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Level 1 Lesson 14.1 – There Is A Piece of Clothes in His Hand

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Existential Sentence in Chinese with 有 | Locality Noun 里

In this video lesson we'll learn about the Existential Sentence in Chinese with 有 and Locality Noun in Chinese using the example of 里. We'll also learn how to use 杯, 盘, 碗 as Measure Words.

  • Locality Noun in Chinese 里
  • Existential Sentence in Chinese with 有 (I). See also (II).
  • Measure Words in Chinese (V): 杯, 盘, 碗

VOCABULARY


GRAMMAR


Grammar 1: Locality Noun in Chinese - 里 · HSK 1

There are many types of Nouns in Chinese, with Locality Noun being one of them.

A Locality Noun in Chinese suggest a specific direction or location. It helps us know to which direction of a place/item, or which location/part of a place/item we are talking about.

For example Locality Noun 里 lǐ suggests the inside part or the inside area of some place or some object.

We put the Locality Noun 里 after a place/object like this:

Place/Object + 里

First with Place + 里

  • fángzi li
    房子里
    the inside area of (a/the) house/apartment
  • jiāli
    家里
    the inside area of (a/the) home
  • xuéxiào li
    学校里
    the inside area of (a/the) school
  • shāngdiàn li
    商店里
    the inside area of (a/the) store
  • shūdiàn li
    书店里
    the inside area of (a/the) bookstore

Then with Object + 里

  • diànnǎo li
    电脑里
    the inside area/part of (a/the) computer
  • shǒu li
    手里
    the inside area/part of (one's) hand
  • wǎn li
    碗里
    the inside area of (a/the) bowl
  • bēizi li
    杯子里
    the inside area of (a/the) cup/glass
  • pánzi li
    盘子里
    the inside area of (a/the) plate

Be careful that for Proper Nouns such as 中国 China, 北京 Beijing, 英国 Britain, we cannot put a Locality Noun after them. So we cannot say these phrases:

  • Zhōngguó li 中国里 the inside of China
  • Běijīng li 北京里 the inside of Beijing
  • Yīngguó li 英国里 the inside of Britain.

We need to say these phrases instead:

  • zài Zhōngguó
    在中国
    in China
  • zài Běijīng
    在北京
    in Beijing
  • zài Yīngguó
    在英国
    in Britain

 

Grammar 2: Existential Sentence in Chinese with 有 (I) · HSK 1

Existential Sentence in Chinese suggests the existence of something/someone at/in/on somewhere. It suggest similar meaning as "there is/are something at/in/on somewhere" sentence in English, only with different structure.

We learned that 有 yǒu means to have; to own, in an Existential Sentence it means to exist.

The structure of an Existential Sentence in Chinese with 有 goes like this:

Place/Object + (Locality Noun) + 有 + Object

  • xuéxiào li yǒu liǎngwèi lǎoshī
    学校里有两位老师。
    there are two "wei" (of) teacher in the school
  • shāngdiàn li yǒu sāntái diànnǎo
    商店里有三台电脑。
    there are three "tai" (of) computers in the store
  • wǒ shǒuli yǒu yíjiàn yīfu
    我手里有一件衣服。
    there is a "jian" (of) clothes in my hand
  • bēizili yǒu yìxiē kāfēi
    杯子里有一些咖啡。
    there is some coffee in the cup

For negative sentences we put méi 没 before yǒu 有

  • pánzili méiyǒu cài
    盘子里没有菜。
    there is no dish in the plate
  • wǎnli méiyǒu dōngxi
    碗里没有东西。
    there is no "things" in the bowl

 

Grammar 3: Existential Sentence with Time Word · HSK 1

An Existential Sentence with Time Word does not use Locality Words such as yǒu 有, because Time Words do not suggest Location. The structure goes like this:

Time Word + Object

For example:

  • yìnián yǒu shí'èrge yuè
    一年有十二个月。
    there are 12 months in a year
  • sān yuè yǒu sānshí yī tiān
    三月有三十一天。
    there are 31 days in March

 

Grammar 4: Measure Words in Chinese (V): 杯, 盘, 碗 · HSK 1

Just like in English we can say a bowl of something, a cup/glass of something and a plate of something, these tableware can also be used as Measure Words in Chinese.

  • yìbēi kāfēi
    一杯咖啡
    a cup of coffee
  • yìbēi shuǐ
    一杯水
    a glass/cup of water
  • yìpán cài
    一盘菜
    a plate of vegetable
  • yìwǎn mǐfàn
    一碗米饭
    a bowl of cooked rice
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