FOLA312 Week 13 Understanding Different Chinese Sentence Constructions

Understanding Different
Chinese Sentence
Constructions
PREPARED BY: MR. JOSEPH BAUTISTA DIMAANO
The 把 sentence construction
The 把 bǎ construction is used to talk about, for example: handling
or disposing of a particular object (such as sending a particular letter
to somewhere); saying a particular sentence clearly; or putting
something somewhere.
The verbs used in 把 bǎ sentences take complicated forms such
resultative complements, directional complements and the
complement of degree. Because of the complex use of verbs in the
把 bǎ construction, it is important to learn or revise the grammar
points that are in the other sections relating to the 把 bǎ
construction before embarking on this section.
The 把 sentence construction
Although 把 bǎ is not often used as a verb in modern
Chinese, it still retains the meaning of to hold or to grasp. In
this section I will introduce 把 bǎ as a co-verb in the 把 bǎ
construction. Please note in this context that sequence is
important in Chinese when it comes to describing actions.
The first action in a sequence should come first in an
utterance. The way to learn co-verb sentences properly is to
understand the description of sequence in Chinese word
order. The following two patterns are commonly used to
form 把 bǎ sentences.
1. A sentence with a verb and direct
and indirect objects
These two sentences show how the direct and indirect objects are connected by the
verb complements 寄给 jì gěi send to and 寄到 jì dào send to. (The
complement 给 gěi to is followed by persons and the complement 到 dào to is
followed by places.) The above examples also demonstrate that „aspect‟ 了 le is
placed after the verbs: in the first example it is placed after 寄给 jì gěi send to
and in the second example it is placed after 去 qù.
2. A sentence with a verb and an
object
S (没)把 O V+ other
你没把话说清楚
nǐ méi bǎ huà shuō qīngchǔ
You didn’t say it clearly.
The negation 没 méi did not is placed before the co-verb 把 bǎ in the above sentence.
2. A sentence with a verb and an object
Modal verbs, adverbial 地 de and co-verb phrases can also precede 把 bǎ. For example
S 把 O V+ other
你要把话说清楚吗？
nǐ yào bǎ huà shuō qīngchu ma
Would you like to say it clearly?
S 把 O V+ other element
你在这儿把话说清楚。
nǐ zài zhèr bǎ huà shuō qīngchu
Say it clearly here.
Five types of the most common elements that
can be attached to verbs in 把 sentences.
1. Complement of degree
S 把 O V+ complement of degree
你把话说得非常清楚。
nǐ bǎ huà shuō de fēicháng qīngchu
You’ve said it very clearly indeed.
2. Resultative complements apart from 见
S 把 O V+ resultative complement
你把话说错了。
nǐ bǎ huà shuō chuò le
You’ve said it wrong.
3. Directional complements
S 把 O V+ directional complement
你把衬衫拿进来。
nǐ bǎ chènshān ná jìnlai
Bring in the shirt.

4. …action measures
S 把 O V+ action measure
你把房间整理一下。
nǐ bǎ fángjiān zhěnglǐ yíxià
Tidy up the room a little.

5. … 着 (as a continuous aspect)
S 把 O V+ 着
你把门开着。
nǐ bǎ mén kāi zhe
Can you finish this meal?
Passive with 被 , 让 , 叫 and 给
In Chinese, the passive constructions with
被 bèi 让 ràng 叫 jiào and 给 gěi are
not as frequently used as are passive
constructions in English. For instance, when
translating the previous sentence into
Chinese, one would not use the bèi
construction.
1. The co-verbs 被 bèi 让 ràng 叫 jiào and 给 gěi are
used to introduce the agent of a passive sentence, as in 我
的车被小王借走了 wǒ de chē bèi Xiǎo Wáng jiè zǒu le my
car has been borrowed by Xiao Wang. The co-verb 被 bèi
introduces the agent, Xiao Wang, who has carried out the
action of borrowing. All the co-verbs above have the same
function when introducing the agent of a passive sentence,
but 被 bèi is the most commonly used. The following
tables show the sentence components that are used in the
被 bèi construction.
subject bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi agent verb + other elements
我的车被 / 让 / 叫 / 给小王借走了
wǒ de chē bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi Xiǎo Wáng jiè zǒu le
My car has been driven back home by Xiao Wang.
You might have noticed that the „action verb plus other element‟
constructions used in the above sentences are complicated ones.
Which elements that can be used with verbs in a 被 bèi
construction? Let‟s look at the following list.
2. The elements that are commonly preceded by verbs in
the bèi construction are:
--resultative complements
--directional complements
--the complement of degree
--action measures
As you may have noticed, the elements that are used in the 被 bèi sentence construction are
very similar to the ones used in the 把 bǎ construction. After learning the examples below
please try to reformulate them as 把 bǎ constructions.
subject bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi Agent verb + resultative complement

电视被/让/ 叫 /给小王修好了
diànshì bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi Xiǎo Wáng xiū hǎo le
The TV has been mended by Xiao Wang.
subject bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi agent verb + directional complement
我的车被 / 让 / 叫 / 给小王开回家去了
wǒ de chē bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi Xiǎo Wáng kāi huí jiā qù le
My car has been driven back home by Xiao Wang.
subject bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi agent verb + complement of degree

房间被/让/ 叫 /给小王打扫得很干净
fángjiān bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi Xiǎo Wáng dǎsǎo de hěn gānjìng
The room has been cleaned up very nicely by Xiao Wang.
subject bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi agent verb + action measure
我的车被/让/ 叫 /给小王用了一会儿
wǒ de chē bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi Xiǎo Wáng yòng le yíhuòr
My car has been used by Xiao Wang for a little while
3. 被 bèi can also be used to form a passive sentence without introducing an agent, but 给
gěi 让 jiào and 叫 ràng cannot be used in this way. For example,
subject bèi verb + other elements

我的车被开回家去了
wǒ de chē bèi kāi huí jiā qù le
My car has been driven back home.
电视被修好了
diànshì bèi xiū hǎo le
The TV has been mended.
房间被打扫得很干净
fángjiān bèi dǎsǎo de hěn gānjìng
The room has been cleaned up very nicely.
4. The above examples also indicate that aspect le is used when expressing the idea of an action
that has happened. 没 méi not can be followed by the co-verb 被 bèi to change the above
examples into the negative form in order to deny that the action has taken place. For example, if
someone says that:
subject bèi agent verb + resultative complement

电视被小王修好了
diànshì bèi Xiǎo Wáng xiū hǎo le
The TV has been mended by Xiao Wang.
You can deny that the action has taken place by saying:
subject méi bèi agent verb + resultative complement

电视没被小王修好
diànshì méi bèi Xiǎo Wáng xiū hǎo
The TV hasn’t been mended by Xiao Wang.
If someone says that:
subject bèi verb + complement of degree
房间被打扫得很干净
fángjiān bèi dǎsǎo de hěn gānjìng
You can deny that the outcome of the action by saying:
subject bèi verb + complement of degree (bu)

房间被打扫得不很干净
fángjiān bèi dǎsǎo de buhěn gānjìng
The room has been cleaned up very nicely
5. Adverbs that are used to describe actions are placed before the verb in a 被 bèi
construction, unlike adverbs that are used in the 把 bǎ construction, which are followed by the
co-verb 把 bǎ. Let‟s see look at some examples.
subject bèi agent adverbial phrase + de verb + other elements

课文被小王清清楚楚地念了一遍
kèwén bèi Xiǎo Wáng Qīngqīngchǔchǔ de
The text has been read out very clearly by Xiao Wang.
If we use this information to form a 把 bǎ sentence it would become:
sbject adverbial phrase + de bǎ object verb + other elements

小王清清楚楚地把课文念了一遍
Xiǎo Wáng qīngqīngchǔchǔ de bǎ kèwén niàn le yíbiàn
Xiao Wang has read the text out loud very clearly.
Notional passive (without 被 , 让 , 叫
and 给 )
6. A notional passive sentence is formed without the co-verbs 被 bèi 让 ràng 叫 jiào and 给
gěi. Let’s use the examples that we have used in the previous section to form some notional
passive sentences.
subject verb + other elements

我的车开回家去了
wǒ de chē kāi huí jiā qù le
My car has been driven back home.
and 给 )
电视修好了
diànshì xiū hǎo le
The TV has been mended.

房间打扫得很干净
fángjiān dǎsǎo de hěn gānjìng
and 给 )
As the subjects in the above examples cannot carry out actions themselves, then we assume that the actions
must have been undertaken by someone else. In fact this sentence pattern is very useful for describing how an
object has been dealt with. For example:
书放在桌子上了
shū fàng zài zhuōzi shàng le
The book has been put on the table.

饭拿上楼去了
fàn ná shàng lóu qù le
The meal has been brought upstairs
and 给 )
The verb components in the notional passive are very
similar to those of the 被 bèi construction. They are action
verbs with other elements, as shown below.
--resultative complements
--directional complements
--the complement of degree
--action measures
and 给 )
subject verb + resultative complement
饭作好了
fàn zuò hǎo le
The book has been put on the table.
subject verb + directional complement

饭拿上楼去了
fàn ná shàng lóu qù le
The meal has been brought upstairs.
and 给 )
subject verb + complement of degree
房间打扫得很干净
fángjiān dǎsǎo de hěn gānjìng
subject verb + action measure

课文念了两遍
kèwén niàn le liǎng biàn
The text has been read twice.
没 méi not can be used to deny that the above actions have taken place, but 不 bu is used with the
complement of degree.
and 给 )
subject méi verb + resultative complement
饭没作好
fàn méi zuò hǎo
The meal hasn’t been prepared .
subject méi verb + directional complement

饭没拿上楼去
fàn méi ná shàng lóu qù
The meal hasn’t been brought upstairs
and 给 )
subject verb + complement of degree (bu)
房间打扫得不很干净
fángjiān dǎsǎo de bu hěn gānjìng
The room hasn’t been cleaned up very nicely.
subject méi verb + action measure

课文没念两遍
kèwén méi niàn liǎng biàn
The text hasn’t been read twice. (It implies that the text may only have been read once, or possibly
three times.)

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Understanding Different

Bring in the shirt.

Tidy up the room a little.

subject bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi Agent verb + resultative complement

subject bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi agent verb + complement of degree

subject bèi verb + other elements

subject bèi agent verb + resultative complement

subject méi bèi agent verb + resultative complement

subject bèi verb + complement of degree (bu)

subject bèi agent adverbial phrase + de verb + other elements

sbject adverbial phrase + de bǎ object verb + other elements

subject verb + other elements

subject verb + other elements

subject verb + other elements

subject verb + directional complement

subject verb + action measure

subject méi verb + directional complement

subject méi verb + action measure

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