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Noun Phrases

A noun phrase (NP) is a noun and any modifiers of the noun. NPs serve as the topic of a sentence, the subject of a sentence, the direct or indirect object of a verb, or object of a preposition.
  1. Topic
    这个学校，女孩子比男孩子多一点。
    這個學校，女孩子比男孩子多一點。
    zhe4 ge4 xue2 xiao4, nü3 hai2 zi bi3 nan2 hai2 zi duo1 yi1 dian3.
    ( In ) this school, there are somewhat more girls than boys.

  2. Subject
    这个学校很有名。
    那個大學很有名。
    na3 ge4 da4 xue2 hen3 you3 ming2.
    That college is very famous.

  3. Direct object of a verb
    我昨天晚上看了一个电影。
    我昨天晚上看了一個電影。
    wo3 zuo2 tian1 wan3 shang4 kan4 le yi1 ge4 dian4 ying3.
    I saw a movie last night.

  4. Indirect object of a verb
    我不想给你找麻烦。
    我不想給你找麻煩。
    wo3 bu4 xiang3 gei3 ni3 zhao3 ma2 fan2。
    I don't want to give you trouble.

  5. Object of a preposition
    我每个周末都跟朋友一起玩。
    我每個週末都跟朋友一起玩。
    wo3 mei3 ge4 zhou1 mo4 dou1 gen1 peng2 you3 yi1 qi3 wan2。
    I have fun with my friends every weekend.

Idenity of Reference
There are two ways to indicate identity of reference between NPs in Mandarin: omission and pronominalization.
  1. Omission
    When NPs with identical reference occur in the same grammatical role (subject or object) in a series of sentences, all instances of the NP after the first one are often omitted. Omission of an NP marks it as the topic of the passage.

    NPs with identical reference are both subjects:

    Qustion:
    那本书怎么样？
    那本書怎麼樣﹖
    na3 ben3 shu1 zen3 me yang4?
    How is that book?

    Answer:
    很有意思。
    hen3 you3 yi4 si1.
    ( It is ) very interesting.

    NPs with identical reference are both objects:

    Question:
    你认识王明吗？
    你認識王明嗎﹖
    ni3 ren4 shi2 wang2 ming2 ma？
    Do you know Wang Ming?

    Answer:
    认识。
    認識。
    ren4 shi2.
    I know ( him ).

    When a NP refers to an inanimate object, a second reference in subject or object position is always omitted.

    Question:
    你吃过日本菜吗？
    你吃過日本菜嗎﹖
    ni3 chi1 guo4 ri4 ben3 cai4 ma﹖
    Have you eaten Japanese food before?

    Answer:
    没吃过。
    沒吃過。
    mei2 chi1 guo4.
    I've never eaten ( it ) before.

  2. Pronominalization
    When NPs with identical reference occur in different grammatical roles in a series of sentences, the second occurrence is typically represented with a pronoun.

    王明很和气。我想你一定会喜欢他。
    王明很和氣。我想你一定會喜歡他。
    wang2 ming2 hen3 he2 qi4。wo3 xiang3 ni3 yi1 ding4 hui4 xi3 huan1 ta1。
    Wang Ming is very friendly. I think you will certainly like him.

Next lesson : Nouns | Noun Modification