Grammar 2
Grammar of Unit 2
Reminder from Unit 1: Chinese grammar is simple on paper. No gender, no number, no conjugation: all words are invariable. Everything therefore depends on word order, and that order follows a logical pattern.
The negative sentence in Chinese
To make a sentence negative, add the negation 不 before the verb:
我不好。 I'm not well.
WARNING
不 is an adverb and in Mandarin Chinese, adverbs are always placed before the verb.
Since this is not an affirmative sentence, the adjectival verb does not express a comparison. It is therefore not necessary to add the adverb 很 .
Let's recall the structure of the negative sentence:
Examples from the dialogue:
我不好！ I'm not well!
我不高兴。 I'm not happy.
Note on the tone of 不
不 is normally pronounced in the 4th tone: . However, when it is followed by another 4th tone, it changes to the 2nd tone: .
Example: 不客气 is pronounced (and not ).
This change is not written in the characters, only in the pinyin. Get into the habit of looking at the tone of the character that follows.
The interrogative particle 呢
The particle 呢 sends back to the other person a question that has just been asked. It is placed after a word, usually a pronoun or a noun.
Example from the dialogue:
你好吗？ How are you?
我很好，你呢？ I'm fine, and you?
我不好。 I'm not well.
WARNING
呢 is not placed after a complete clause, only after a word (pronoun, noun...). After a clause, it takes on a completely different meaning, that of "being in the middle of doing something", which we will see later.
你呢？ ✓ And you?
你好吗呢？ ✗ (incorrect)
The position of the surname and the title
In Chinese, when addressing someone politely, you use their surname followed by their title. This is the reverse of English, where we say "Mr. Smith" (title + name).
Examples from the dialogue:
白女士 Ms. Bai (and not "Nǚshì Bái")
李先生 Mr. Li (and not "Xiānsheng Lǐ")
The two most common polite titles are:
- 先生 : Mister, Mr.
- 女士 : Madam, Mrs./Ms.
Note
This rule also applies to professional and hierarchical titles. For example, we say 王老师 "Professor Wang" (which we will see in the next unit). In Chinese, the surname is always placed first, whether before a polite title or a professional title.
Saying that you are pleased to meet someone: 很高兴认识你
To express that you are pleased to meet someone, you use the adjectival verb 高兴 "to be happy" and the verb 认识 "to know, to get acquainted".
There are two ways to say it, depending on word order:
1. Standard structure
Example: 很高兴认识你。 Pleased to meet you.
In this structure, the subject (我) is often omitted because the context is clear. The full sentence would be: 我很高兴认识你。
2. Inverted structure (emphasis)
Example from the dialogue:
认识李先生，我也很高兴。 Meeting Mr. Li, I am also very pleased.
In this structure, the act of "knowing someone" (认识 + person) is placed at the start of the sentence to emphasize it. It is a bit like saying: "Making your acquaintance, that makes me very happy too." Chinese states the topic first, then what it says about it: you will come across this movement very often.
Remember
Notice in the dialogue example the use of 也 "also": 认识李先生，我也很高兴。 The adverb 也 is placed, as always, before the verb (here 高兴) or before another adverb that precedes the verb (here before 很). We find again the rule seen in Unit 1: an adverb is always placed before the verb.
Here is a summary of the two structures in the dialogue:
很高兴认识你。白女士。 Pleased to meet you, Ms. Bai.
认识李先生，我也很高兴。 Meeting Mr. Li, I am also very pleased.