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Making Sense of Grammar
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What are the features of Chinese prepositions?
asked Mar 5, 2018 in Questions about Chinese Grammar by admin (25,520 points) | 242 views

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Chinese prepositions are similar to English prepositions to introduce an non-argument.

→ 用把小刀打開了信封

w˘o y`ong bˇa xi˘ao d¯ao d˘ak¯ai -le x`ın-f¯eng 

I opened the envelope with a small knife.

However, unlike English prepositions, Chinese prepositions may function as full-fledged verbs. Therefore, they are also treated as co-verbs.

他的文章用了很多典故 

tā dí wén zhāng yòng liǎo hěn duō diǎn gù

His article made use of many literary quotations.

Reference: Chinese: a linguistic introduction by Chao Fen Sun

answered Mar 5, 2018 by admin (25,520 points)
edited Apr 26, 2018 by admin

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