KiVAKO: Chinese 1 and Chinese Characters 1, 5op
Grammar for lesson 5
This text will cover the following topics:
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Ma 吗 question
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Ne 呢 question
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Adverb "hen" 很
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Chinese adjectives
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Word order of Chinese sentences
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Also "ye" 也
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Personal pronoun
1. “Yes-no” questions with ma 吗
A declarative sentence can be changed into a ”yes-no” question by placing “ma 吗” at the end of it.
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Nǐ hǎo ma?
你 好 吗? How are you?
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Nín hǎo ma?
您 好 吗? How are you (honorific form)?
2. Abbreviated question with ne 呢
“Ne 呢 ” is placed after a pronoun, a noun or a noun phrase to form an abbreviated question. This type of interrogative sentence is similar to “What about..?” in English.
Questions with "ne" ⋯⋯呢 ?
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Wǒ hěn hǎo, nín ne
我 很 好, 你 呢?
I am fine, what about you?
3. The adverb hěn 很
Most of the adverbs in Chinese appear right before the verbs or adjectives which they modify, like in the case of “hen”. “很 hen” appears before the verbs or adjectives.
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我很好。 Wo hen hao (I am fine.)
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我很爱他。 Wo hen ai ta (I love him very much.)
4. Adjectives
In addition to normal adjective functions, a Chinese adjective can behave like a verb as well.
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Rén hěn hǎo 人很好: People are (very) good.
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Compare with 好人 hǎo rén: a good person
A lonely adjective right after a subject is usually used to express a comparative meaning, like “我好 Wo hao” means “I am fine” but with a comparison intention. The normal “I am fine” without comparison is actually “我很好 Wo hen hao”.
5. Word order of Chinese sentences
Basic sentence order is Subject + Verb (+ Object).
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Wǒ ài nǐ
我 爱 你。(I love you.)
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Wǒ jiào
我 叫Timo。(I am Timo.)
6. Adverb yě 也
“也 yě” is an adverb and means “also”. It must be placed after the subject and before verbal or adjectival predicates.
The "also" adverb "也 ye" + Verb / Adjective
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Wǒ yě jiào Timo
我 也 叫Timo 。 ( I am also called Timo.)
7. Personal pronoun