City University of Hong Kong CLASS CLASS
Making Sense of Grammar
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asked Feb 2, 2021 in Questions about Chinese Grammar by Ariel (34,480 points) | 239 views

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Yes. Such a predicate is frequently used to indicate age, time, day, date, year, amount of money, etc. It should be noted that such a sentence is usually a simple positive statement or a question with an interrogative pronoun.

王先生三十五岁,王太太三十(岁)。

Wáng xiān shēng sān shí wǔ suì,wáng tài tài sān shí (suì)。

Mr Wang is 35 years old; Mrs Wang is 30.

现在几点?

Xiàn zài jǐ diǎn?

What time is it now?

这本书多少钱?

Zhè běn shū duō shǎo qián?

How much is this book?

In a negative sentence or an affi rmative–negative question, a noun alone cannot be the predicate. A verb must be used; thus the predicate would be a verbal phrase.

王:今天是不是星期三?

Wáng :Jīn tiān shì bú shì xīng qī sān?

Wang: Is today Wednesday?

张:今天不是星期三,是星期四。

Zhāng:Jīn tiān bú shì xīng qī sān,shì xīng qī sì。

Zhang: Today isn’t Wednesday; it’s Thursday.

[1] Yip, P. C., Rimmington, D., Xiaoming, Z., & Henson, R. (2009). Basic Chinese: a grammar and workbook. Taylor & Francis.

[2] Teng, W. H. (2016). Yufa! A practical guide to Mandarin Chinese grammar. Taylor & Francis.

answered Feb 2, 2021 by Ariel (34,480 points)

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