Level 3 Lesson 3.2 – 我穿过几次裙子，但我更喜欢穿裤子。

GRAMMAR

Grammar 1. "To Wear" in Chinese with 穿 and 戴

(1) 穿

v. chuān▸to wear (clothes in general)

穿 is used to say "to wear" in Chinese for clothes in general, but it cannot be used for accessories such as hats, glasses, gloves, belt, etc.

For example,

• Zhāng Nǎinai chuān zhe yí jiàn bái chènshān.
  张奶奶穿着一件白衬衫。
  Grandma Zhang is wearing one “jian” (of) white dress shirt.
• Tā chuān le yì tiáo fēicháng piàoliang de hóng qúnzi.
  她穿了一条非常漂亮的红裙子。
  She wore one “tiao” (of) very pretty red dress/skirt.
• Wǒ zuì xǐhuan chuān zhè shuāng xiézi pǎobù.
  我最喜欢穿这双鞋子跑步。
  I like running wearing this pair of shoes the most.

(2) 戴

v. dài▸to wear (accessories in general)

戴 is used to say "to wear" in Chinese for accessories in general, but it cannot be used for clothing such as shirts, pants, jackets, dresses, skirts, shoes, etc.

For example,

• Gāo Yéye dài zhe yǎnjìng zài kànshū.
  高爷爷戴着眼镜在看书。
  Grandpa Gao(,) wearing glasses(,) is reading a book.
• Yǒude rén kāichē de shíhou xíguàn dài shǒutào.
  有的人开车的时候习惯戴手套。
  Some people(,) when driving(,) are used to wearing gloves.
• Lǎoshī, wǒmen kǎoshì de shíhou kěyǐ dài píngguǒ shǒubiǎo ma?
  老师，我们考试的时候可以戴苹果手表吗？
  Teacher, can we(,) while taking the test(,) wear Apple Watch?

(3) Practice 穿 and 戴 together

Mǎ Wén chuān zhe yí jiàn hēi chèn shān，yì tiáo bái kùzi hé yì shuāng hēi xiézi。Tā dài zhe yì dǐng hóng sè de màozi，yí fù bái sè de yǎnjìng hé yí kuài hēi sè de shǒubiǎo。

马文穿着一件黑衬衫，一条白裤子和一双黑鞋子。他戴着一顶红色的帽子，一副白色的眼镜和一块黑色的手表。

Ma Wen (is) wearing one "jian" (of) black (dress) shirt, one "tiao" (of) white pants and one "shuang"(/pair) (of) black shoes. He (is) wearing one "ding" (of) red-color hat, one "fu" (of) white-color glasses and one "kuai" (of) black-color wristwatch.

Grammar 2. Times of Actions in Chinese

Times of Actions are expressed by Complement of Frequency in Chinese. To express Times of Actions in Chinese, there are three different types of sentence element orders, depending on the nature of the Object. There are three types of Objects:

• Nonspecific Object
• Personal Pronoun used as the Object
• Specific Object

(1) Non specific Object

This is when the Object is something nonspecific (including something abstract). We follow this sentence element order:

Subject + Verb + Complement of Frequency + (Nonspecific) Object

For example,

• Wǒ kǎo guo yí cì Pǔtōnghuà.
  我考过一次普通话。
   I (have) taken-test (for) Standard Chinese once.
• Tā jīntiān yòng le jǐ cì xǐshǒujiān le.
  他今天用了几次洗手间了。
  He today (has) used (the) restroom (for) a few times (already).
• Nǐ kěyǐ shìshi chuān yíxià qúnzi.
  你可以试试穿一下裙子。
  You can try “really quick” wearing (a) dress/skirt “for once”.

(2) Personal Pronouns as the Object

This is when the Object is a Personal Pronoun. We follow this sentence element order:

Subject + Verb + (Personal Pronoun) Object + Complement of Frequency

For example,

• Wǒ néng zài wèn nín yíxià ma?
  我能再问您一下吗？
  Can I again ask you (for) a little bit?
• Wǒ xiǎng bāng tā yí cì.
  我想帮他一次。
  I want to help him (for) one time.

(3) Specific Object

This is when the Object is something specific, for example a specific person, animal or place. The Complement of Frequency can go before or after the Object:

Subject + Verb + (Specific) Object + Complement of Frequency

Subject + Verb + Complement of Frequency + (Specific Object)

For example,

Nǎinai wèn le yí cì bàba.
Nǎinai wèn le bàba yí cì.
奶奶问了一次爸爸。
奶奶问了爸爸一次。
Grandma (had) asked dad once.

Wǒ kàn le yí xià xiǎomāo.
Wǒ kàn le xiǎomāo yí xià.
我看了一下小猫。
我看了小猫一下。
I looked at (the) little cat (for) a little bit.

Wǒ qù guo jǐ cì Běijīng, hěn hǎowánr.
Wǒ qù guo Běijīng jǐ cì, hěn hǎowánr.
我去过几次北京，很好玩儿。
我去过北京几次，很好玩儿。
I (had) gone to Beijing (for) a few times, (it was) very fun.