{"id":5186,"date":"2014-05-07T21:18:53","date_gmt":"2014-05-07T13:18:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/?p=5186"},"modified":"2018-01-14T18:35:21","modified_gmt":"2018-01-14T17:35:21","slug":"how-to-approach-chinese-grammar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/how-to-approach-chinese-grammar\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Approach Chinese Grammar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this spring, I asked an expert panel a difficult question: How should we learn Chinese grammar?<\/a> As I hoped, the answers were as insightful as they were diverse. There are many ways of learning grammar and all have different strengths we can add to our own study method. One of the experts I asked is John Pasden, well-known for his blog Sinosplice<\/a>, which was one of my main inspirations when I started Hacking Chinese. As someone who has spent a lot of time and energy creating the Chinese Grammar Wiki<\/a>, it’s only natural that John thought that the few hundred words available for the expert panel article weren’t enough. Therefore, he decided to write a standalone article about how to approach Chinese grammar. And here it is!<\/em><\/p>\n

What to Expect When Learning Chinese Grammar
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"allset-de\"<\/a>It\u2019s best to approach a new, unfamiliar topic without too many preconceptions, but there are two that I hear a lot in regards to Chinese grammar, so I think it\u2019s better to briefly address them both:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cChinese doesn\u2019t have grammar.\u201d<\/strong> OK, this is just silly. If there are no rules for how to string Chinese words together, then you could never be wrong, right? Although that sounds nice, it\u2019s just not possible.<\/li>\n
  2. \u201cChinese word order is just like English word order.\u201d<\/strong> While it\u2019s true that there are some basic similarities, and you can easily find examples like \u201cI love you\u201d that match word for word, it\u2019s not hard to disprove this. Even basic words like \u4e5f (y\u011b) will constantly trip you up if you don’t use them the Chinese way.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    You\u2019ve also probably heard that Chinese grammar doesn\u2019t have verb conjugation, or plurals, or cases, and a bunch of other stuff that we language learners generally associate with \u201cnot fun.\u201d What does all this add up to? It means that for someone who speaks English, Chinese grammar is not going to stress you out too much. But still keep your eyes out for interesting features and patterns different from English. You will find them.<\/p>\n

    The Learning Curve<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I once compared learning Chinese grammar to learning Japanese grammar. My conclusion is that Chinese grammar starts out pretty easily and ramps up gradually. (Don\u2019t get too smug, though; while you\u2019re not getting flummoxed by Chinese grammar, Chinese tones and characters are ravaging your poor little brain.)<\/p>\n

    The great thing about this is that it means \u201cget out there and talk\u201d is a great strategy. If you\u2019ve got the vocabulary and a few basic patterns down, grammar is not going to be your biggest obstacle. If you can\u2019t find someone to talk to, then get reading as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

    I recommend the following learning strategy:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Learn basic grammar patterns<\/strong><\/li>\n
    2. Extend your knowledge<\/strong> with experimentation and input<\/li>\n
    3. Go back to grammar resources<\/strong> when you get confused or some grammatical issues just really starts bugging you<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Let\u2019s look at each in detail.<\/p>\n

      Learn Basic Grammar Patterns<\/strong><\/p>\n

      You can find these in any grammar book. It\u2019s stuff like:<\/p>\n

      \u8981 + Verb = \u201cWant to [Verb]\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      or<\/p>\n

      Noun1 + \u6bd4 + Noun2 + Adj = \u201cNoun1 is more [Adj] than Noun2\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      Sure, if you dig, you can find all kinds of weird exceptions and advanced forms, but to delve into those right away is to waste the advantage provided by the gentle learning curve. Put another way, it\u2019s kind of hard to communicate in a language that requires verbs to be conjugated if you haven\u2019t learned to conjugate verbs at all. But here\u2019s this language that doesn\u2019t require conjugations and has all kinds of simple patterns. Why would you not want to just jump right in? Don\u2019t make it more complicated than it is!<\/p>\n

      If you\u2019re learning from textbooks or podcasts, they may or may not dwell on the finer points of grammar. As a learner, though, you can choose to take just what you need and get out there and start talking. \u201cPack light.\u201d You don\u2019t need to finish reading up on all the exceptions of each grammar point in order to have a conversation.<\/p>\n

      The Chinese Grammar Wiki<\/a> was designed with this principle in mind. Rather than a \u201cgrammar course,\u201d it\u2019s a \u201cresource.\u201d In other words, reference it when you need it. If you don\u2019t need it, great! One of the Chinese Grammar Wiki\u2019s key design elements is to break grammar points down by levels. This can be tricky, because often there are finer points of a particular word\u2019s usage which actually go beyond the basic usage of the word. Often, books will group these all together, a practice which confuses and discourages learners.<\/p>\n

      \"allset-active\"<\/a>The solution we generally favor on the Chinese Grammar Wiki for cases like this is to keep the basic grammar point at the lower level, then create a \u201csequel\u201d grammar point at a higher level. Obviously, the two will be linked, but the point is to provide a level-appropriate explanation for the lower-level learner so that he can \u201cget in and get out\u201d quickly. (Of course, if that learner wants to go clicking down the grammatical rabbit hole, Wikipedia-style, we won\u2019t stop him.)<\/p>\n

      One example of this is Wanting to do something with “yao\u201d, which is at the A1 (Beginner) level. Higher-level learners that take a look at this grammar point will be thinking, \u201chey, wait a minute, there\u2019s a lot more that \u8981 can mean in Chinese!\u201d Very true. We hold off until level A2 (Elementary) to introduce Auxiliary verb “yao” and its multiple meanings.<\/p>\n

      The point is to just take what you need and go use it.<\/p>\n

      Extend Your Knowledge with Experimentation and Input<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Once you have your basic grammar patterns and vocabulary down, and you\u2019re out there practicing your Chinese, there are a few other things you can do to get the most out of the experience.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Focus on meaning when you speak.<\/strong> Use the grammar points that you think will get your point across. If they do, then great. That\u2019s a good sign. If, however, you\u2019re repeatedly using the same grammar point to express a certain idea, and no one seems to understand what the heck you\u2019re talking about, you might want to try another approach, and eventually revisit that stupid grammar point that didn’t work for you.<\/li>\n
      2. Listen for recasting.<\/strong> Very often, native speakers will give you subtle corrections while conversing with you. Many learners are blissfully unaware of these, but if you tune into them, they can be an excellent way to improve your speaking (and it\u2019s a way more enjoyable way of getting corrective feedback than a pile of homework covered in red ink!).<\/li>\n
      3. Go out there and try new patterns.<\/strong> Start conversations specifically to use a new grammar pattern. This kind of experimentation might sound silly and not terribly conducive to real conversation, but the results can be surprising. The way native speakers respond to your shaky, early uses of new grammar patterns will reinforce the meaning and usage of those patterns like nothing else. And you will have awesome conversations.<\/li>\n
      4. When you don\u2019t understand, don\u2019t get hung up on it.<\/strong> A lot of times the grammar, though complex, isn\u2019t actually important to the topic at hand. The \u628a (b\u01ce) construction is a perfect example of this. If you really want to learn it properly, there\u2019s a lot to take in. But you can also completely ignore it for quite a while and do just fine. If you\u2019re having real conversations, ignore the pesky grammar patterns until you can\u2019t!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Following these four pieces of advice will allow you to get more input sooner. This will help accelerate not only your acquisition of grammar, but also vocabulary, listening comprehension, and speaking proficiency. The thing about language acquisition, though, is that it is a largely unconscious process. So you won\u2019t necessarily FEEL the effects of the input, but they will be at work in your brain.<\/p>\n

        As for the conscious part of the learning process, it\u2019s crucial that you get out there and make contact with the real language. It will breathe life into the grammar explanations that you have already studied if you revisit them later. Furthermore, real communication will fuel your motivation to better express yourself and understand the precise meaning of what other people are saying to you. And let\u2019s face it\u2026 that\u2019s what grammar is for.<\/p>\n

        Go Back to Grammar Resources Later<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \"ba-wiki\"<\/a>One of my favorite stories I like to tell is about a client of mine just starting on \u201cIntermediate\u201d material. She was studying ChinesePod lessons, and like many of us, she struggled a bit when she first encountered the \u628a (b\u01ce) construction. The interesting thing, though, was her claim that, \u201cnone of the Chinese people I know use this.\u201d<\/p>\n

        I knew, of course, that her claim couldn\u2019t be true. The \u628a construction is a super-common feature of spoken Mandarin, and there\u2019s no way that native speakers aren\u2019t using it on a regular basis. Sure, it\u2019s possible to eliminate it in order to simplify one\u2019s speech, but this client was claiming that the people around her weren\u2019t using it at all. But her feedback actually highlighted an important truth: she wasn\u2019t hearing the \u628a construction at all.<\/p>\n

        And this is one of the things that most fascinates me about grammar: when you\u2019re ready to learn a new grammar point, it will naturally come into focus. Little connector words that you didn\u2019t even hear before will suddenly start to stand out. Although you were once happy to just get the basic gist, your brain will start to hunger for a more precise understanding of the grammar point in question.<\/p>\n

        When you start to get those \u201cgrammar pangs,\u201d that\u2019s when you need to go to your grammar resource, whether it\u2019s Claudia Ross\u2019s Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar<\/em> printed on a dead tree or the Chinese Grammar Wiki. They say of food that \u201chunger is the best sauce.\u201d The same is true for grammar. To do otherwise is to invite indigestion.<\/p>\n

        Thanks, John! I’m sure my readers found this article as interesting as I did. Personally, I think the most important part of your article is the last two paragraphs. Learning grammar based on what you intuitively feel that you need to know has been a guiding principle for me as well. Naturally, this goes both for understanding grammar and for using it yourself. The most powerful way of learning anything is to have an actual need for it before you learn it! If you want to know more about John, head over to Sinosplice<\/a> and bookmark\/subscribe; if you want to learn more about grammar, head over to the Chinese Grammar Wiki<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n

        Image credit: All images used in this article are from the Chinese Grammar Wiki and are reproduced with explicit permission.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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