Grammar of Unit 9

Learn Chinese: grammar of Unit 9

The date

Unlike in English, the date is built from the most general to the most specific:

The year is said by listing the digits before the word "year" 年 nián.
So 2028 is said 二零二八年 èr líng èr bā nián: "year two, zero, two, eight". You do not say "two thousand and twenty-eight".

Months are formed by placing the digit, or the number for 10, 11 and 12, before the word "month" 月 yuè:
January: 一月 yí yuè
February: 二月 èr yuè
March: 三月 sān yuè
…
October: 十月 shí yuè
November: 十一月 shí yī yuè
December: 十二月 shí èr yuè

Only the year is said digit by digit. Remember that point well.

The day of the month is formed by placing the digit or the number before the word "day" 日 rì.

The first of the month is 一日 yí rì, the second 二日 èr rì, the thirtieth 三十日 sānshí rì.

December 21, 2028 is therefore written 二零二八年十二月二十一日.

In speech, 号 hào is often used instead of 日 rì for the day of the month: 一月五号 yī yuè wǔ hào: January 5.

To ask the date:
今天几月几日？ Jīntiān jǐ yuè jǐ rì? What is the date today?
你几号回来？ Nǐ jǐ hào huílái? What day are you coming back?

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The adverbial of time

In Mandarin Chinese, the adverbial of place is placed before the action verb:
她在中国学中文。 Tā zài Zhōngguó xué Zhōngwén. She studies Chinese in China.

This is a general rule of Mandarin Chinese: adverbials come before the verb. You set the scene first, then you play it.

Point-in-time expressions therefore follow the same rule:
我今天打电话。 Wǒ jīntiān dǎ diànhuà. I'm calling today.
我明天去看他。 Wǒ míngtiān qù kàn tā. I'll go and see him tomorrow.

And if place and time appear in the same sentence, which one comes first? Time is held to be more general than space, so it comes first.
我明天在你家打电话。 Wǒ míngtiān zài nǐ jiā dǎ diànhuà. I'll make the call at your place tomorrow.

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The construction 什么时候: when?

"When?" is said 什么时候 shénme shíhou. Like almost all question words, it takes the place of the answer word:
你什么时候回家？ Nǐ shénme shíhou huíjiā? When are you going home?
我明天上午回家。 Wǒ míngtiān shàngwǔ huíjiā. I'm going home tomorrow morning.

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在 and the adverbial of place

When we saw the verb "to be" 是 shì, we said that its use was narrower than in English.

So, to say "to be somewhere", you do not use 是 but 在 zài:
他在北京。 Tā zài Běijīng. He is in Beijing.

The corresponding question word is 哪儿 nǎr, "where?":
她在哪儿？ Tā zài nǎr? Where is she?

To say that you do something in a given place, you introduce the place with the coverb 在 zài, before the action verb:
我在中国学中文。 Wǒ zài Zhōngguó xué zhōngwén. I study Chinese in China.

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Duration

Duration, unlike a point in time, is not an adverbial. It is a verbal complement, which is placed after the verb.

When the verb has an object, the duration has two possible positions.

我学汉语两年。 Wǒ xué Hànyǔ liǎng nián. I did two years of Chinese.

Here, 学汉语 forms a single unit, and the duration applies to the whole.

我学两年汉语。 Wǒ xué liǎng nián Hànyǔ. I did two years of Chinese.

Here, the duration comes before the noun, like a quantity. English actually does the same: "two years of Chinese".

Both orders are commonly heard in China. But don't be surprised if a textbook gives you only the second one: many grammars written for foreigners treat the first as a mistake (usage proves them wrong).

Compare:
我学汉语两年。 Wǒ xué Hànyǔ liǎng nián. I did two years of Chinese.
我学汉语两年了。 Wǒ xué Hànyǔ liǎng nián le. I have been doing Chinese for two years.
我学两年汉语了。 Wǒ xué liǎng nián Hànyǔ le. I have been doing Chinese for two years.

The final 了 le combined with a duration gives the idea of "for, since", because it brings the situation back into the present. Two very common turns of phrase, to be remembered as they stand:
你学汉语几年了？ Nǐ xué Hànyǔ jǐ nián le? How many years have you been doing Chinese?
我学汉语三年了。 Wǒ xué Hànyǔ sān nián le. I have been doing Chinese for three years.

In the dialogue:
你回去几天？ Nǐ huíqù jǐ tiān? How many days are you going back for?
我回去半个月。 Wǒ huíqù bàn gè yuè. I'm going back for half a month.

回去 has no object: the duration directly follows the verb.

A slightly more difficult sentence

你在北京大学读书读几年？ Nǐ zài Běijīng dàxué dúshū dú jǐ nián? How many years are you studying at Peking University?

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The numeral 半

半 bàn means "half".

Placed before the classifier, it refers to half of what follows:
半个月 bàn gè yuè: half a month

Placed after the unit of measure or the classifier, it adds a half:
一个半月 yī gè bàn yuè: a month and a half
八点半 bā diǎn bàn: 8:30

Before or after: the whole meaning hangs on that position.

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会 as a marker of the future

We have seen that 会 huì means "to know how to do". It also expresses the probable future, the idea that something is going to happen. It is a predictable future, expected in the normal order of things.

In the dialogue:
你今年会回法国吗？ Nǐ jīnnián huì huí Fǎguó ma? Will you go back to France this year?
我今年会回去。 Wǒ jīnnián huì huíqù. I'll go back this year.
他会来吗？ Tā huì lái ma? Will he come?

By adding 的 at the end of a sentence with 会, you stress the certainty:
他会来的。 Tā huì lái de. He will come, that's for sure.

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The simple directionals 来 and 去

来 lái "to come" marks movement toward the speaker, 去 qù "to go" marks movement away:
他去中国。 Tā qù Zhōngguó. He is going to China. (the speakers are not in China)
他来法国。 Tā lái Fǎguó. He is coming to France. (the speakers are in France)

You can attach 来 and 去 to action verbs: they then give the direction of the action in relation to the speakers, and become simple directionals.
我回去。 Wǒ huíqù. I'm going back there. (I move away)
你回来了！ Nǐ huílái le! You came back! (the speaker is here)

In the dialogue:
我今年会回去。 Wǒ jīnnián huì huíqù. I'll go back this year. (Bai Xue is moving away from Beijing)
你几号回来？ Nǐ jǐ hào huílái? What day are you coming back? (Gao Xiaoyu is in Beijing, waiting for the return)

To specify the place in this construction, you slip it between the action verb and the directional:

Examples:
我回中国去。 Wǒ huí Zhōngguó qù. I'm going back to China.
他回我家来。 Tā huí wǒ jiā lái. He is coming back to my place.

Note: "to go home" is said simply 回家 huíjiā:
我下午六点回家。 Wǒ xiàwǔ liù diǎn huí jiā. I go home at 6 p.m.