The basic forms of phrases

Input Date:07/10/2006 Read: [Print] [Close]

　　A phrase is made up of words according to the specific rules of syntax. In Chinese, there are five types of basic syntactic structures that form five types of common phrases respectively, i.e. the coordinate phrase, the endocentric phrase, the verb-object phrase, the predicate-complement phrase and the subject-predicate phrase. 
 
1. The coordinate phrase (联合短语)
 
　　Containing two or more coordinate words that may be linked by “和”, “或”, “而”, “并”, etc, e.g.
 
　　我 和 你 (you and me) ---- pron + pron
　　教师 和 学生 (teachers and students) ---- n + n
　　自由 民主 (freedom and democracy) ---- n + n
　　东 南 西 北 (north, south, east and west) ---- n + n + n + n
　　北京 或 上海 (Beijing or Shanghai) ---- n + n
　　少 而 精 (fewer but better) ---- adj + adj
　　生动 活泼 (vivid and vigorous) ---- adj + adj
　　生产 并 销售 (producing and selling) ---- v + v
　　听、说、读、写 (listening, speaking, reading and writing) ---- v + v + v + v
 
 
2. The endocentric phrase (偏正短语)
 
　　Containing a head word, which is the single obligatory element in the phrase, and one or more optional words (called attribute when before a noun head or called adverbial when before a verb or an adjective head) subordinating to the head, e.g. (The head word is highlighted in red. An auxiliary word "的" might be inserted between the head and its attribute and an auxiliary "地" might be inserted between the head and its adverbial.)
 
　　红花 (red flower) ---- adj + n head
　　三天 (three days) ---- num + n head
　　我的书 (my book) ---- pron + n head
　　汉语语法 (Chinese grammar) ---- n + n head
　　有趣的故事 (interesting story) ---- adj + n head
　　学习方法 (study method) ---- v + n head
　　不会 (can not) ---- adv + v head
　　努力工作 (work hard) ---- adj + v head
　　愉快地歌唱 (sing happily) ---- adj + v head
　　明天去 (go tomorrow) ---- time n + v head
　　北京见 (see you at Beijing) ---- place n + v head
　　很可爱 (very lovely) ---- adv + adj head
　　无比地优越 (incomparable superiority) ---- adj + adj head
 
 
3. The verb-object phrase (动宾短语)
 
　　Containing a verb followed by an element called object that is the target of the action of the verb, e.g. (The verb is highlighted in red.)　
 
　　学汉语 (study Chinese) ---- v + n object
　　是学生 (be a student) ---- v + n object
　　有钱 (have money) ---- v + n object
　　爱她 (love her) ---- v + pron object
　　爱美 (love beauty) ---- v + adj object
　　爱学习 (love study) ---- v + v object
　　吃一个 (eat one) ---- v + numeral-classifier object
　　
 
4. The complementary phrase (补充短语) 
 
　　Containing a predicate core (might be a verb or an adjective) followed by a complementary element called complement that makes the description of the predicate complete, e.g. (The predicate core is highlighted in red. An auxiliary word "得" might be inserted between the predicate core and its complement。)
　　
 
　　吃饱 (eat one's fill) ---- v + adj comp
　　发展得快 (develop rapidly) ---- v + adj comp
　　去一趟 (make a trip) ---- v + num-quan comp
　　休息三天 (rest for three days) ---- v + num-noun comp
　　走出去 (go out) ---- v + v comp
　　喜欢极了 (like it very much) ---- v + adv comp
　　好得很 (very good) ---- adj + adv comp
　　好一点 (a bit better) ---- adj + num-quan comp
　　好多了 (much better) ---- adj + adj comp
 
　　
 
5. The subject-predicate phrase (主谓短语)
 
　　Containing a subject before a predicate. A subject-predicate phrase is absolutely qualified to be a sentence. But it works as a phrase, not as a sentence, when being used as a grammatical element of a sentence only, e.g. (a mark “||” is inserted between the subject and the predicate)
 
　　老师||知道 (the teacher knows) ---- n + v
　　谁||有 (who have) ---- pron + v
　　资源||丰富 (rich in resources) ---- n + adj
　　学习||有益 (studying is useful) ---- v + adj
　　健康||第一 (health is first) ---- adj + num
　　今天||星期三 (today is Wednesday) ---- n + n

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