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) | 323 views

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A prepositional phrase (preposition + object) usually appears before the verb. ‘Prepositional phrase + verb’ is the verbal phrase of the sentence.

In English, a prepositional phrase typically appears after the verb.

张:你爸爸在哪里工作?

Zhāng:Nǐ bà bà zài nǎ lǐ gōng zuò?

Zhang: Where does your father work?

 (在哪里 is the prepositional phrase; 在哪里工作 is the verbal phrase.)

李:他现在没有工作;他在家写书。

Lǐ:Tā xiàn zài méi yǒu gōng zuò ;tā zài jiā xiě shū。

Li: He does not have a job now; he is writing a book at home.

(在家 is the prepositional phrase; 在家写书 is the verbal phrase.)

我去花店为我女朋友买了一束花。

Wǒ qù huā diàn wéi wǒ nǚ péng yǒu mǎi le yī shù huā。

I went to the fl ower shop to buy a bunch of fl owers for my girlfriend.

[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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1,613 questions
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