Claudia Ross

Forming numbers 10,000 to 100,000,000
Languages read numbers in terms of the categories that they distinguish. English distinguishes tens, hundreds, thousands, millions, and up. Numbers between one thousand and one million are read in terms of the numbers of thousands that they
contain. Chinese distinguishes the categories of tens, hundreds, thousands, ten-thousands, and hundred millions. Numbers between ten thousand and one-hundred million are read in terms of the number of ten-thousands that they contain.

The syllable and meaning One of the features of Chinese is that each syllable is associated with a meaning. For example, the Mandarin word for bus station/train station or bus stop/train stop is chezhàn. The syllable che means vehicle and the syllable zhàn means stand. Occurring together as a word, che zhàn is very nearly the sum of its parts: vehicle stand. Some words in English have the kind of structure that Mandarin has, but for most English words, syllables need not have independent meaning. For example, the English word lettuce consists of two syllables let and tuce. These individual syllables do not have meaning on their own, and it makes no sense to ask about the meaning of ‘let’ or of ‘tuce’ in the word lettuce. In contrast, with very few exceptions, the individual syllables of Mandarin words have identifiable meanings, and when learning new words, it makes good sense to note the meanings of the individual syllables.

Yes–no questions
Yes–no questions are questions that can be answered with ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ In Mandarin, there are several ways to ask yes–no questions. Notice that unlike English, the overall phrase order of statements and yes–no questions is the same. In addition, no helping word equivalent to ‘do’ is involved in yes–no questions in Chinese.

Using 没 méi with resultative verbs to indicate lack of completion or result The negative marker 没 méi is used to indicate that an action has not been completed or that the desired result has not been attained. 没 méi occurs before the entire resultative verb.

Mandarin common nouns have a single, invariant form. They do not reflect number, and the same form of the noun is used whether the noun is singular or plural. Whenno number is used with a noun, the noun is understood to be neither singular nor plural, but simply unspecified for number. In addition, nouns that occur without any modifiers or descriptions have a general rather than a specific reference.
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When it is necessary to indicate the number of a noun, the noun is modified by a number + classifier phrase. The classifier is required after the number. Number + noun without an intervening classifier is ungrammatical. Compare the following:

This book is divided into two sections: ‘Structures’ and ‘Situations and functions.’
Part A ‘Structures’ is a concise grammar of Mandarin Chinese organized in the familiar and traditional way, providing an overview of the Chinese writing system and describing the major features of Mandarin grammar. This section should be used for reference when you want to know something about a form or structure. For example, if you want to review the structure of the noun phrase, or how to form numbers, or the structure of the passive form, you should consult this section.
Part B ‘Situations and functions’ is organized in terms of how to do things with language, and it is the longer of the two sections. For example, if you want to know how to address someone, how to say ‘no,’ how to make comparisons, or how to apologize, you should consult this section.

With the exception of the written form of the third person pronoun, tp (see below), Mandarin nouns are not marked for gender, and there is not the distinction between
masculine, feminine and neuter found in many European languages. The properties of Mandarin nouns are described here.

The position of direct and indirect objects
In the neutral sentence in which nothing is emphasized, the direct and indirect objects of the verb follow the verb. We refer to the verb and its objects as the verb
phrase. If there is an indirect object, it precedes the direct object.

The position of duration phrases
Duration phrases are time phrases that indicate the length of time that an action occurs. Duration phrases directly follow the verb. Unlike English, there is no preposition
associated with the expression of duration in Mandarin.

Pictographs originated as pictures of objects. They represent only a small portion of Chinese characters. The modern forms are stylized versions of the ancient forms. Here are comparisons of the Shang Dynasty forms with the modern forms of the same characters.