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Chinese-comet.cls.yale.edu-grammar


			
				
					
						
						
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  <title>VI. Potential Complement And Degree Complement In Contrast</title>
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  <div class="grisleger">
    VI. Potential Complement And Degree Complement In Contrast
  </div>

  <p>src="potential-form-1.mp3" src="potential-form-2.mp3" src="potential-form-3.mp3" src="potential-form-4.mp3" src="potential-form-5.mp3" src="potential-form-6.mp3" src="potential-form-7.mp3" src="potential-form-8.mp3" src="copy.mp3" src="potential-form-10.mp3" src="VI-1.mp3" src="VI-2.mp3" src="VI-laoshishuo.mp3" src="VI-taxiedehao.mp3" src="VI-taxiedehenhao.mp3" src="VI-tashuodedajia.mp3"</p>

  <p>The <b>potential complement</b> and the <b>complement of degree</b> may sometimes look identical and cause confusion to non-native speakers of Chinese. The following two sentences are taken out of context. They look the same, but they could mean very different things. In sentence A, the stress is on the <b>complement</b> '<span class="pinyin">hǎo</span> <span class="hanzi">好</span> (well) '. In sentence B, the stress is on the <b>predicate verb</b> '<span class="pinyin">chàng</span> <span class="hanzi">唱</span> (to sing) '. Because the complement of degree focuses on the <b>quality of an action</b>, while the potential complement focuses on <b>whether the action can be carried out</b>, the complement in sentence A is a degree complement while the one in sentence B is potential. It would be hard to tell the difference if one read these sentences in characters and out of context. In real conversation, there is no confusion because of the context and the stress put on different words. Please see the following examples. Words highlighted in yellow are stressed.</p>

  <ol type="A">
    <li><audio src="../Audio/" controls="controls"></audio>

<br/> <span class="pinyin">Tā chàng&#160;<span class="rouge">de hǎo</span>&#160;ma?</span> (degree complement; note there is space between the verb and the complement.)<br/> <span class="hanzi">她唱得好吗？</span><br/> Does she sing well?</li>

    <br/>

    <li><audio src="../Audio/" controls="controls"></audio>

<br/> <span class="pinyin">Tā chàng de hǎo ma?</span> (potential complement; note that there is no space between the verb and the complement)<br/> <span class="hanzi">她唱得好吗？</span><br/> Can she sing well?</li>
  </ol>

  <p>A closer examination of these two complements reveals even more differences. The following chart shows their different forms. Highlighted words are stressed when spoken.</p>

  <table>
    <tbody>
      <tr>
        <th></th>

        <th>
          Degree Complement
        </th>

        <th>
          Potential Complement
        </th>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          Positive
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="pinyin">xiě de hěn hǎo</span> <br/>

          
          <span class="hanzi">写得很好</span><br/>

          ...write well
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="pinyin">xiě de hǎo</span> <br/>

          
 <span class="hanzi">写得好</span><br/>

          ...can write well
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          Negative
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="pinyin">xiě de bù hǎo</span> <br/>

          
          <span class="hanzi">写得不好</span><br/>

          ...write badly
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="pinyin">xiě bù hǎo</span> <br/>

          
          <span class="hanzi">写不好</span><br/>

          ...cannot write well
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="pinyin">Ma</span> <span class="hanzi">吗</span> Question
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="pinyin">xiě de hǎo ma?</span> <br/>

          <span class="hanzi">写得好吗？</span><br/>

          ...write well?
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="pinyin">xiě de hǎo ma?</span> <br/>

          <span class="hanzi">写得好吗？</span><br/>

          ...can write well?
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          Choice-type Question
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="pinyin">xiě de hǎo bù hǎo?</span> <br/>

          <span class="hanzi">写得好不好 ？</span><br/>

          ...write well?
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="pinyin">xiě de hǎo xiě bù hǎo? </span><br/>

          <span class="hanzi">写得好写不好 ？</span><br/>

          ...can write well?
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          Verb taking an object
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="pinyin">xiě Hànzì xiě de hěn hǎo</span><br/>

          <span class="hanzi">写汉字写得很好</span><br/>

          ...write characters well
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="pinyin">xiě de hǎo Hànzì</span> <br/>

          <span class="hanzi">写得好汉字</span><br/>

          ...can write characters well
        </td>
      </tr>
    </tbody>
  </table>

  <br/>

  <ol>
    <li><p>The complement of degree is an assessment of an action or state. Therefore, the stress is on the complement, which comments on the action or state. The complement can be modified by adverbs such as <span class="pinyin">hěn</span> <span class="hanzi">很</span>, <span class="pinyin">fēicháng</span> <span class="hanzi">非常</span>, <span class="pinyin">tèbié</span> <span class="hanzi">特别.</span></p>

    <audio src="../Audio/" controls="controls"></audio>

<br/><span class="pinyin">Tā xiě de fēicháng hǎo.</span><br/> <span class="hanzi">他写得非常好。</span><br/> He writes very well.</li>

    <br/>

    <li>The potential complement expresses possibility. Therefore, the stress is on the action itself. This is why the predicate verb is stressed. No adverbs can modify the complement.<br/> 

    <audio src="../Audio/" controls="controls"></audio>

<br/> <span class="pinyin">Tā xiědehǎo.</span><br/> <span class="hanzi">他写得好。</span><br/> He can write well.</li>

    <li>The negative form of the complement of degree keeps the particle <span class="pinyin">de</span> <span class="hanzi">得</span> and negates the stative verb with <span class="pinyin">bù</span> <span class="hanzi">不</span>. The stress is on the negative adverb and the complement.<br/> 

    <audio src="../Audio/" controls="controls"></audio>

<br/> <span class="pinyin">Tā xiě de bù hǎo.</span> <br/><span class="hanzi">他写得不好。</span><br/> He writes badly.</li>

    <li>The negative form of the potential complement replaces the particle <span class="pinyin">de</span> <span class="hanzi">得</span> with <span class="pinyin">bù</span> <span class="hanzi">不</span>. The stress is on the predicate verb.<br/> 

    <audio src="../Audio/" controls="controls"></audio>

<br/> <span class="pinyin">Tā xiěbùhǎo.</span> <br/><span class="hanzi">他写不好。</span><br/> He can't write well.</li>

    <li>The complement of degree and the potential complement look the same in <span class="pinyin">ma</span> <span class="hanzi">吗</span> question form, but the stress falls on different elements when spoken. Compare the following two sentences. 

    <ul>
      <li>The complement of degree: <br/> 

      <audio src="../Audio/" controls="controls"></audio>

<br/><span class="pinyin">Tā xiě de hǎo ma?</span><br/> <span class="hanzi">他写得好吗？</span><br/> Does he write well?</li>

      <li>The potential complement: <br/> 

      <audio src="../Audio/" controls="controls"></audio>

<br/><span class="pinyin">Tā xiědehǎo ma?</span><br/> <span class="hanzi">他写得好吗？</span> <br/>Can he write well?</li>
    </ul></li>

    <li>The complement of degree and the potential complement have different choice-type question forms. The complement of degree forms a choice-type question by juxtaposing the affirmative and negative forms of the stative verb; the potential complement forms a choice-type question by juxtaposing the affirmative and negative forms of the predicate verb and its complement. 

    <ul>
      <li>The complement of degree: <br/> 

      <audio src="../Audio/" controls="controls"></audio>

<br/><span class="pinyin">Tā xiě de hǎo bù hǎo?</span> <br/><span class="hanzi">他写得好不好？</span><br/> Does he write well?</li>

      <li><audio src="../Audio/" controls="controls"></audio>

<br/> The potential complement: <br/> 

      <audio src="../Audio/" controls="controls"></audio>

<br/><span class="pinyin">Tā xiědehǎo xiěbùhǎo?</span><br/> <span class="hanzi">他写得好写不好？</span><br/> Can he write well?</li>
    </ul></li>

    <li>A verb with a potential complement can take an object, but the degree complement cannot be followed by the object of the verb. 

    <ul>
      <li>The potential complement:<br/> 

      <audio src="../Audio/" controls="controls"></audio>

<br/><span class="pinyin">Tā xiěbùhǎo Hànzì.</span> <br/><span class="hanzi">他写不好汉字。</span><br/> He can't write characters well.</li>

      <li>The complement of degree:<br/> 

      <audio src="../Audio/" controls="controls"></audio>

<br/> <span class="pinyin"><del>Tā xiě de bù hǎo Hànzì.</del></span> (ungrammatical) (The complement of degree can't take an object.)<br/> <span class="hanzi"><del>他写得不好汉字。</del></span> <br/>He does not write characters well. <br/><span class="pinyin">Tā xiě Hànzì xiě de bù hǎo.</span> (grammatical)<br/> <span class="hanzi">他写汉字写得不好。</span> <br/>He writes characters badly.</li>
    </ul></li>

    <li>The complement of degree can be used in <span class="pinyin">bǎ</span> <span class="hanzi">把</span> - sentences, while the potential complement can't. <br/> 

    <audio src="../Audio/" controls="controls"></audio>

<br/><span class="pinyin">Tā bǎ dìtú guà de gāogāode.</span> <br/><span class="hanzi">他把地图挂得高高的。</span> <br/>He hung the map high up.</li>
  </ol>
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