27
Describing how actions are performed
27.1Describing the general or past performance of an action with a manner adverbial phrase
To describe how an action is generally performed or how it was performed in the past, use the following structure:
action verb de adjectival verb
Phrases that describe the performance of an action are often referred to as manner adverbial phrases. The word adverbial means they describe the verb.
!"!"
Tp shus de kuài.
He speaks fast.
!"!"
Tp kpi de màn.
She drives slowly.
!"#$!"#$
Nmmen dsu kko de hko.
You all did well on the exam.
NOTE The suffixes le, / guo, and D/ zhe do not occur after the action verb or the adjectival verb in manner adverbial phrases.
Í33, 35
27.1.1Describing the performance of an action when the verb takes an object
If the action verb takes an object, the verb is said twice, the first time followed by the object, and the second time followed by de adjectival verb:
[action verb + object] [action verb de adjectival verb]
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DESCRIBING HOW ACTIONS ARE PERFORMED |
27.1 |
!"#!"#
Tp shus huà shus de kuài.
He speaks fast.
!" #$%!" #$%
Tp shus Zhsngguó huà shus de kuài.
He speaks Chinese fast.
!"#!"#
Tp kpi chq kpi de màn.
She drives a car slowly.
!" #$%!" #$%
Nmmen kko shì dsu kko de hko.
You all did well on the exam.
27.1.2Modifying the description of the action
27.1.2.1Modifying with intensifiers
In these manner adverbial phrases, the adjectival verb may be preceded by an intensifier:
!"#$!"#$
Tp shus huà shus de hLn kuài.
He speaks very quickly.
!"#$!"#$
Tp kpi chq kpi de tài màn.
She drives a car too slowly.
!" #$%&!" #$%&
Nmmen kko shì dsu kko de zhQn hko.
You all did really well on the exam.
Í10.3
27.1.2.2Modifying with negation
In manner adverbial phrases, negation must occur before the adjectival verb, not before the action verb. Negation must be bù:
!"#!"#
Tp shus de bù kuài.
He doesn’t speak fast.
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Asking about the performance of an action |
27.2 |
!"#$%!"#$%
Nmmen dsu kko de bù hko.
You all didn’t do well on the exam.
Í23.1.1
27.2Asking about the performance of an action
To ask how an action is performed, say:
(subject) action verb !"!" de zLnmeyàng?
How does the subject do the action?
!"#$!"#$
Tp kkode zlnmeyàng?
How did he do on the test?
!"#$%!"#$%
Tp kpi chq kpi de zlnmeyàng?
How does she drive?
To ask if an action is performed in a particular way, form a yes–no question with the adjectival verb using:
•Verb-not-verb structure
action verb de adjective verb bù adjective verb?
!"#"$!"#"$
Nm kko shì kko de hko bù hko?
Did you do well on the test?
!"#!"$!"#!"$
Tp shus de qrngchu bù qrngchu?
Did he speak clearly?
• / ma yes–no question structure
!"#!"#
Nm kko de hko ma?
Did you do well on the test?
!"#$!"#$
Tp shus de qrngchu ma?
Did he speak clearly?
Í24.1
183
DESCRIBING HOW ACTIONS ARE PERFORMED |
27.3 |
27.3Describing the performance of an entire action with an adverbial modifier
To describe how an entire action is performed on a specific occasion, precede the verb phrase (or prepositional phrase + verb phrase if there is a prepositional phrase) with an adverbial verb modifier + de as follows. Note the tone changes on the second syllable of the modifier:
adverbial verb modifier + de + verb phrase
!"#$%&'!"#$%&'
Tp tSutSur de bk qián náznu le.
He secretly took away the money.
!!"#$%!!"#$%
Nmmen dli hKohPor de xué.
You have to study hard/well.
!"#$%&'!"#$%&'
Tp mànmPn de bk Hàn zì xuéhuì le.
He slowly learned the Chinese characters.
!"
KuàikuPi de chr ba!
Hurry up and eat!
!!"#$%&'(!!"#$%&'(
Háizi gPo gPo xRng xRng de zài gsngyuán lm wán.
The children are playing happily in the park.
!"#$%&'(!"#$%&'(
Tpmen jìngjìng de shuì le yr gè wknshang.
They slept peacefully the whole night.
!"#$%&'(!"#$%&'(
Nm dli liúxRn de trng lkoshr shus huà.
You should listen attentively to the teacher.
!"#$%
Tp jíjí mángmáng de táoznu le.
She hurriedly ran away. (She ran away in a hurry.)
Phrases that frequently occur as adverbial modifiers of an entire action include the following:
|
mànmpn de |
slowly |
|
kuàikupi de |
quickly |
|
hkohpo de |
well |
|
tsutsu de |
secretly |
|
jìngjìng de |
peacefully |
184
Describing the performance of an entire action with an adverbial modifier |
27.3 |
||
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pnjìng de |
peacefully/quietly |
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jímáng de |
hurriedly/hastily |
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csngmáng de |
hurriedly/hastily |
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/ |
xrngfèn de |
excitedly |
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/ |
dàshqng de |
loudly |
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qipoqipo de |
quietly |
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/ |
yánlì de |
sternly |
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/ |
cánrln de |
cruelly |
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/ |
zmxì de |
meticulously |
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yòngxrn de |
attentively, carefully |
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liúxrn de |
attentively, cautiously |
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/ |
rènzhqn de |
diligently, conscientiously |
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/ |
qíngyuàn de |
willingly |
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/ |
zìyuàn de |
willingly |
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/ |
shmjìn de |
using full strength/do |
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with all one’s might |
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/ |
jiànjiàn de |
gradually |
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pnpnjìngjìng de |
peacefully |
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/ |
zmzmxìxì de |
meticulously |
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jíjí mángmáng de |
hurriedly |
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/ |
hupnghupng |
in a flustered manner |
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zhpngzhpng de |
|
|
NOTE These adverbial modifiers + de occur in the same position in the predicate as other adverbs.
Í15
185