Grammar 1

Learning Chinese: grammar of Unit 1

This unit is about moving around and location: saying where you are leaving from, where you are going, what is on the left or on the right, and how you get somewhere. We introduce two new coverbs, 从 and 往, expand the set of locatives seen in Level 1, and finally put a name to a construction you already use without realizing it: serial verbs.

1. The coverb 从 cóng: the starting point

A "coverb" is a verb that acts as a preposition. It is the result of a historical evolution of the Chinese language, in which verbs turned into prepositions. Along the way, the verb still keeps some features of a verb while serving as a preposition.

从 means "from, since". It introduces the starting point of a movement and, like all adverbials in Chinese, it goes before the main verb.

Examples:

• 我从北京来。 Wǒ cóng Běijīng lái. I come from Beijing.
• 你从哪儿来？ Nǐ cóng nǎr lái? Where do you come from?

从…到…: from … to …

Combined with 到 (seen in Level 1, Unit 13), 从 frames a complete journey, in space as well as in time.

• 从这里到火车站坐三站。 Cóng zhèlǐ dào huǒchēzhàn zuò sān zhàn. From here to the train station, it's three stops.
• 从我家到学校要半个小时。 Cóng wǒ jiā dào xuéxiào yào bàn ge xiǎoshí. From my home to school, it takes half an hour.
• 从早上八点到晚上九点。 Cóng zǎoshang bā diǎn dào wǎnshang jiǔ diǎn. From 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

2. The coverb 往 wǎng: direction

往 means "toward, in the direction of". Where 从 marks where you come from, 往 marks where you are going. The construction is the same: the coverb and its object go before the verb.

What is the difference between 往 and 到?
往 shows the direction taken, without saying whether you get there; 到 shows the point reached. Hence their positions: 往 goes before the verb and depends on it (往前走), whereas 到 can stand on its own (到上海了) or come after the verb to mark the result (走到学校).

In the dialogue:

• 从这里往前面走。 Cóng zhèlǐ wǎng qiánmiàn zǒu. From here, walk forward.
• 往左走吗？ Wǎng zuǒ zǒu ma? Do we go to the left?
• 不往左，往右走。 Bù wǎng zuǒ, wǎng yòu zǒu. Not to the left, to the right.

Other examples:

• 往那边走。 Wǎng nàbiān zǒu. Go that way.
• 你往哪儿走？ Nǐ wǎng nǎr zǒu? Which way are you going?

When the two coverbs meet, the order follows the logic of the journey: first where you leave from (从), then where you are going (往), and finally the verb: 从这里往前面走。

3. The position words 左 zuǒ and 右 yòu

a) 左 and 右 alone, after 往

After 往, the position word is used bare, with no suffix: 往左走 · 往右走.

b) 左边 / 右边: the locatives

To locate something, you use the form with the suffix 边: 左边 zuǒbiān (the left side), 右边 yòubiān (the right side), 旁边 pángbiān (next to).

You already know the principle from Unit 13 of Level 1: the locative goes after the place, and 的 is optional (it tends to be used when the place name is long).

In the dialogue:

• 超市的旁边是一家书店。 Chāoshì de pángbiān shì yì jiā shūdiàn. Next to the supermarket is a bookstore.
• 饭店在书店的左边吗？ Fàndiàn zài shūdiàn de zuǒbiān ma? Is the restaurant to the left of the bookstore?
• 书店的右边是什么？ Shūdiàn de yòubiān shì shénme? What is to the right of the bookstore?
• 你坐我旁边。 Nǐ zuò wǒ pángbiān. Sit next to me.

c) The series with 面: 前面 and 后面

In Level 1 (Unit 13), you learned the locatives formed with 边: 前边, 后边, 外边, 里边. This unit introduces the same locatives with 面: 前面 qiánmiàn (in front) and 后面 hòumiàn (behind).

In the dialogue:

• 不在左边，在书店的后面。 Bú zài zuǒbiān, zài shūdiàn de hòumiàn. Not on the left, behind the bookstore.
• 前面是地铁站。 Qiánmiàn shì dìtiězhàn. In front is the subway station.

d) 在 or 有? Two ways of locating things

The dialogue uses both structures, and they do not say the same thing. Compare:

• 右边有一家超市。 Yòubiān yǒu yì jiā chāoshì. On the right, there is a supermarket.
• 饭店在书店的后面。 Fàndiàn zài shūdiàn de hòumiàn. The restaurant is behind the bookstore.

The difference lies in what you are talking about:

• 左边有一家水果店。 Zuǒbiān yǒu yì jiā shuǐguǒdiàn. On the left, there is a fruit store. (I am describing what I see on the left)
• 超市在书店的右边。 Chāoshì zài shūdiàn de yòubiān. The supermarket is to the right of the bookstore. (I am saying where the supermarket is)

With 是, the structure is close to the one with 有, but it identifies exclusively: 右边是一家水果店。 "On the right, it's a fruit store" (and nothing else).

4. Serial verbs

Chinese can string together two (or more) verbs in the same sentence, with no linking word, where English would use "to", "by", or another preposition. The verbs then follow each other in the chronological order of the actions. This is known as a serial verb construction. It is a classic case of parataxis: the actions are placed side by side with no linking word, and the chronological order alone establishes the logical link between them.

In the dialogue:

• 我们去小王姐姐的饭店吃早饭吧。 Wǒmen qù Xiǎo Wáng jiějie de fàndiàn chī zǎofàn ba. Let's go have breakfast at Xiao Wang's sister's restaurant. (1. go to the restaurant → 2. eat there)
• 从这里往前面走，去坐地铁。 Cóng zhèlǐ wǎng qiánmiàn zǒu, qù zuò dìtiě. From here, walk straight ahead and go take the subway.

Other examples:

• 我去书店买书。 Wǒ qù shūdiàn mǎi shū. I'm going to the bookstore to buy books.
• 我们去超市买水果。 Wǒmen qù chāoshì mǎi shuǐguǒ. We're going to the supermarket to buy fruit.

Means of transport

This is the most frequent use. In Chinese, the means of transport is not expressed with a preposition ("by bus") but with a verb (more precisely a coverb): 坐 zuò, "to sit", which then takes on the meaning of "to take (a means of transport)". So it goes before the verb of movement: that is its logical place, since you first have to take the means of transport before you can travel.

In the dialogue:

• 我们坐公交车去火车站。 Wǒmen zuò gōngjiāochē qù huǒchēzhàn. We'll go to the train station by bus.
• 我们坐地铁去饭店吃早饭。 Wǒmen zuò dìtiě qù fàndiàn chī zǎofàn. We take the subway to go have breakfast at the restaurant. (three serial verbs!)

Other examples:

• 我坐火车去上海。 Wǒ zuò huǒchē qù Shànghǎi. I'm going to Shanghai by train.
• 他坐出租车去医院。 Tā zuò chūzūchē qù yīyuàn. He is going to the hospital by taxi.
• 我坐地铁去学校上课。 Wǒ zuò dìtiě qù xuéxiào shàngkè. I take the subway to go to class at school.

If you are the one driving, you use 开车 kāichē (Level 1, Unit 17): 我开车去商店买东西。 Wǒ kāichē qù shāngdiàn mǎi dōngxi. I drive to the store to buy a few things.

5. 怎么 zěnme + verb: asking about the means

You met 怎么 in Unit 17 of Level 1: it is an interrogative pronoun that means "how" and, like all question words in Chinese, it goes where the answer would be, that is, before the verb.

In the dialogue:

• 上海的路太多，我们怎么走？ Shànghǎi de lù tài duō, wǒmen zěnme zǒu? There are too many streets in Shanghai: which way do we go?
• 火车站怎么走？ Huǒchēzhàn zěnme zǒu? How do you get to the train station?

The answer to a question with 怎么 is very often… a serial verb construction (point 4):

• 你怎么去学校？ Nǐ zěnme qù xuéxiào? How do you get to school?
  我坐地铁去。 Wǒ zuò dìtiě qù. I go by subway.
• 你怎么回去？ Nǐ zěnme huíqù? How are you getting back?
  我坐火车回去。 Wǒ zuò huǒchē huíqù. I'm going back by train.

6. The simple directionals 回来 / 回去

You already came across them in Unit 9 of Level 1; now let's formalize them.

来 indicates movement toward the speaker, 去 indicates movement away from the speaker. Added to an action verb, they no longer indicate a movement in its own right but the direction of the action relative to where the speaker is: they are directionals.

Here the action verb is 回 huí (to return), which is not used on its own:

• 我回去。 Wǒ huíqù. I'm going back. (I am moving away from the person I am talking to)
• 你回来了！ Nǐ huílai le! You're back! (you are coming toward me)

In the dialogue:

• 小雨，星期天晚上回去，我们坐公交车去火车站，好不好？ Xiǎoyǔ, xīngqītiān wǎnshang huíqù… Xiaoyu, on Sunday evening, when we go back (to Beijing), we'll take the bus to the train station, OK?

Bai Xue and Gao Xiaoyu are in Shanghai: going back to Beijing means moving away from the place where they are talking → 回去.

Specifying the place

If you want to name the place, it goes between the action verb and the directional:

• 我回北京去。 Wǒ huí Běijīng qù. I'm going back to Beijing.
• 他回我家来。 Tā huí wǒ jiā lái. He is coming back to my place.

Finally, "to go home" is simply 回家 huí jiā, with no directional: 我下午六点回家。 Wǒ xiàwǔ liù diǎn huí jiā. I'm going home at six in the afternoon.