City University of Hong Kong CLASS CLASS
Making Sense of Grammar
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asked Mar 8, 2021 in Questions about Chinese Grammar by Ariel (34,480 points) | 463 views

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When the context is clear, the noun after the adjective can be omitted. In this case, 的 must be attached to the adjective regardless of the number of characters the adjective has.

妈妈:这里有两条漂亮的裙子;是谁的?

mā mā :zhè lǐ yǒu liǎng tiáo piāo liàng de qún zǐ ;shì shuí de ?

Mother: There are two pretty skirts here. Whose (skirts) are they?

(漂亮 is disyllabic; 的 is necessary.)

女儿:红的是我的;蓝的是姐姐的。

nǚ ér :hóng de shì wǒ de ;lán de shì jiě jiě de 。

Daughter: The red one is mine; the blue one is (my) older sister’s.

(裙子 is omitted, so 的 after 红 and 蓝 is necessary.)

[1] Yip, P. C., Rimmington, D., Xiaoming, Z., & Henson, R. (2009). Basic Chinese: a grammar and workbook. Taylor & Francis.
answered Mar 8, 2021 by Ariel (34,480 points)

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