Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar

AdjecTIvAL verbS

10.10

那双鞋子很好。又便宜又舒服。

那雙鞋子很好。又便宜又舒服。

Nà shuāng xiézi hěn hǎo. Yòu piányi yòu shūfu.

That pair of shoes is really good. They are both cheap and comfortable.

C40.9

10.9 Adjectival verbs and expressions that indicate

change over time

10.9.1 越来越 yuè lái yuè adjectival verb ‘more and more’ adjectival verb

东西越来越贵。

東西越來越貴。

Dōngxi yuè lái yuè guì.

Things are more and more expensive.

10.9.2 越 yuè action verb 越 yuè adjectival verb ‘the more’ (action),
‘the more’ (adjectival verb)
他越说越快。
他越說越快。
Tā yuè shuō yuè kuài.
The more he speaks, the faster he speaks.

C38.3

10.10 Adjectival verbs and sentence final 了 le

Sentence final 了 le may occur at the end of a sentence with an adjectival verb to indicate

change.

你高了。

Nǐ gāo le.

You have gotten taller.

When the intensifier 太 tài ‘too’ modifies an adjectival verb, the adjectival verb is typically

followed by sentence final 了 le.

东西太贵了。

東西太貴了。

Dōngxi tài guì le.

Things are too expensive.

你太聪明了。

你太聰明了。

Nǐ tài cōngming le.

You’re too smart.

C38.1