Conversely, a subject may be followed by a topic-comment structure to create a [subject | topic-comment] sentence. At yrst sight these sentences seem to have two subjects, but in fact what looks like a second subject is a topic (relating to the subject) on which a comment is expressed:
Subject and predicate;
topic and comment
152 III Sentences
TA | shBntM (lit. he | body not good)
5 bù hko. His health is not good.
WN | gDngzuò (lit. I | work very busy)
5 hln máng. I am busy with my work.
DNngshìzhKng | (lit. board-director | salary
xCnshuM extremely high) The director of the
5 shífbn gao. board has an extremely high salary.
GuKngdDngshLng | (lit. Guangdong province |
! jCngjì fAzhKn economic development extremely
5 fbicháng kuài. fast) The economy of Guangdong developed/is developing very fast.
It is also possible for the possessive de to be used after the subject, thereby changing the subject–topic sequence into a simple topic and leaving the sentence in the topic-comment form:
! Wnde gdngzuò | (lit. my work | very busy)
5 hln máng. I am busy with my work.
! Gukngddngshlng (lit. Guangdong province p economic
! de jcngjì fazhkn | development | extremely fast) The
5 fbicháng kuài. economy of Guangdong developed/is developing very fast.
19 Prepositions and coverbs 19.1 Coverbs
We have seen in 11.4 how the preposition zài [in], [at] followed by a location noun, pronoun or postpositional phrase can be placed before the verb as a location phrase:
Mama zài (lit. mother at kitchen in make
rice- chúfáng li meal) Mother is preparing the meal/
5 zuò fàn. doing the cooking in the kitchen.
There are a number of prepositions that grammatically function like
zài. As they can also be used as full verbs, they may be called coverbs, i.e. verbs that occur in sequence with other verbs in a sentence. The coverb with its object can be referred to as a coverbal phrase. In the above example, =zài is the coverb, and the location phrase ! zài chúfáng li, in syntactic terms, is a coverbal phrase.
153 Note: We have observed in 11.3 that zài can be a full verb as in !!
5Tamen xiànzài zài Mliguó [They are in America now].
The coverbal phrase normally comes after the subject and before the main verb; it provides background information about the place, time, methods, service, reference, reason, etc., associated with the main verb.
Generally modal verbs (e.g. néng, yào) and the negators bù and méi(ynu) come before the coverbal phrase, though occasionally, when they relate only to the main verb, they come after it (e.g. in the case of lí [away from]). The main types of coverb are listed below.
19.1.1 Coverbs of place and time (1) Zài [in, at]
Ta zài (lit. she at airport act interpreter) () (fBi)jCchKng She serves as an interpreter at
5 dang fanyì. the airport.
!" Wn zài (lit. I at embassy deal visa) I was
5 dàshMguKn bàn applying for a visa at the embassy.
qianzhèng.
! Wn klym zài (lit. I can at here inhale-smoke p)
!/ zhèr chduyan/ May I smoke here?
9 xcyan ma?
(2) Dào [to]
! Xià xuéqc (lit. next term cv:to April
only- ! dào sìyuèfèn then begin) Next term doesn]t
5 cái kaishm. begin till April.
!" Kèchéng dào (lit. course cv:to next year June
! míngnián then end p) The course will end
5 liùyuèfèn jiù next June/June next year.
jiéshù le.
Note: yuèfèn is used as an alternative to yuè when referring to months of the year.
! Tamen (lit. they tomorrow to Russia
!5 míngtian dào go) They are going to Russia
Éguó qù. tomorrow.
!" Ta méi dào (lit. he not to hospital come see
5 yCyuàn lái me) He did not come to the kàn wn. hospital to see me.
Preposi-tions and coverbs
154 III Sentences
Wnmen bù (lit. we not to restaurant go
! dào fànguKn eat-rice) We are not dining out
5 qù chcfàn. at a restaurant.
As can be seen from the last example, a dào coverbal phrase with lái [come] or qù [go] may often be followed by another verb to indicate purpose.
(3) Wkng, xiàng, cháo [towards]
! Qìchb wKng (lit. car towards south drive go)
5 nán kai qù. The car is heading south.
Ta cháo wN (lit. she towards me nod asp
5 dikn le dikn tóu. nod head) She nodded to me.
!" Ta xiàng (lit. s/he towards club walk come)
5 jùlèbù znu lái. S/he came towards the club.
(4) Cóng [from]
!" Zhèi gè (lit. this mw music opera
!" ycnyuèjù cv:from last year then begin
!5 cóng qùnián stage p) This musical has been jiù kaishm on since last year.
shàngykn le.
! Fbng cóng (lit. wind from west-side blow come)
5 xCbian chuc lái. The wind blew from the west.
! Nm cóng zhèr (lit. you from here towards north
5 xiàng bLi znu. walk) You go north from here.
Note: In this last example, there are two coverbal phrases: cóng zhèr and xiàng bli.
(5) Lí [(distance) from (in terms of place or time)]
!" Wn jia lí dàxué (lit. my home from university
5 hln yukn. very far) My home is very far from the university.
!" Wnde (lit. my ofyce from city centre
! bàngdngshì lí shì very near) My ofyce is very
5 zhDngxCn hln jìn. close to the city centre.
Note 1: Lí [from] simply indicates distance between two yxed objects, while cóng [from] is always associated with movement from one place to another.
155 Note 2: The negator bù comes before the main predicate verb or adjective and not before lí: !"#$5Wn jia lí dàxué bù yuKn [My home is not far from the university.] NOT: * !"#$5Wn jia bù lí dàxué yukn.
Wn jia lí (lit. my home from Shanghai
ShànghKi ynu have twenty kilometres) My
!5 èrshí gdnglm. home is twenty kilometres from Shanghai.
Xiànzài lí (lit. now from Christmas still
Shèngdànjié have two mw month) There
hái ynu likng are still two months from now
5 gè yuè. to Christmas.
Note: When the actual distance or time is speciyed, the verb ynu is normally required.
(6) D=Yánzhe [along]
D Wnmen (lit. we along that mw street
!5 yánzhe nèi walk go) We went along that tiáo jiB znu qù. street.
D Chuán yánzhe (lit. boat along canal sail come)
5 yùnhé kai lái. The boat came along the canal.
Note: Yán on its own is only found in such expressions as yán lù [all along the road], yán hki [all along the coast], etc., which are generally used to indicate existence rather than movement:
Yán lù ddu There are wheatyelds all along
5 shì màitián. the road.
19.1.2 Coverbs of methods and means (1) Yòng [with, using]
! Ta yòng máobM (lit. she use Chinese-brush paint
5 huà huàr. picture) She paints with a Chinese brush.
(2) Zuò [(travelling) on/by] (lit. sit)
Wn chángcháng (lit. I often sit underground-rail
!5 zuò dìtiL go-to-work) I often go to work shàngban. by underground.
Preposi-tions and coverbs
156 III Sentences
! Wnmen hln (lit. we very want sit train/bus/
/ xikng zuò plane/boat go) We]d very much
!/ huNchB/gDnggòng like to go by train/bus/plane/boat.
/5 qìchB/fBijC/
chuán qù.
Note: An alternative coverb for travel is chéng:
Wn chángcháng chéng (lit. I often take hire-car
!"#5 chEzE qìchB shàngban. go-to-work) I often go to work by taxi.
19.1.3 Coverbs of human exchange and service (1) Duì [(speaking) to], [(behaving) towards]
Ta duì wN (lit. he to me said . . . )
. . . shud . . . He said to me . . .
! Tamen duì (lit. they towards me very good)
5 wN hln hko. They are very kind to me.
Note: Duì is also commonly used to mean [with regard to]:
!/ Wn duì (lit. I regarding yne-art/music
not- () mLishù/yCnyuè have interest) I have no interest in
5 méi(ynu) xìngqù. yne art/music.
(2) Gli [to], [for]
!" Wn jcntian (lit. I today evening to you make
wknshang gLi telephone-call) I will call/ring you
5 nM da diànhuà. tonight.
! Wn mli zhdu (lit. I every week all to father
ddu gLi bàba write letter) I write to my father
5 xil xìn. every week.
! Qmng nm gLi (lit. please you to me write (one)
() wN kai (yc) mw receipt) Please write a
5 zhang shdujù. receipt for me.
(3) / Wèi/tì [for], [on behalf of]
Jiljie tì wN (lit. elder-sister for me cut hair)
5 lm fà. My elder sister cut my hair for me.
157
! Ménfáng wèi (lit. porter for me call asp
! wN jiào le yc one mw taxi) The porter
/ liàng díshì/ called a taxi for me.
!5 cheze qìchb.
(4) // Gbn/hé/tóng . . . ycqm [(together) with]
! WngBn fùmO (lit. I with father-mother together go
yCqM qù dùjià. spend-holiday) I spent my holiday
5 with my parents.
Note: Gbn may also be used colloquially like duì above:
! . . . Ta gBn wn shud . . . She said to me . . .
19.1.4 Coverbs of reference
(1) //=Àn/zhào/ànzhào [according to]
/ Qmng nm àn/ (lit. please you according-to
/ zhào/ànzhào regulation go manage this
! guCdìng qù bàn mw matter) Please do this
5 zhèi jiàn shì. according to the regulations.
(2) Jiù [with reference to]
Wnmen jiù (lit. we with-reference-to this mw
! zhèi gè wèntí question discuss a-moment) Let]s have
!5 tkolùn yc xià. a discussion of/discuss this question.
19.1.5 Coverbs and comparison
Bm and gbn in comparison expressions (as discussed in 7.2 and 7.2.3) are in fact coverbs.
!5 Ta bM wn dà. She is older than me.
! Zhèi gè gBn nèi This one is as expensive as that
5 gè ycyàng guì. one.
Bk in manipulation constructions and bèi for passive voice (analysed in Chapter 20) are also coverbs.