Grammar, not 三字经
goulnik
August 17, 2007, 11:24 AM posted in General DiscussionNow that I'm comfortable with most conjunctions, and before I delve into 成语, one an area were more examples would be useful is 3-characters constructs such as V-不了，V-不出，V-不到，V-得到， V-起来，V1起V2来 etc.
Not sure what these are called (resultative?), there are lots of examples scattered across expansion sections and in the dictionary but I couldn't find them in the Grammar guide.
Maybe it's just me but I have the feeling they're heavily used in speech, and whilst not particulary complicated they are extremely convenient and it would be good to have a list to refer to somewhere.
wei1xiao4
August 17, 2007, 02:35 PMWord order and sentence construction are always a challenge for me as well because you really have to know what you are going to say before you say it so you can turn it around in your mind before you say it in Chinese. This is why speaking is so challenging for me because I am not yet able to think in the order Chinese think. Lots of pauses and rephrasing while I rearrange the words in the sentence. Goulniky, I made a list of these verb constructions. Always helpful. Thanks for asking the question. I learn so much from these postings because you ask the questions I haven't thought of asking yet.
amber
August 20, 2007, 03:28 AMhi goulnicky, Yes, there are tons of these kinds of 'complements' used in Chinese. It's impossible to give an exhaustive list here, but here is a sampling, to start you out: V-不了 吃不了 (Chībuliǎo) to be unable to finish (food) 去不了 (Qùbuliǎo) to be unable to go V-不出(来) 说不出 (Shuō bù chū lái) not sure what to say; unable to express what one wishes to say 走不出 (Zǒu bù chū lái) unable to go out V-不到 做不到 (Zuòbudào) unable to do; unable to meet the requirements to do V-得到 做得到 (Zuòdedào) to be able to do V-起来 看起来 (Kàn qilai) to appear, to look like 站起来 (Zhàn qǐlai) to stand up 唱起来 (Chàng qǐlai) to begin to sing V＋起＋n+来 唱起歌来 (Chàng qǐ gē lái) to begin to sing
John
August 20, 2007, 05:22 AMLet me also assure you that these different kinds of complements will receive due attention in the Grammar Guide. Sorry, we haven't gotten to that section yet.
goulnik
August 20, 2007, 08:56 AMJohn, no problem I know you'll be adding to the grammar guide, I just wasn't sure this was recognized as a particular grammar point
John
August 20, 2007, 09:24 AMYep: Complements [coming soon!]
henning
August 17, 2007, 11:33 AMWhat I am still missing most are the sections on general word order and sentence construction.