Chinese Sentence Structure and Word Order VIII

This grammar section is divided into a few sub-sections, and will be described through a few week activities:

SP1. Basic Pattern
SP2. Direct and Indirect Objects
SP3. Prepositional Phrases
SP4. Location and Time Phrases
SP5. Adverbs
SP6. Negation
SP7. Duration
SP8. Noun
SP9. Question
SP10. Particle

SP8 : Noun

• A noun phrase consists of a main noun, and any words or phrases that describe or modify the main noun.
• In Chinese, all noun modifiers occur before the main noun.
  
  Modifier + Noun

  Example

  liǎng zhī bái sè de xiǎo gǒu 。 两 只 白 色 的 小 狗 。 Modifier Main Noun two measure word white small Dog

  Audio clip: view full post to listen. Adobe Flash is required

• Nouns can be modified by :- Specifiers / Number + Measure Word
  - Nouns
  - Pronouns
  - Adjective Phrases
  - Verb Phrases (verb + object)
  - Verb Phrases (subject + object)
  - Preposition Phrases
• Modifier = Specifiers / Number + Measure Word
  Example:

  1. Those three books nà sān běn shū 。 那 三 本 书 。 Modifier Noun those 3 measure word book Audio clip: view full post to listen. Adobe Flash is required

• Modifier = Nouns
  Example:

  1. Teacher’s book lǎo shī de shū 。 老 师 的 书 。 Modifier Noun teacher particle book Audio clip: view full post to listen. Adobe Flash is required

• Modifier = Pronouns
  Example:

  1. Our book wǒ men de shū 。 我 们 的 书 。 Modifier Noun our particle book Audio clip: view full post to listen. Adobe Flash is required

• Modifier = Adjective Phrases
  Example:

  1. A very thick book hěn hòu de shū 。 很 厚 的 书 。 Modifier Noun very thick particle book Audio clip: view full post to listen. Adobe Flash is required

• Modifier = Verb Phrases (verb + object)
  Example:

  1. The girl who sells books mài shū de nǚ zǐ 。 卖 书 的 女 子 。 (Verb Object) Modifier Noun sell books particle girl Audio clip: view full post to listen. Adobe Flash is required

• Modifier = Verb Phrases (subject + verb)
  Example:

  1. The book that we bought wǒ men mǎi de shū 。 我 们 买 的 书 。 (Object Verb) Modifier Noun we buy particle books Audio clip: view full post to listen. Adobe Flash is required

• Modifier = Preposition Phrases
  Example:

  1. A friend who has come from UK cóng yīng guó lái de péng yǒu 。 从 英 国 来 的 朋 友 。 Modifier Noun from UK come particle friend Audio clip: view full post to listen. Adobe Flash is required

• In English, for the Verb Phrases and Preposition Phrases examples above,  e.g.
  - the girl who sells books
  - the book that we bought
  - a friend who has come from UK

  the modifier occurs after the main noun as a relative clause introduced by a relative pronoun (‘who,’ ‘whom,’ ‘which’) or a complementizer (‘that’).

• However, in Chinese, all phrases/ clauses that describe or modify the main noun should precede the main noun.
  There is no words that correspond to relative pronoun (‘who,’ ‘whom,’ ‘which’) or a complementizer (‘that’) in Chinese.
• In some occasion, when the main noun is predictable from the context, it may be omitted. When the main noun is omitted, ‘的’ cannot be omitted. Example:
  

  1. That book is mine (That book is my book) nà běn shū shì wǒ de 。 那 本 书 是 我 的 。 that measure word book is mine （那本书是我的书。） Audio clip: view full post to listen. Adobe Flash is required