Grammar question for 'de' 的
mnixon
September 07, 2008, 02:34 PM posted in General Discussion
| In reviewing the lesson on "Buying a Bouquet of Flowers", I find myself confused over when we use the particle 的 'de'. In the dialogue, I hear "white roses" 白玫瑰 'bai2mei2gui1' when I thought it would be correct to say, 白的玫瑰 'bai2de mei2gui1' following the example on saying, "red ones" 红色的 from earlier in the lesson. Any thoughts? Thanks. |
AY.
amber
September 08, 2008, 01:55 AMcalkins, awesome!
calkins
September 07, 2008, 05:00 PMHi anayelena. I still have problems with the many 的 usages, but I think I know the answer to your specific question.
In your examples, the 的 is a modal particle used to link an adjective (红色) to a noun (玫瑰). 的 marks the relationship between the modifier and the modified:
modifier + 的 + modified
When the modified noun is understood (based on the context), the noun can be omitted, as in your example:
红色的
modifier + 的
Because they have been discussing 玫瑰, they understand that the 红色的 means red (flowers).
In the sentence using 白玫瑰, the 的 can usually be omitted if the modifier (白) is one syllable (one character). But if you were to use 白色 to describe 玫瑰, you would say 白色的玫瑰。 I'm not exactly sure what the hard rule is for this, so if someone knows please correct me.
I hope this helps a bit.