How to write sentences in Chinese. Everything you need to know about questions in Chinese

North Ossetian State University named after Kosta Levanovich Khetagurov

Keywords

Chinese language, syntax, compound sentence, compound subordinated sentence

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Abstract to the article

The article discusses the types of syntactic connections in complex sentences of the Chinese language. A classification of complex sentences (CSS) is given, in which, among the numerous means of communication, the main importance belongs to conjunctions, which are the most advanced syntactic means of communication in the Chinese language.

Text of a scientific article

The scientific study of the syntactic structure of the Chinese language began relatively recently (in the 20s - 40s of the 20th century) after the publication of the grammar of the ancient Chinese language by Ma Jianzhong (1898), who for the first time considered the Chinese grammatical system as a separate independent discipline and thereby influenced on the works of Chinese linguists, as a result of which at the beginning of the twentieth century, Li Jinxi in the first “Grammar of the Modern Chinese Language”, adhering to the traditional view, outlined his theory of a complex sentence as a combination of two or more simple sentences into a single whole (liangge yishang-de danju), distinguishing among them three types: 1) including a complex sentence (baoyun fuju), implying such including sentences (baoyunju), the structure of which consists of one “mother sentence” (muju) containing another “child or included” (ziju) a sentence that plays the role of one or another member of a sentence and is in turn divided, based on the functioning of which class of words it (child sentence) reproduces, into nominal (mingciju), adjective (xingrongju) and adverbial (fuciju) sentences; 2) complex sentences (dengli fuju), which are understood as complex sentences consisting of two or more syntactically equal simple sentences (fenju); 3) complex sentences (zhucong fuju), consisting of a main sentence (zhuju or zhengju), corresponding to the “mother” sentence, including complex sentences, and a dependent one, i.e. subordinate clause (congju or fuju), equated to the “included (namely adverbial) clause” of including clauses. According to Li Jinxi, the difference between adverbial included clauses of an inclusive complex sentence and subordinate clauses of a complex sentence lies in the degree of cohesion of the parts of a complex sentence (and in this case it is necessary to distinguish between concepts such as “one continuous whole” (heti) and “different wholes” ( yiti)), as well as in the nature of the values ​​expressed, i.e. adverbial included sentences, performing the syntactic function of adverbs, express the meaning of the manner of action (xingtai), while subordinate clauses, acting as prepositional-nominal complexes, transforming the preposition into a conjunction, express the meaning of reason, time, place, etc. . Later, Li Jinxi's theory of complex sentences was criticized by Lu Shuxiang and Zhu Dexi (Lectures on Grammar and Stylistics, 1952), who denied such complex sentences, the structure of which includes another, acting as one or another member of the sentence (i.e. including sentences according to Li Jinxi), classifying them as simple, while the dependent sentence is interpreted as a “sentence in form” (juzi xingshi). All complex sentences in Wang Liaoyi's grammar are divided into two large groups: with coordinating and subordinating connections, consisting in the first case of two or more equal parts with a predicative connection and subdivided into cumulative, disjunctive, adversative, base and inference, explanatory types; in the second - from the main part and the dependent part (serving as a definition to the main part) with a predicative connection, differentiated into causal, temporary, concessional, catch, target, motivational, effective. However, the author only lists the indicated types of complex sentences, without considering their classification. Some works of domestic linguists are also devoted to the study of complex sentences in the Chinese language. So, V.I. Gorelov classifies as complex syntactic constructions that have two unequal parts, one of which is a relatively independent judgment, and the second is subordinate to the first, complementing it. Among the various and numerous means of communication (intonation, positional position of parts, conjunctions, particles of the conjunction type, conjunctional phraseological units, prepositional-postpositional combinations, demonstrative pronouns and adverbs, interrogative-relative words, special lexical elements), the main meaning belongs to conjunctions, which are in the Chinese language the most perfect syntactic means of communication. IN AND. Gorelov includes in his classification complex sentences expressing attributive relations, consisting of subordinate clauses denoting proper attributive relations, which, specifying the differentiating feature of an object, indicate its properties, features, qualities, thereby performing a restrictive function, and expressing attributive-explanatory relations - subordinate clauses contain additional information about the subject, expanding its meaning and performing a disseminating role; temporal relations that convey simultaneity, precedence, and sequence of events; target relationships, additional meanings of these constructions denote the actual target relationships, not complicated by any additional connotation (i.e., receiving their expression in their pure form) and explanatory-target relationships (in the main part an indication of the goal is given, in the subordinate part - an explanation of the content goals); causal relations consisting of actual causal relations (the subordinate part indicates the cause leading to the effect contained in the main part) and explanatory-causal relations (the main part contains the cause, the essence of which is revealed in the subordinate part); conditional relations, subdivided into SPP with actual conditional relations without any additional shades and meanings, with explanatory-conditional relations (the subordinate clause contains an unreal, conjectural condition, the main one explains the essence, reveals the meaning, clarifies what is said in the subordinate clause ), with conditional-temporal relations, conveying additional time values ​​along with catch values, with conditional-concessional relations located on the border between NGN with conditional-consecutive relations and NGN with concessional relations, due to the fact that in these syntactic constructions there is an overlap of concessional meanings into conditional ones, containing a condition-justification (the condition is depicted in the form of argumentation, evidence, motivating argument), containing a limited condition (conditional-effect relations are complicated by shades of limitation); concessional relations concluding complex sentences with actual concessionary relations, not complicated by additional semantic meanings, with generalized concessionary relations (the main part contains a consequence, contrary to the countless grounds indicated generally in the subordinate part), with alternative concessionary relations (the main part contains a consequence , regardless of the two bases found in the subordinate clause as an alternative); effective relations, including SPP with actual effective relations (the main part reports an action, the subordinate part contains information about the result of this action) and with an additional degree value (along with effective relations there are additional degree values); proportional relationships, the characteristic feature of which is the structural parallelism of the constituent parts, representing the attribute of an object (its quality, quantity, action), indicated by the predicate of the main part and changing (increases / weakens, increases / decreases, increases / decreases) according to the change in the attribute expressed by the predicate subordinate part; relations of similarity, when in some cases the supposed, unreal situation referred to in the

In the Chinese language, unlike Russian, there are no declensions or conjugations, so the order of words in a sentence plays a key role in the perception of meaning. This chapter shows how to structure Chinese sentences grammatically, examines the most typical structures, and also provides examples of various Chinese phrases.

Basic structure

Let's start by looking at the simplest and shortest sentences in Chinese. Their structure is elementary:

Subject + verb

Based on it, you can build a sentence with just two words, for example:

The object being manipulated by the subject is added after the verb:

Subject + verb + object

Focusing on this simple diagram alone, you can create many meaningful sentences:

Subject	Verb	An object
我wǒ	吃 chī	肉。 ròu.	I eat meat.
你nǐ	喝 hē	汤。 tāng.	You drink broth.
我wǒ	去qù	学校。 xuéxiào.	I am going to school.
他 tā	说shuō	中文。 zhōngwén.	He speaks Chinese.
我们 wǒmen	要买 yào mǎi	电脑。 diànnǎo.	We want to buy a computer.
我wǒ	想吃 xiǎng chī	中国菜。 zhōngguó cài.	I want to eat Chinese food.
我wǒ	喜欢 xǐhuan	那个小孩子。 nà gè xiǎo háizi.	I like this child.
我wǒ	爱ai	你和爸爸。 nǐ hé bàba.	I love you and dad.
你nǐ	要做 yào zuò	What do you mean?	What do you want to do?
你nǐ	想吃 xiǎng chī	What do you mean?	What do you want to eat?

circumstance of time

Words denoting time that answer the question “when?” in a Chinese sentence are usually placed at the beginning, immediately after the subject, in rare cases before it, but never at the end:

Subject + tense + verb [+ object]

Circumstance of place

The verb 在zài is always placed before a word denoting the place of action in Chinese. This entire construction is usually placed after the tense adverbial (see above) and before the verb - in no case after it:

Subject + time +在 place + verb [+ object]

There are exceptions to this rule - these are special verbs that require an adverbial place after, and not in front of, themselves. Like any exceptions, you just need to learn them by heart:

Duration

A construction denoting time, but answering the question “ how long?" indicates the duration of the action and is placed at the end of the sentence:

Subject + time +在place + verb [+ object] [+在place] + duration

Modus operandi

A word denoting how an action is performed (adverb) (for example: quickly, quietly, angrily, soberly) is usually placed after tense before place and verb:

地 + 在place + verb [+ object] + duration

The particle 地 dì is a suffix of adverbs and is always used after manner of action (adverb).
Fēngkuáng疯狂 wild, crazy

Tool

Even for such a small thing as the tool with which the action is performed, the attentive Chinese allocated a separate place in the sentence:

Subject + time + manner of action地 + 在place +用instrument + verb [+ object] + duration

Yǒuhǎo友好 friend, friendly

Destination

Often the action is directed towards someone, for example, “ to you" or " to him", for such constructions in a Chinese sentence there is a place immediately before the verb:

Subject + time + manner of action 地 + 在place +用instrument + addressee + verb [+ object] + duration

Subject	Time	Modus operandi	Place	Tool	Destination	Verb	Duration
我	有时候				对 父母	说谎。
Sometimes I lie to my parents. Shuōhuǎng说谎 to lie, deceive, deceive
我		偷偷地			和女朋友	见面。
I'm meeting my friend secretly. Tōutōu偷偷 secretly
司机		热情地			给 我	介绍 上海。
The driver enthusiastically showed me Shanghai.
警察	那天	不停地	在警察局		对他	审问了	几个小时。
That day, the police interrogated him non-stop at the station for several hours. Shěnwèn 审问 to interrogate
她	上个星期		在他家	用网上的菜谱	给我们	做了饭。
Last week she cooked for us at home using a recipe book from the internet. Càipǔ 菜谱 cookbook, recipe book

Position of 也 in a sentence

也 yě, like other adverbs, is placed before the verb, but if the sentence contains 很, 都 or 不, the word 也 comes before them:

· 他很喜欢吃包子。我也很喜欢吃。
tā hěn xǐhuān chī bāozi. wǒ yě hěn xǐhuān chī.
He loves to eat pies. I also love.

· 我们很高兴。他也很高兴。
wǒmen hěn gāoxìng. tā yě hěn gāoxìng.
We are happy. He's happy too.

· 你是我的朋友。他们也都是我的朋友。
nǐ shì wǒ de pengyǒu. tāmen yě dōu shì wǒ de pengyǒu.
You are my friend. They are all my friends too.

· 我吃素。我家人也都吃素。
wǒ chīsù. wǒjiā rén yě dōu chīsù.
I am a vegetarian. Everyone in my family is also vegetarian.

Before 不 and 没:

· 我不是学生。他也不是。
wǒ bùshì xuéshēng. tā yě bùshì.
I am not a student. Him too.

· 我没去过美国。他也没去过。
wǒ méi qùguò měiguó. tā yě méi qùguò.
I haven't been to America. He wasn't either.

Question particles

All you need to do to turn a declarative sentence into an interrogative in Chinese is to replace the word you want to ask about with the corresponding interrogative, or add 吗 ma to the end of the sentence. Thus, the place of interrogative particles depends on the place of the member they replace:

Subject	Time	Modus operandi	Place	Tool	Destination	Verb	Duration
谁			在路上	用中文	向陌生人	问路？
Who asked strangers for directions in Chinese on the street?
她	什么时候		在路上	用中文	向陌生人	问路？
When did she ask strangers for directions in Chinese on the street?
她		怎么		用中文	向陌生人	问路？
How did she ask strangers for directions in Chinese?
她			在哪里	用中文	向陌生人	问路？
Where did she ask strangers for directions in Chinese?
她			在路上	用哪种语言	向陌生人	问路？
In what language did she ask strangers for directions on the street?
她	昨天		在路上	用中文	向谁	问路？
Who did she ask for directions in Chinese on the street yesterday?
你	闲暇的时候					做什么？
What do you do in your spare time?
他	今年		在上海		学了		多久了？
This year, how many years will it be since he studied in Shanghai?

The first words in a foreign language, of course, are affirmative: “I want this, I don’t want that.” But soon we need to know “how” or “where” to go, “with whom” and “where” to dine, “how much” and “who” pays.

Fortunately, Chinese grammar is simple, and you only need to know a little to construct questions. Let's take a closer look at them.

General question

Questions with interrogative particles

General questions are those that have a “yes” or “no” answer.
"It is a table?" “Do you like dogs?” "Have you had lunch?" - all these questions are constructed in the same way: by adding the particle 吗 (ma) to the end of the affirmative sentence.
他爱中国。- He loves China
他爱中国吗？- Does he love China?

The situation is slightly different with the particle 呢 (ne). It is translated by the Russian word "a" and means "What about...?" or “Where is...?”
同学们都来了，老师呢？The students have all come, but what about the teachers?
Where is my phone? I just put it on the table and it’s gone!

Questions with the affirmative-negative form of the predicate

This is the second way to construct a general question: we repeat the predicate, placing the particle 不 in the middle. Please note that the predicate can be both a verb (what did you do?) and an adjective (which one?).

他要不要咖啡？- Will he have coffee?
你妹妹漂亮不漂亮？-Is your little sister beautiful?

It is impossible to construct a question this way if the predicate is preceded by an adverb (very, often). In such cases we ask the question with 吗.

Alternative question

This is a question where the answer can only be one of the proposed options. (你要茶还是要咖啡？Will you have tea or coffee?)
Such questions are asked using 还是 (háishi, or). Usually we repeat the verb (on both sides of 还是).
你一个人去 超市还是 跟朋友一起去 ？Will you go to the supermarket alone, or with a friend (will you go)?

If the question is asked to complement, the verb need not be repeated:
你想吃米饭还是面条 ？Do you want noodles or rice?

Of course, if the predicate in a sentence is the verb 是, it is also not repeated:
你是老师还是学生？Are you a teacher or a student?

Special question:question words.

When we want to know a name, we ask “who?”, when the owner – “whose?”, the address – “where?”. In other words, we are looking for some information.

Pay attention to how such interrogative sentences are constructed. We do not put all question words in one place. We put each of them where we expect to see the answer.

你去哪儿 ？-Where are you going?
我去学校. - I am going to school.
Please note that the word order in the sentence does not change: subject - predicate - object.

A more complicated example:
你在谁那儿喝茶？- Who do you drink tea from?
我在王老师那儿喝茶。- I'm drinking tea at Teacher Wang's.
The word order in the sentence is also preserved, only instead of “teacher Wang” in the question there is “who?”

Here are the main question words:

• 谁 (shéi/shuí) who
  这是谁？-Who is this?
• 谁的 (shéi de) whose
  这是谁的衬衫？- Whose shirt is this?
• 什么 (shénme) what, which
  你学习什么？-What are you studying?
  你学习什么语言？- What language are you learning?
• 哪 (nǎ) which (of)
  这儿有几个杯子，哪个是你的？ There are several glasses here, which one is yours?
• 哪儿 (nǎr) where, where
  你在哪儿学了中国功夫？Where did you study kung fu?
  夏天你打算去哪儿旅游？Where are you planning to go in the summer?
• 多少 (duōshao) how many (more than 10)
  一公斤苹果多少钱？How much does a kilogram of apples cost?
• 几 (jǐ) how much (less than 10)
  你家有几口人？ How many people are in your family?
• 为什么 (wèishénme) why
  你为什么不想去北京？Why don’t you want to go to Beijing?
• 怎么 (zěnme) how, why (emotional)
  到火车站怎么走？How to get to the station?
  Why don't you love him? He is a good man!
• 怎么样 (zěnmeyàng) how, how about...
  你最近过得怎么样？How have you been doing lately?

Remember that you cannot use both question words and the particle 吗 in the same sentence.

These three ways to ask a question will help you create and understand 90% of the questions you'll encounter.

Bonus: Dividing questions in Chinese.

Such questions are placed after a comma at the end of the sentence.

1.…, 好吗？(行吗？)
It is used, as you might guess, to ask for the consent of the interlocutor.
Let's go for a swim right now, okay?

2. …, 没有？
This option is most often used in the past tense:
你做好了作业，没有？Have you done your homework?
你去过北京，没有？Have you been to Beijing?

Hello, dear readers! When we started learning Chinese, we were very happy to learn that there are no prefixes, genders, cases or endings, because this makes learning much easier!

But if you think about it, then all this is an integral part of the language, without which we would not be able to clearly express our thoughts in the right direction. But in Chinese there is no such thing. How is this possible?

It turns out that it is the correct word order, as well as auxiliary particles, that are the elements that replace everything that is absent in Chinese, but present in our native language.

The order of words in Chinese is governed by certain rules, without observing which you risk being misunderstood, or not understood at all.

Therefore, every beginning sinologist must master the basic structure of a Chinese sentence, based on which in the future one can build something more complex and beautiful.

Basic formula for constructing words in a Chinese sentence

First, you need to know that in a Chinese sentence the word order is not the same as, for example, in Russian. If in Russian we can say the predicate first, then the subject, and then the object, or vice versa, then in Chinese they simply will not understand you.

To learn how to correctly arrange words in sentences, you need to remember that each member of a sentence has its own specific order, namely:

(Tense) + subject + time + place + predicate + object.

The order of words in a simple sentence is indicated above; as for particles, prepositions and other words, we will discuss them with you in future lessons. Notice that the tense before the subject is in parentheses. This means that it can appear either at the beginning of a sentence or after the subject.

There will be no mistake in this. Now let's look at an example. Let's start with a simple sentence with an addition, which we talked about in detail:

Let's add time to this sentence:

How to add actors?

Now let's imagine that, for example, you had a younger sister with you. What would the proposal look like in this case? Where should the word “younger sister” be inserted?

Please note that in this sentence, in addition to you, the younger sister is also the active person, so she joins the pronoun “我” - “I” by adding the conjunction “和” - and. In addition to “和”, you can also use the conjunctions 与 and 跟, which are similar in meaning to 和.

How to add time?

Let's complicate the sentence a little more. Let's say we want to insert a concrete noun in addition to the temporary noun “today”. For example, two o'clock in the afternoon. We can say this:

Pay attention to where we put 两点 - after 今天, but before the place - 在商店.

How to add a description of the add-on?

And the last thing I want to offer you is to clarify what kind of teacher my sister and I met today. Let's imagine that we met a certain teacher Li. Then the proposal will be structured like this:

That's basically all for today. The only thing I want to tell you about is one technique that will help you work through this grammar faster - just start building words according to Chinese rules already in a Russian sentence.

It looks something like this:

Last year my friends and I visited a famous museum in China.

我跟朋友去年在中国参观了有名的博物馆。

Another good way to improve your grammar is to read Chinese texts more often. For beginning sinologists, we recommend visiting the ““ section, where you can find interesting short stories with simple content and translation.

Practice more often, read, and you will definitely succeed!

In one of our previous publications, we published material about the fact that in the Chinese language there is a clear, consistent word order. Each part of speech cannot be located where it is convenient. Clear and strict word order is the basis of Chinese grammar. If you clearly understand the sequence, then in terms of Chinese grammar you will solve 50% of the problems.

When forming sentences in interrogative form, there is also a strict sequence. It is absolutely identical to the construction of an affirmative sentence. You will see this in the tables with examples.

There are 4 main grammatical ways of forming interrogative sentences:

1. Using the particle "吗". Questions like these require a “yes” or “no” answer.
2. Using question words. I considered question words for this article.
3. By duplicating the verb through the negative particle "不"
4. Using the interrogative conjunction "还是"

The first way is by using the particle “吗” at the end of an affirmative sentence. This is the simplest way to formulate a question.

It is necessary to put the particle “吗” at the end of an affirmative sentence. As I already said, such interrogative sentences require agreement or denial in response. In the table below I have given examples of sentences in the affirmative form and in the interrogative form.

你买衣服吗？	Nǐ mǎi yīfú ma?	Are you buying clothes?
我买衣服。/ 是。	Wǒ mǎi yīfú. /Shì.	I buy clothes. / Yes.

As you can see, the grammatical structure of the sentence does not change at all. The only difference is the addition of the particle “吗”.

The second way: by using a question word. We looked at question words in the article about Chinese pronouns. In Chinese, question words belong to the group of interrogative pronouns.

什么	What?	shenme
谁	Who?	shuí
怎么	How?	zěnme
怎么样	How? How?	zěnme yàng
哪里	Where?	nǎlǐ
为什么	Why?	wèishéme
什么时候	When?	shenme shíhòu
哪儿	Where?	nǎ"er
哪一个	Which one of?	nǎ yīgè

With the help of question words, we can ask a question to any part of speech in a sentence, for example, to an adverb of speech, to a predicate, to a subject, to an adjective, to an object, and so on.

In the table I have given examples of sentences in the affirmative form and in the interrogative form.

你做什么？	What are you doing?	Nǐ zuò shénme?
我做作业！	I do my homework.	Wǒ zuò zuo yè.
谁去旅游？	Who's going to travel?	Shuí qù lǚyóu.
他去旅游。	He's going to travel.	Tā qù lǚyóu.
她怎么去上班？	How does she go to work?	Tā zěnme qù shàngbān.
她坐车去上班。	She goes to work by car.	Tā zuòchē qù shàngbān.
你们哪里住？	Where do you live?	Nǐmen nǎlǐ zhù.
我们那儿住。	We live there.	Wǒmen nà"er zhù.
他为什么没来？	Why didn't he come?	Tā wèishéme méi lái.
他生病了。	He is ill.	Tā shēngbìngle.
你什么时候去北京？	When are you going to Beijing?	Nǐ shénme shíhòu qù běijīng.
我今天下午去北京。	I'm going to Beijing this afternoon.	Wǒ jīntiān xiàwǔ qù běijīng.
你去哪儿？	Where are you going?	Nǐ qù nǎ"er.
我去天安门。	I'm going to Tiananmen Square.	Wǒ qù tiān"ānmen.
你喜欢哪一个？	Which one do you like?	Nǐ xǐhuān nǎ yīgè.
我喜欢这一个。	I like this.	Wǒ xǐhuān zhè yīgè,

The third way to form an interrogative sentence: by duplicating the verb through a negative particle.

Duplication of verbs often occurs in Chinese. Simple duplication of the verb indicates the short duration of the action, while the sentence has a future tense. If the verb is duplicated through the past tense particle “了”, then the sentence will be in a negative form.

By duplicating a verb, you can also form an interrogative sentence. Such duplication must be used through a negative particle.

You can duplicate not only the verb, but also adjectives.

Verbs that consist of two hieroglyphs, when duplicated, only the first hieroglyph is repeated.

The fourth way is to form a question using the interrogative conjunction “还是”.

There are two conjunctions “or” in Chinese. One of them is used only in interrogative sentences, and the second only in declarative sentences. But in general they have the same meaning, the methods of use are different.

Let's look at examples of using conjunctions.

Summarize. In this article, we looked at the four main ways to form questions in Chinese. Each method uses function words: particle “吗”, particle “不”, conjunction “还是”, interrogative pronouns of the Chinese language 什么? 怎么？为什么? 哪里？ 哪儿？ 哪？谁？ 谁的? and others.

Until next time!