Learn Chinese: grammar of Unit 7

This unit revolves around a single question: how to point things out. Demonstratives, locatives, classifiers and a few neighboring tools each answer it in their own way.

The demonstrative pronouns 这 and 那

Chinese has two main demonstratives:

这 refers to what is near the speaker ("this, this one"), 那 to what is far from them ("that, that one"). The dividing line is the speaker's, not the object's: what is near me may well be far from you.

Before a noun, they require a classifier:

这本书 zhè běn shū: this book (near)
那件衣服 nà jiàn yīfu: that garment (far)

They can also be used alone, as subjects:
这是我的。 Zhè shì wǒ de. This is mine.
那不是我的。 Nà bú shì wǒ de. That is not mine.

The locatives 这儿 and 那儿

By adding the suffix 儿 r to the demonstratives, you obtain locatives, that is, words of place:

Examples from the dialogue:
那儿有很多书。 Nàr yǒu hěn duō shū. There are many books over there.
这儿还有很多书。 Zhèr hái yǒu hěn duō shū. Here, there are still many books.

This suffix is the hallmark of northern speech, the speech of Beijing. In the south, you will rather hear another form, which we will see in due course.

The classifier 些 and its combinations

些 xiē means "a few" and is never used alone. It is always welded to another word:

一些 yìxiē: a few, a little (indefinite quantity)
这些 zhèxiē: these ones, these… (near plural)
那些 nàxiē: those ones, those… (far plural)
哪些 nǎxiē: which ones? (plural question word)
有些 yǒuxiē: some, a few

Examples:
那些书不是我的。 Nàxiē shū bú shì wǒ de. Those books are not mine.
还有一些是哥哥的。 Hái yǒu yìxiē shì gēge de. There are still a few that belong to my brother.
有些东西是我的。 Yǒuxiē dōngxi shì wǒ de. Some things are mine.

Note one thing: unlike 这本 or 那件, the combinations with 些 are placed directly before the noun, with no other classifier: you say 这些书, and not 这些本书. That is only logical, since 些 is already the classifier.

The classifiers 本 and 件

A reminder: in Chinese, a number or a demonstrative is never placed directly before the noun. You must insert a classifier.

This unit brings two new ones:

本 běn: for books, notebooks, magazines, anything bound.
这本书 zhè běn shū: this book
这一本是我的。 Zhè yì běn shì wǒ de. This one (this volume) is mine.

件 jiàn: for clothing (especially the upper body), belongings, events.
那几件衣服都是我的。 Nà jǐ jiàn yīfu dōu shì wǒ de. Those few garments are all mine.
你认不认识这件衣服？ Nǐ rèn bú rènshi zhè jiàn yīfu? Do you recognize this garment?

The general classifier 个 gè, which you already know, replaces most of the others in spoken language. That said, as soon as you know the classifier that belongs to a noun, use it: that is what is noticed straight away. (And no, there is no rule that lets you guess which one goes with which noun. They are learned along with the word, much as you learn the gender of a noun in French or Spanish.)

The adverb 还 hái: "still, in addition"

还 hái means "still, in addition". Like every adverb in Chinese, it is placed before the verb.

Examples:
这儿还有很多书。 Zhèr hái yǒu hěn duō shū. Here, there are still many books.
还有一些是哥哥的。 Hái yǒu yìxiē shì gēge de. There are in addition a few that belong to my brother.

Be careful not to confuse it with 也 yě ("also"). 也 repeats the same action for a different subject ("me too"); 还 adds one more element ("and there is still…").

几 jǐ in the sense of "a few"

We have seen that 几 jǐ is used to ask "how many?", for small numbers. But in an affirmative sentence, it means "a few", a small indefinite number.

Example:
那几件衣服都是我的。 Nà jǐ jiàn yīfu dōu shì wǒ de. Those few garments are all mine.

In both uses, 几 is always followed by a classifier: 几件, 几本, 几个. It is the context, and the context alone, that tells you whether it is a question or a quantity.

The affirmative-negative question with disyllabic verbs

You already know the affirmative-negative question, the V 不 V question, with one-syllable verbs such as 是不是 shì bú shì. What do you do when the verb has two syllables?

For a disyllabic verb such as 认识 rènshi ("to know"), you repeat only the first syllable:

Example from the dialogue:
你认不认识这件衣服？ Nǐ rèn bú rènshi zhè jiàn yīfu? Do you recognize this garment?

Other examples, with verbs you have already learned:
你喜不喜欢？ Nǐ xǐ bù xǐhuan? Do you like it?
你高不高兴？ Nǐ gāo bù gāoxìng? Are you happy?

In writing, this middle 不 keeps its tone, sandhi included: rèn bú rènshi, xǐ bù xǐhuan. That is what you see in the course, and that is what you should write. In speech, however, it is barely stressed. Caught between the two halves of the verb, it goes by fast: you will most often hear it reduced to a plain bu. Write the tone, but do not lean on it.

有的 and 有些

These two words look alike, yet they do not say the same thing.

有些 yǒuxiē is a contraction of 有一些 yǒu yìxiē, "there are a few". It announces a quantity, nothing more: "some, a few".

有些东西是我的。 Yǒuxiē dōngxi shì wǒ de. Some things are mine.
(word for word: "there are a few things that are mine")

有的 yǒude means "some". It takes a part of a set that is already known: the one just mentioned, or the one the situation points to. That is why it is often repeated, or set against another expression, to divide that set:

有的是我的，还有一些是哥哥的。 Yǒude shì wǒ de, hái yǒu yìxiē shì gēge de.
Some are mine, and others belong to my brother.

In the dialogue, the books have been under discussion for several lines: 有的 refers back to them without having to name them.

That is a lot of material at once in this unit. Read the dialogue again once you have finished this page: it is all there, in context.