City University of Hong Kong CLASS CLASS
Making Sense of Grammar
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Why is the sentence *你昨天為什麼別去參加婚禮 ungrammatical?

asked Jan 22, 2018 in Questions about Chinese Grammar by admin (25,540 points)
edited Apr 25, 2018 by admin | 188 views

1 Answer

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The negator Bié (別) is the shortened form for bùyào (不要), which is primarily used in unrealized situations. In the sentence 你昨天為什麼別去參加婚禮 (nǐ zuó tiān wéi shí me bié qù cān jiā hūn lǐ) ,  Bié (別) is used in an actualized event (attended the wedding) at a past time (昨天), violating its functional restriction.

answered Jan 22, 2018 by admin (25,540 points)
edited Apr 25, 2018 by admin

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