\tThis grammar structure is one of the most basic and important features of Chinese grammar:<\/p>\n
\tmodifier + \u7684 + noun<\/p>\n
\tThis comes up all the time in all sorts of sentences in Chinese. It follows the general rule that what precedes modifies what follows – first the modifier, then \u7684 (de) to link them, and then the noun.<\/p>\n
\tNoun + \u7684 + noun<\/p>\n
\tThis may be the most basic grammar structure with \u7684. By placing \u7684 between two nouns, you can indicate possession. That is, the second noun belongs to the first. Some examples:<\/p>\n
\t\u4f60\u7684\u8863\u670d
\tn\u01d0 de y\u012bfú
\tyour clothes
\t\u5c0f\u674e\u7684\u670b\u53cb
\tXi\u01ceo L\u01d0 de péngy\u01d2u
\tXiao Li's friend
\t\u4ed6\u4eec\u7684\u94b1
\tt\u0101men de qián
\ttheir money
\tYou can think of \u7684 as being similar to ’s (apostrophe s) in English. It marks possession in the same way and appears between the two nouns. More example of \u7684 behaving like ’s:<\/p>\n
\t\u5c0f\u738b\u7684\u623f\u5b50
\tXi\u01ceo Wáng de fángzi
\tXiao Wang's house
\t\u8d75\u5148\u751f\u7684\u81ea\u884c\u8f66
\tZhào Xi\u0101nsh\u0113ng de zìxíngch\u0113
\tMr Zhao's bike
\t\u8001\u5f20\u7684\u732b
\tL\u01ceo Zh\u0101ng de m\u0101o
\tOld Zhang's cat
\tAnd now some full example sentences with \u7684 showing possession between two nouns:<\/p>\n
\t\u8fd9\u662f\u4f60\u7684\u5417\uff1f
\tZhè shì n\u01d0 de ma?
\tIs this yours?
\t\u90a3\u662f\u4ed6\u4eec\u7684\u3002
\tNà shì t\u0101men de.
\tIt's theirs.
\t\u6211\u559c\u6b22\u4f60\u7684\u5e3d\u5b50\u3002
\tW\u01d2 x\u01d0huan n\u01d0 de màozi.
\tI like your hat.
\tThis noun + \u7684 + noun structure is one of the most basic grammar structures in Chinese. It should be one of the first structures that learners get familiar with.<\/p>\n
\tAdjective + \u7684 + noun<\/p>\n
\tAs well as marking actual possession between two nouns, \u7684 is also used to modify things more generally. What it actually does is attach attributes to things.<\/p>\n
\tOne way \u7684 can attach attributes to things is by appearing between an adjective and a noun. This simply links the adjective to the noun to describe it. Some examples:<\/p>\n
\t\u7ea2\u8272\u7684\u8863\u670d
\thóngsè de y\u012bfu
\tred clothes
\t\u597d\u5403\u7684\u83dc
\th\u01ceoch\u012b de cài
\ttasty food
\t\u6f02\u4eae\u7684\u82b1
\tpiàoliang de hu\u0101
\tbeautiful flowers
\tYou could think of this as literally saying e.g. “red’s clothes” or “clothes that belong to red”. This is the standard way of linking adjectives to nouns in Chinese grammar.<\/p>\n
\tSome full example sentences for this adjective + \u7684 + noun grammar structure:<\/p>\n
\t\u6211\u559c\u6b22\u5f88\u8fa3\u7684\u83dc\u3002
\tW\u01d2 x\u01d0huan h\u011bn là de cài.
\tI like spicy food.
\t\u5979\u662f\u4e2a\u5f88\u65e0\u804a\u7684\u4eba\u3002
\tT\u0101 shì ge h\u011bn wúliáo de rén.
\tShe is a very boring person.
\t\u8fd9\u662f\u4e00\u79cd\u5f88\u6d53\u7684\u5496\u5561\u3002
\tZhè shì yìzh\u01d2ng h\u011bn nóng de k\u0101f\u0113i.
\tThis is a very strong kind of coffee.
\tBy now you can see that \u7684 is a very versatile linking word in Chinese. It appears all over the place, and is generally considered the most commonly used Chinese character.<\/p>\n
\tclause + \u7684 + noun<\/p>\n
\tFinally, we’ll have a look at a slightly more complicated \u7684 grammar structure. Because \u7684 can be used to attach pretty much anything to anything else, you can use it to link entire phrases to things. The phrase then becomes a description or quality.<\/p>\n
\tThis sounds complicated but it will probably become clearer with some examples:<\/p>\n
\t\u6211\u4e70\u7684\u8336
\tw\u01d2 m\u01cei de chá
\tthe tea I bought
\t\u4ed6\u559c\u6b22\u7684\u90a3\u4e2a\u5973\u5b69
\tT\u0101 x\u01d0huan de nàge n\u01dahái
\tthat girl he likes
\t\u4f60\u6700\u559c\u6b22\u7684\u989c\u8272
\tn\u01d0 zuì x\u01d0huan de yánsè
\tyour favourite colour (the colour you like the most)
\tIn those examples, rather than a noun or an adjective, we have a phrase (e.g. \u6211\u4e70 – “I buy”). The phrase is linked to a noun using \u7684, and becomes a description or attribute of the noun.<\/p>\n
\tSome more examples of this modifying clause \/ phrase with \u7684:<\/p>\n
\t\u4ed6\u5f04\u4e22\u7684\u4e1c\u897f
\tt\u0101 nòng di\u016b de d\u014dngxi
\tthe thing he lost
\t\u6211\u4e0d\u8ba4\u8bc6\u7684\u4e00\u4e2a\u4eba
\tw\u01d2 bù rènshi de y\u012bge rén
\tsomeone that I don't know
\t\u6211\u4eec\u7b2c\u4e00\u6b21\u89c1\u5230\u5f7c\u6b64\u7684\u5730\u65b9
\tw\u01d2men dì y\u012b cì jiàn dào b\u01d0c\u01d0 dì dìf\u0101ng
\tthe place where we first met
\t\u6628\u5929\u8ddf\u6211\u4e00\u5757\u513f\u5403\u996d\u7684\u90a3\u4e2a\u4eba
\tzuóti\u0101n g\u0113n w\u01d2 y\u012bkuàir ch\u012bfàn dì nàge rén
\tthe person with whom I ate yesterday
\tNotice how you can attach quite complicated things to a noun using \u7684. That whole complex phrase just becomes an attribute of the noun. Have a look at some full example sentences for this structure:<\/p>\n
\t\u4ed6\u4eec\u4e70\u7684\u81ea\u884c\u8f66\u5f88\u4fbf\u5b9c\u3002
\tT\u0101men m\u01cei de zìxíngch\u0113 h\u011bn piányi.
\tThe bike they bought is very cheap.
\t\u8fd9\u662f\u6211\u770b\u8fc7\u6700\u597d\u770b\u7684\u4e66\u3002
\tZhè shì w\u01d2 kànguò zuì h\u01ceo kàn de sh\u016b.
\tThis is the best book I've ever read.
\t\u4f60\u662f\u7b2c\u4e00\u4e2a\u8fd9\u6837\u505a\u7684\u4eba\u3002
\tN\u01d0 shì dì y\u012b gè zhèyàng zuò de rén.
\tYou are the first person to do it this way.<\/p>\n