- Today we are going to learn another common particles in Chinese, 的 (de).
- 的 is a Structural Particle. It indicates the word or phrase preceding it functions as an attributive.
- Attributives are words or expression used to describe nouns. Attributives can be adjectives, nouns, pronouns or verb clauses.
- In general, the particle “的” comes in as a link marker between the attributive (adjectives, nouns, pronouns or verb clauses) and the noun modified.
Attributive + 的 + Noun
1. Adjectival Attributive
- An obvious example of an attributive is an adjective. The adjectival attributive will generally require particle “的”.
Example:
Attributive (Adjective) Noun Noun Phrase Sound 很贵 车 很贵的车 hěn guì chē hěn guì de chē very expensive car a very expensive car 美丽 花 美丽的花 měi lì huā měi lì de huā beautiful flower a beautiful flower
2. Attributive to indicate “possession”
- A noun or pronoun followed by 的 may be used as an attributive to indicate “possession”.
Example:
Attributive (Adjective) Noun Noun Phrase Sound 孩子 衣服 孩子的衣服 hái zǐ yī fú hái zǐ de yī fú child clothing children’s clothing 中国 车 中国的车 zhōng guó chē zhōng guó de chē China car China’s car 妈妈 书 妈妈的书 mā ma shū mā ma de shū mother book mother’s book 他 照相机 他的照相机 tā zhào xiàng jī tā de zhào xiàng jī he camera his camera 大家 建议 大家的建议 dà jiā jiàn yì dà jiā de jiàn yì everyone idea everyone’s idea - NOTE: There are no possessive pronouns (e.g. his, her, their) in Chinese. [ Pronoun + 的 ] serves the same function as a possessive pronoun in English and other languages.
- NOTE: 的 may be omitted in possessive attributive before human nouns where a close relationship is implied.
那是我爸爸。 That is my father.
- NOTE: Nouns may function as attributives describing other nous, and as such rally incorporate 的.
中文老师。 A Chinese teacher
3. Attributive with a verb or verb clause
- In English, when a attributive includes a verb, the modifier occurs after the noun as a relative clause introduced by a relative pronoun (‘who,’ ‘whom,’ ‘which’) or a complementizer (‘that’).
- In Chinese, all attributives precede the noun.
Example:
Attributive (verb) Noun Noun Phrase Sound 喜欢 车 喜欢的车 xǐ huān chē xǐ huān de chē like car a car that I like 买书 人 买书的人 mǎi shū rén mǎi shū de rén buy book person a person who buys books 从中国来 学生 从中国来的学生 cóng zhōng guó lái xué shēng cóng zhōng guó lái de xué shēng come from China student a student who has come from China 刚出版 书 刚出版的书 gāng chū bǎn shū gāng chū bǎn de shū newly published book a newly published book 昨天看 那部电影 昨天看的那部电影 zuó tiān kàn nà bù diàn yǐng zuó tiān kàn de nà bù diàn yǐng I watched yesterday the movie the movie I watched yesterday
Hi Min Min,
I think you spelled “thier” wrong. Should it be “their”?
Thank you so much!
Hi cinny,
Thanks. I have corrected the spelling.