One key feature of Chinese grammar is that all words have only one grammatical form, as the language lacks , declension, or any other inflection . Functions such as number in nouns or tense in verbs are expressed through word order or . In other words, where nouns in other languages might be distinguished by singular and plural or verbs by number or person , Chinese lexemes are typically invariant.
Topic-prominence
Chinese is considered to be a topic-prominent language, where the of the sentence takes precedence in the sentence. For example, the following sentences do not seem to follow normal subject-first word order, but adhere perfectly to the topic-comment structure :
* 。
In the courtyard is parked a car.
* ， 。
Today climb mountains, tomorrow camp outdoors. ''This is an example of a sentence. The subject of this sentence would be determined by context.''
* 。
Swimming I am the best .
Mandarin is often classified as an , because verbs precede rather than follow objects in simple sentences, but Mandarin also has many characteristics of like Turkish. This is clearest in word order, where almost all modifiers of nouns, verbs and adjectives precede the head , as in SOV languages, rather than follow the head, as in SVO languages. Hence
*Prepositional phrases modifying a verb precede the verb
*Genitive constructions precede the head noun
*Relative clauses precede the head noun
*Adjectives precede nouns
*The standard of comparison in a comparative adjective precedes the adjective
Furthermore, Chinese uses postpositions in many constructions rather than prepositions, for example:
*
"table-on" = on the table
*
"house-inside" = inside the house
Mandarin also relies on the formation of adjectival phrases rather than , for example:
*
"by me ridden horse" = the horse that I have ridden
*
"'s matter" or "to people worrisome matter" = matter that worries people
Moreover, verb phrases come at the end of a clause if the object or indirect object is "marked." For example, there are two types of accusative cases in Mandarin. Accusative I is the more commonly found case. Accusative II results in a change of state in the object, and implies a stronger sense in which something is done to the object, and is marked with the prefix 把 ''bǎ'' and by a movement of the verb phrase to the end of the clause.
*。
I broke the plate. , ''versus''
*。
I -plate broke .
*。
I hit a telephone . , ''versus''
*。
I him beat .
Similarly, sentences with an indirect object marked by the dative 給/给 ''gěi–'' or sentences in the passive construction follow SOV word ordering:
*。
Don't -me flatter .
*。
He by me beaten .
Aspects
is a feature of grammar that gives information about the temporal flow of language. Chinese has a unique set of aspects: for example, there are two , 了 and 過/过 which subtly differ in meaning.
*''le''
** 。
I became a soldier .
** 。
He watched three ballgames .
*''guo''
# 。
I've been a soldier before .
# 。
He has watched three ballgames .
The two , 正在 and 著/着 also differ in nuance:
*''zhèngzài/zài''
** 。
I'm hanging pictures up.
*''zhe''
** 。
A picture's hanging on the wall.
In other words, if the sentence could be sensibly phrased with "in the middle of", then ''zhèngzài'' is probably needed; otherwise, ''zhe''. So, "I'm hanging pictures up" is ''zhèngzài'', but "A picture's hanging on the wall" is ''zhe''.
*Reduplication is used to form the delimitative aspect — an action that goes on for a little bit:
** 。
I'm going for a walk in the park.
This sentence could variably be expressed by 走一走 ''zǒu yi zǒu'', which means the same thing, and could possibly be translated as "walk a little walk".
Mood
Another category of devices unique to Chinese are the modal particles, used to express , or an expression of how a statement relates to reality and/or intent. Among them, the most important are:
*''Le''
** 。 有錢了。]
As of now, I have no money.
*''Ne'' — frequently co-ordinates with 還/还 ''hái''
** 。 有回家呢。]
He still has not returned home.
The perfective ''le'' and the inceptive ''le'' are two different words. The Chinese linguist traces the two "le" back to two entirely different words. The fact that they are now written the same way in Mandarin can cause confusion. Consider the following sentence:
The aspect marker ''le'' comes after a transitive or intransitive verb. The modal particle ''le'' comes at the end of a sentence and governs the entire sentence. When an intransitive verb comes at the end of a sentence, then the only way to determine whether the ''le'' at the end of the sentence is perfective or inceptive is to look at the social context. The sentence given above can have two different meanings. In one case, someone is perhaps engaged in a long distance telephone call with Mother. He is trying to convince her to travel to where he is for some celebration. He hangs up the phone and says, "Māma lái le!" That sentence gives the information that Mother had not previously agreed to travel here, but the situation has changed and she will be coming after all. If, however, there is a knock on the front door and someone who has gone to answer the door shouts, "Māma lái le!" it means that she has come.
Serial Verb Constructions
Serial verb construction is a basic feature of Chinese grammar, in which two or more verbs are concatenated together. Also known as verb stacking, serial verb construction typically manifests itself in two ways: verbal complements, which appear after the main verb, and coverbs, which appear before the main verb. Such stacking is also present in and in the two other major languages of the Northeast Asia region, and .
Verbal Complements
Chinese sentences typically concern themselves greatly with the result and direction of a verb, where applicable. Because of this, Chinese has developed powerful grammatical machinery which facilitates the construction of sentences that supply this information. Western texts concerning themselves with Chinese grammar sometimes refer to this as double verbs.
Essentially, the active verb of a sentence is suffixed with a second verb which indicates either the result of the first action, or the direction in which it took the subject. When such information is appropriate, it is generally mandatory.
Complement of Result
A complement of result comes in two flavors: one indicates an absolute outcome, and the other a possible or likely outcome. To illustrate, the verb 听 ''tīng'', "to listen") will serve as the active verb, and 懂 will serve as the complement of result.
*
To understand
Positive absolute complement of result
* 聽懂]
To have not understood
Negative absolute complement of result
Note that the existence of an absolute complement of result forces the active verb into the perfective aspect, as discussing the absolute result of an unfinished action would be meaningless — hence the use of 没 ] to negate the verb.
*
To be able to understand
Positive possible complement of result
This form is equivalent in meaning to 能听懂 néng tīng dǒng
able to understand something
*
To be unable to understand
Negative possible complement of result
Note that the ''result'' is negated in this construction, ''not'' the active verb, and that the use of 不 , ''not'' 没 ] is required because the resulting action, being only a possibility, can obviously not be in a completed state.
The complement of result is a tremendously powerful construction, and is used frequently in Chinese. Expressions such as 饿死了 and 气死了 pepper the language. Further, it is possible to analyze many of the aspect suffixes from the perspective of a complement of result; for example, 了 means "finished" or "already", so it makes sense that placing it after the verb should force the active verb's aspect into the perfective. The similarity ends there, though, as it is impossible to, for example, construct a possible complement using 了 , although it ''is'' possible to do so with 了 . Although this latter reading has the same meaning as the former in principle, in a complement of result it simply indicates inability with some verbs . This use of the complement of result is quite common. Those verbs which can be negated with a complement of result often ''must'' be negated with a complement of result.
Sometimes, idiomatic phrases develop using the complement of result that seem to have no relation whatsoever to the result in question. For example, the phrases 看不起, 对不起 , and 买不起 all use 起 as their complement of result, but their meanings are not obviously related to that character's actual meaning. This is partially the result of metaphorical construction, where 看不起 literally means ''to be unable to look up to '', and 对不起 ''to be unable to face ''.
Other examples
* 。
literal: he OBJ-plate hit-break-PF.
He hit/dropped the plate, and it broke.
* 。
literal: This movie I look-no-understand.
I can't understand this movie
Complement of direction
The direction of an action that moves must typically be specified. At its simplest, the two directional complements 去 and 来 may be affixed to the end of a verb to indicate that it moves somehow away or towards the speaker, respectively. These may be compounded with other verbs that further specify the direction, such as 上去 , 过来 , which may then be themselves affixed to a verb . Typically, these are only found in an absolute form, although counter-examples of course exist . Another example:
*他走上来了。
literal: he walk-up-come-PF.
He walked up .
Counters
:''Main article: Chinese measure word''
Finally, Chinese nouns require ''counters'' in order to be counted. That is, when specifying the amount of a countable noun, the counter has to agree with the noun. Hence one must say "兩頭牛/两头牛 two heads of cattle", not two cows, with "頭/头 head" being the unit of measurement, or measure word. This phenomenon is common in East Asian languages.
Counters serve a similar, but not identical, role as the grammatical gender of nouns in Indo-European languages. While there are dozens, if not hundreds of counters that exist, which must be memorized individually for each noun, the vast majority of words generally use "個/个 gè", analogous to the neuter gender, and many of those that may use others can also use "個/个" if the speaker chooses. However, counters are not entirely analogous to grammatical gender, because they are often lexically meaningful. In particular, counter words are generally associated with certain groups of nouns related by meaning, such as "條/条 tiáo" for long, thin objects or animals , "把 bǎ" for objects with handles "張/张 zhāng" for flat objects that can be counted as sheets in English . However, the counters for many nouns appear arbitrary. "Table" is a ''zhāng'' noun probably because table-top is sheet-like and "chair" is a ''bǎ'' noun probably we move a chair by lifting a "handle," while another word for chair or stool, "凳子 dèngzi" is a neuter "个" noun.
The endings for the indefinite and demonstrative article must also agree with the appropriate counter for a noun. For example, "狗 gǒu" means "dog" or "the dog." But to specify "that / that / this dog" one says "那只狗/这只狗 nèizhī / nàzhī / zhèizhī gǒu," and to say "a dog" one says "一只狗 yīzhī gǒu," where the ending "只 -zhī" agrees with the "gender" of the noun "狗 gǒu." Similarly, "that / that / this / a house" are "那座房子/这座房子/一座房子 nèizuò / nàzuò / zhèzuò / yīzuò fángzi," where the ending "座 -zuò" agrees with the noun "房子 fángzi."
For a series of words or objects paired by an appositive with a counter , this appositive numerical phrase generally follows the nominal phrase. For example
:内含个人资料表格，即DS-230和OF-169两份表格
:...containing the two personal information forms DS-230 and OF-169
In "DS-230和OF-169两份表格", 两 ''liang'' means "two", 份 ''fen'' means "set", and 表格 ''biaoge'' is the noun "form".
Parts of speech
*Chinese pronouns
*Chinese adjectives
*Chinese verbs
*Chinese particles
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