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Syntax

Syntax refers to the arrangement and order of words in phrases and sentences.  Syntactic questions include whether nouns usually come before or after verbs, or whether adjectives normally precede or follow the nouns they modify.  In general, Chinese syntax is the same as English syntax – subject/verb/adjective.  Furthermore, there is no flexion.  Verbs have one unique form, unlike English, Spanish, and copious other languages.

Examples:           1, English:  I don’t want to go to school.                Mandarin:  I not want go school.                          (Woh bu sang chi seh sau.)               Cantonese:  I not want go school.                    (Ngoh mm suhng huy hok how.)           2, English:  She bought the car.               Mandarin:  He/She bought one car.                             (Ta mai ? bu chuh.)               Cantonese:  He/She bought a one car.                          (Ta mai léo yuht bo cheh.)           3, English:  He went into the bookstore and bought books.               Mandarin:  He/She went bookstore bought books.                  (Ta chi shu den mai shu.)               Cantonese:  He/She went bookstore bought books.                 (Ta huy shee deem mai shee.)

As you can probably tell, the use of prepositions is not that common, and that the Pinyin word “Ta” means he or she.  Additionally, the word “and” is not needed when talking about one person doing many activities as seen in example 3.  However, the word “and” is needed when talking about two separate people.

Example:           English:  “Tony” and “William” ate their rice.           Mandarin:  “Tony” and “William” already ate rice.                 (“Tony” huh “William” ? geen chuh goh fan.)           Cantonese:  “Tony” and “William” already ate rice.                (“Tony” tung “William” yee ging sic leew fan.)

The names Tony and William are not translated into Pinyin because they are just regular non-Chinese people.  Every Chinese person is given a Chinese name, and a person that is not Chinese does not have a Chinese name.  Technically, there are ways to give a non-Chinese person a Chinese Pinyin name, but it is extremely complicated and there are too many ways to do it.

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