City University of Hong Kong CLASS CLASS
Making Sense of Grammar
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asked Dec 16, 2020 in Questions about Chinese Grammar by Ariel (34,480 points) | 858 views

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This unit and the next one deal with conjunctions (e.g. 因为yīn wéi …所以suǒ yǐ , 但是 dànshì) and conjunctives (e.g. 就 jiù, 才 cái, 却 què) which link clauses together in compound sentences. A conjunction may occur in the first or second clause and may be placed either before or immediately after the subject/topic whereas a conjunctive, which is in fact a referential adverb functioning as a link word, may only occur in the second clause and it must be placed immediately before the predicate/comment:

因为昨天下雨,所以运动会暂停。

Yīn wéi zuó tiān xià yǔ ,suǒ yǐ yùn dòng huì zàn tíng 。

Because it rained yesterday, the sports meeting was (therefore) postponed.

(因为yīn wéi ‘because’ and 所以suǒ yǐ ‘therefore’ are both conjunctions.)

If the subject/topic or the object of the two linked clauses is the same, it is usually omitted in the second clause:

(因为)她跑得很快,所以得了第一。

(Yīn wéi)tā pǎo dé hěn kuài ,suǒ yǐ dé le dì yī 。

Because she ran very fast, (therefore) she came first.

(因为)你不喜欢吃苹果,所以我没买。

(Yīn wéi )nǐ bú xǐ huān chī píng guǒ ,suǒ yǐ wǒ méi mǎi 。

Because you don’t like apples, (therefore) I didn’t buy any.

[1] Yip, P. C., Rimmington, D., Xiaoming, Z., & Henson, R. (2009). Basic Chinese: a grammar and workbook. Taylor & Francis.
answered Dec 16, 2020 by Ariel (34,480 points)

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