴的車 guì de chē → 贵车/貴車 guì chē expensive car
but not
很贵的车/很貴的車 hěn guì de chē → *很贵车/很貴車 hěn guì chē
- when the modifier is closely associated with the noun, describing, for example, nationality:
美国的人/美國的人 Měiguó de rén → 美国人/美國人 Měiguó rén American
person
- or a close personal relationship in which the modifier is a pronoun:
我的爸爸 wǒ de bàba → 我爸爸 wǒ bàba my father
9.4 Noun modifiers in a series
In Mandarin Chinese, a noun may be modified by any number of modifiers.
- The modifiers occur in a series before the head noun.
- A modifier that is a specifier and/or a number ends with a classifier. All other modifiers
may end in the particle 的 de.
- The head noun occurs only once, at the end of the series of modifiers.
Here are examples of noun phrases in which the head noun is modified by a series of modifiers.
Each modifying phrase is included in [square brackets].
我们[昨天看的][刚出来的][中国的]电影
我們[昨天看的][剛出來的][中國的]電影
wǒmen [zuótiān kàn de] [gāng chūlái de] [Zhōngguó de] diànyǐng
we [yesterday see] [just come out] [China] movie
the Chinese movie that just came out that we saw yesterday
[你给我介绍的][那两个][很聪明的]留学生
[你給我介紹的][那兩個][很聰明的]留學生
[nǐ gěi wǒ jièshào de] [nà liǎng gè] [hěn cōngming de] liúxuéshēng
[you introduced to me] [those two] [very smart] exchange students
those two very smart exchange students who you introduced me to
Modifiers may occur in any order. However, modifiers involving inherent personal character-
istics often occur closer to the head noun.
[穿毛衣的][很可爱的]小孩子
[穿毛衣的][很可愛的]小孩子
[chuān máoyī de] [hěn kě’ài de] xiǎo háizi
[wearing a sweater] [very cute] child
the very cute child who is wearing a sweater
