In today's video lesson we’ll learn how to ask and describe colors in Chinese. We'll also learn about the structure Reduplication of Adjectives and learn more about Topic-Comment Sentences in Chinese.
In today's lesson we'll start with three basic colors in Chinese: white, red and black. Each color has an adjective version and a noun version:
Adj. | hóng 红 |
bái 白 |
hēi 黑 |
of the color red | of the color white | of the color black | |
Noun | hóngsè 红色 |
báisè 白色 |
hēisè 黑色 |
the color red | the color white | the color black |
There are situations where we can use both the adjective or the noun version, while there are also situations where we can only say the one-character adjective words, or only the two-character noun words.
(1) If we’re saying phrases like red clothes, black hair, white car, meaning that the colors are used as the Attributives, we can use both the one-character Adjective version and the two-character Noun version.
For example,
(2) If we want to describe and identify the color of something, we need to follow this structure:
And here for "some color" we can use both the one-character Adjective version and also the two-color character noun version. For example,
And to ask questions, we can say:
(3) When the color is used as the Subject or Object of the sentence, we usually go with the noun, two-character version. For example,
(4) When the color is used as the Predicate of the sentence to describe something, we usually go with the adjective, one-character version.
(5) When it’s already a set word, where the color is part of the word itself, instead of an attribute to modify it, we usually just use the one-character adjective version. For example,
We have learned Reduplication of Verbs before, Adjectives can also be reduplicated. Reduplication of Adjectives are usually expressing a positive attitude on the speaker’s side, it’s usually approving or appreciative. For example,
One-character Adjective
A |
Reduplication of Adjective
AA |
hóng 红 red |
hóng hóng 红红 (approving & appreciative) red |
cháng 长 long |
cháng cháng 长长 (approving & appreciative) long |
gāo 高 tall |
gāo gāo 高高 (approving & appreciative) tall |
Two-character Adjective
AB |
Reduplication of Adjective
AABB |
piàoliang 漂亮 beautiful |
piàopiào liàngliàng 漂漂亮亮 (approving & appreciative) beautiful |
jiànkāng 健康 healthy |
jiànjiàn kāngkāng 健健康康 (approving & appreciative) healthy |
kuàilè 快乐 happy |
kuàikuài lèlè 快快乐乐 (approving & appreciative) happy |
We have learned Topic-Comment Sentences in Chinese before. In Chinese when we want to describe a person's look, we usually put what we want to describe at the beginning of the sentence, as the Topic of the sentence, and then make the comment. For example,
TOPIC | COMMENT | |
māma de tóufa 妈妈的头发 mom's hair |
chángcháng de 长长的 (is) long |
。 |
háizi de liǎn 孩子的脸 kid's face |
hěn xiǎo 很小 (is) very small |
。 |
And while the following sentences are grammatically correct in Chinese, native speakers usually don't say them:
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