The descriptive indicator de (5,6)

The genitive particle de is used to describe nouns. The description of the noun is placed before de . In this construction the description can take the following forms.

  1. The description can be a disyllabic phrase, formed by an adverb and an adjective, as in

hĕn hăo de shū

a very good book .

However, a monosyllabic adjective such as hăo good or máng busy is often placed before a noun without de to form an adjective-noun phrase, as in 好书 hăoshū ( a) good book, 好老师 hăo lăoshī ( a) good teacher, 忙人 máng rén ( a) busy person.

  1. The description can also be a phrase or a sentence. It is like an inverted relative clause sentence in English. For instance,

Xiăo Wáng măi de shū hěn hăo

The book that Xiao Wang has bought is very good .

Subject

Predicate

(noun)

(stative verb)

(verb) (genitive particle)

(adverbial intensifier)

小王 (proper noun)

The main sentence is 书很好 shū hěn hăo, which means the book is very good, and the description for the book is: that Xiao Wang bought 小王买 Xiăo Wáng măi, which is placed before the particle de .

However, de is not used in the following situations.

  1. When a noun qualifier is used to describe another noun forming a combined noun, de is not used. A noun that is described should be placed after its description. For instance 中国地图 zhōngguó dìtú ( a) map of China . 中国 zhōngguó China qualifies the 地图 dìtú map, so China should be placed before map. In 汉语书 hànyǚ shū ( a) book in Chinese, 汉语 hànyŭ in Chinese ( language) qualifies the book, so 汉语 hànyŭ in Chinese ( language) should be placed before shū the book .
  2. As mentioned above, de is not used when a monosyllabic adjective is followed by a monosyllabic noun to form another noun such as 忙人 mángrén a busy person and 好书 hăoshū a good book.

Sometimes the nouns after de are left out to avoid repetition, but the omitted noun(s) should be obvious to the listener. For instance,

他的 , , ,

tā de shū hěn duō Zhōngwén de , Yīngwén de , dōu yŏu

He has many books; Chinese ones, English ones, he has them all .

It is clear to a listener that the omitted noun in the sentence is shū books.

Tips :

  1. When you read a Chinese sentence you should always look for any nouns after de particles before translating into English.
  2. The particle de is used to describe nouns and de should be followed by a noun.

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Assignments

Translate the sentences into Chinese. (15, de)
  1. Very good paper
  2. A polite doctor
  3. Very large cars
  4. Very small maps
  5. A book for my brother
  6. Pictures for the children
  7. A map for the students
  8. Tea drinkers
  9. Letter writers
  10. Readers
  11. Those learning Chinese
  12. The recommender
  13. Book buyers
  14. The characters that students know
  15. The book that my teacher wrote
  16. The letter that she is reading
  17. A magazine that my mother bought
  18. This is a book that I bought for my brother.
  19. I know the Chinese characters that are in this book.
  20. I am using the dictionary that has Chinese characters.
  21. I have the book that my teacher recommended.
  22. They are all looking at the dictionary that I bought.
  23. This is a person whom we all know.
  24. Please have a look at this character that I have written.
  25. We are all non-smokers in this student hostel.

Frequently asked questions

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1. When can I use the construction?

2. How do I form the construction?

3. Do I always have to put measure words at the beginning of the construction, as in the above sentence?

4. Do I always have to use when I use an adjective to describe a noun?

5. When can a possessive be omitted?

6. It seems that the nouns after are the most important nouns in sentences, but that in some sentences there are no nouns after . Why is that?

7. Hints and conclusion.

8. Four "don’ts" for describing nouns.

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