New level 1: Grammar 5 | Learn Chinese

Grammar of Unit 5

The plural with 们

In Chinese, the suffix 们 men is added to personal pronouns and to certain nouns referring to people to mark the plural:

我 → 我们 wǒmen: we
你 → 你们 nǐmen: you
他 → 他们 tāmen: they, them (masc.)
她 → 她们 tāmen: they (fem.)

CAUTION

们 is only used with human beings. You cannot say 猫们 māomen for "cats" (猫 māo: cat).

Moreover, if a number or a classifier precedes the noun, 们 disappears:
~~三个学生们~~ is incorrect. You simply say 三个学生.

们 can also be added to certain nouns to indicate a group:
同学们 tóngxuémen: classmates, when addressing the group.

Difference between 哪 and 什么

You have surely noticed in the vocabulary that nationality is formed by adding "human" 人 rén to the country name:
中国 China → 中国人 the Chinese
法国 France → 法国人 the French

The question is formed by placing 哪 nǎ in place of the first syllable of the country name:
你是哪国人？ Nǐ shì nǎguórén? Which country are you from?

哪 means "which, which one?" within a countable group (there is not an infinite number of countries).
什么 means "what, which?" for an uncountable set: there is an infinite number of different people.

Note

You sometimes hear 你是什么人？ Nǐ shì shénme rén? to ask about nationality, but this phrasing is not elegant and can be understood as "What kind of person are you?" It is better to avoid it.

The adverb 都

都 dōu "all" is an adverb: it is therefore placed before the verb, or before another adverb placed before the verb.

Example: 我们都是法国人。 Wǒmen dōu shì Fǎguó rén. We are all French.

"Not all" is 不都:
她们不都说汉语。 Tāmen bù dōu shuō Hànyǔ. They do not all speak Chinese.

都不 is translated by "none" (all… not):
我的学生都不会说日语。 Wǒ de xuésheng dōu bú huì shuō Rìyǔ. None of my students speaks Japanese.

不都: not all ≠ 都不: none

The order of the two characters changes everything. This is a mistake I see at every level, including with advanced students: take the time to anchor the difference firmly now.

Examples taken from the dialogue:
他们都是我的同学。 Tāmen dōu shì wǒ de tóngxué. They are all my classmates.
他们不都会说汉语。 Tāmen bù dōu huì shuō Hànyǔ. They cannot all speak Chinese.
我们都不会写汉字。 Wǒmen dōu bú huì xiě Hànzì. None of us can write Chinese characters.

The auxiliary verb 会

We have already seen three action verbs: 学 xué to study, 说 shuō to speak, 写 xiě to write.

The verb 会 huì is an auxiliary verb meaning "to know how to do something". It is placed before the verb:
他会说法语。 Tā huì shuō fǎyǔ. He can speak French.

For the alternative-interrogative question, you repeat the verb that the question bears on. In "Can you speak Chinese?", the question bears on "to know how to":
你会不会说汉语？ Nǐ huì bú huì shuō hànyǔ?

The particle 呢: interjection and surprise

We saw in Unit 2 that 呢 ne is used to send a question back. But it also marks a slight surprise or an emphasis.

Example taken from the dialogue:
她是哪国人呢？ Tā shì nǎ guó rén ne? And her, which country is she from? (with a nuance of curiosity)

The use of 是不是 with 都

In the dialogue, we find the sentence:
你们是不是都学中文？ Nǐmen shì bú shì dōu xué zhōngwén? Do you all study Chinese?

Here, the adverb 都 poses no problem with the alternative-interrogative form because it bears on the verb 学 and not on 是. It is the 是 that is doubled, not the verb that follows 都.

This 是 placed at the front serves to emphasize. It is another use of the verb, which we will meet again.