ELLIPSIS OF SENTENCE ELEMENTS
Chinese speakers may leave out words that are supposed to be understood, and therefore need not be spoken. Subjects and conjunctions are often omitted. For example, you may translate the English sentence If you like it, you may buy it, but if you don’t like it, you don’t have to, into the Chinese sentence 喜欢就买, 不喜欢就别买。Xǐhuan jiùmǎi, bù xǐhuan jiù bié mǎi. Literally, it means “Like it, and buy, don’t like then don’t buy.” Compare the two sentences, and you will find that some English words, such as if, you, it, and but are not translated.
WORD CLASSES: FLEXIBILITY, NO INFLECTION
Chinese words do not have inflections, i.e. they do not change to indicate grammatical categories. For example, the verb 去 qù (to go) is invariably 去 qù; there is no past form or any other inflected form of this verb. Neither do Chinese words normally have formal markers of word class. Consequently it is rather easy for a word to be used in more than one word class. This relative flexibility in word classes, however, does not mean that Chinese does not have word classes.
MEASURE WORDS AND PARTICLES
Measure words (量词 liàngcí) and particles (助词 zhùcí) are two word classes found in Chinese but not in English and most other languages.
Measure words are usually required when a noun is modified by a numeral. For example, 两书 liǎng shū is unacceptable; you must use the measure word 本 běn between the numeral and the noun: 两本书 liǎng běn shū (two books). Furthermore, Chinese nouns require specific measure words to go with them. For example, the noun 书 shū (book) must be used with the measure word 本 běn. See List 2 on pages xv–xvi for the common measure words.
In Chinese grammar, particles are words attached to other words or at the end of a sentence to indicate grammatical concepts or to express emotions. For example, the particles 了 le, 着 zhe, 过 guo are attached to verbs to indicate, respectively, whether the actions denoted are completed, in progress or past experiences.
List 1
Meaningful Character Components
冫 = freezing, ice (e.g. 冰 bīng, 冷 lěng, 寒 hán)
讠, 言 = word (e.g. 语 yǔ, 词 cí)
八 = dividing (e.g. 分 fēn, 半 bàn)
亻, 人 = man, person (e.g. 他 tā, 信 xìn)
刂, 刀 = knife (e.g. 利 lì, 剩 shèng)
力 = muscle, strength (e.g. 男 nán, 办 bàn)
阝(on the left) = mound, steps (e.g. 院 yuàn, 附 fù)
阝(on the right) = city, region (e.g. 部 bù, 邮 yóu)
氵, 水 = water (e.g. 河 hé, 海 hǎi)
忄, 心 = the heart, emotions (e.g. 情 qíng, 怕 pà, 感 gǎn)
宀 = roof, house (e.g. 家 jiā, 室 shì)
广 = roof, hut (e.g. 庭 tíng, 店 diàn)
门 = door, gate (e.g. 闻 wén, 间 jiān)
土 = earth (e.g. 场 chǎng, 城 chéng)
女 = woman (e.g. 妇 fù, 妈 mā)
饣, 食 = food (e.g. 饭 fàn, 饱 bǎo)
口 = the mouth, speech, eating (e.g. 问 wèn, 吃 chī)
囗 = boundary (e.g. 围 wéi, 园 yuán)
子, 孑 = child (e.g. 孩 hái, 学 xué)
艹 = plant, vegetation (e.g. 草 cǎo, 菜 cài)
纟 = silk, texture (e.g. 组 zǔ, 纸 zhǐ)
辶 = walking (e.g. 道 dào, 过 guò)
彳 = path, walking (e.g. 行 xíng, 往 wǎng)
巾 = cloth (e.g. 布 bù, 带 dài)
马 = horse (e.g. 骑 qí)
扌, 手, 攵 = the hand, action (e.g. 拿 ná, 擦 cā)
灬, 火 = fire, heat (e.g. 烧 shāo, 热 rè)
礻, 示 = spirit (e.g. 神 shén, 祖 zǔ)
户 = door, window (e.g. 房 fáng)
父 = father (e.g. 爸 bà)
日 = the sun (e.g. 晴 qíng, 暖 nuǎn)
月= the moon (e.g. 阴 yīn, 明 míng)
月, 肉 = flesh, human organ (e.g. 脸 liǎn, 脚 jiǎo)
贝 = shell, treasure (e.g. 贵 guì)
止 = toe (e.g. 步 bù)
木 = tree, timber (e.g. 树 shù, 板 bǎn)
王, 玉 = jade (e.g. 理 lǐ, 球 qiú)
见 = seeing (e.g. 视 shì, 现 xiàn)
气 = vapor (e.g. 汽 qì)
车 = vehicle (e.g. 辆 liàng)
疒 = disease, ailment (e.g. 病 bìng, 疼 téng)
立 = standing (e.g. 站 zhàn, 位 wèi)
穴 = cave, hole (e.g. 空 kōng, 窗 chuāng)
衤, 衣 = clothing (e.g. 裤 kù, 袜 wà)
钅, 金 = metal (e.g. 银 yín, 钱 qián)
石 = stone, rock (e.g. 碗 wǎn, 磁 cí)
目 = the eye (e.g. 眼 yǎn, 睡 shuì)
田 = farm, field (e.g. 界 jiè, 里 lǐ)
瓜 = melon, gourd (e.g. 瓢 piáo, 瓣 bàn)
禾 = seedling, crop (e.g. 种 zhǒng, 秋 qiū)
鸟 = bird (e.g. 鸡 jī)
米 = rice (e.g. 糖 táng, 精 jīng)
竹 = bamboo (e.g. 筷 kuài, 笔 bǐ)
舌 = the tongue (e.g. 话 huà, 活 huó)
舟 = boat (e.g. 船 chuán)
酉 = fermentation (e.g. 酒 jiǔ)
走 = walking (e.g. 起 qǐ)
足 = the foot (e.g. 跳 tiào, 踢 tì)
List 2
Measure Words
Measure words are a special feature of Chinese. A particular measure word, or set of measure words, occurs with each noun whenever one is speaking of numbers. The measure word may function like a collective noun (like a pride [of lions] or a school [of fish]) or may be related to the shape of the object. Noun phrases using measure words often have the structure “number + measure word + noun,” e.g.
□ 一把刀 yì bǎ dāo a knife
□ 两道难题 liǎng dào nántí two difficult questions
Some measure words occur with verbs, and may be related to the frequency or duration of the action. For verbs, the expression may have the structure “verb + number + measure word,” e.g.
□ 看了三遍 kànle sān biàn read three times
□ 去过两次 qùguo liǎng cì have been ... twice
bǎ 把 for objects with handles; a handful
bān 班 class (in school)