文法a

句子︱文法b︱文法c︱文

昨日／今日

yesterday ./ today

Ａ日是Ｂ月Ｃ日。 昨日是四月二十六日。

Day A is B month and C day. Eg. - Yesterday was the 26th of April.

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太多／太少

too many / too few

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這個生字 那個生字

this vocabulary word that vocabulary word Note: The counter for 生字 is 個.

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好朋友 一個好朋友

good friend(s) one good friend / a good friend Note 1: How would the meaning change, if one were to write 一個好的朋友? Note 2: The adjective 好 comes after the counting phrase 一個.

Ａ人有一個朋友。

Person A has a friend. / Person A has one friend. Note: The word friend uses the same counter as that used for people.

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Ａ人的先生 高少姐的先生

Person A's teacher Eg. - Miss Goh's teacher

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教書的	teacher(s) Note: Apparently the appearance of 的 at the end of a verb often means the person who engages in the activity of that verb. Simply the word 人 has been dropped. In this case 教書的 (a teacher) is an abbreviation for 教書的人 (a person who teaches).

那個教書的不高。

That teacher is not tall.

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那個人教書Ａ。 那個人教書日文。 那個人教書中文。

That person teaches A. Eg. - That person teaches Japanese. Eg. - That person teaches Chinese. Note: What at first appears as a verb 教 and its direct object 書 is in fact a single transitive verb 教書 that often appears with its own direct object.

Ａ人可以教Ｂ人Ｃ。 高少姐可以教我中文。 高少姐可以教我寫字。

Person A can teach person B C. (C is what person A teaches person B.) Eg. - Miss Goh can teach me Chinese. Eg, - Miss Goh can teach me how to write.

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Ａ人學日文。 高少姐學日文。

Person A studies Japanese. Eg. - Miss Goh studies Japanese.

Ａ人不學日文。 高先生不學日文。

Person A does not study Japanese. Eg. - Miss Goh does not study Jaapnese.

這個人不學Ｂ，那個人學Ｂ。 這個學生不學中文，那個學生學中文。

It is not this person who studies A, it is that person. Eg. - This student does not study Chinese, that one does. Note: Both 這 and 那 require counters in this context -- namely 這個學生 and 那個學生.

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這個人不學Ｂ，那個人也不學Ｂ。

This person does not study B, neither does that person.

高少姐不學英文，錢少姐也不學英文。

Eg. - Miss Goh does not study English, neither does Miss Chin. Note 1: The base structure of the above example is Ａ不Ｃ，Ｂ也不Ｃ。 Note 2: 也 appears to function in the above example in the same manner as 都. Couldn't the same sentence be written as 高少姐不學英文，錢少姐都不學英文 without change in meaning? I do not know.

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Ａ人多給Ｂ人些錢。 錢少姐多給她的朋友些錢。

Person A gives person B much money. Eg. - Miss Chin gives her friend much money. Note: The construction Ａ人多給Ｂ人些Ｃ is noteworthy, as one would expect Ａ人給Ｂ人多Ｃto be both simpler and less ambiguous. Is there a difference in meaning, or is it simply a patterned preference?

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吃飯 吃一些飯 not 吃飯一些

eat eat something Note 1: The expression 吃飯 is very similar to 教書 - a combination of a verb with its usual direct object to form a new verb. It is not clear, however, whether 吃飯 can assume a direct object of its own. Note 2: Carrying this parallel further, one might wonder if 教一些書 would be correct.

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ＡＢ，Ｃ也Ｂ 錢先生高，高先生也高。

A is B, C is also B Eg. - Mr. Chin is tall, and so is Mr Goh. / Both Mr. Chin and Mr. Goh are tall. Note: Although 也 and 都 would appear to be interchangeable in this context, it is not clear. Consider the next example.

很多Ａ都是ＢＡ。 很多學校都是英文學校。

There are many A that are also B, where B is a type of A. There are many schools that are also English schools. / Many schools are also English schools. Note 1: 都是 indicates that A is BA as well as A. Would it be just as correct to write 也是? It may be that 也 cannot appear in conjunction with a verb.

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Ａ人要做的事

things A must/wants/has to do Note: The phrase Ａ人要做 的 is a relative clause that describes 事. It is obtained by adding 的 to the phrase Ａ人要做.

要Ａ的人 要學英文的人太多。

a person (or people) who (want / need / desire) A. Eg. - There are too many people wanting to study English. / There are too many people who want to study English.

要學日文的人很少。

People wanting to study Japanese are few. / People who need/want to study Japanese are few.

Ａ人要Ｂ人教。 高先生有很多學生要他教。

Person A wants person B to teach him. / Person A needs that person B teach him. / Person A is desirous of person B's training. Eg. - Mr. Goh has many students who need his training.

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Ａ很多，所以不可以Ｂ。 今日要做的事很多，所以不可以教書。

There are many A, therefore B cannot be done. Eg. - I have many things to do today, and will therefore be unable to teach? Note 1: The subject is understood. Note 2: The basic structure of the sentence is Ａ，所以Ｂ。

錢先生的中文不很好，所以他不可以教我寫中文字。

Mr. Chin's Chinese is not very good, therefore he cannot teach me to write Chinese. Note 1: Mr. Chin does not know Chinese very well, and therefore cannot teach it. Note 2: The basic structure of the sentence is Ａ，所以Ｂ。 Note 3: So as to contrast the difference between 會 and 可以 consider the following sentence: 錢先生不很會中文，所以他不可以教我中文字。Both this sentence and the one above appear to convey the same meaning.

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因為Ａ，所以Ｂ。 因為高先生是好教書的，所以他有很多好學生。

Because A, therefore B. Because Mr. Goh is a good teacher, he has many good students. Note: Compare the the constructions 因為Ａ，所以Ｂ。 and Ａ，所以Ｂ。 Both appear to mean the same. Other examples using the construction 因為Ａ，所以Ｂ。are given below.

因為Ａ很多，所以很多Ｂ是Ｃ。 因為中國人太多，所以很多學校是中文學校。

Because there are very many A, very many C are B. Eg. - Because there are many Chinese, many schools are Chinese schools.

因為高先生很會教書，所以有很多學生要他教。

Because Mr Goh teaches very well, he has many students who want him to teach them. Note: This sentence is also of the form 囚為Ａ，所Ｂ。Notice that the subject is the same for both clauses, but that it is not repeated in the second.

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Ａ﹖因為Ｂ。 你可不可以教我﹖因為我不會寫這些字。

Question A is made, and B is given as the reason for asking the question. Could you teach me? I do not know how to write these characters. Note: No counter is used with the expression 這些.

因為Ａ，Ｂ。 因為高少姐多學，她會寫字。

Because of A, B. (A is the cause for B, whatever A and B are.) Eg. - Because Miss Goh studies hard, she knows how to write. Note: Thus, three possibilities exist for expressing cause and effect using the words 囚為 and 所以: 1) 囚為Ａ，Ｂ。 2) Ａ，所以Ｂ。 3) 囚為Ａ，所以Ｂ。

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