MANDARIN

Lesson IV: BASIC GRAMMAR

Stative Verbs

Stative verbs are words that describe states of being. Some stative verbs can
be translated into adjectives in English, hence that are also called adjectival
verbs. However, there are also stative verbs that can be translated into verbs in
English.

Adjectival stative verbs

好 hǎo fine, good 大 dà big

贵 guì expensive 白 bái white
快 kuài fast (and other color words)
高兴 gāoxìng happy 甜 tián sweet
舒服 shūfu comfortable 简单 jiǎndān simple

Non-adjectival stative verbs

喜欢 xǐhuan like 爱 ài love

(to be fond of) 尊敬 zūnjìng respect
像 xiàng resemble 想念 xiǎngniàn
愿意 yuànyì willing miss, long for
怕 pà fear 懂 dǒng understand
Properties of Stative Verbs

1. Stative verbs are NOT preceded by a “linking verb” such as forms of the verb to be
(am, is, are, was, were) in English.

Correct Incorrect
你好｡ * 你是好｡
Nǐ hǎo. * Nǐ shì hǎo.
You good. (‘Hello’) You are good.

她很高｡ * 她是很高｡
Tā hěn gāo. * Tā shì hěn gāo.
She very tall. She is very tall

N.B. Asterisk (*) here means ‘unacceptable’ or ‘ungrammatical’.

2. The only time the linking verb 是 shì could precede a stative verb is to make a
strong emphasis.

她是很高!
Tā shì hěn gāo!
‘She is very tall!’ (…And I didn’t believe you until I saw her!)
电影票是常贵!
Diànyǐng piào shì hěn guì!
‘Movie tickets are very expensive! (Imagine, $300 for a ticket?!)

3. All stative verbs can be negated by the negating word 不 bù EXCEPT for the verb
有 yǒu (‘to have’) which is negated by the word 没 méi (as in 没有 méiyǒu, ‘did not
have’).

Correct Incorrect
她不高。 * 她没高。
Tā bù gāo. * Tā méi gāo.
‘She is not tall.’ * She did not tall.
电影票不贵。 * 电影票没贵。
Diànyǐng piào bù guì. * Diànyǐng piào méi guì.
‘Movie tickets are not expensive. * Movie tickets did not expensive
我不喜欢他。 * 我没喜欢他。
Wǒ bù xǐhuan tā. * Wǒ méi xǐhuan tā.
‘I don’t like him.’ * I did not like him.
But…
他没有女朋友。 * 他不有女朋友。
 Tā méiyǒu nǚpéngyou. * Tā bù yǒu nǚpéngyou.
‘He does not have a girlfriend.’ * He not have girlfriend.

Modification by Intensifiers (Adverbs)

Stative verbs are modified by adverbs called intensifiers, words that describe degrees
on a scale (as in big, bigger, and biggest).

太 tài ‘very, too’ 高 tài gāo ‘very/too tall’

最 zuì ‘the most’ 最高 zui gāo ‘the tallest’
非常 fēicháng ‘extremely (informal)’ 非常高 fēicháng gāo ‘extremely tall’
极其 jíqí ‘extremely (formal)’ 极其高 jíqí gāo ‘extremely tall (literary)’
特别 tèbié ‘especially’ 特别高 tèbié gāo ‘especially tall’
尤其 yóuqí ‘especially’ 尤其高 yóuqí gāo ‘especially tall’
真 zhēn ‘really’ 真高 zhēn gāo ‘really tall’
很 hěn ‘very’ 很高 hěn gāo ‘very tall’
挺 tǐng ‘very, rather’ 挺高 tǐng gāo ‘very tall’
更 gèng ‘even more’ 更高 gèng gāo ‘even taller’
比较 bǐjiào ‘relatively (informal)’ 比较高 bǐjiào gāo ‘relatively tall’
相当 xiāngdāng ‘rather (informal)’ 相当高 xiāngdāng gāo ‘rather tall’
(有)一点 (yǒu) yīdiǎn ‘a little’ (有)一点高 (yǒu) yīdiǎn gāo ‘a little tall’

If a stative verb is only one syllable, it takes on the “default” intensifier 很 hěn. (A
sentence without 很 hěn may be grammatical but is unnatural-sounding.) In negative
sentences, they are modified by the word 不 bù.

你的弟弟很高。 你的弟弟不高。 ? 你的弟弟高。

Nǐ de dìdi hěn gāo. Nǐ de dìdi bù gāo. ? Nǐ de dìdi gāo.
‘Your younger brother ‘Your younger brother ‘Your younger brother
is very tall.’ is not tall.’ is tall.’

N.B. The question mark (?) means ‘grammatical but unnatural-sounding’.

The Stative Verbs 是 Shì, 姓 Xìng, and 有 Yǒu

1. 是 Shì (‘to be’) (am, is, are, was, were) expresses a relationship between two nouns
(or noun phrases). Just like other stative verbs, it is negated by 不 bù ( 不是 bù
shì).

我的学生。
Wǒ shì xuésheng. ‘I am a student.’
我的朋友是中国人。
Wǒ de péngyou shì Zhōngguórén. ‘My friend is Chinese.’
今天是 7 月 4 日。
Jīntiān shì qī yuè sì hào. ‘Today is July 4th.’

2. 姓 Xìng (‘to be surnamed’) introduces a surname (family name). The polite way of
asking for one’s surname is…

Q. 您贵姓？ A. 我贵姓高。
Nín guì xìng? Wǒ xìng Gāo.
‘What is your family name?’ ‘My family name is Gao.’
(Lit. Your expensive/valuable surname?) (Lit. I am surnamed Gao.)

N.B. Among the Chinese, it is considered polite to call someone by his/her family
name. Only people one knows well can be called by their given names.

3. Yǒu (‘to have, to exist’) expresses possession (has, have) and existence (there is).

Possession: 我有一本中英字典。
Wǒ yǒu yī běn Zhōng-Yīng zìdiǎn.
‘I have a Chinese-English dictionary’
Existence: 桌子上有一本中英字典。
Zhuōzi shàng yǒu yī běn Zhōng-Yīng zìdiǎn.
‘On the table there is a Chinese-English dictionary.

The Stative Verbs 会 Huì, 能 Néng, and 可吃 Kéyǐ

The stative verbs 会 huì, 能 néng, and 可 吃 kéyǐ are translated as modals in
English. In English, modals are words that express ability (can, could), permission (may,
can), prediction (will, shall), etc. Just like in English, these serve as auxiliaries to main
verbs. However in Mandarin, these three words have the status of full stative verbs.

会 huì future, probability, ability or skill: ‘will’ or ‘can’

能 néng physical ability, capability: ‘can’
可吃 kéyǐ permission: ‘may’
When answering questions using these words, one merely repeats the word without the
main verb.
Q. 你能说英语吗？ A. 能。
Nǐ huì shuō Yīngwén ma? Huì.
‘Can you speak English?’ ‘Yes.’
(Lit. You can speak English?) (Lit. [I] can.)
Q. A.
Zài zhèr kéyǐ bù kéyǐ chī fàn? Kéyǐ.
‘May I eat here?’ ‘Yes.’
(Lit. Here may or may not eat?) (Lit. [You] may.)