{"id":3004,"date":"2019-10-29T10:22:47","date_gmt":"2019-10-29T10:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/chinese-grammar\/jie-jie-and-jie-dao-jiedao-in-chinese-grammar-answering-and-receiving\/"},"modified":"2019-10-29T10:22:47","modified_gmt":"2019-10-29T10:22:47","slug":"jie-jie-and-jie-dao-jiedao-in-chinese-grammar-answering-and-receiving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/fr\/jie-jie-and-jie-dao-jiedao-in-chinese-grammar-answering-and-receiving\/","title":{"rendered":"\u63a5 (ji\u0113) and \u63a5\u5230 (ji\u0113d\u00e0o) in Chinese grammar: answering and receiving"},"content":{"rendered":"
The verbs \u63a5 (ji\u0113) and \u63a5\u5230 (ji\u0113dào) make a nice way to look at verbal complements in Chinese grammar. They’re both used to talk a<\/em>bout answering and receiving (e.g. with a telephone), but the way they work grammatically is different and they have different meanings.<\/p>\n

The difference lies with \u5230 and the change it makes to the meaning of a verb. By comparing \u63a5 and \u63a5\u5230, you’ll get a gentle introduction into how \u5230 works and Chinese verbal complements in general.
\u63a5 (ji\u0113): to answer<\/p>\n

On its own, \u63a5 is a simple verb meaning ‘to answer’ or ‘to connect’. Originally \u63a5 does mean ‘receive’, but its meaning is not as complete as ‘receive’ in English. The Chinese \u63a5 is an action verb, and o<\/em>nly describes the attempt. We don’t know from \u63a5 alone the result of the action.<\/p>\n

In the following examples, \u63a5 is used in this way as a simple action verb:<\/p>\n

\u6211\u8981\u63a5\u4e2a\u7535\u8bdd\u3002
W\u01d2 yào ji\u0113 gè diànhuà.
I’m going to take a phone call.<\/p>\n

\u8bf7\u63a5\u4e00\u4e0b\u7535\u8bdd\u3002
Q\u01d0ng ji\u0113 y\u012bxià diànhuà.
Please answer the phone.<\/p>\n

\u6ca1\u4eba\u63a5\u3002
Méi rén ji\u0113.
No-one’s answering.<\/p>\n

As you can see, whilst the action of answering or receiving a phone call is described, the result of the action isn’t made totally clear.<\/p>\n

\u63a5 can also mean ‘receive’ in the sense of meeting someone, especially at a particular time and place. Have a look at some examples:<\/p>\n

\u4f60\u53ef\u4ee5\u6765\u673a\u573a\u63a5\u6211\u5417\uff1f
N\u01d0 k\u011by\u01d0 lái j\u012bch\u01ceng ji\u0113 w\u01d2 ma?
Can you come to the airport and meet me?<\/p>\n

\u4e0d\u7528\u63a5\u6211\u3002
Bùyòng ji\u0113 w\u01d2.
There’s no need to come and meet me.<\/p>\n

\u6211\u6ca1\u6709\u53bb\u63a5\u4ed6\u3002
W\u01d2 méiy\u01d2u qù ji\u0113 t\u0101.
I didn’t go to meet him.<\/p>\n

Again, notice how the action itself is described, but the actual result of the action isn’t specified. The last sentence might seem like it does describe the result of \u63a5, but look closer. It actually says that no attempt to \u63a5 anyone was made, so there’s no result.<\/p>\n

To specify the result of what happens when you try to \u63a5 something or someone, you need \u5230. Let’s take a look.
\u63a5\u5230 (ji\u0113dào): to receive<\/p>\n

When you add \u5230 after \u63a5, you make it clear that the action was achieved or completed. \u5230 is the result of trying to \u63a5 something. You may know that \u5230 means ‘arrive’, and this sort of makes sense here: our action of trying to \u63a5 “arrived” at its target destination.<\/p>\n

Many verbs in Chinese work in this way; on their own they don’t specify the result, but adding \u5230 (or one of a range of other result complements) makes the action complete.<\/p>\n

Have a look at some examples with \u63a5\u5230:<\/p>\n

\u6211\u4eec\u8fd8\u80fd\u63a5\u5230\u4ed6\u4eec\u5417\uff1f
W\u01d2men hái néng ji\u0113 dào t\u0101men ma?
We will still be able to meet them?<\/p>\n

\u4f60\u63a5\u5230\u7535\u8bdd\u4e86\u5417\uff1f
N\u01d0 ji\u0113 dào diànhuàle ma?
Did you manage to answer the phone?<\/p>\n

\u6211\u6ca1\u6709\u63a5\u5230\u7535\u8bdd\u3002
W\u01d2 méiy\u01d2u ji\u0113 dào diànhuà.
I didn’t manage to answer the phone.<\/p>\n

\u6211\u5728\u673a\u573a\u6ca1\u6709\u63a5\u5230\u4ed6\u3002
W\u01d2 zài j\u012bch\u01ceng méiy\u01d2u ji\u0113 dào t\u0101.
I didn’t manage to meet him at the airport.<\/p>\n

\u6211\u5728\u706b\u8f66\u7ad9\u63a5\u5230\u4ed6\u4e86\u3002
W\u01d2 zài hu\u01d2ch\u0113 zhàn ji\u0113 dào t\u0101le.
I managed to meet him at the train station.<\/p>\n

The examples have been translated into English with ‘manage to’. This is a little unwieldy, but makes the meaning of \u63a5\u5230 clearer.<\/p>\n

Now some examples directly comparing \u63a5 with \u63a5\u5230:<\/p>\n

\u6211\u6ca1\u6709\u63a5\u5230\u7535\u8bdd\u3002
W\u01d2 méiy\u01d2u ji\u0113 dào diànhuà.
I didn’t answer the phone [because I was unable to].<\/p>\n

\u6211\u6ca1\u6709\u63a5\u7535\u8bdd\u3002
W\u01d2 méiy\u01d2u ji\u0113 diànhuà.
I didn’t answer the phone [because I didn’t try to].<\/p>\n

This has been a short taster of result complements in Chinese grammar. Hopefully it’s made \u63a5 and \u63a5\u5230 a little clearer for you, and given you an idea of how result complements work. If you have any questions, fire away in the comments.
<\/div>\n