## Unit 3

### Introduction

#### Topics covered in this unit

1. Members of a family.

2. The plural ending -men.

3. The question word jǐ- "how many."

4. The adverb dōu "all."

5. Several ways to express "and."

#### Material you will need

1. The C-l and P-l tapes, the Reference List and Reference Notes.

2. The C-2 and P-2 tapes, the Workbook.

3. The 3D-1 tape.

### References

#### Reference List

1. | A: | Nǐmen yǒu háizi ma? | 你们有孩子吗？ | Do you have children?
| B: | Yǒu, wǒmen yǒu. | 有，我们有。 | Yes, we have.
2. | B: | Liú xiānsheng yǒu Měiguó péngyou ma? | 刘先生有美国朋友吗？ | Does Mr Liú have any American friends?
| B: | Tā meíyǒu Měiguó péngyou. | 他没有美国朋友。 | He doesn't have any American friends.
| A: | Tā yǒu Yīngguó péngyou. | 他有英国朋友。 | He has English friends. (or an English friend)
3. | A: | Nǐmen yǒu jǐge háizi? | 你们有几个孩子？ | How many children do you have?
| B: | Wǒmen yǒu sānge háizi. | 我们有三个孩子。 | We have three children.
4. | A: | Nǐmen yǒu jǐge nánháizi, jǐge nǚháizi? | 你们有几个男孩子，几个女孩子？ | How many boys and how many girls do you have?
| B: | Wǒmen yǒu liǎngge nánháizi, yīge nǚháizi. | 我们有两个男孩子，一个女孩子。 | We have two boys and one girl.
5. | B: | Shì nánháizi, shì nǚháizi? | 是男孩子，是女孩子？ | Are they boys or girls?
| A: | Tāmen dōu shì nǚháizi. | 他们都是女孩子。 | All of them are girls.
6. | B: | Hú xiānsheng, tàitai ne? tāmen yǒu jǐge háizi? | 胡先生，太太呢？他们有几个孩子？ | How about Mr. and Mrs. Hú? How many children do they have?
| A: | Tāmen yǒu liǎngge háizi. | 他们有两个孩子。 | They have two children.
| B: | Shì nánháizi, shì nǚháizi? | 是男孩子，是女孩子？ | Are they boys or girls?
| A: | Dōu shì nǚháizi. | 都是女孩子。 | Both of them are girls.
7. | A: | Nǐmen háizi dōu zài zhèli ma? | 你们孩子都在这里吗？ | Are all your children here?
| B: | Bù, liǎngge zài zhèli, yíge hái zài Měiguó. | 不，两个在这里，一个还在美国。 | No. Two are here, and one is still in America.
8. | A: | Nǐ jiāli yǒu shénme rén? | 你家里有什么人？ | What people are (there) in your family?
| B: | Yǒu wǒ tàitai gēn sānge háizi. | 有我太太跟三个孩子。 | There's my wife and three children.
9. | B: | Nǐ jiāli yǒu shénme rén? | 你家里有什么人？ | What people are (there) in your family?
| A: | Jiù (yǒu) wǒ fùqin, mǔqin. | 就（有）我父亲，母亲。 | Just my father and mother.

#### Vocabulary

zhǐ | 只 | only
dìdi | 弟弟 | younger brother
gēge | 哥哥 | older brother
jiějie | 姐姐 | older sister
mèimei | 妹妹 | younger sister
xiōngdì | 兄弟 | brothers
jiěmèi | 姐妹 | sisters
xiōngdì jiěmèi | 兄弟姐妹 | brothers and sisters
fùmǔ | 父母 | parents
zǔfù | 祖父 | paternal grandfather
zǔmǔ | 祖母 | paternal grandmother
wàizǔfù | 外祖父 | maternal grandfather
wàizǔmǔ | 外祖母 | maternal grandmother
bàba | 爸爸 | papa, dad, father
māma | 吗吗 | momma, mom, mother
bàba | 爸爸 | papa, dad, father
dìdi | 弟弟 | younger brother
dōu | 都 | all, both
fùmǔ | 父母 | parents
fùqin | 父亲 | father
gēge | 哥哥 | older brother
gēn | 跟 | and, with, and (in addition to)
hái | 还 | still, yet
háizi | 孩子 | children, child
jǐ- | 几－ | how many
jiāli | 家里 | family
jiějie | 姐姐 | older sister
jiěmèi | 姐妹 | sisters
jǐge | 几个 | how many
jiù | 就 | only, just
liǎng- | 两 | two
māma | 妈妈 | momma, mom, mother
méi | 没 | not, not to have
mèimei | 妹妹 | younger sister
mèiyou | 没有 | not to have, there is not
-men | 们 | plural suffix
mǔqin | 母亲 | mother
nán- | 男－ | male
nánháizi | 男孩子 | boy
nǐmen | 你们 | you (plural)
nǚ- | 奴－ | female
nǚháizi | 奴孩子 | girl
tāmen | 他们 | they, them
wàizǔfù | 外祖父 | maternal grandfather
wàizǔmǔ | 外祖母 | maternal grandmother
wǒmen | 我们 | we, us
xiōngdì | 兄弟 | brothers
xiōngdì jiěmèi | 兄弟姐妹 | brothers and sisters
yǒu | 有 | to have, there is
zhǐ | 只 | only
zǔfù | 祖父 | paternal grandfather
zǔmǔ | 祖母 | paternal grandmother
yíng le | 赢了 | I('ve) won

#### Reference Notes

##### Notes on №1

1. | A: | Nǐmen yǒu háizi ma? | 你们有孩子吗？ | Do you have children?
| B: | Yǒu, wǒmen yǒu. | 有，我们有。 | Yes, we have.

The plural pronouns are formed by adding -men to the singular pronouns

singular | plural
--- | ---
wǒ | I | wǒmen | we
nǐ | you | nǐmen | you
tā | he/she | tāmen | they

(You have already seen these pronoun forms used as possessives: "my," "our," etc. Later you will find that they are also used as objects: "me," "us," etc.)

Háizi: Chinese nouns have the same form for singular and plural.

Háizi may be either "child" or "children."[3]Usually the context will make clear whether a noun should be translated as singular or as plural, but not always. Chinese does not require that the matter be pinned down to the same extent that English does.

Wǒmen yǒu háizi is a perfectly good sentence, even though the only accurate translation is the clumsy "We have one or more children." We would prefer to have enough information to translate it either as "We have a child" or as "We have children."

At times this ambiguity is an advantage. When you ask Nǐmen yǒu háizi ma? you do not, after all, know whether you are referring to one child or to more than one child. To cover both bets in the same way in English, we have to say "Do you have any children?"

##### Notes on №2

2. | B: | Liú xiānsheng yǒu Měiguó péngyou ma? | 刘先生有美国朋友吗？ | Does Mr Liú have any American friends?
| B: | Tā meíyǒu Měiguó péngyou. | 他没有美国朋友。 | He doesn't have any American friends.
| A: | Tā yǒu Yīngguó péngyou. | 他有英国朋友。 | He has English friends. (or an English friend)

Méiyou: All the verbs discussed so far form the negative with bù, with the single exception of yǒu, "to have," which has the irregular negative form méiyou.

##### Notes on №3-4

3. | A: | Nǐmen yǒu jǐge háizi? | 你们有几个孩子？ | How many children do you have?
| B: | Wǒmen yǒu sānge háizi. | 我们有三个孩子。 | We have three children.
4. | A: | Nǐmen yǒu jǐge nánháizi, jǐge nǚháizi? | 你们有几个男孩子，几个女孩子？ | How many boys and how many girls do you have?
| B: | Wǒmen yǒu liǎngge nánháizi, yīge nǚháizi. | 我们有两个男孩子，一个女孩子。 | We have two boys and one girl.

In Peking speech, jǐ-, "how many," is usually used only when the number expected in an answer is about 10 or less. In many other parts of China, speakers use jl- no matter how large a number is expected in the answer.

Counters: In Chinese, a noun cannot be counted or specified (i.e., used with něi- "which," nèi-, "that," zhèi-, "this") without the addition of a bound word, a counter, to indicate the sort of thing being specified or counted. English has a few such counters, as "head" in "how many head of cattle" and "loaves" in " seven loaves of bread."

The counter used in a particular instance depends on the noun "being specified or counted. Many nouns have special counters. You have already learned the polite counter for persons, -wèi. Other special counters refer in some way to the kind of thing the noun represents. The word for "hotel," for instance, has a special counter -jiā, "house," used for counting or specifying business establishments.

The general counter -ge is used with nouns that do not have special counters. For example, there is no special counter for the word pùbù, "waterfall," so you would say yíge pùbù, "one waterfall." You have already found the general counter -ge in specifying expressions such as něige háizi, "which child," and zhèige fàndiàn,"this hotel."

You may find that, in colloquial speech, nouns that have special counters are sometimes used with -ge anyway, but this tendency is looked down upon by many speakers.

Here are the numbers 1 through 10 with the counter -ge:

yíge liǎngge sānge sìge wǔge liùge qíge báge jiǔge shíge

The number 2 has a special form before a counter: liǎng-. Notice that the words for 1, 2, and 8 have Rising tones before -ge, because -ge is basically a Falling-tone syllable. (See also Unit 5, notes on No. 9 and No. 10.)

Nán- nǚ-: The "bound words nán- "male," and nǚ-, "female," are often used in compounds; for example, nánpéngyou, "boyfriend," and nǚtóngzhì "(woman) Comrade."

"And": In Chinese, a word for "and" is not needed between parallel phrases like liǎngge nánháizi, yíge nǚháizi "two boys, (and) one girl."

A pause is usual between the two phrases, but even the pause is sometimes omitted.

##### Notes on №5-7

5. | B: | Shì nánháizi, shì nǚháizi? | 是男孩子，是女孩子？ | Are they boys or girls?
| A: | Tāmen dōu shì nǚháizi. | 他们都是女孩子。 | All of them are girls.
6. | B: | Hú xiānsheng, tàitai ne? tāmen yǒu jǐge háizi? | 胡先生，太太呢？他们有几个孩子？ | How about Mr. and Mrs. Hú? How many children do they have?
| A: | Tāmen yǒu liǎngge háizi. | 他们有两个孩子。 | They have two children.
| B: | Shì nánháizi, shì nǚháizi? | 是男孩子，是女孩子？ | Are they boys or girls?
| A: | Dōu shì nǚháizi. | 都是女孩子。 | Both of them are girls.
7. | A: | Nǐmen háizi dōu zài zhèli ma? | 你们孩子都在这里吗？ | Are all your children here?
| B: | Bù, liǎngge zài zhèli, yíge hái zài Měiguó. | 不，两个在这里，一个还在美国。 | No. Two are here, and one is still in America.

Shi nánháizi, shi nǚháizi? In Chinese, an "or" question (i.e., a question asking which of two alternatives is true) may be asked simply by stating the two alternatives with a pause between. In this kind of question, the verb must appear in each alternative. (You will learn other ways of making "or" questions in later modules.)

Dōu may usually be translated in a sentence as "all (of)," or, if it refers to only two things, as both (of)." Literally, dōu means "in all cases," "uniformly," "entirely," "completely." Since it is an adverb), it must be placed after the subject of a sentence and before the verb (like the adverb yě, "also".)

##### Notes on №8-9

8. | A: | Nǐ jiāli yǒu shénme rén? | 你家里有什么人？ | What people are (there) in your family?
| B: | Yǒu wǒ tàitai gēn sānge háizi. | 有我太太跟三个孩子。 | There's my wife and three children.
9. | B: | Nǐ jiāli yǒu shénme rén? | 你家里有什么人？ | What people are (there) in your family?
| A: | Jiù yǒu wǒ fùqin, mǔqin. | 就有我父亲，母亲。 | Just my father and mother.

Literally, the phrase nǐ jiāli means "in your home" (jiā, "home"; -li, "in"）. In this sentence it is extended to mean "the people in your home, " that is, "your family."

Nǐ jiāli - yǒu - shénme rén? Phrase by phrase, this question is: "In your family - there are - what people?,’ The word "family" can be taken to mean either all your relatives or only those living in your household.

By itself, the verb yǒu means "to "be," "to exist." You have now seen it translated two ways:

1. as "have," with a personal subject: Wǒmen yǒu sānge háizi . "We have three children."

2. as "there is/are," in the so-called impersonal construction: Nǐ jiāli yǒu shénme rén? "What people are (there) in your family?"

In exchange 8, the verb yǒu in the answer is translated as "there's." Some English speakers may find this translation too colloquial. The answer can also be translated Just by listing the family members, with no verb in the English, as was done in exchange 9« Chinese almost always keeps the verb in the answer to a question, while English tends to leave it out.

How to say "and": Chinese has several words for "and." Gēn is the word for "and" when joining nouns or noun phrases. Yě is the word for "and" when Joining verbs, verb phrases, or whole sentences:

Example 1.1. Example:

Wǒ bú xìng Lǐ, yě bú xìng Lǔ. Wǒ xìng Lǚ.

I'm not surnamed Lǐ and I'm not surnamed Lǔ. I'm surnamed Lǚ.

Chinese tends to use a word for "and" when the noun phrases being Joined are not parallel and not to use one when the phrases are parallel:

Not parallel
Yǒu | wǒ tàitai Possessor noun | gēn | sānge háizi. number noun | There's my wife and 3 children.
Parallel
Yǒu | liǎngge nánháizi number noun | , | yíge nǚháizi. number noun | There are 2 boys and one girl.

While "and" is often omitted in Chinese, it may be added for emphasis between nouns and between noun phrases just as in English.

Jiù, "only," "Just," is an advert (like yě and dōu. The use of jiù to mean "only" is probably mostly confined to the Peking dialect.[4] Speakers from other parts of the country will not necessarily use jiù to mean "only" or understand it as such. A more widely used and understood word for "only" is zhǐ. Thus the answer in exchange 9 could also be: Zhǐ yǒu wǒ fùqin, mǔqin.

##### Notes on additional vocabulary

Chinese is much more precise than English in its terms for family members. There is not Just one word for "brother," or "sister" but words for "older brother," "younger brother," "older sister," and "younger sister."

| older | younger |  |
brother | gēge | dìdi | brothers | xiōngdì
sister | jiějie | mèimei | sisters | jiěmèi

When referring to both older and younger sisters, the term jiěmèi is used. When referring to both older and younger brothers, the term xiōngdì is used. When referring to sisters and brothers, the phrase xiōngdì jiěmèi is used.

Chinese also distinguishes between grandparents on the father's side of the family and grandparents on the mother's side:

| father's side | mother's side
grandfather | zǔfù | wàizǔfù
grandmother | zǔmǔ | wàizǔmǔ

The syllable wài- in wàizǔfù and wàizǔmǔ literally means "outer" or "outside."

### Drills

[3] A few nouns referring to people may be made explicitly plural by adding -men . Háizimen can only be ''children"

[4] Jiù has several other meanings, which will be presented to you as you continue through this course.