Initials 'C', 'Ch', and 'Q'

The initial 'C' differs from 'Ch' and 'Q' more than the latter two differ from each other.  'C' is not pronounced like any C-sound in English, but rather as a sound similar to 'ts-'.  This is a sound that occurs in English at the end of words (e.g. 'dentists', 'mats', 'huts'), but not at the beginning.  Because of this, many speakers change it to sound like a 'Ch', which is a common English initial sound.

'Ch' and 'Q' essentially do sound like the initial 'Ch' in English.  However, the 'Ch' is a retroflex initial while 'Q' is not.  There are only 3 final sounds that 'Ch' and 'Q' have in common, the rest are split between them.  The chart below gives the three sounds which are shared by both 'Ch' and 'Q' as well as other sounds to contrast with the 'C' initial.

Pay special attention to the sound in chi² as opposed to qi².  Retroflex initials add an "r" sound to the end of certain finals.  More will be said about that in a later lesson.

Initials 'S' and 'Sh'

'S' and 'Sh' are not actually difficult.  The one difficult things is that 'Sh' is a retroflex initial.  This means that final sounds following 'Sh' will be pronounced differently than final sounds that are not preceded by a retroflex initial.  The initial 'S' is used here as a contrast.

Pay special attention to the sound in shi³ as opposed to si³.  Retroflex initials add an "r" sound to the end of certain finals.  More will be said about that in a later lesson.

Initials 'Z', 'Zh', and 'J'

The initial 'Z' differs from 'Zh' and 'J' more than the latter two differ from each other.  'Z' is not pronounced like any Z-sound in English, but rather as a sound similar to 'dz-'.  Some dialects of English will use this pronunciation for the "soft G" sound, but it still closely resembles an English "J".  Because of this, many speakers change it to sound like a 'J'.

'Zh' and 'J' essentially do sound like the initial 'J' in English.  However, 'Zh' is a retroflex initial while 'J' is not.  There are only 3 final sounds that 'Zh' and 'J' have in common, the rest are split between them.  The chart below gives the three sounds which are shared by both 'Zh' and 'J' as well as other sounds to contrast with the 'Z' initial.

Learning Helps

Practice and re-practice these sounds and tones.  Simply seeing them on paper or hearing them once will not help you, you must same them.  Pay particular attention to specific differences between tone levels and similar sounds.

Mandarin Grammar Lesson 1
Pronouns and Plurality

Vocabulary

Plural Nouns

Chinese nouns are generally not marked for being either singular or plural.  They rely on context to note whether one or more than one is intended.  For example, "I believe in God" and "I believe in gods" could be said in the same way.

Pronouns are a great way to clarify the meaning.  " wo³ ", " ni³ ", and " ta¹ " are all singular.  Adding " men" directly to the end of the pronoun makes it plural.  That is all that is needed to be done in most sentences, as Chinese grammar does not require subject-verb agreement.

He/She/It

Chinese has a single pronunciations for the pronouns for "he", "she", and "it".  Whether an object is male or female; human, animal, or object, the same pronoun is used.  The only way to determine what is intended is by the context (or in writing).

Additionally, Mandarin pronouns do not change depending on whether they are subjects or objects, they remain the same.  In English "I" becomes "me", "he" becomes "him" and "she" becomes "her".  But the Cantonese pronouns do not change.

Reflexive Pronoun 自己

In the example above showing how a pronoun does not change, a it is possible to make sentences where the subject and object are the same.  In Chinese, like in English, sentences like this make sense, but they are not the standard way of expressing the idea and in most cases are not good Chinese.

Instead, Chinese pronouns are replaced by the pronoun zi⁴ ji³ when they are used reflexively.

Written Forms

Including Gender

Even though there is one pronunciation for "he", "she" and "it", there are multiple characters. 他 is for males or when used in the plural with mixed genders, 她 is for females, and 它is for animals or objects.  There is also a female version of "you"- .

Formal Characters

In addition to the standard pronouns, there are also some formal versions.  The most common of these is 您, which is a more respectful form of "you".  Other such pronouns are used for God or gods.  To form these special characters the "person" (人) or "woman" (女) radical is replaced by the one used in a word for "god" (神).

Mandarin Grammar Lesson 2
"To Be"- Equative

New Vocabulary

The Equating Verb " shi⁴ "

Grammar Description

English vs. Chinese Linking Verbs

English uses the format NOUN + "to be" + NOUN to equate a subject and another noun (predicate nominative).  Examples:

The exact same format is used to link nouns and adjectives (predicate adjective) in English: NOUN + "to be" + ADJECTIVE.  Examples:

Chinese uses two different verbs, one to link nouns to nouns (shi⁴) and a second verb to link nouns to adjectives (hen³).  The pattern given in this lesson is only used to link a noun to another noun.  The pattern for linking a noun to an adjective is given in the next grammar lesson.

The Negative bu⁴

To form the negative of most sentences the prefix bu⁴ is added before the verb or adjective being negated.

Subject Verb Agreement

In Chinese, subjects and verbs automatically agree.  They do not need to be adjusted for first person, second person, third person, or singular/plural considerations.  English has "am, are, is" plus different forms for each tense.  Mandarin uses " shi⁴ " for all these cases.

Notes and Additional Information

The negation character 不 is pronounced as a fourth tone in isolation ( bu⁴ ).  However, when it precedes another 4th tone character the tone change rules take effect.  Because the pronunciation will normally be that of the 2nd tone in such cases, the symbol ^2* will be used in such cases.  Be aware that in certain environments (such as when preceded by another 4th tone sound) it will revert to a 4th tone pronunciation.

Mandarin Grammar Lesson 3
Predicate Adjectives

New Vocabulary

Stative Verbs

English uses the format NOUN + "to be" + ADJECTIVE to connect the subject to an adjective.  Examples:

Chinese uses two different forms, one to link nouns to nouns and a second form to link nouns to adjectives.  The second form is generally NOUN + (ADVERB) + ADJECTIVE.  These adjectives function in this form both as descriptors and as the "to be" verb as needed.  In fact, these adjectives behave as verbs in many ways, including how they are negated and form choice-type questions.

Adverbs modify the adjective, but are not always optional.  In some instances, dropping the adverb can change the grammatical sense of a sentence.  This is especially true when used with predicate adjectives.

The word hen³ 很 is a notable exception.  It often acts as the default adverb.  While it can modify the adjective, adding the idea of "very" to the meaning, it can also simply act as a link between noun and adjective without acting as a modifier.  For example:

• "I am happy." and "I am very happy." would both be " wo³ hen³ kuai⁴ le⁴ "

• "He is busy." and "He is very busy." would both be " ta¹ hen³ mang² "

Equative + "de"

In the previous grammar lesson, it was explained that the equative verb shi⁴ is used only to link a noun to another noun.  While this is true, it can be used in a special structure to link a noun to an adjective.  This structure can serve to give rhetorical emphasis to the speaker's statement.

The basic form is:

 NOUN+ "shi⁴" +ADJECTIVE PHRASE+ "de"

Note that while this is grammatically correct, for most simple adjectives (like tall as used in this example) you would not use this pattern.

This can be looked at as simply a pattern that adds emphasis to the description, and that in this structure shi⁴ is not functioning as an equative verb but as a linking verb.  Or, this can be seen as a structure with an understood predicate nominative.

An equivalent English way of saying this would be "He is one who is tall."  In this way, the equative verb is still linking two nouns together and the adjective is modifying the understood noun.

Mandarin Grammar Lesson 4
Locative Marker

Vocabulary

Grammar Description

"zai⁴" is one of the few words in Chinese that corresponds to an English preposition.  It takes the places of all the English prepositions describing location: "at, above, below, in, on, out, around, etc."  "zai⁴" always requires an object corresponding to a location.  (This can be a place like a country or a building, or an object.)