Difference between revisions of "Potential complements"

Revision as of 22:53, 24 November 2013

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Level

/
Level
Level
Similar to
Similar to
- Potential complement "-bu dong" for not understanding (HSK2)
- Direction complement (HSK3, HSK4)
- Advanced potential complements (HSK5)
- Advanced result complements "zhu", "kai", and "chulai" (HSK5)
- Complement "-zhao" (HSK5)
Used for
Keywords

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.

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 the complement is the second part of the potential complement after 得 (positive) or 不 (negative).

Examples

我听得懂。I can understand.
我听不懂。I can't understand.
我买不起那套房子。I can't afford (to buy) that apartment.
我都吃得完。I can finish eating it all.

Note that the potential complement and degree complement can sometimes appear to be the same; the difference can usually be seen from context.

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

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	Verbs can take [[potential complement]]s that indicate whether or not the action is actually possible. They are useful in Chinese to say if an action can take place.		Verbs can take [[potential complement]]s that indicate whether or not the action is actually possible. They are useful in Chinese to say if an action can take place.