Use of 的 with family in Sam and the Lucky Money
crazykitty
February 16, 2008, 08:40 PM posted in General DiscussionOk, I am currently (trying) reading the children's book: Sam and the Lucky Money. In some parts of the book it has xiaoshan mama and in other parts it has xiaoshan de mama. I thought you weren't supposed tp put 的 for family. Is there an exception? I know 的 has LOTS of uses. Thanks, Melissa.
tvan
February 17, 2008, 02:04 AMcrazykitty, it seems that I hear "的" used as a possessive suffix for relatives in conversation fairly frequently. However, I'm no grammar technician ala Henning, and my comment is strictly intuitive. Still, I'm sure I've heard 的 used exactly as you posted many times.
cassielin
February 17, 2008, 02:33 AMCrazykitty, let me explain it to you. If you are talking to xiaoshan's mother directly,you can call her "xiaoshan mama". However, if you are introducing xiaoshan's mother to some else, you can say " 她是小山的妈妈ta shi xiaoshan de mama" or you can say "她是小山妈妈ta shi xiaoshan mama" . Both of them make sense. Hope it can help.
xiaohu
February 17, 2008, 07:03 AMcrazykitty: Great to see a young teenager like yourself taking the initiative to study the worlds most important foreign language! In most cases the 的 can be omitted. Chinese people frequently say things like 我在我姐姐家 (wo3 zai4 wo3 jie3 jie jia1) instead of saying 我在我的姐姐的家. (wo3 zai4 wo3de jie3jie de jia1) As casie said, if you're introducing someone directly, for example, your boyfriend to your parents, (zhe4 shi4 wo3de nan2 peng2you, 这是我的男朋友) then it's better to use the 的.
crazykitty
February 16, 2008, 08:41 PMoh sorry! double post! sorry!