{"id":26396,"date":"2020-05-20T05:02:37","date_gmt":"2020-05-20T05:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.translationsingapore.com\/zh\/?p=26396"},"modified":"2020-12-15T04:49:44","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T04:49:44","slug":"english-chinese-what-sets-them-apart-part-4-back-to-basics-words-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/translationsingapore.com\/zh\/english-chinese-what-sets-them-apart-part-4-back-to-basics-words-2\/","title":{"rendered":"English & Chinese: What Sets Them Apart? PART 4 \u2013 Back to Basics: Words"},"content":{"rendered":"

Throughout the articles in this series, we have looked at the basics of English and Chinese, specifically the characteristics of each language in both writing and speech, as well as how sentences are formed in these two languages. Follow us in this bonus article as we delve deeper into our comparison of the two most popular languages in the world when we take a look at the different types of words (or word classes) that are used in both English and Chinese.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Word Classes<\/u><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Simply put, a word class refers to a category of words that have a similar form or function, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc. Although English consists of roughly 10 word classes that overlap with the 11 word classes in Chinese, both languages possess their own unique word classes as shown below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    <\/td>\nEnglish<\/strong><\/td>\nChinese<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    <\/td>\nWord Class<\/strong><\/td>\nExamples<\/strong><\/td>\n\u8bcd\u7c7b<\/strong><\/td>\n\u4f8b\u5b50<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    1.<\/td>\nNoun<\/td>\nSun, moon, dog, car<\/td>\n\u540d\u8bcd<\/td>\n\u592a\u9633\uff0c\u6708\u4eae\uff0c\u72d7\uff0c\u8f66<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    2.<\/td>\nPronoun<\/td>\nHe, she, I, you<\/td>\n\u4ee3\u8bcd<\/td>\n\u4f60\uff0c\u6211\uff0c\u4ed6\/\u5979<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    3.<\/td>\nVerb<\/td>\nEat, moves, lives, sleeps<\/td>\n\u52a8\u8bcd<\/td>\n\u5403\uff0c\u559d\uff0c\u7761\u89c9\uff0c\u751f\u6d3b<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    4.<\/td>\nAdjective<\/td>\nBeautiful, hot, cold, sunny<\/td>\n\u5f62\u5bb9\u8bcd<\/td>\n\u7f8e\u4e3d\uff0c\u70ed\uff0c\u51b7\uff0c\u6674\u6717<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    5.<\/td>\nAdverb<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nBeautifully, happily, quickly<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n\u526f\u8bcd<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n\u7ecf\u5e38\uff0c\u4e00\u76f4\uff0c\u5ffd\u7136<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    6.<\/td>\nPreposition<\/td>\nOn, below, in, out<\/td>\n\u4ecb\u8bcd<\/td>\n\u5728\u2026\u4e0a\/\u4e0b\uff0c\u4ece\u2026\u5f00\u59cb<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    7.<\/td>\nNumeral<\/td>\nFirst, second, third<\/td>\n\u6570\u8bcd<\/td>\n\u4e00\uff0c\u4e8c\uff0c\u4e09<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    8.<\/td>\nConjunction<\/td>\nAnd, but, or, although<\/td>\n\u8fde\u8bcd<\/td>\n\u4f46\u662f\uff0c\u56e0\u4e3a<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    9.<\/td>\nInterjection<\/td>\nOh, ouch, aha<\/td>\n\u53f9\u8bcd<\/td>\n\u554a\uff0c\u561b\uff0c\u54e6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    10.<\/td>\nArticle<\/strong><\/td>\nA, an, the,<\/td>\n\u91cf\u8bcd<\/strong>
    \n(Classifier)<\/strong><\/td>\n    		\u672c\uff0c\u8f86\uff0c\u74f6\uff0c\u676f\uff0c\u5f20\uff0c\u652f<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    11.<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n\u52a9\u8bcd<\/strong> (Particle)<\/strong><\/td>\n\u7740\uff0c\u4e86\uff0c\u8fc7\uff0c\u7684<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Compared to the Chinese language, English has a word class that is unique: articles. They are a class of words that are used to indicate whether a noun is specific or general, e.g. \u201cIt is a<\/em> car.\u201d v. \u201cIt is the<\/em> car.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Similarly, while Chinese does not make use of articles, it has two unique word classes that are not found in English: Classifiers (\u91cf\u8bcd) and particles (\u52a9\u8bcd). Unlike English, classifiers are inserted between a number and a noun when describing a quantity in Chinese:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    A book, 2 cars, 3 houses<\/span><\/td>\n\u4e00\u672c<\/strong>\u4e66\uff0c\u4e24\u8f86<\/strong>\u8f66\uff0c\u4e09\u680b<\/strong>\u623f\u5b50<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Particles are words that serve a grammatical function but do not fit into the main speech. While English also has particles (e.g. to <\/strong>fly), these words are usually words from existing word classes. In contrast, Chinese particles are words that are used specifically to express how actions are related to the flow of time, or how different components of a sentence relate to each other:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
    He is eating lunch.<\/span><\/td>\n\u4ed6\u6b63\u5403\u7740<\/strong>\u5348\u996d\u3002<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    He has eaten lunch.<\/span><\/td>\n\u4ed6\u5403\u4e86<\/strong>\u5348\u996d\u3002<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    As shown above, the verb \u201cto eat\u201d in English has been conjugated to \u201cis eating\u201d and \u201chas eaten\u201d to indicate when the action is taking place. However, as Chinese words do not change their form, the Chinese word for \u201ceat\u201d, \u201c\u5403 (ch\u012b)\u201d, remains unchanged. Instead, particles such as \u201c\u7740(zh\u00e8)\u201d and \u201c\u4e86(l\u00e8)\u201d are used to show tense.<\/p>\n

    Apart from the word classes that are unique to each language, perhaps the biggest difference between the two languages in terms of word classes is in the way adverbs\u2014words that describe actions\u2014are used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
    1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He left the room quickly<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/td>\n\u4ed6\u79bb\u5f00\u623f\u95f4\u65f6\u53bb\u5f97\u5306\u5306<\/span>\u3002<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He quickly<\/span><\/strong> left the room.<\/span><\/td>\n\u4ed6\u5306\u5306\u5730<\/span><\/strong>\u79bb\u5f00\u623f\u95f4\u3002<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Word order is more flexible in English. Hence, the adverb \u201cquickly\u201d can be placed before or after the verb (action word) without affecting the nature of the word itself. However, as word order is stricter in Chinese, adverbs generally have to be placed before the verb. In example 2, the corresponding adverb for \u201cquickly\u201d, \u201c\u5306\u5306\u201d (c\u014dngc\u014dng), is used correctly as an adverb. When placed after the verb, the word becomes an adjective instead, illustrating the strict position that adverbs have in general in Chinese.<\/p>\n

    Furthermore, English adverbs far outnumber Chinese adverbs. For every English adjective, a corresponding adverb can be formed by changing its form, e.g. happy\u00e0happily, beautiful\u00e0beautifully, etc. In contrast, as Chinese words are unable to change their form, the number of adverbs available is limited to words that describe frequency, range, etc.<\/p>\n

    Despite the seeming similarities between English and Chinese, there are still significant differences in terms of the word classes each languages possesses which has to be taken into account when translating between the two.<\/p>\n

    Find out more about how Lingua Technologies can better support your translation requirements not just in English and Chinese, but also in a wide range of languages ranging from Asian, European to Middle Eastern and Nordic languages. Visit https:\/\/translationsingapore.com\/zh\/<\/a> or send your enquiries to inquiry@translationsingapore.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Throughout the articles in this series, we have looked at the basics of English and Chinese, specifically the characteristics of each language in both writing and speech, as well as how sentences are formed in these two languages. Follow us in this bonus article as we delve deeper into our comparison of the two most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27389,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/translationsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26396"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/translationsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/translationsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/translationsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/translationsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26396"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/translationsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28547,"href":"https:\/\/translationsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26396\/revisions\/28547"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/translationsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/translationsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/translationsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/translationsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}