7.8: Why, because, so
- Page ID
- 89660
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)If someone says they are tired or anxious, you will want to find out why. ‘Why’, wèishénme, is made up of wèi ‘for [the sake of]’ and shénme ‘what’. The response will often be introduced with yīnwèi ‘because’. Suǒyǐ ‘so’ introduces the consequences. Before you can give good reasons, you need some additional vocabulary. The following nouns all have to do with classwork:
| kǎoshì | gōngkè | zuòyè | bàogào | shíyàn |
| test; exam | assignments | homework | reports | experiments |
Notes
Kǎoshì and shíyàn are also [two-syllable] verbs, meaning ‘to do a test’ and ‘do an experiment’. ‘To test someone’s ability in a subject’ is simply kǎo: Yīnggāi kǎo tāmen de Zhōngwén ‘[We] should test their Chinese’. For now, concentrate on the use of these words as nouns.
Dialogues
A:
| Jīntiān zĕnmeyàng? | How are you today? |
| Yǒu kǎoshì suǒyǐ yǒu yìdiănr jĭnzhāng. | [I] have a test, so I’m a bit nervous. |
B:
| Nĭ wèishénme jĭnzhāng? | How come you are nervous? |
| <Yīnwei> míngtiān yǒu kăoshì. | [I] have an test tomorrow. |
| Shénme kăoshì? | What kind of test? |
| Zhōngwén kăoshì. | A Chinese test. |
A lot of
Duō (a word to be carefully distinguished from dōu ‘all’) is a SV meaning ‘much; many; lots, etc.’ Its opposite, shǎo, can mean ‘few; not many’ but is also common as an adverb meaning ‘seldom; rarely’. Duō has some rather idiosyncratic properties: it may modify nouns directly (without de), but to do so, it requires the presence of at least a modifying adverb, such as hěn:
| yǒu hěn duō <de> gōngkè | lots of assignments |
| yǒu hěn duō <de> kǎoshì | lots of tests |
| yǒu hěn duō <de> zuòyè | lots of homework |
Instead of hěn, the two more or less synonymous adverbs zhème ‘in this way; so; such’ and nàme ‘in that way; so; such’, can also be used in conjunction with duō (and shǎo):
| zhème duō gōngkè | such a lot of assignments |
| nàme duō bàogào | so many reports |
Duō and shǎo can also be used as predicates – that is, main verbs. English finds the literal translation of the construction awkward (ie ‘exams are numerous’), preferring instead an existential ‘there is/are’, or a possessive ‘we have’:
| Shíyàn duō bu duō? | Are there lots of experiments? |
| Gōngkè bǐjiào duō. | There are relatively many assignments. |
| Bàogào yĕ hĕn duō. | [We] also have lots of reports. |
| Zuòyè gèng duō. | There is even more homework. |
| Kăoshì bù shǎo. | [I] have quite a number of tests. |
| Zuòyè wèishénme nàme shǎo? | How come so little homework? |
Reference can be made to the course by simply presenting it at the head of the sentence as a ‘topic’:
| Zhōngwén, zuòyè hĕn duō. | Chinese [class] has a lot of homework. |
| Rìwén, zuòyè duō dànshì kăoshì shǎo. | Japanese [class] has a lot of homework, but few tests. |
Sentences of the above type can usually be re-formed with yǒu, ‘have’, which makes them look rather more like the English:
Summary (* not possible)
[]
| Yǒu Zhōngwén zuòyè. | [We] have Chinese homework. |
| *Yǒu duō Zhōngwén zuòyè. | |
| Yǒu hěn duō Zhōngwén zuòyè. OR: Zhōngwén, zuòyè hěn duō. | There’s a lot of Ch. homework. [Chinese has lots of homework.] |
| Yǒu zhème duō Zhōngwén zuòyè. | There’s so much Ch. homework! |
| Yǒu nàme duō Zhōngwén zuòyè. |
There’s so much Ch. homework! |
Exercise 5.
In Chinese:
1. Explain that students have lots of homework each day so they’re always tired.
2. Ask why Japanese doesn’t have a lot of tests.
3. Explain that there are no classes tomorrow because it’s May the 1st.
4. Explain that your Chinese teacher is quite strict, and that you have lots of tests.
5. Explain that you didn’t have any homework yesterday.
6. Ask why they have so many reports.
7. Explain that you feel quite nervous today because you have a test.
8. Explain that you have lots of tests, and even more assignments.
9. Explain that physics [class] isn’t hard, but it has lots of homework.
10. Ask why they all have so many keys?