Difference between revisions of "Potential complements"
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Revision as of 07:54, 23 July 2013
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Verbs can take potential complements that indicate whether or not the action is actually possible. They are useful in Chinese to say if an action can take place.
Contents
Structure
Potential complements can be positive or negative. What this means is fairly intuitive - potential complements can be used to express that something can happen or that it can't.
Verb + 得 / 不 + [complement]
Here [complement] is the second part of the potential complement after 得 (positive) or 不 (negative).
Examples
- 汉字 他 写 得 好。He writes Chinese characters well.
- 汉字 我 写 不 好。I don't write Chinese characters well.
- 中文 你 说 得 很 好听。You speak Chinese very well.
Note that the potential complement and degree complement can often appear to be the same; the difference can usually be seen from context.
See also
Sources and and further reading
Books
- Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar (pp. 71) →buy
- Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (pp. 191) →buy
- Boya Chinese Elementary Starter 1 (博雅汉语初经起步篇) (pp. 197) →buy
- Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (pp. 291) →buy
- Practicing HSK Grammar (语法精讲精炼) (pp. 125) →buy
- Contemporary Chinese 2 (当代中文2) (pp. 63) →buy
- New Practical Chinese Reader 3 (新实用汉语课本3) (pp. 99) →buy
Websites
Yale
