This section explains the basic terms that are used in this dictionary to help you to find the information that you need.

Adjective

An adjective is used to add extra information to a noun - an experienced worker, a beautiful girl, a black cat. In Chinese: yíge yǒu jīngyàn de gōngrén 一个有经验的工人, yíge piàoliang de gūniang 一个漂亮的姑娘, yìzhī hēi māo 一只黑猫. As can be seen in the examples above, the Chinese adjective is often followed by de 的 when used to modify a noun. In some Chinese grammar books, some Chinese adjectives are called stative verbs, because the adjective indicates the state of the subject, and the Chinese equivalent of the verb be is not used. For more information, see the note on Be.

Adverb

An adverb is used to add extra information to a verb, an adjective, or another adverb - to walk slowly, extremely satisfied, quite frequently. In Chinese: hěn mànde zǒu 很慢地走, fēicháng mǎnyì 非常满意, xiāngdāng pínfán 相当频繁. When used to modify a verb, the Chinese adverb is often followed by de 地.

Auxiliary verb

An auxiliary verb is a verb, such as be, do, have, which is used to form a particular tense or grammatical function of another verb, or to form an interrogative, negative, or imperative sentence. Here are some English examples: it is raining; did you see him?; she didn't come; he has left; don't go!.

Comparative

The comparative, as its name indicates, is the form of the adjective or adverb which enables us to compare two or more nouns or pronouns. In English, this is usually done by putting more, less, or as before the appropriate adjective or adverb, or by changing the base form to the comparative form ending in -er. Chinese adjectives and adverbs do not have comparative forms. The comparison is usually indicated by bǐ 比, the Chinese equivalent of than, as can be seen in the following examples:

Note that when the comparison is implied, that is, when bǐ 比 (= than) is not used, the Chinese adjective has a sense of comparison by itself, as in the example below.

If the sentence describes the state or condition of the subject, and no comparison is implied, it is necessary to add the adverb hěn 很(= very) before the adjective, as in the example below. Otherwise, the sentence has a sense of comparison.

Conditional

A conditional sentence is one in which the statement contained in the main clause can only be fulfilled if the condition stated in the subordinate clause is also fulfilled. This condition is usually introduced by if in English and rúguǒ 如果 in Chinese.

Conjunction

A conjunction can be either (i) a word like and or but which is used to join words or simple sentences together, or (ii) a word like when, although, if, where, which is used to form a complex sentence. Note that and is not translated into Chinese when it joins two simple sentences or two verbal phrases. See the following examples:

Determiner

A determiner is used before a noun in order to identify more precisely what is being referred to. Here are some examples:

Note that the English determiner a is usually translated into Chinese as a numeral plus an appropriate nominal measure word:

Exclamation

An exclamation is a word or phrase conveying a reaction such as surprise, shock, disapproval, indignation, amusement, etc. In both English and Chinese, it is usually followed by an exclamation mark.

Imperative

An imperative sentence is used to indicate an order, command, prohibition, suggestion, etc.

Infinitive

The infinitive is a form of the verb which has no indication of person or tense. In English, it is often preceded by to, as in to walk, to run, to read, to receive. In Chinese, there is no word like to or any change of form to indicate the infinitive.

Measure word ► Nominal measure word, Verbal measure word

Nominal measure word

In Chinese, a numeral cannot quantify a noun by itself. It has to be accompanied by the measure word that is appropriate for the noun that is being used. Each noun has a specific measure word or set of measure words that can be used with it. There is often a link between the measure word and the shape of the object. In expressions of quantification, the numeral comes first, followed by the measure word and the noun. When the determiner this or that is used, an appropriate measure word is also required. As can be seen in the examples below, we have put the numeral/determiner and the measure word together as one word in pinyin to correspond to the numeral or the determiner in English. Note that some nominal measure words can also be used as verbal measure words. (For a list of common nominal measure words and examples of their use, see the section on Measure Words)

Noun

A noun is used to identify a person, an animal, an object, an idea, or an emotion. It can also be the name of an individual, a company, or an institution.

Number

A number, as a part of speech, refers to numerical figures, such as five, twenty, thousand, etc., or words indicating quantity. As a grammatical concept, it refers to the state of being either singular or plural. Nouns in English usually change to their plural forms by adding -s to the end: a table, two tables. Chinese nouns usually do not change to form singular and plural.

Occasionally, -men 们 - can be attached to the end of a noun to mark the plural form, but it is optional and applies only to nouns referring to animate entities:

Object

The object of a sentence is the word or group of words which is immediately affected by the action indicated by the verb. In the following English sentence, the word child is the subject, broke is the verb and a cup is the object. Similarly, in the Chinese translation, zhège háizi 这个孩子 is the subject, dǎpòle 打破了 is the verb and yíge chábēi 一个茶杯 is the object.

There may be two kinds of object in a sentence, a direct object and an indirect object. In the example above, a cup and yíge chábēi 一个茶杯 are strictly direct objects. However, in the following English sentence, he is the subject, gave is the verb, the child is the indirect object and a cup is the direct object. Similarly, in the Chinese translation, tā 他 is the subject, gěile 给了 is the verb, zhège háizi 这个孩子 is the indirect object and yíge chábēi 一个茶杯 is the direct object. In general terms, the indirect object indicates the person or thing which 'benefits' from the action of the verb upon the direct object.

Phrasal verb

A phrasal verb is a verb combined with a preposition or an adverb and having a particular meaning. For example, to run away, meaning to flee, and to see to something, meaning to ensure that something is done, are phrasal verbs. If you look up to run away for example, you will see that the phrasal verbs beginning with the word run are listed after all the other meanings of the word run, in a lphabetical order of the following adverb or preposition.

Pinyin

Designed in the People's Republic of China during the mid-1950s, pinyin is a phonetic system of the Chinese language. It adopts the roman alphabet to represent phonemic sounds in Mandarin Chinese. In this dictionary, all Chinese headwords, translations, and examples are given first in pinyin and then in Chinese characters.

Preposition

A preposition is a word, such as under, beside, across, in, which is usually followed by a noun in English. In Chinese, the preposition often consists of two parts, such as zài ... xiàmian 在 ... 下面(= under), and the noun is placed between them, as in the examples below.

Most preposition + noun groups indicate movement

position

or time

Pronoun

A pronoun is used instead of a noun in order to avoid repeating it unnecessarily. There are the personal pronouns I, you, he, she, it, we, you (plural), they; the possessive pronouns mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, yours (plural), theirs; the interrogative pronouns used in questions who, which, what; the demonstrative pronouns this, that, these, those; the relative pronouns used in relative clauses who, which, whose; and the reflexive pronouns myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves. To find the Chinese equivalents of these pronouns, please look them up in the English-Chinese side of the dictionary.

Reflexive pronoun ► Pronoun

Relative pronoun ► Pronoun

Subject

The subject of a sentence is often the word or group of words which performs the action indicated by the verb. In the sentence John laughed, John is the subject of the verb laughed. Of course, the verb doesn't necessarily express an action as such. For example, in the sentence John is tall, John is the subject of the verb is. In the Chinese sentence Yuēhàn xiào le 约翰笑了, Yuēhàn 约翰 is similarly the subject of the verb xiào le 笑了, and in the sentence Yuēhàn hěn gāo 约翰很高, Yuēhàn 约翰 is the subject of hěn gāo 很高.

Superlative

The superlative is the form of the adjective or adverb which is used to express the highest or lowest degree. In English, the adjective or adverb is usually preceded by most or least. Some adjectives and adverbs (usually of one syllable) have their own form: best, worst, biggest, smallest, fastest, slowest, etc. In Chinese, the superlative is formed by putting zuì 最before the adjective or adverb.

Tense

The tense of a verb expresses whether the action takes place in the past, present, or future. Unlike English verbs, Chinese verbs do not have any particular form to express tense; the time of the action is usually indicated by the adverb or in the context.

Present tense

Past tense

Future tense

Tone

Please see the section on Tones in Mandarin Chinese.

Verb

The verb propels the sentence along, telling us what is happening. Note these examples:

Sometimes, of course, the verb doesn't describe an action, but rather a state of affairs:

Note that the verb am in the sentence I am ill is not translated into Chinese. For more information and examples of this type of sentence, see the note on Be. See also the entry on Adjective in the glossary above.

Verbal measure word

Verbal measure words are generally used to indicate the number of times an action or state occurs. As in the case of nominal measure words, the numeral and verbal measure word are spelled together as one pinyin word in this dictionary. The numeral + measure word unit is preceded by the verb and is usually followed by the object, if there is one (i.e. if the verb is transitive). For a list of common verbal measure words and examples of their use, see the section on Measure words.