Reading Assignment:
All the online files under grammar
Homework 4:
1. What parts of speech do the
underlined words have? Use the clues
given:
Clues: words right before the aspect marker le or the
complement marker de （得）are verbs; words right after the
modifier marker de （的）are nouns;
他的进步很快。
Tā de jìnbu hěnkuai.
he DE progress very fast
His progress is very fast.
他进步得很快。
Tā jìnbù de hěnkuài
he progresse
DE very fast
He progresses very fast.
改革解放了我们的思想。
Gǎigé
jiěfàng le wǒmen
de sīxiǎng
reform liberate LE we DE thought
Reform has liberated our thinking.
思想的解放非常重要。
Sīxiǎng de jiěfàng
fēicháng zhòngyào
thinking DE liberate very important
The liberalization of thinking is very important.
你的帮助非常重要。
Nǐ
de bāngzhù fēicháng
zhòngyào
you DE help very important
Your help is very important.
他帮了我一下。
Tā bāng
le wǒ yīxià
he help LE I a bit
He helped me a bit.
2. Examine the following sentence in
Mandarin Chinese and its English translations, both the morpheme-by-morpheme
literal glosses and the idiomatic translation.
Identify the grammatical features we talked about in class and comment
on the differences between Chinese and English grammar, based on what you see
in this sentence. Be sure to pay
attention to:
1). how
words are ordered
a. modifiers [verbal and nominal] and
the things being modified
b. SVO or SOV
c. pre-position or post-position
2). the
composition/structure of words
3). what
you find in Chinese but not in English
4). what
you find in English but not in Chinese (you should break down the English
idiomatic translation to morphemes first)
|
我 |
前天 |
在 |
飞机 |
上 |
看见 |
一 个 |
能 |
|
Wǒ |
Qiántiān |
Zài |
Fēijī |
shang |
Kànjiàn |
Yíge |
Néng |
|
I |
before day |
at |
fly
machine |
on |
look see |
one
measure |
can |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
把 |
鲜花 |
变成 |
兔子 |
的 |
魔术师 |
|
|
|
Bǎ |
Xiānhuā |
Biàncheng |
Tùzi |
de |
Móshùshī |
|
|
|
BA |
fresh
flower |
change
become |
rabbit |
DE |
magic
master |
|
|
Idiomatic translation:
The day before yesterday on the plane I saw a magician that can turn fresh
flowers into rabbits.:p>
Or
: I saw a magician who can turn flowers into
rabbits on the plane the day before yesterday.