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文法a
| １）我們每個人都有十個手指，這個水手就有六個手指，真奇恎。
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Each of us has ten fingers, but this sailor has six. It is very strange.
Note 1: The base pattern is Ａ有Ｃ，Ｂ就有Ｄ，Ｅ。 A comparison is made between
something that both A and B have in different amounts. B's amount is
extraordinarily different. The word 就 and the phrase 真奇恎 emphasize this
extraordinary difference -- namely, the number of fingers that the
sailor has.
Note 2a: Literally translated, the phrase 我們每個人 means "we, each one",
in other words "each of us".
The word 都 is introduced with the verb 有
in order to indicate that each of us has the same of whatever follows
-- namely, ten fingers十個手指.
Note 2b: Though what is being contrasted are the number of
fingers, the author is seeking to set the sailor 水手
apart from everyone else 我們. As it is not the number of fingers that we
all have when taken together, rather the number of fingers that each of
us has when considered separately, the additional phrase 每個人 must be
added.
Note 3: Since there is no subject before the phrase 真奇恎, it is
unclear, as to whether the author finds the sailor strange, or the fact
that not everyone has the same number of fingers.
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| ２）外頭有人叫門，快開門看看是不是黃先生吧！不是，是個叫花子。
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Someone's outside knocking at the door. Open the door quickly and see, if it's Mr. Wong, and not a beggar.
Note 1: These two sentences are of the following pattern:
有Ａ，看看是下是Ｂ。不是（Ｂ），是Ｃ, where A could be either B or C, and where the listener is
told to find out which is true. The subject of the verb phrase 不是 is
understood, and probably refers to Mr. Wong, who may or may not be the
person knocking at the door.
Note 2: The phrase 外頭有人叫門 is of the form Ｂ有ＡＣ, where Ｂ is the place
where Ａ is doing Ｃ. In this case 人 is/are outside 外頭 knocking at the
door 叫門. The sentence part 有ＡＣis of the form "there is Ａ doing Ｃ".
Note 3: The sentence suffix 吧 appears to indicate a command issued by the speaker.
Note 4: The phrase 是不是 following 看看 appears to translate well as "if
it's not". The speaker is not looking for the speaker's opinion in
order to confirm his own, rather, he is looking for a confirmation
through the investigation of the facts.
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| ３）那老太太十分有錢，可是她老是穿一件又舊又難看的藍衣服。
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That old lady has plenty of money, but she always wears the same old, ugly, blue dress.
Note 1: The base pattern is Ａ十分有錢，可是Ｃ, where Ａ has sufficient money,
not to do C, but does C anyway. In this case, she has plenty to
wear a variety of different clothes, but she does not.
有錢 is used here as a predicate adjective, and十分 modifies 有錢.
Note 2a: The sentence part 她老是穿一件又舊又難
看的藍衣服 is of the pattern Ａ穿一件又Ｂ又Ｃ的衣服, where 又 Ｂ又Ｃ的 is the kind of
dress, uniform, or costume
一件衣服 that she wears. The clothing is both old and ugly 又舊又難看. Literally
speaking, 難看 translates as difficult to see or look at. Apparently, the
postpositional link 的 is required, so as to insure that the adjective
難看 is not confused with a verb phrase 難看 whose object is 藍衣服.
Note 2b: There is no direct relationship between 她 and 老是. 老是 is an
adverb that implies that something has existed in a certain way for a
very long time; it means "always".
Note 2c: The construction 一件Ｄ的藍衣服, where Ｄ refers to 又Ｂ又Ｃ. In brief,
the adjectival phrase 又舊又難的 is placed in between the counter 一件 and the
word being counted 藍衣服.
Note 3: The word 老太太 translates as "old lady" and differs from 老太婆 which translates as "old woman".
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| ４）昨天火車站有一件意外事件，所有的這件都不見了，你知道嗎？
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Something unexpected happened at the train station yesterday, and I missed the whole thing. Do you know what happened?
Note 1: The base pattern appears to be Ｃ有Ａ，Ｂ都不見了，你知道嗎？ Ａis something
that happened at Ｃ, but was not witnessed by the speaker, who wants to
know, if the listener witnessed it.
Note 2a: The pattern Ｃ有Ａ is becoming increasingly familiar. Ｃis the place where something takes place -- in this case, an
unexpected incident or event 一件意外事件 that takes place at a train station
火車站.
Note 2b: Neither is the place introduced with a preposition, as often occurs in
English, nor with a verb of state, as is common in Chinese. We do not
observe for example the phrase 在火車站.
Note 2c: Apparently 意外 is treated as an adjectival modifier of 事件.
Note 2d: The first 件 in the phrase
一件意外事件 is used as a counter for 事件. 件 is also used as the counter for 事
in the phrase 這件事 where 事 is some matter already known. (See explanation to sentence 15 for another useful example.)
Note 3: 所有的 commonly has the meaning of all or every. Here it appears
to refer to what happened at the station -- in other words, the
previously mentioned incident or event 這件.
Note 4: In this sentence the adverb 都 appears to be used for emphasis
indicating that none of the entire incident or event was observed. Also, important to
note is the word order. The adverb 都 occurs before the entire negated phrase 不見了.
Note 5: It is also noteworthy that the verb 見 is used, rather the verb
看 to indicate what was not seen. Could it be that the verb 看 has the
meaning to look, rather than see?
Note 6: The sentence suffice 嗎 appears to indicate the speakers wish to receive a yes/no type of response.
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| ５）他看過的書，幾年以後也不會忘記，他真是一個過目不忘的人。
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After
several years he still remembers the books he has read. Truly, he is
one of those who once having seen a thing never forgets it.
Note 1: This sentence is a grammatical hodge-podge whose meaning is
relatively eash to understand, but whose grammatical construction is
complex. The sentence can be divided into two parts: one, books that
are read by a third party 他看過的書 and cannot be forgotten after several
years 幾年以後也不會忘記; and two, a person who, having once seen a thing, never
forgets it 他真是一個過目不忘的人. It seems likely that the person who reads
books, and the person who does not easily forget things he has seen, are the same people.
Note 2: The base pattern of the first sentence part is Ｂ的Ａ，也不Ｃ, where
Ｂ的Ａ are the books 書 that the person 他 has read 看過, and 也不Ｃis the
observation that the books are not forgotten 不會忘記 even 也 after several
years 幾年以後. As the person who reads the books is only mentioned in the
relative clause, we must assume that the placement of the books
before the verb indicates passive voice construction.
Note 3: The base pattern of the second part is much less awkward, as
the subject and verb are far easier to identify. It is of the form
他真是Ａ, where A is a predicate noun phrase that tells what 他 is. The
predicate noun phrase comprises a counter 一個, a relative clause 過目不忘的,
and the predicate noun 人.
Note 4: The use of 幾 in the phrase 幾年 is that of "a few",
"several", or "some". It is employed as an indefinite counter. The
construction 幾年以前 is of the form A以前 where Ａis some period of time and
以前 indicates that the period has already transpired.
Note 5: The phrase 過目不忘 appears to be a Chinese proverb meaning something like "once seen, never forgotten".
Note 6: In the verb phrase 看過 the word 看 is used to mean read. The verb
phrase 看過 means "have read" in the sense of having experienced.
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| ６）你吃了中飯以後，先把火把送去給他，然後把書拿來給我吧！
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After you have finished lunch, take the torch to him and bring the book to me.
Note 1: The base pattern of this sentence is Ａ以後，先Ｂ，然後Ｃ, where the
listener is told to perform Ｂ and Ｃ after completing Ａ. Ｂ is to be
performed before Ｃ. The exclamation mark ！ indicates that a command has
been given. Unlike English that removes the subject when
a command is given, the subject 你 remains.
Note 2: The pattern of the first clause is 你Ａ以後, where Ａis what the
listener is told to complete 吃了中飯 before performing the other tasks.
The verb construction Ａ了is frequently seen before the
conjunction 以後. It indicates a completed action in the past.
Note 3: The conjuntions of the second and third clauses appear together
and establish the order in which the events are to take place --
namely, 先Ｂ，然後Ｃ, or firstＢ, and afterwards Ｃ.
Note 4: The verb 把, placed before the word 火把 in the second clause and
before the word 書 in the third clause is a special use. It allows the
speaker to place the object of the verb before the verb without
creating a passive voice construction. In the second clause the speaker
我 wants the listener 你 to take 送去 the torch (lantern) 火把 and give
it to a male third party 給他. In the third clause the speaker wants
that the listener to bring 拿來 the books 書 to him 給我. The subject of
both sentences is 你, neither 火把 nor 書.
Note 5 (return): The phrase 給Ａ tells us that the object is to be received byＡafter delivery. Once again, 拿來 is "bring" and 送去 is "take".
Note 6: The sentence suffix 吧 indicates that a command has been given.
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７）那個女子學校的學生，沒有人知道「男女平等」的意思是甚麼,
真奇恎。
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I find it very strange that none of those students from the girl's school knows the meaning of men and women's equality.
Note 1: The base pattern to this sentence is Ａ，沒有Ｂ知道Ｃ是甚麼,
whereＡintroduces us to who Ｂis, and 沒有Ｂ知道 tells us that none of Ｂknow
what Ｃis.
The construction Ｃ是甚麼 appears to be taken from the question
「男女平等」的意思是甚麼？, where 甚麼 serves as the question word "what" in the
question "What is the meaning of men and women's equality?" The word
order is just the opposite of what it would be in English.
Note 2: 那個女子學校的學生 apparently refers to a group of students 那個學生 from a
girl's school 女子學校. The word 的 tells us the school to which the girl's
belong. The base pattern of the phrase is 那個Ｂ的Ａ where Ｂ的 describesＡ,
and 那個 makes clear which Ｂ的Ａ. The counter for people is 個.
Note 3: Since 那個 clearly refers to the 學生 and 沒有人 suggests more than
one person, more than one student from the girl's school is clearly
being talked about.
Note 4: The phrase 「男女平等」的意思 translates as "the meaning of the equality
of men and women".
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| ８）你們學校男學生的行李，有的在行李房𥚃，有的在行李車上。
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Some of the boy's luggage from your school is in the luggage room, and some of it is in the luggage car.
Note 1: The base pattern of this sentence is Ａ，有的在Ｂ，有的在Ｃ, whereＡis the
noun of reference for the pronouns 有的 in the clauses 有的在Ｂ and 有的在Ｃ.
有的 can mean "some" or "some of it".
Note 2: The phrase 你們學校 indicates that the speaker is probably speaking
to more than one person from the same school, when he refers to the
boy's luggage. The listeners are not the boy's from the school, whose
luggage is located in two different locations.
Note 3: 行李房 translates as luggage room; 在Ａ裡 written as 在行李房裡
translates "is in the luggage room". Similarly, 行李車 translates as
luggage car, and 在行李車上 translates as "is in the luggage car". In
translation the difference between 裡 and 上 in this context appears
trivial.
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| ９）李小姐送給我一技筆，目的是要我多寫信給她，她的意思我明白。
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Miss Li gave me a pen. Her goal that I write to her more is clear.
Note 1: The base pattern of this sentence is Ａ，目的是Ｂ，Ｂ我明白, where Ａ is
an action taken by a third party, whose purpose is Ｂ. The speaker
understands the purpose of the action.
Note 2a: The clause 李小姐送給我一技筆 can stand alone, and in English makes a complete sentence.
Note 2b: If we compare this verb construction with that found in Sentence 6, Note 5,
we discover an important difference between the verb phrases 送去給Ａ and
送給Ａ. Whereas the former means "take to A", the latter means only "give
to A".
Note 2c: The counter of 筆 is 技; thus, we may write 一技筆, 二技筆, etc.
Note 3: The base pattern of the clause 目的是要我多寫信給她 is of the form 目的是Ｂ,
where the construction 要我多寫信給她 functions like an infinitive phrase
telling what Miss Li's 目的 is. A literal translation might be "the goal
is to have me write to her more". The understood subject to the
infinitive phrase is, of course, Miss Li. One could write 她要我多寫信姶她. It
is this understood subject that allows us to translate the phrase as a
relative clause.
Whether a relative clause or an infinite phrase, the sentence fragment serves as predicate noun to 目的.
Note 4: The syntax of the clause 她的意思我明 is unusual, in so far as the
object is placed in front of the subject 我. Whether or not this
construction should be treated as passive voice, the effect is the same
-- emphasis on the word 意思.
As 意思 appears to be used synonymously with the word 目的 in this context,
I have taken the liberty to combine the last two clauses.
Note 5: The adverb 多 placed before the verb 寫 indicates that more writing is desired.
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| １０）他用「水手」做筆名，寫了一本有名的小說，得到一筆錢。
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He used the pen name Sailor, wrote a famous novel, and earned some money.
Note 1: The base pattern of this sentence is 他用Ａ做Ｂ，Ｃ了Ｄ，得到Ｅ, where Ａ is
something that he uses to make Ｂ, do ＣＤ, and finish with Ｅ.
Note 2: Nicknames are popular in Hong Kong culture, so we should not be
surprised to learn how to create one. The clause 他用「水手」做筆名
translates "he used the word Sailor to make a pen name". The past tense
is obtained from the second verb phrase 寫了一本有名的小說, which tells us what
he was able to do with his new pen name.
Note 3: In effect, this sentence can be divided into two major parts,
rather than a series of three consecutive verb phrases as I have done.
The first part is 他用「水手」做筆名，寫了一本有名的小說 and the second part is 得到一筆錢. The
verb suffix 了 after 寫 applies to both the making of the pen name
Sailor and the writing of the book, whereas the earning of money
becomes a separate action that occurs later.
Note 4: The word 筆 is a counter for money, thus 一筆錢 is a certain amount of money, but I do not know exactly how much.
Note 5: The adjectival phrase 有名的 looks very similar to another
expression that we have learned -- namely, 有錢的. What appears to be a
relative clause describing 小說 is only an adjective. We know this
because it would be wrong to place something between the words 有 and 名
and the words 有 and 錢.
Note 6: The expression 得到 appears to be fairly standard and indicates a completed action. For example, 聽到 or 聽唔到. 得 means earn.
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