5.3: More Stative Verbs
- Page ID
- 89633
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Here are some additional SVs that can be incorporated in the patterns introduced in the first two units.
| Of people | yán ‘strict’ | lìhai ‘formidable; tough’ | ||
| Of tasks | nán ‘difficult’ | róngyì ‘easy’ | ||
| Of things | hǎochī 'nice [to eat]’ | hǎotīng ‘nice [sounding]’ | guì ‘expensive’ | |
| Of people or things | qīngchu ‘clear’ | hǎokàn ‘nice [looking]’ | piàoliang ‘pretty’ | qíguài ‘strange; odd; surprising’ |
| Of situations | xíng ‘be okay; be satisfactory; [it’ll] do’ |
Several of these SVs can be applied to people such as lǎoshī ‘teachers’ and xuésheng ‘students’; others, as noted, are more like to apply to things such as Zhōngwén ‘Chinese language’ or dōngxi ‘[physical] things’.
Questions with zĕnmeyàng ‘how [is it]’
The question word zĕnmeyàng (pronounced [zĕmeyàng], without the first ‘n’) is used to ask questions corresponding to ‘how is X’. Zĕnmeyàng is also used as an informal greeting, rather like English ‘how’s it going’.
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Jīntiān zĕnmeyàng? Hĕn rè. |
How is [it] today? [It]’s hot. |
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Zhōngwén zĕnmeyàng? Hĕn nán! Lăoshī hĕn yán. |
How’s Chinese [class]? [It]’s difficult. The teacher’s strict. |
Examples
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Lăoshī zĕnmeyàng? Hěn lìhài, tā fēicháng yán. |
How’s the teacher? [She]’s formidable; she’s really strict. |
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Tā zĕnmeyàng? Hĕn lèi, shuìjiào le. |
How is he? [He]’s tired, [he]’s gone to bed. |
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Tāmen zĕnmeyàng? Bù shūfu, méi shàngkè. |
How are they doing? [They]’re not well, [they] weren’t in class. |
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Zhōngwén zĕnmeyàng? Bù nán yĕ bù róngyì. |
What’s Chinese like? [It]’s not difficult, nor is [it] easy. |
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Zĕnmeyàng? Hăochī ma? Hái kĕyĭ. |
How is [it]? Good? [It]’s okay. |
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Guì bu guì? Bú tài guì, hái xíng. |
Is [it] expensive? Not too – [it]’s reasonable. |
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Tiānqì zĕnmeyàng? Zuótiān fēicháng lěng, kĕshi jīntiān hăo le. |
How’s the weather? Yesterday was very cold, but today’s okay. |
Juéde ‘feel; think’
Zěnmeyàng may be combined with, or may elicit the verb juéde ‘feel; think’ to form a more specific question about internal states:
| Xiànzài nĭ juéde zĕnmeyàng? | How do you feel now? |
| Wŏ juéde bù shūfu. | I’m not feeling well. |
| Wŏ hĕn jĭnzhāng. | I’m nervous. |
| Wŏ juéde hĕn lèi. | I feel quite tired. |
| Hái xíng. | Okay. |
Zĕnmeyàng as a greeting
Responses to zěnmeyàng as an informal greeting include the following:
| Zěnmeyàng? | Hái hǎo. | [I]’m fine |
| Hái xíng. | [I]’m okay. (still alright) | |
| Hái kěyǐ. | Passable. (still be+possible) | |
| Bú cuò. | Not bad. (not be+erroneous) | |
| Mǎma-hūhū. | So-so. | |
| Lǎo yàngzi. | The usual. (old way) |
Notes
a) Kěyǐ is a verb meaning ‘may; be acceptable’.
b) Cuò is a SV meaning ‘be wrong; be mistaken’.
c) Mǎma-hūhū is a complex SV that is formed by repetition of the parts of the SV mǎhu ‘be casual; careless’.
Exercise 1.
Perform a dialogue between the two students, Máo Dàwéi and Lǐ Lìsān, along the following lines:
| Máo Dàwéi | Lǐ Lìsān |
|---|---|
| Hi, Lìsān! | Hello, Dàwéi. How’re you feeling today? |
| Tired. How about you? | I’m a bit tired too – I still haven’t eaten. How about you – hungry? |
| No, I already ate. | Was it good? |
| It was okay. How’re your teachers? Strict? | Very, they’re formidable! Chinese is tough! |
| But Japanese is even harder. | They’re both hard! …Well, I must be off. |
| Okay, see you later. | Okay, bye, take it easy. |