Table Of ContentPractical Grammar of Modern
Chinese III
Chinese grammar is characterized by its simple structure, lack of inflections, and
wide use of monosyllabic morphemes. With the increased popularity of learning
Chinese as a second language, there is a demand for a guide to Chinese grammar
that’s targeted at second language learners.
This four-volume set is one of the earliest and most influential works of
Chinese grammar, with a special focus on teaching and learning Chinese as a
second language. Drawing on rich teaching experience, the authors analyze a
myriad of real-world examples to describe Chinese grammatical phenomena and
rules while introducing the general grammar system of Chinese. This volume
introduces sentence constituents in modern Chinese grammar, including subjects,
objects, attributes, adverbials, complements, double references, and parentheses.
Since the first edition came out in 1983, this set has been revised twice and has
remained one of the best sellers in the field. Practitioners and scholars of teaching
Chinese as a second language, as well as students with a basic knowledge of
Chinese, will find it to be a handy reference.
Liu Yuehua (1937–2019) was a distinguished Chinese linguist, winner of
the Walton Lifetime Achievement Award of the Chinese Language Teachers
Association of USA, a professor at the Beijing Language and Culture University,
and a leading author of the well-known Integrated Chinese textbook series. She
also taught at Wellesley College, MIT, and Harvard University.
Pan Wenyu graduated from Peking University and taught Chinese as a foreign
language for more than 50 years. She specialized in Chinese grammar and
teaching techniques.
Gu Wei (Zhao Shuhua) is a retired professor of the master of teaching Chinese as
a second language, Beijing Language and Culture University. She has authored 20
papers and is the co-author of The Study on Parts of Speech (1996).
China Perspectives
The China Perspectives series focuses on translating and publishing works
by leading Chinese scholars, writing about both global topics and China-
related themes. It covers Humanities & Social Sciences, Education, Media and
Psychology, as well as many interdisciplinary themes.
This is the first time any of these books have been published in English for
international readers. The series aims to put forward a Chinese perspective, give
insights into cutting-edge academic thinking in China, and inspire researchers globally.
Titles in linguistics currently include
Research on Functional Grammar of Chinese I
Information Structure and Word Ordering
Zhang Bojiang and Fang Mei
Research on Functional Grammar of Chinese II
Reference and Grammatical Category
Zhang Bojiang and Fang Mei
Practical Grammar of Modern Chinese I
Overview and Notional Words
Liu Yuehua, Pan Wenyu, and Gu Wei
Practical Grammar of Modern Chinese II
Function Words
Liu Yuehua, Pan Wenyu, and Gu Wei
Practical Grammar of Modern Chinese III
Sentence Constituents
Liu Yuehua, Pan Wenyu, and Gu Wei
Practical Grammar of Modern Chinese IV
Simple Sentence, Compound Sentence, and Discourse
Liu Yuehua, Pan Wenyu, and Gu Wei
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/series/CPH
Practical Grammar of
Modern Chinese III
Sentence Constituents
Liu Yuehua, Pan Wenyu, and Gu Wei
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Liu Yuehua, Pan Wenyu, and Gu Wei
Translated by Yang Huiying
The right of Liu Yuehua, Pan Wenyu, and Gu Wei to be identified as authors of
this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
English Version by permission of The Commercial Press.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-367-56301-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-09722-8 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
1 Subjects and predicates 1
2 Objects 9
3 Attributes 19
4 Adverbials 54
5 Complements 87
6 Double references and parentheses 201
Bibliography 214
Index 216
1 Subjects and predicates
Section one: features of subjects and predicates
A sentence can usually be divided into two parts. One is the subject part and the
other is the predicate part. The subject part narrates, explains, or describes an
object; the predicate part narrates, explains, or describes the subject. The cores of
the two parts are subject and object respectively.
Example 1 他们上个星期游泳了。[tā men shàng gè xīng qī yóu yǒng le.]
(They went swimming last week.)
Example 2 街上的人真多。[jiē shàng de rén zhēn duō.]
(There are so many people in the street.)
In Example 1, “他们 [tā men] (they)” is the subject part as well as the subject
in the sentence. “上个星期游泳了 [shàng gè xīng qī yóu yǒng le] (went swim-
ming last week” is the predicate part, in which “游泳 [yóu yǒng] (swimming)”
is the predicate verb in it. In Example 2, “街上的人 [jiē shàng de rén] (people in
the street)” is the subject part, in which “人 [rén] (people)” is the subject. “真多
[zhēn duō] (so many)” is the predicate part, in which “多 [duō] (many)” is the
predicate. Generally speaking, subject and object are two main and indispens-
able constituents in the sentence, except for the sentence with no subject or the
single-word/phrase sentence. For example, without the definite context, “他们
[tā men] (they)” or “游泳 [yóu yǒng] (swimming)” cannot clearly represent the
complete meaning of the entire sentence “他们游泳。[tā men yóu yǒng.] (They
went swimming.).”
In Chinese, the subject in the sentence with verb as predicate doesn’t always
refer to the doer of an action. Actually, it can indicate the doer, the recipient of an
action, or neither of them.
Example 3 我吃了两个馒头。[wǒ chī le liǎng gè mán tou.]
(I ate two steamed buns.) (“I” as the doer of eating)
Example 4 我的馒头叫哥哥吃了。[wǒ de mán tou jiào gē gē chī le.]
(My steamed buns were eaten by my elder brother.) (“steamed buns” as the
recipient of eating)
2 Subjects and predicates
Example 5 我是老师。[wǒ shì lǎo shī.]
(I am a teacher.) (“I” as neither the doer or the recipient)
These examples sound appropriate without any context, in which the subjects
would be the topics as well if they appeared in a discourse.
In the existential sentence, a locational word can function as the subject.
Example 6 桌子上放着一本书。[zhuō zi shàng fàng zhe yī běn shū.]
(There is a book on the desk.) (“on the desk” as the location)
Example 7 前边来了一个人。[qián biān lái le yī gè rén.]
(A man got ahead.) (“ahead” as the location)
The sentence structure in Chinese is greatly restricted by discourse or context.
Therefore, if the recipient of an action or the tool involved in an action is known,
it will change into the topic and stand before the predicate. On the discourse level,
the recipient as topic cannot be parsed further.
In Chinese, adjectives, nominals (phrases), and subject-predicate phrases can
function as the predicate: adjectives as the predicate describe the property, state,
or change of a person or a thing; nominals as the predicate show features or quan-
tities of people or things; subject-predicate phrases as the predicate explain or
describe people or things.
Example 8 他很努力。[tā hěn nǔ lì.]
(He is working very hard.) (adjective as the predicate)
Example 9 他北京人，瘦高个儿，圆脸庞，大眼睛。[tā běi jīng rén, shòu
gāo gè er, yuán liǎn páng, dà yǎn jīng.]
(He is a thin Beijinger with a round face and big eyes.) (noun phrase as the
predicate)
Example 10 他学习好，工作好，身体好，是个三好学生。[tā xué xí hǎo,
gōng zuò hǎo, shēn tǐ hǎo, shì gè sān hǎo xué shēng.]
(He is a merit student who studies well, works hard, and is fit.) (subject-
predicate phrase as the predicate)
In Chinese, the predicate generally goes after the subject, except for the
inverted sentence in which the predicate comes before the subject. In this case,
the subject is often pronounced slightly and divided from the predicate by a
comma.
Example 11 真多啊，街上的人。[zhēn duō ā, jiē shàng de rén.]
(There are so many people in the street.)
Example 12 回来了吗，你妈妈？[huí lái le ma, nǐ mā mā?]
(Has your mom come back yet?)
Subjects and predicates 3
In the following situations, the subject can be absent or invisible.
1 In a conversation or continuous utterances
Example 13
A: 那个人的照片你看过了吗？[nà gè rén de zhào piàn nǐ kàn guò le ma?]
(Have you seen that man’s photo?)
B: 看过了。[kàn guò le.]
B: (Yes, I have.)
A:喜欢吗？[xǐ huān ma?]
(Do you like it?)
B: 长得不错。 [zhǎng dé bú cuò.]
(He is good looking.)
Example 14 我今天上午去北海划了两个钟头船，下午又去操场打了一
场球，所以很累。[wǒ jīn tiān shàng wǔ qù běi hǎi huá le liǎng gè zhōng
tóu chuán, xià wǔ yòu qù cāo chǎng dǎ le yī chǎng qiú, suǒ yǐ hěn lèi.]
(I went boating in Beihai for two hours this morning and played a ball game
on the playground this afternoon, so I was very tired.)
2 In the imperative sentence
In an imperative sentence, the subject can be present or absent.
Example 15 劳驾，让开点儿。[láo jià, ràng kāi diǎn er.]
(Excuse me. Step aside please.)
Example 16 快去开门。[kuài qù kāi mén.]
(Open the door quickly.)
In a certain context, the predicate verb or object can be absent, too.
Example 17
A: 黑板上的字是谁写的？[hēi bǎn shàng de zì shì shuí xiě de?]
(Who wrote these words on the blackboard?)
B: 我。[wǒ.]
(It’s me.)
Example 18
A: 玻璃是谁打破的？[bō li shì shuí dǎ pò de?]
(Who broke the window?)
B: 张小明。[Zhāng Xiǎo míng.]
(Zhang Xiaoming.)
Example 19
A:下星期，咱们老校友在北京聚会，你参加吗？[xià xīng qī, zán men lǎo
xiào yǒu zài běi jīng jù huì, nǐ cān jiā ma?]
(We alumni will gather together in Beijing next week. Will you join us?)
