Chūjí Dì èrshísān Kè:

Grammar

1. The suffix 部 :
Like other suffixes such as 边，面，  部 is often used in conjunction with direction words. For example:
东部
西部
东北部
西南部
外部
里部
中部
前部
後部
The difference between suffixes 边/面  and  部 is that Direction word + 部 talks about the intrinsic part of a whole, 
while Direction word +  边/面  concern with only the locality. For example:

中国的北部/中国的北面		in the North of China / to the North of China
这张椅子的上部/这张椅子的上边	the upper part of the chair / on (above) the chair
车的外部/车的外边		the exterior of the car / outside the car


2. The prepositional phrase 关於....:
The prepositional phrase 关於....is often used as attributive to modify a noun or verb phrase. For example:

关於怎麽学习中文这个问题		the question of how to learn Chines
我们明天谈关於学习中文这个问题。	We’ll tall about the question of how to 
					learn Chinese tomorrow. 

关於美国经济的报告		the report about the American Economy
他的关於美国经济的报告真好。	His report on the American Economy is 
				really good.

关於中国的新闻		the news concerning China
这两天关於中国的新闻很多。		There are many news concerning China     
                         		this couple of days.




3. The question word  几     in a statement:

The question word 几 can also be used in statements as a small indefinite number. 
When it is used in a positive statement, it means “a  few, some”. 
When it is used in a negative statement, it means “few, not many”. For example:

我有几个中国朋友。	I have a few Chinese friends.
我没有几个朋友。	I don’t have many friends ( I have few friends).
明天请他做几个法国菜。	Tomorrow ( I ) will ask him to make some French dishes.
他写的几个字真漂亮。	The few characters he wrote are quite beautiful.
我没有几本汉英词典。	I don’t have many Chinese-English dictionaries.
昨天没有几个人来参加他的生日晚会。	Yesterday there were not many people who came to his birthday party. 






4. 真  vs.  很:
Both  真  (really) and  很 (very) can be used to modify adjectives. But  真  usually appears in exclamatory
sentences to convey the speaker’s strong feelings and emotions such as approval, disapproval,
while  很   often works in statements or in descriptive sentences when the speaker wants to express
his/her “objective” or more neutral comments. 
很 is also necessary when no other adjectives are used in a statement (but not a question) and the speaker
does not wish to imply comparison or contrast. 
Compare: 这个很大。 (This one is big.) 这个大，那个不大。(This one is bigger. That one is not (so) big.)



5. The adverb 才:
The adverb  才   indicates that an action happens later than expected. For example:
  
电影是六点半的，可是他们六点五十分才到。
It was a six thirty movie, but they did not arrive until six fifty.

我1989年才来美国。
I did not come to the United States until 1989.

昨天晚上他两点才回家。妈妈当然很不高兴。
Last night he did not come home until two o’clock. Mom of course was not happy.

他明天才来。		He is not coming until tomorrow.

Note that in this pattern, as with most adverbs, the position of 才 is before the verb but after the time expression: 

Subject 	Time expression           才		Verb    (phrase) 
妹妹                昨天              	  才            去       上课。
               
And the correspondent pattern in English is “not...until”. 
(Note that the English equivalent has a negative word, but the Chinese does not.)


6. The conjunction 那麽:
              
The conjunction 那麽  (then)  is close to the English conjunction “since...( then )...,  then”:

今天你请我吃饭，那麽下次我请你。
Today you invited me to dinner ( you treated me), then next time I’ll invite you ( next time it will be my treat).

你爸爸姓张，那麽你一定也姓张。
Since your dad’s last name is Zhang, (then) yours surely is also Zhang.

你说星期三你都有空，那麽每个星期三我都来找你玩。
You say that you have time on all Wednesdays , then I will come to look for you and play every Wednesday.

In daily conversations, 那麽  can function as cohesive device, and  is often simplified as 那. For example:

甲：今天我很忙，有很多作业。             A: Today I’m quite busy. ( I ) have a lot of homework.
乙：那我们走，不吵你。	             	 B: Then we’ll leave. ( We) won’t bother you.

甲：我不喜欢看电视。	                 A: I don’t like watching TV.
乙：那我们玩电脑，怎么样？	         B: Then, let’s play on the computers. How is that?


7. The pattern  (跟/和)....(不)一样: 
The Chinese pattern for expressing similarity or dissimilarity as a result of comparison is :

(跟/和)....(不)一样                 

这两本汉语书一样吗？
Are these two books the same?
这壶茶跟那壶茶一样。
This pot of tea is the same as that one. 
我喜欢的东西和我妈妈喜欢的东西不太一样。
The things I like and the thing my mom likes are not quite the same.
这个字跟那个字一样不一样？
Are this character and that character the same?
昨天的新闻跟今天的新闻当然不一样。
Yesterday’s news is not the same as today’s of course.

You can also put an adjective after 一样  to refer to the aspect or quality being compared:

 (跟/和)....(不)一样      adj.

老张的女儿跟我的儿子一样大。
Old Zhang’s daughter is as old as my son.
美国车跟日本车一样贵。
American cars are as expensive as Japanese cars. 
他说的汉语跟你老师说的汉语一样漂亮吗？
Is the Chinese he speaks as beautiful as that the teacher speaks?
( Is his Chinese as beautiful as that of the teacher’s? )

这个房间跟那个房间不一样大。
This room and that room are not the same size.

Note that the negation of this pattern can not be translated into English as: “?not so as”. 
For it only expresses that the two things under comparison are not the same.  Some more examples:

 哥哥和弟弟不一样高。	The older brother and the younger brother are not the same height.

 这条裙子跟那条不一样长。	This skirt and that skirt are not the same length.



8.  The expression 这麽说  as a cohesive device:
The expression 这麽说    (“ in this way”, “so according to what you say”) can functions as a 
cohesive device in a dialogue. For example:

甲： 明天我没空。上午有课。下午我得去银行工作。
乙：这麽说，明天你不去纽约，对吗？
A:  Tomorrow I have no time. ( I ) have class in the morning. In the afternoon I have to go the bank   
    to work.
B: So, you won’t go to New York tomorrow, right?


甲：我们家天天吃中国饭。我妈妈做的中国饭真好吃。她还教我怎麽做。
乙：这麽说，你做的中国饭一定也不错。这个星期六晚上，你做饭，怎么样？
A:  My family eats Chinese food every day. The Chinese food my mom makes is delicious. She also 
    teaches me how to make (Chinese food).
B:  So, the Chinese food you make must be good, too. This Saturday night you cook, how is that?

9。 The progressive aspect of an action:
To indicate the progressive aspect of an action, we can use adverbs 正 , 在  , or  正在  right before the 
verb and the particle 呢 at the end of the sentence. The basic pattern is:

Subject	Adverb	Verb/v. phrase	Particle	English  translation	
弟弟	在	打电话		呢		Younger brother is making a phone call.	
她	正在	吃饭		呢		She is having dinner.	
谁	正	看电视		呢		Who is watching TV?	

Points that merit attention:
1.In this pattern, the adverbs 正 ,在 , 正在   and the particle 呢 can either be used by themselves or in
combination . For instance:
他看报呢。		He is reading newspaper.
爸爸正在写汉字。	Daddy is writing Chinese characters.
小丁正玩电脑呢。	Ding is playing on computer.

2.This pattern can work with specific time expressions. In the sentence, the position of the time expression 
can be before or right after the subject. For example: 
我昨天下午三点正睡觉呢。	    Three o’clock yesterday afternoon I was sleeping.
你做饭的时候，我在整理房间。        I was cleaning the room while you cooked.

3.When the verb in the sentence is modified by a prepositional phrase, adverbs 在 ,正 , 正在  should go 
before the prepositional phrase. For example:
我起床的时候，妈妈正在她的房间里看书。
When I got up, mom was reading in her room.
昨天上午妈妈来的时候，你在作什麽？我正给我男朋友打电话呢。   
Yesterday when mom came, what were you doing? I was talking to my boy friend on the phone.

4.The negation of this pattern is 没  (有)  在 . For example:
小丁在看书吗？ 她没在看书。她正看电视呢。
Is Ding reading?  She is not reading. She is watching TV.

The short form of negative answer is 没有 :
王老师现在在上课吗？ 没有。 他在语言实验室听录音呢。
Is Teacher Wang teaching now? No. He is listening to the tape in the language lab.