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Quiz about Mandarin Chinese Grammar Basics
Quiz about Mandarin Chinese Grammar Basics

Mandarin Chinese Grammar Basics Quiz


In this quiz we shall explore some of the very basics of Chinese grammar. Test the waters with your Chinese-speaking friends with some of the basic phrases. Jia you!

A multiple-choice quiz by thejazzkickazz. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
139,679
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
879
Last 3 plays: Guest 58 (8/10), Guest 74 (5/10), Guest 108 (5/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. When an action verb such as 'kan' (look) is reduplicated as 'kan kan', how does this change the meaning of the word? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. What is the semantic effect of adding the prefix 'ke' before the verbs 'ai' (to love), 'chi' (to eat) and 'kao' (to depend), among others? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. The word 'hao' means good in Mandarin Chinese. Frequently, 'hao' is employed as a prefix for verbs, turning them into adjectives (for example, 'hao' + 'wen' (smell) would combine to mean fragrant.) What word is used as the opposite prefix in this grammar construct? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. What suffix is used to make plural either a pronoun (ex. 'wo', meaning 'I') or a human noun (ex. 'tongxue', meaning 'classmate')? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Thanks to the writing system, the various Chinese languages are all monosyllabic. This results in thousands of compound words whose meanings typically make sense when one examines their two constituent parts. However, in some cases a compound word makes no sense when the constituent characters are examined. Which of the following is a case exhibiting this phenomenon? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Because standard Mandarin Chinese has no system for pluralization, 'measure words' are used in order to indicate countable nouns. Which of these is the most common measure word in use with Mandarin Chinese? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. The word 'le' is always used at the end of a sentence to indicate something will only happen in the future.


Question 8 of 10
8. Time words and phrases such as 'zuotian' (yesterday), 'qunian' (last year) and 'xia ge libai' (next week) must never come at the end of a sentence.


Question 9 of 10
9. Which of the following words is used in comparative sentences? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. A somewhat easy one, if you catch my drift. In Mandarin Chinese, the word 'ta' can mean which of the following? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Mar 17 2024 : Guest 58: 8/10
Mar 12 2024 : Guest 74: 5/10
Feb 07 2024 : Guest 108: 5/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. When an action verb such as 'kan' (look) is reduplicated as 'kan kan', how does this change the meaning of the word?

Answer: Reduplication suggests looking 'a little'

In cases where an action verb is repeated, for example in the sentence 'Qing ni kan kan zhei ben shu' (Please take a brief look at this book), the effect semantically is to suggest the actor perform the action 'a little bit'. Another form of this same grammar construct is to add the word 'yi' (one) between the reduplicated verb, as in 'Qing ni kan yi kan zhei ben shu.'
2. What is the semantic effect of adding the prefix 'ke' before the verbs 'ai' (to love), 'chi' (to eat) and 'kao' (to depend), among others?

Answer: The new word becomes an adjective, with the 'ke' comparable to the English suffix '-able'

The morpheme 'ke' is a very useful one in Mandarin. It helps create adjectives out of common verbs, as does the suffix '-able' in English. Something that is laughable would be 'ke + xiao' (xiao = to laugh). 'Ke + ai' would mean 'lovable', 'ke + chi' would mean 'edible' and 'ke + kao' would mean 'dependable'. Now you create a compound using 'ke' and the word 'xin' (believe). What do you get?
3. The word 'hao' means good in Mandarin Chinese. Frequently, 'hao' is employed as a prefix for verbs, turning them into adjectives (for example, 'hao' + 'wen' (smell) would combine to mean fragrant.) What word is used as the opposite prefix in this grammar construct?

Answer: Nan (Difficult)

So, using the same example as in the question, 'nan' + 'wen' would take on the meaning 'smelly'. Using the word 'kan' (look) again, we come up with 'hao + kan' (attractive) and 'nan + kan' (ugly). So the terms for pretty and ugly are the literal combinations 'good look' and 'difficult look', respectively.
4. What suffix is used to make plural either a pronoun (ex. 'wo', meaning 'I') or a human noun (ex. 'tongxue', meaning 'classmate')?

Answer: -men

Hence, 'wo + men' would mean 'we' or 'us', and 'tongxue + men' would mean 'classmates'. Please note that the '-men' suffix only works for pronouns and polysyllabic human nouns. Monosyllabic human nouns such as 'bing' (soldier) cannot take the '-men' suffix.
5. Thanks to the writing system, the various Chinese languages are all monosyllabic. This results in thousands of compound words whose meanings typically make sense when one examines their two constituent parts. However, in some cases a compound word makes no sense when the constituent characters are examined. Which of the following is a case exhibiting this phenomenon?

Answer: Feizao (Soap)

While a seal is called a 'hai + gou' (sea + dog), a movie is a 'dian + ying' (electric + image) and an airplane is a 'fei + ji' (flying + machine), the compound for soap really makes no sense. 'Fei' means 'fat', while 'zao' is a word for 'black'.
6. Because standard Mandarin Chinese has no system for pluralization, 'measure words' are used in order to indicate countable nouns. Which of these is the most common measure word in use with Mandarin Chinese?

Answer: Ge

While in English, if we want to pluralize a noun we simply add an '-s' to the end, in Chinese there is no such construct. Rather, for measurable nouns a measure word such as 'ge' is always employed. For example, if I want to see 'three people' I would say 'san ge ren' (san = three, ren = people). 'Ba', 'tiao' and 'tao' are also measure words, but each is used for specific nouns ('ba' is used typically for items with handles, 'tiao' for narrow things and 'tao' for things that come in sets.)
7. The word 'le' is always used at the end of a sentence to indicate something will only happen in the future.

Answer: False

Quite the opposite, actually. Usually, the word 'le' is added at the end of a sentence, or after a verb, to indicate that an action or event has already begun to take place, or that an action has been completed. An example: 'Wo xie le zhe ge wenti' (I have written this question.)
8. Time words and phrases such as 'zuotian' (yesterday), 'qunian' (last year) and 'xia ge libai' (next week) must never come at the end of a sentence.

Answer: True

Chinese grammar is fairly flexible at times, but one hard and fast rule is that all adverbial phrases must come at the beginning of a sentence. This also applies to prepositional phrases as well!
9. Which of the following words is used in comparative sentences?

Answer: Bi

For example, if I wanted to express that you are smarter than me, I would say, 'Ni bi wo congming' (ni = you, congming = intelligent.) If I wanted to point out that my wife was more beautiful than any other woman, I would say 'Wo taitai bi bie de nuren piaoliang' (taitai = wife, bie = other, nuren = women, piaoliang = beautiful.)
10. A somewhat easy one, if you catch my drift. In Mandarin Chinese, the word 'ta' can mean which of the following?

Answer: All of these

Indeed, 'ta' may signify all of these pronouns...a very useful word indeed. Beware, however, that though the word is pronounced identically, there are a number of written forms, each signifying a different meaning of this third person (and thing) pronoun (I believe there are five different written forms, at least!)
Source: Author thejazzkickazz

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