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Forming Sentences Correctly in Mandarin | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| Ayane Newbie United States isby-girlfriend.smac Joined 6093 days ago 32 posts - 32 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 1 of 9 17 May 2009 at 12:14am | IP Logged |
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I've been wondering if I've been writing my sentences correctly so far.
I just started learning and don't want to grow any bad habits. Does this make sense? 你的妈妈, 她是中国人吗? Ni de mama, ta shi zhong guo ren ma? "Is your mother Chinese" is what I mean to say. ^^; 1 person has voted this message useful | |
 Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6902 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 9 17 May 2009 at 1:05am | IP Logged |
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In my uninformed opinion, fwiw: literally you are saying "Your mother, is she chinese". I can't vouch for whether it's actually good chinese or not, but I'd prefer to avoid complications by a direct question: Is your mother chinese, 你妈妈是中国人吗?
Another thing is that the possessive particle 的 is usually omitted in the case of close family members. I don't think it's incorrect to use it but it's more natural without. Edited by Hencke on 17 May 2009 at 1:06am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| solidsnake Diglot Senior Member China Joined 7049 days ago 469 posts - 488 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin | Message 3 of 9 17 May 2009 at 11:44am | IP Logged |
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Both are correct.
If you just asked a simple question, and generally aren't going anywhere with it, then hencke's phrasing is probably better since it is more direct and balanced. But if your topic is the guy's mom (not a very safe topic, by the way), and you have other statements and questions that are focusing or revolving around the mom that you plan to ask/say after "is she chinese" bit, then starting with 你的母亲，。。。。is fine since it sets the stage structurally for your topic and the banter to follow. It's the same in English, and I imagine most languages as well. Most languages have multiple ways of saying/asking the same thing, as well as slight variations included to alter the emphasis, logical organization, and overall direction of the linguistic exchange. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Ayane Newbie United States isby-girlfriend.smac Joined 6093 days ago 32 posts - 32 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 4 of 9 29 May 2009 at 12:25pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks you two, I get it now. In my Chinese book, there was this sentence, "Wang xiao jie, ta hao ma" so I thought I had to add in the "ta" in my other sentence. However, I have another sentence that I'm wondering about.
我是学中文. Wo shi xue zhong wen. I mean to say "I am learning chinese". As far as I've heard, there isn't an -ing marker/particle to let people know you are using present continuous, like there is with present perfect (le). Though, I still feel that I wrote the sentence wrong... Edited by Ayane on 29 May 2009 at 12:28pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6917 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 5 of 9 29 May 2009 at 6:01pm | IP Logged |
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To my knowledge, 是 isn't used for the present continuous. I'd probably say 我学中文 (simply "I learn Chinese"), 我在/正在/(正)学中文 (在/正在/正 indicating the "right now", "at this very moment" aspect).
On the other hand, I've seen 是(...的) being thrown in in sentences like: 我是学中文的 but in this case it's used like "I'm a student of Chinese". 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Ayane Newbie United States isby-girlfriend.smac Joined 6093 days ago 32 posts - 32 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 6 of 9 29 May 2009 at 10:09pm | IP Logged |
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So, the simple sentence "我学中文" will get my point across?
Though, would people liike the sound of "我正在学中文" better? What is the pinyin for 正在? When are good times to use 是? ^_^; ...I ask a lot of questions! xD 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6917 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 7 of 9 30 May 2009 at 2:10am | IP Logged |
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Yes, I assume that Chinese natives would understand you if you chose the simple sentence. Sometimes things are easier than you think.
Pinyin for 正在 is zhèngzài. There are many uses for 是, the most common is noun+verb+noun: 我是瑞典人 - wo shi ruidianren - I am Swedish. 你是学生 - ni shi xuesheng - You are a student. 他是我们的老师 - ta shi women de laoshi - He is our teacher. 他们是谁？- tamen shi shei - Who are they? (lit. "They are who?") 北京是中国的首都 - Beijing shi Zhongguo de shoudu - Beijing is the capitol of China (lit. China's capitol) ...and so on. noun+verb+adjective ("to state or emphasize a fact or a perceived fact" as Wikipedia says) 他是富有的 - ta shi fu you de - He is rich. (you may want to think: he is (a) rich (one)) 那本书是我的 - na ben shu shi wo de - That book is mine. 她的辆车是红的 - ta de liang che shi hong de - Her car is (a) red (one). inverted form (adjective+verb+noun): 男的是个教授 - nan de shi ge jiao shi - The male (one) is a professor. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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