Chinese Language Learning Program Lesson 141 – The prepositions in Chinese (II)

Chinese Language Learning Program

Lesson 141 –The prepositions in Chinese (II)

Hello, everyone. Welcome back. This is Baixue’s Chinese Language Learning Program. Last time we talked about how to use use bù and méi to answer questions in Chinese. Today, we will talk about the grammatical features and functions of the prepositions in Chinese.

In lesson 139, we talked about the prepositions in Chinese. Today, we will talk about the grammatical features and functions of the prepositions in Chinese.

First, let’s talk about the grammatical features of the prepositions in Chinese.

1.   They cannot be used alone.

2.   They cannot be reduplicated.

3.   They can not be used with “了，着，过”.

Functions:

1.   Usually, a preposition can not be an element of a sentence by itself.

2.   Most of the prepositions have a noun or a pronoun to make prepositional phrase to act as an adverbial adjunct, complement or attributive.

wǒ cóng dōng bian lái.

 我    从       东     边   来。

(I come from the east.) (an adverbial adjunct.)

zhè ge shì guān yú lóng de shén huà gù shì.

  这  个  是     关   于   龙    的    神     话   故   事。

(This is about the dragon myth.) (an attributive)

zhè liè huǒ chē kāi wǎng běi jīng.

  这  列  火     车  开     往    北    京。

(This train is heading to Beijing.) (a complement.)

There are several things you need to know about these prepositions.

1.   The usage of several prepositions.

1) 在 and its object:

A: The objects of the preposition 在 usually indicate locality. For example:

zài tú shū guǎn dú shū.

 在 图  书      馆    读   书。(Reading in the library.)

zài jiā xiū xí.

 在 家  休  息。(Rest at home.)

B: Personal Pronouns or nouns can not be used independently as the object of the preposition 在 to show locality. They must  be used with 这儿 or 那儿 . For example:

wǒ de péng yǒu zài wǒ zhè'er hē kā fēi.

 我  的    朋     友  在  我     这 儿  喝 咖  啡。

(My friend is drinking coffee at me place.)

zuó tiān wǒ men zài bái xuě nà'er (jiā lǐ) kàn diàn yǐng le.

 昨   天   我    们   在   白   雪 那 儿 (家里)  看   电     影   了。

(We watched a movie at Bai Xue’s house.)

2) 从 and its object:

A: The objects of the preposition 从may be words that are related to locality.

cóng jiā chū fā.

从  家    出 发。(Leaving from home.)

         cóng tóu dào jiǎo

            从    头    到   脚。 (From head to toe.)

B: Personal Pronouns or nouns can not be used independently as the object of the preposition 从 to show locality. They must  use with 这儿 or 那儿 . For example:

         wǒ men cóng wài gōng nà'er dài lái le xiē shuǐ guǒ.

          我   们      从     外    公     那儿  带  来 了 些   水    果。

          (We bring some fruits from our grandfather’ house.)

        C: The objects of the preposition从may be the characters

         that related to time. For example:

     

         wǒ men cóng 8 diǎn zhōng kāi shǐ shàng kè.

         我     们     从   8   点       钟     开   始      上     课。

         (We start our school from 8 o’clock.)

         wǒ men cóng shàng wǔ 8 diǎn dào xià wǔ 5 diǎn

          我    们     从       上       午 8  点    到   下   午 5  点

         dōu zài gōng zuò.

           都   在    工     作。

        (We work from 8 o’clock in the morning to 5 o’clock in the

          afternoon.)

       

1)   对于 and 对

A:Both 对于 and 对with an object can form a prepositional phrase to introduce the object. For example:

duì yú zhè ge jué dìng de fǎn yìng fēi cháng bù yī zhì.

  对 于   这  个  决    定   的  反    应   非      常     不 一  致。

(There has been a very mixed reaction to the decision.)

duì yú tā lái shuō zǒu 10 yīng lǐ lù suàn bù liǎo shén me.

  对 于 他 来    说     走  10   英  里路   算   不   了      什   么。

(A walk of ten miles was nothing to him.)

B: 对 means向or 朝. For example:

tā duì wǒ huī le huī shǒu.

她  对  我   挥 了  挥    手。(She waved to me.)

duì wǒ lái shuō, jiā tíng bǐ shì yè gèng zhòng yào.

 对  我  来    说，家   庭   比  事  业   更        重     要。

(For me, family is more important than career.)

    

         C: 对 means 对待 (treat). For example:

   

         tā duì wǒ men dōu hěn hǎo.

         她  对  我    们    都    很   好。

         (She is nice to all of us.)

        

2)   跟

A: the preposition 跟 means to engage in an action together with someone else.

bái xuě gēn wǒ men zài yī qǐ.

 白   雪    跟   我    们   在 一 起。(Baixue is with us.)

B: The preposition 跟may have the meaning of 对，向. For example: (with, to)

wǒ jué dé nǐ gāi gēn tā tán tán le.

 我  觉  得 你  该   跟  他  谈   谈 了。

 (I think you should talk to him.)

3)   给

A: The preposition 给means “for”. For example:

nǐ gěi wǒ men chàng gè gē hǎo ma?

你  给  我    们      唱     个 歌   好   吗？

(Could you please sing a song for us?)

tā gěi wǒ men dāng fān yì.

她  给  我    们     当    翻  译。

(She serves as an interpreter for us.)

B: The preposition 给mean “朝，向，对” (to, towards). For example:

wǒ huì gěi nǐ dǎ diàn huà.

 我  会   给 你  打  电     话。(I will call you.)

tā gěi wǒ shuō tā xià wǔ bù qù dǎ qiú le.

她  给  我    说   她  下   午 不  去  打  球 了。

(She told me that she would not go to play basketball this afternoon.)

C: 给can be used to express the passive. For example:

         nà běn shū gěi rén jiè zǒu liǎo.

         那   本    书   给  人   借   走   了。

         (That book was borrowed by someone.)

         wǒ de yī fú gěi yǔ shuǐ lín shī le.

         我  的 衣 服  给  雨    水  淋   湿 了。

       (My cloth got wet by the rain.)

4)   连: the proposition 连 indicates “even”. For example,

wǒ lián xiǎng dōu méi yǒu xiǎng guò.

我   连      想     都    没    有      想      过。

(I didn't even give a thought.)

tā máng dé lián fàn dōu wàng le chī le.

他    忙    的  连   饭    都      忘   了  吃 了。

(He was too busy to even have a meal.)

Ok, that is all for today. Because there are too much content about the prepositions in Chinese. So, I do not want to overwhelm you in one lesson. I will save for our next lesson. Next time we will still talk about the rest of the functions of the prepositions in Chinese.

xiè  xiè!

 谢   谢 ! (Thanks!)

xià  cì  jiàn

 下  次  见!  (See you next time!)