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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| js6426 Diglot Senior Member Cambodia Joined 4524 days ago 277 posts - 349 votes  Speaks: English*, Khmer Studies: Mandarin | Message 1 of 10 25 July 2012 at 8:05pm | IP Logged |
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I am going through the Michel Thomas Mandarin course and I have found something I don't fully understand. If I
say 'my wife doesn't want to eat here' and then when asked why I say 'she wants to eat there', which of these responses is correct? 我的太太在这儿不要吃饭 - the initial sentence is given like this on the audio. 她要在那个餐馆吃饭 - the response is given like this on the tape. Would the correct response not be this though - 她在那个餐馆要吃饭 ?? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Maux Diglot Newbie Netherlands Joined 4629 days ago 37 posts - 51 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English Studies: Mandarin | Message 2 of 10 25 July 2012 at 9:11pm | IP Logged |
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I think you can understand the answer as it was given on the audio by braking it apart into its constituent phrases, as follows:
吃饭 - to eat a meal 在那个餐馆吃饭 - to eat a meal at that restaurant 要在那个餐馆吃饭 - want to eat a meal at that restaurant 她要在那个餐馆吃饭 - she wants to eat a meal at that restaurant Prepositional phrases specifying location typically precede the verb. Here, it's the eating of a meal (and not the 'wanting') that is to be done at that restaurant, hence 在那个餐馆 ends up in front of 吃饭 and not 要. After that, 要 takes the entire 在那个餐馆吃饭 as its complement. EDIT: I'm only at elementary level myself though, so don't take my word for it. Maybe someone more experienced can help out? Edited by Maux on 25 July 2012 at 9:12pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| js6426 Diglot Senior Member Cambodia Joined 4524 days ago 277 posts - 349 votes Speaks: English*, Khmer Studies: Mandarin | Message 3 of 10 25 July 2012 at 9:56pm | IP Logged |
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If that is the case then wouldn't the initial phrase be wrong?
We could say that the eating of the meal is to be done there and not the not wanting, with 不要 taking 在这儿吃饭 as its complement. That would give 我的太太不要在这儿吃饭 whereas on the audio it was 我的太太在这儿不要吃饭. I see your logic and it makes sense, but then the initial phrase seems wrong. To me it looks like one of the phrases has to be incorrect, unless you can say it either way! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Maux Diglot Newbie Netherlands Joined 4629 days ago 37 posts - 51 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English Studies: Mandarin | Message 4 of 10 26 July 2012 at 7:46am | IP Logged |
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In that case I think both would have to be grammatical. This is just wild speculation (I'm really only at elementary level), but I'd guess
我的太太不要在这儿吃饭 is the 'standard' choice, whereas 我的太太在这儿不要吃饭 emphasizes the location (by moving it more to the front)? I'm going to see if I can find myself a native speaker somewhere today. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| js6426 Diglot Senior Member Cambodia Joined 4524 days ago 277 posts - 349 votes Speaks: English*, Khmer Studies: Mandarin | Message 5 of 10 26 July 2012 at 10:11am | IP Logged |
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Yeah that seems to make sense. Let me know what you find out!
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| viedums Hexaglot Senior Member Thailand Joined 4670 days ago 327 posts - 528 votes Speaks: Latvian, English*, German, Mandarin, Thai, French Studies: Vietnamese | Message 6 of 10 27 July 2012 at 4:45pm | IP Logged |
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According to my Chinese textbook (Practical Chinese or 實用華語 from TLI), normally auxiliary verbs like 要 precede phrases with co-verbs like 在. Here’s their example:
她們都要在台大讀書. “They all want to study at Taiwan University.” So you have a point – putting 不要 after 在這兒 doesn’t seem to follow the pattern. On the other hand, according to Yip and Rimmington’s grammar, sentences with modal verbs have a topic-comment instead of subject-predicate structure, and various things can go in the topic slot. One of their examples is: 大家都坐經濟艙 // 可以節省不少開支 . “Everyone can save a lot of expense traveling in economy class.” (p. 289) "traveling in economy class" is the topic. Maybe "在這兒” is also a suitable topic and thus is okay appearing before the modal verb? Hmmm... Edited by viedums on 27 July 2012 at 6:39pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Maux Diglot Newbie Netherlands Joined 4629 days ago 37 posts - 51 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English Studies: Mandarin | Message 7 of 10 28 July 2012 at 7:28am | IP Logged |
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Sorry for the late reply. Haven't been able to find anyone at work. Most are probably on vacation now. (Should have
thought earlier of just mailing someone though. I'll let you know if I get a reply.) But viedums' explanation makes a lot of sense. Edited by Maux on 28 July 2012 at 7:29am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| js6426 Diglot Senior Member Cambodia Joined 4524 days ago 277 posts - 349 votes Speaks: English*, Khmer Studies: Mandarin | Message 8 of 10 28 July 2012 at 4:45pm | IP Logged |
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The joys of Mandarin!
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