This book is a collection of seven articles published in the past decade by the author. These articles are concerned with various issues including possessor raising, null subject, null object, pied-piping in logical form, focus marker, question formation, and adverbial reflexive. Each article has made a contribution to its topic. More importantly, these seven articles, taken as a whole, also constitute a window through which readers may look at the issues from a formal syntactic perspective and get a sense as how works have been conducted in the framework concerned, how arguments have been constructed, and how justifications have been provided in the field.

This book explores the system of patterns in the visual form of traditional and simplified Chinese characters. It proposes that character grammar is rich and coherent, this grammar is mentally active, and it is grounded in the same cognitive systems underlying the morphology and phonology of spoken and signed languages.

Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar Workbook is a book of exercises and language tasks for all learners of Mandarin Chinese. Divided into two sections, the Workbook initially provides exercises based on essential grammatical structures, and moves on to practise everyday functions such as making introductions, apologizing and expressing needs. With a comprehensive answer key at the back to enable students to check on their progress, main features include: exercises graded according to level of difficulty cross-referencing to the related Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar topical exercises that develop students' vocabulary base. Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar Workbook is ideal for all learners of Mandarin Chinese, from beginner to intermediate and advanced students. It can be used both independently and alongside the Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar.

This reference grammar provides, for the first time, a description of the grammar of Mandarin Chinese, the official spoken language of China and Taiwan, in functional terms, focusing on the role and meanings of word-level and sentence-level structures in actual conversations.

Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide, third edition, is an innovative reference guide to Mandarin Chinese, combining traditional and function-based grammar in a single volume. The Grammar is divided into two parts. Part A covers traditional grammar points such as phrase order, and the structure of noun phrases and verb phrases. Part B is carefully organized around language functions and situations such as: • Asking questions • Communication strategies • Making comparisons • Giving orders and making requests • Expressing apologies, regrets, and sympathy The two parts of the Grammar are closely linked by extensive cross-references, providing a grammatical and functional perspective on many patterns. The Grammar is coordinated with the Workbook, which provides grammar-focused and situation-focused exercises to facilitate practice and reinforce language use. All grammar points and functions are richly illustrated with examples presented in simplified and traditional characters and Pinyin romanization, with a strong emphasis on contemporary usage. This third edition includes new sections on character structure, social media, speaker perspective, and more, as well as updated illustrative sentences and an expanded index. Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar is ideal for all learners of Mandarin Chinese, from beginner to intermediate and advanced students.

A Reference Grammar of Chinese is a comprehensive and up-to-date guide to the linguistic structure of Chinese, covering all of the important linguistic features of the language and incorporating insights gained from research in Chinese linguistics over the past thirty years. With contributions from twenty-two leading Chinese linguists, this authoritative guide uses large-scale corpora to provide authentic examples based on actual language use. The accompanying online example databases ensure that a wide range of exemplars are readily available and also allow for new usages to be updated. This design offers a new paradigm for a reference grammar where generalizations can be cross-checked with additional examples and also provide resources for both linguistic studies and language learning. Featuring bilingual term lists, this reference grammar helps readers to access relevant literature in both English and Chinese and is an invaluable reference for learners, teachers and researchers in Chinese linguistics and language processing.

The Chinese Grammar Wiki began in 2012 as a modest website with a bold vision: to record all of the grammar structures in the Chinese language, categorize them by difficulty level, explain each one in clear, jargon-free English, and link them all together. Initially the wiki was a resource exclusively for the clients of AllSet Learning's Shanghai-based learning consultancy. But five years later, its popularity among learners has exploded, and the Chinese Grammar Wiki has become the #1 online resource for Chinese grammar among independent learners and college students alike.This book is the third major volume, covering all essential grammar points that an upper intermediate (B2) learner needs to master. Together with the Elementary and Intermediate volumes, the series comprises the most complete single resource on Chinese grammar in print.This volume features:- 160 Upper Intermediate (B2)) grammar points- 200+ separate grammar structures- 1,700+ examples (with pinyin and English translation)- Extensive interlinking of similar grammar points- Bilingual glossary of grammar terms- Learner-centric design

The functional perspective on Chinese syntax has yielded various new achievements since its introduction to Chinese linguistics in the 1980s. This two-volume book is one of the earliest and most influential works to study the Chinese language using functional grammar. With local Beijing vernacular (Pekingese) as a basis, the information structure and focus structure of the Chinese language are systematically examined. By using written works and recordings from Beijingers, the authors discuss topics such as the relationship between word order and focus, and the distinction between normal focus and contrastive focus. In addition, the authors also subject the reference and grammatical categories of the Chinese language to a functional scrutiny while discussion of word classes and their functions creatively combines modern linguistic theories and traditional Chinese linguistic theories. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Chinese linguistics and linguistics in general.

Learning Chinese can be frustrating and difficult, partly because it's very different from European languages. Following a teacher, textbook or language course is not enough. They show you the characters, words and grammar you need to become proficient in Chinese, but they don't teach you how to learn them! Regardless of what program you're in (if any), you need to take responsibility for your own learning. If you don't, you will miss many important things that aren't included in the course you're taking. If you study on your own, you need to be even more aware of what you need to do, what you're doing at the moment and the difference between them. Here are some of the questions I have asked and have since been asked many times by students: How do I learn characters efficiently? How do I get the most out of my course or teacher? Which are the best learning tools and resources? How can I become fluent in Mandarin? How can I improve my pronunciation? How do I learn successfully on my own? How can I motivate myself to study more? How can I fit learning Chinese into a busy schedule? The answers I've found to these questions and many others form the core of this book. It took eight years of learning, researching, teaching and writing to figure these things out. Not everybody has the time to do that! I can't go back in time and help myself learn in a better way, but I can help you! This book is meant for normal students and independent language learners alike. While it covers all major areas of learning, you won't learn Chinese just by reading this book. It's like when someone on TV teaches you how to cook: you won't get to eat the delicious dish just by watching the program; you have to do the cooking yourself. That's true for this book as well. When you apply what you learn, it will boost your learning, making every hour you spend count for more, but you still have to do the learning yourself. This is what a few readers have said about the book: "The book had me nodding at a heap of things I'd learnt the hard way, wishing I knew them when I started, as well as highlighting areas that I'm currently missing in my study." - Geoff van der Meer, VP engineering "This publication is like a bible for anyone serious about Chinese proficiency. It's easy for anyone to read and written with scientific precision." - Zachary Danz, foreign teacher, children's theatre artist About me I started learning Chinese when I was 23 (that's more than eight years ago now) and have since studied in many different situations, including serious immersion programs abroad, high-intensity programs in Sweden, online courses, as well as on the side while working or studying other things. I have also successfully used my Chinese in a graduate program for teaching Chinese as a second language, taught entirely in Chinese mostly for native speakers (the Graduate Institute for Teaching Chinese as a Second Language at National Taiwan Normal University). All these parts have contributed to my website, Hacking Chinese, where I write regularly about how to learn Mandarin.

Study guide for students of Chinese. Explains grammatical terms in Chinese and shows how they relate to English grammar.