{"id":5172,"date":"2011-11-20T11:15:05","date_gmt":"2011-11-20T16:15:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=5172"},"modified":"2011-11-20T11:38:13","modified_gmt":"2011-11-20T16:38:13","slug":"the-b%c7%8e-construction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/the-b%c7%8e-construction\/","title":{"rendered":"The B\u01ce Construction (\u628a)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/the-b%c7%8e-construction\/ba\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5352\" aria-label=\"Ba\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-5352\"  alt=\"\" width=\"55\" height=\"51\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/07\/ba.gif\"><\/a>With few prepositions in the Chinese language, adding depth to your conversations is often difficult for non-native speakers. \u00a0That&#8217;s why learning the\u00a0b\u01ce\u00a0construction (\u628a) is a helpful way to improve your sentence formation and add grammatical complexity to your conversations. Instead of sticking to basic (and often boring) Subject-Verb-Object sentence patterns, the ba construction gives native English speakers something we&#8217;re used to: a bit more freedom in our sentence formation.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<strong>b\u01ce\u00a0construction<\/strong>\u00a0is essentially a light-verb construction, similar to a preposition. In a\u00a0b\u01ce\u00a0construction, the\u00a0object\u00a0of a verb is placed <em>after<\/em> the\u00a0function word\u00a0&#8220;\u628a (<em>b\u0103)&#8221;<\/em>, and the verb placed after the object, forming a\u00a0subject\u2013object\u2013verb\u00a0(SOV) sentence. This contradicts the more standard grammatical constructions of Chinese sentences that follows a pattern of subject-verb-object (SVO).<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Integrated Chinese Lesson 13 Chinese Grammar part 1.wmv\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Hq30zEBc2XY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0b\u01ce\u00a0construction is only used in certain contexts, generally those in which the verb expresses &#8220;disposal of&#8221;, or action upon\/in relation to a direct object. The direct object of a\u00a0<em>b\u01ce<\/em>\u00a0construction must meet certain requirements however. The object is usually a definite, meaning that it is specific and unique (as in phrases beginning with the equivalent of\u00a0<em>this<\/em>,\u00a0<em>that<\/em>,\u00a0<em>these<\/em>, or\u00a0<em>those<\/em>). For this to occur, both the speaker and the listener must be actively &#8220;aware&#8221; of the object in question (as it has an immediate relationship to both).<\/p>\n<p>Generally speaking, the ba construction highlights the object in question, making it the focus of the sentence. Ba is thus often used in relation to a previous discussion or past conversation, with implied meanings. When used properly, the ba construction allows speakers to elevate their grammatical complexity and enhance their expressive abilities. It is also very helpful when you need to emphasize the importance of the object in question.<\/p>\n<p>See the chart below for a more in-depth explanation and examples of how to use the ba construction:<span style=\"font-size: small\"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-size: 11px\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>[subject]<\/td>\n<td><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">[<em>b\u01ce<\/em>]<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">[direct object]<\/span><\/td>\n<td>[verb]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td><big>\u4f60<\/big><\/td>\n<td><big>\u628a<\/big><\/td>\n<td><big>\u4ed6\u7684\u610f\u601d<\/big><\/td>\n<td><big>\u8bb2\u51fa\u6765\u4e86<\/big><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"100px\"><a title=\"Pinyin\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pinyin\">Transcription<\/a><\/td>\n<td width=\"75px\">n\u012d<\/td>\n<td width=\"75px\">b\u0103<\/td>\n<td width=\"170px\">t\u0101-de y\u00ecsi<\/td>\n<td>ji\u0103ng-ch\u016b-l\u00e1i le<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><a title=\"Interlinear gloss\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Interlinear_gloss\">Gloss<\/a><\/td>\n<td>you<\/td>\n<td>BA<\/td>\n<td>he-<a title=\"Possessive case\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Possessive_case\">POSSESSIVE<\/a>\u00a0meaning<\/td>\n<td>speak-out-come CRS<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Translation<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"5\">You have explained what he meant. (Literally: &#8220;You have spoken out his meaning.&#8221;)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>*Charts courtesy of Charles Li and Sandra Thompson (1981)<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td><big>\u6211<\/big><\/td>\n<td><big>\u628a<\/big><\/td>\n<td><big>\u8fd9\u4e09\u672c\u4e66<\/big><\/td>\n<td><big>\u90fd\u5356\u4e86<\/big><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"100px\"><a title=\"Pinyin\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pinyin\">Transcription<\/a><\/td>\n<td width=\"75px\">w\u014f<\/td>\n<td width=\"75px\">b\u0103<\/td>\n<td width=\"160px\">zh\u00e8 s\u0101n-b\u0115n sh\u016b<\/td>\n<td>d\u014du m\u00e0i-le<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><a title=\"Interlinear gloss\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Interlinear_gloss\">Gloss<\/a><\/td>\n<td>I<\/td>\n<td>BA<\/td>\n<td>these three-<a title=\"Classifier (linguistics)\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Classifier_(linguistics)\">CL<\/a>\u00a0book<\/td>\n<td>all sell-<a title=\"Perfective aspect\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Perfective_aspect\">PERFECTIVE<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Translation<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"5\">I sold all three books.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: small\"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-size: 11px\">Follow Steve on twitter: @seeitbelieveit<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"55\" height=\"51\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/07\/ba.gif\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image tmp-hide-img\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><p>With few prepositions in the Chinese language, adding depth to your conversations is often difficult for non-native speakers. \u00a0That&#8217;s why learning the\u00a0b\u01ce\u00a0construction (\u628a) is a helpful way to improve your sentence formation and add grammatical complexity to your conversations. Instead of sticking to basic (and often boring) Subject-Verb-Object sentence patterns, the ba construction gives native&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/the-b%c7%8e-construction\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":5352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[36405,8894,6,36407,36406],"class_list":["post-5172","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-b-construction-","tag-chinese","tag-grammar","tag-sentence-construction","tag--prepositions"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5172"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5351,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5172\/revisions\/5351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}