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Mandarin: when is "de" used btwn adj and | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| paisley Groupie United States Joined 5713 days ago 59 posts - 60 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 1 of 6 16 February 2012 at 4:23am | IP Logged | ||
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mandarin: when is "de" used btwn adj and noun, and when not?
So: zhe1 ge xiao3 de shu1 vs. zhe1 ge xiao3 shu1 tia4 gui4 le these are 2 sentences in my fluenz but i'm not sure why and when i should use the de intbwn adj and noun. thanks. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| seldnar Senior Member United States Joined 7133 days ago 189 posts - 287 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin, French, Greek | Message 2 of 6 16 February 2012 at 5:36am | IP Logged | ||
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I'm not sure if this helps but "de" 的 can be omitted when the adjective is a stative
verb (such as "xiao" 小) and the verb is not modified (for example, it is not preceded by "hen" 很). So you could say "xiao3 shu1" 小書 but you couldn't say the *"hen3 xiao3 shu1" 很小書. You can also drop the "de" when the adjective and noun are closely associated. So, you have "Zhong1 guo2 ren2" 中國人 instead of :Zhong1 guo2 de ren2" 中國的人 And last, you don't use it when the noun is modified by a pronoun such as "wo3 ba4 ba" 我爸爸. I consulted Claudia Ross "Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar" just to make sure I didn't mess up the explanation :-) 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| jiajia Newbie China Joined 4859 days ago 17 posts - 26 votes Speaks: Mandarin* | Message 3 of 6 16 February 2012 at 7:58am | IP Logged | ||
I'm finding it quite hard to explain precisely why and when to use the 的, but I can tell you whether a sentence with de sounds correct and natural, as below, zhe1 ge xiao3 de shu1 （个 isn't the right classifier for books, and can't add 的 between 小书）， zhe1 ge xiao3 shu1 tai4 gui4 le （小书 is grammatically correct, but sounds a bit like written form）， natural colloquial expression: 这本小册子太贵了 （zhèi-běnr-xiǎo-cè-zi-tài-guì-le）。 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| paisley Groupie United States Joined 5713 days ago 59 posts - 60 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 4 of 6 17 February 2012 at 1:34am | IP Logged | ||
hmmmm. okay, i think i get this. ish. lol. i will continue to look at exercizes that include the 的 to make sure. Thanks. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tibbles Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5192 days ago 245 posts - 422 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Korean | Message 5 of 6 17 February 2012 at 7:17am | IP Logged | ||
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I just add the 的 when an adverb modifies the adjective or when the adjective is multi-character, as in "stingy person":
小氣的人 xiao3 qi4 de ren2 But as seldnar points out, there are exceptions, especially in the case of describing nationalities. After a while you get a feel for when it belongs and when it doesn't. BTW, Chinese people joke that the Japanese add 的 haphazardly when trying to speak Chinese, as in: 大大的好 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| OneEye Diglot Senior Member Japan Joined 6851 days ago 518 posts - 784 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: Japanese, Taiwanese, German, French | Message 6 of 6 25 February 2012 at 10:14am | IP Logged | ||
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I hope those aren't really straight from the course.
這 should be zhè, not zhē the measure word for 書 is 本, not 個 The sentences sound really awkward. I've never had a great impression of Fluenz, but if these are from the course, I'd say run away. If they can't get it right at this basic of a level, their product isn't worth using (or paying the absurd price they charge). You'll just be setting yourself up for frustration later on. 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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