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What is an adjectival predicate in Mandarin Chinese?

By: Grace Zhang Fri Aug 30 2024
Mandarin chinese
Sentence Structure

An adjectival predicate refers to an adjective (e.g., “warm”) that comments on the subject (e.g., “weather”). A subject is about “what/who” and the predicate is about “what this subject is (like).”

Mandarin
English

Subject

adjective

Subject

(to be)

adjective

天气

(tiānqì)

Weather

暖和

(nuǎnhuo)

warm

It

is

warm

In the sentence 天气暖和 (Tiānqì nuǎnhuo, It’s warm), 天气 (tiānqì, weather) is the subject and 暖和 (nuǎnhuo, warm) is the adjectival predicate, which describes what the weather is like.

Unlike in English, there is usually no “is” between the subject and adjectival predicate in Mandarin. So, it is important to know how to use adjectival predicates properly.

If you want to get to know more about this topic, dive in and read more!

Table of Contents

    What are the types of adjectival predicates in Mandarin Chinese?

    There are two major types of adjectival predicates in Mandarin Chinese: simple and complex. Let’s take a closer look at each.

    What are simple adjectival predicates?

    By its name, a simple adjectival predicate refers to a predicate with a single adjective and nothing else. That is, an adjective immediately follows the subject: subject + adjective.

    Subject
    Adjective
    Literal translation
    Translation

    ()

    高兴

    (gāoxìng)

    I happy

    I am happy.

    我们

    (wǒmen)

    高兴

    (gāoxìng)

    We happy

    We are happy.

    汉语

    (hànyǔ)

    (nán)

    Chinese difficult

    Chinese is difficult.

    萝卜

    (luóbo)

    (bái)

    Daikon white

    Daikon is white.

    辣椒

    (làjiāo)

    (hóng)

    Chili red

    Chili is red.

    The above table shows that no (shì, am/is/are) is allowed in adjectival predicates.

    What are simple adjectival predicates?

    Complex adjectival predicates consist of an adjective and other elements, rather than a single adjective. Here is the pattern: subject + (adverb) + adjective + (complement)

    Example number
    Subject
    Adverb
    Adjective
    Complement / marker
    Translation

    1

    ()

    (hěn)

    高兴

    (gāoxìng)

    He is (very)* happy.

    2

    ()

    非常

    (fēicháng)

    高兴

    (gāoxìng)

    He is very happy.

    3

    ()

    (zhēn)

    高兴

    (gāoxìng)

    He is really happy.

    4

    ()

    有点

    (yǒudiǎn)

    高兴

    (gāoxìng)

    He is a bit happy.

    5

    ()

    比较

    (bǐjiào)

    / 挺

    (tǐng)

    高兴

    (gāoxìng)

    He is quite happy.

    6

    ()

    ()

    高兴

    (gāoxìng)

    He is not happy.

    7

    ()

    不太

    (bù tài)

    高兴

    (gāoxìng)

    He's not too happy.

    8

    ()

    高兴

    (gāoxìng)

    极了

    (jí le)

    He is extremely happy.

    9

    ()

    高兴

    (gāoxìng)

    得很

    (de hěn)

    He is very happy.

    10

    ()

    高兴

    (gāoxìng)

    死了

    (sǐ le)

    (informal)

    He is extremely happy.

    11

    ()

    (tài)

    高兴

    (gāoxìng)

    (le)

    He is so happy.

    *See the next section for details.

    The table above shows that complex adjectival predicates can be in various forms. They can take on adverbs (examples #1 to #7), complements (#8 to #10), as well as both an adverb and complement/marker at the same time (#11). The marker  (le) indicates an extremely high degree here.

    How to form the negation of adjectival predicates in Mandarin Chinese?

    Both simple and complex adjectival predicates are negated with (, not). Let’s see how.

    How to negate simple adjectival predicates?

    The negation of a simple adjectival predicate is formed by adding (, not) before the adjective. For example,

    高兴。

    (Wǒ bù gāoxìng.)

    I’m not happy.

    How to negate complex adjectival predicates?

    The negation of a complex adjectival predicate is also formed by adding (, not) before the adjective. For example,

    Example number
    Subject
    Adverb
    Negation
    Adjective
    Translation

    1

    ()

    (hěn)

    ()

    高兴

    (gāoxìng)

    He is very unhappy.

    2

    ()

    非常

    (fēicháng)

    ()

    高兴

    (gāoxìng)

    He is extremely unhappy.

    3

    ()

    (zhēn)

    ()

    高兴

    (gāoxìng)

    He is really unhappy.

    4

    ()

    有点

    (yǒudiǎn)

    ()

    高兴

    (gāoxìng)

    He is a bit unhappy.

    5

    ()

    (tǐng)

    ()

    高兴

    (gāoxìng)

    He is quite unhappy.

    The negation word “not” needs to be placed before the adjective rather than before the adverb. For example, if you want to say “He is very unhappy,” you say, 高兴 (Tā hěn bù gāoxìng). “高兴” is an incorrect sentence.

    Tip

    For complex adjectival predicates, you can also use 不是 (bùshì, not) + (hěn, very) to form a negation. In this case, the negation word 不是 (bùshì, not) needs to be placed before the adverb, rather than after it. For example:

    不是高兴。

    (Tā bùshì hěn gāoxìng.)

    He is not very happy.

    Note the difference between 不是高兴 and 高兴 (Tā hěn bù gāoxìng, He is very unhappy). The degree of unhappiness of 高兴 is much higher than that of 不是高兴.

    How to use 很 (hěn, “very”) in adjectival predicates in Mandarin Chinese?

    Unlike in English, in Mandarin Chinese the subject and the adjectival predicate are not linked by the verb “to be.” Instead there is either no linking verb at all or other words are used to link. (hěn, very) is such a word. In Mandarin,  (hěn) is more versatile than “very” is in English. This is because while  (hěn) often means “very,” it can also mean something else in Mandarin.

    When you simply want to say “I am happy” without making a statement on the degree of happiness, 高兴 (Wǒ hěn gāoxìng, I am (very) happy) sounds more natural than 我高兴 (Wǒ gāoxìng, I am happy) and therefore the former is more commonly used in Mandarin.  (hěn) in this case functions as a “dummy” linker between the subject and the adjective. So, the difference between 我高兴 and 我很高兴 might not necessarily be a matter of degree of happiness, but rather a matter of naturalness. This could especially be the case when  (hěn) is pronounced lightly. However, if  (hěn) is deliberately stressed, it should really mean “very.” That’s why “very” is put as optional in the English translation of “ + adjectival predicates.”

    When to use 是 (shì, “to be”) vs. 很 (hěn, “very”) in Mandarin Chinese?

    While (hěn, very) is more versatile in Mandarin Chinese than in English, the English “to be” is more versatile than (shì, to be) in Mandarin. These differences can cause some confusion for learners of Mandarin.  (shì) in Mandarin is NOT equivalent to the English "is/am/are," and it is usually followed by a noun. Conversely,  (hěn) doesn’t go with a noun, it usually goes with an adjective.

    Structure
    Mandarin
    English

    subject + + noun

    学生。

    (Wǒ shì xuésheng.)

    I am a student.

    subject + adjective

    高。

    (Wǒ hěn gāo.)

    X高*。

    (Wǒ shì hěn gāo.)

    I am (very) tall.

    I am (very) tall.

    * When  (shì) in this sentence is used to emphasize the fact that “I” indeed am tall, then it is okay to say 很高 meaning “I am indeed very tall.”

    If you would like to know how to connect adjectives, check our post on “How to say ‘and’ in Mandarin Chinese.” And if you are wondering about how to structure sentences in which adjectives precede nouns (as in “beautiful lantern”), there is a post for you too!

    To sum up

    When using adjectival predicates in Mandarin Chinese, keep the following tips in mind:

    • An adjectival predicate in Mandarin usually does not use (shì, to be) in the sentence, even though this is different in English.

    • There are simple adjectival predicates (with only one adjective as the predicate) and complex adjectival predicate (with adjective + other elements, including adverbs and complements).

    • The negative form of adjectival predicates uses (, not) before a simple adjective, but adds 不是 (bùshì, not) before a complex adjectival predicate.

    • Learners of Mandarin Chinese may make mistakes when using (shì, to be) and (hěn, very) involving adjectival predicates. This is because there are differences between using the two words in Mandarin versus in English. In Mandarin,  (hěn) is more versatile than in English, but  (shì) is less versatile than “to be” is in English.

    Want to know more about the nuances of adjectival predicates in Mandarin? The best way to do that is to try our exercises and practice your adjectival predicates!

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