We have already explained the use of °khau-°i, nung-keu°, and we°. There are other ways of expressing the possibility and impossibility of doing things in Chinese. For instance one way is by the addition of tuh le or ’veh le after the verb. Thus: Dok-tuh-le (???) means “Able to read.” Dok-’veh-le (???) means “Unable to read it.” Many verbs of one character admit of this construction. Thus: Wo°-tuh-le means “Able to speak.” Wo°-’veh-le means “Unable to speak.” Tsoo°-tuh-le (???), “Able to do.” Tsoo°-’veh-le (???), “Unable to do.”

Verbs made up of two characters do not take tuh-le and ’veh-le after them. Thus we do not hear °hyau-tuh-’veh-le for “Unable to know,” but ’veh we° °hyau-tuh (????).

The literal meaning of tuh-le is “Obtain, come,” and the literal meaning of ’veh-le is “Not come.”

We also have the use of tuh-kuh after verbs, expressing possibility, and ’veh-tuh, expressing impossibility. Thus we have tsoo°-tuh-kuh (???), meaning “it is possible to do a thing,” and tsoo°-’veh-tuh (???), meaning “it is impossible to do a thing.” With verbs of physical action, we have tuh-°doong (??) and ’veh-°doong (??) used after the verb implying possibility and impossibility. Thus we have °tseu-tuh-°doong (???), meaning “I have the physical ability to walk,” and °tseu-’veh-°doong (???), meaning “I have not the physical ability to walk.” In the same way we have tsoo°-tuh-°doong (???) and tsoo°-’veh-°doong (???). ’Veh-°doong literally means “Not move.”

Strange to say we have °zoo-’veh-°doong (???), meaning “I have not the physical ability to sit up,” and °zoo-tuh-°doong (???), meaning “I have the physical ability to sit up.”

°Ma-tuh-°doong (???) means “Possible to buy.” °Ma-’veh-°doong (???) means “Impossible to buy.”

With verbs of hearing and seeing impossibility is expressed in still another way. Thus we have khoen°-tuh-kyien° (???), meaning “It is possible to see,” and khoen°-’veh-kyien° (???) meaning “It is impossible to see it.” Literally translated these expressions are “See, obtain, behold,” and “See, not behold.” We also have khoen°-tuh-tsheh (???), meaning to see a thing clearly. Literally “See, obtain, come forth,” and khoen°-’veh-tsheh (???), meaning not to be able to see, or literally “See, not come forth.”

In the same way we have thing-tuh-tsheh (???) and thing-’veh-tsheh (???) in regard to hearing. Instead of thing-tuh-kyien° and thing-’veh-kyien° we have thing-tuh-dzak (???) and thing-’veh-dzak (???). Literally “Hear, obtain” and “Hear, not obtain.”

We have already explained the use of °hau after verbs expressing completed action. We also have other words used much in the same way. Thus dok-°hau-tse (???), dok-wen-tse (???) or dok-°ba-tse (???) all mean the same thing. The verb wen means “to finish.” Accordingly in asking a question tsoo°-°hau-meh (???), tsoo°-wen-meh (???) and tsoo°-°ba-meh (???), all mean “Have you finished it?”

Verbal nouns are often formed by the addition of deu (?) or fah (?) after the verb. Thus tsoo°-deu (??) or tsoo°-fah (??) means the manner of doing a thing.

VOCABULARY

• To move, to excite, °doong ?.
• To hear, thing (?). Heard, thing-kyien° ??
• To knock, to strike, khau ?.
• To finish, wen ?.

Kan (?) is the classifier used with rooms.

• A room, ih kan ??.
• A bed room, ih kan vaung-kan ????.
• A guest room, ih kan khak-daung-kan ?????.
• An office, ih kan °sia-z°-kan ?????.
• A shroff’s room, ih kan tsang°-vaung-kan ?????.
• A study, ih kan su-vaung ????.
• A dining room, ih kan chuh-van°-kan ?????.
• A kitchen, ih kan sau-van°-kan ????? or dzu-vaung ?? or tsau°-kan ??.
• All, °loong-°tsoong ?? or koong°-°tsoong ??.
• All in general, most, da-ke ??.
• Few, °sau ?.
• Each, °me ?.
• Every, kauh ?.
• Other, bih ?.
• High, kau ?.
• Low, ti ?.
• Broad, khweh ?.
• Narrow, ‘ah ?.
• Deep, sung ?.
• Shallow, °tshien ?
• Too (denoting excess), thuh ?.
• Above, °zaung-deu ??.
• Below, °‘au-deu ??, °‘au-°ti-deu ??]?, °‘au-°ti ??.
• Under, beneath, °ti-°‘au ??.
• Outside, nga°-deu ??.
• After, °‘eu ?.
• Behind, °‘eu-°ti ??, °‘eu-°ti-deu, ??? °‘eu-deu ??.
• Before, zien ?, zien-deu ??.
• Earth, di° ? or di°-jeu ??.

EXERCISES

(Translate into English)

• (1) °Zaung-deu °yeu thien, °‘au-deu °yeu di°.
• (2) °Yeu too-hau° z° °ngoo °sia-’veh-le.
• (3) Noong° we°-sa°-°lau °tseu le man°-le-°si? Iung-we° °ngoo °tseu ’veh-°doong °lau.
• (4) Tsoong-kok wo° zak-zen nyung wo° le kwha° meh, °ngoo thing-’veh-tsheh.
• (5) °Yeu-kuh su °ngoo dok ’veh le.
• (6) Di°-zak vaung-°ts °kyi-hau° kau, °kyi-hau° kwheh?
• (7) Di°-zak vaung-°ts °yeu °kyi kan?
• (8) °Yeu ih kan khak-daung, ih kan °sia-z°-kan, ih kan chuh-van°-kan, °lau s° kan vaung-kan.
• (9) Di°-kuh meh-z° °yeu sa° yoong°-deu va? ’M-sa° yoong°-deu.
• (10) Sa° nyung la° khau mung? °Ngoo ’veh zung thing-kyien° °yeu sa° nyung la° khau mung.
• (11) Di° diau loo° thuh ‘ah, °ting °hau noong° °tseu la° zien-deu, °ngoo °tseu la° °‘eu-deu.
• (12) °Tshing khak-nyung khak-daung °li °zoo.
• (13) Dzoong °Zaung-°he tau° °tsh di° °yeu °kyi-hau° loo°?
• (14) Vaung-°ts nga°-deu °z °lang °tien, vaung-°ts °li-hyang° °z nyih °tien.
• (15) Di°-diau ‘oo °yeu-kuh di°-faung °z sung °tien, °yeu-kuh di°-faung °z °tshien °tien.
• (16) Noong° na°-nung °hyau-tuh di° tsaung z°-thi? Iung-we° °ngoo thing-tuh °yeu nyung wo° °lau.
• (17) Ze-voong tsoo° le ’veh °hau, °loong-°tsoong kuh i-zaung thuh doo°.
• (18) Kauh nyung °yeu kauh nyung kuh z°-°thi.

• (?) ????, ????.
• (?) ????????.
• (?) ?????????? ???????.
• (?) ??????????, ????.
• (?) ???????.
• (?) ???????, ???.
• (?) ???????.
• (?) ?????, ?????, ?????, ?????.
• (?) ?????????? ????.
• (?) ?????? ???????????.
• (??) ?????, ???????, ?????.
• (??) ???????.
• (??) ???????????
• (??) ???????, ???????
• (??) ??????????, ???????.
• (??) ?????????? ?????????.
• (??) ??????, ???????.
• (??) ????????.

(Translate into Chinese)

• (1) Where is your teacher? He is in the study writing.
• (2) Did you tell the table boy to bring the tea?
• (3) If the carpenter does not make it well, I shall call another man.
• (4) This manner of doing it is bad; I want you to do it better.
• (5) I walked to Shanghai, and then I could walk no further.
• (6) Then what did you do? I called a ricsha and came back.
• (7) Is the Master in? He has gone out.
• (8) Three days ago I went to see the pagoda.
• (9) There is water beneath the earth.
• (10) The cat is under the chair.
• (11) When I have finished reading the book, I want to learn to write characters.
• (12) Tell him to come inside.
• (13) This table is too low; I cannot write characters on it.
• (14) May I come in? Come right in.

• (?) ????????? ???????.
• (?) ???, ???????
• (?) ????????, ???????.
• (?) ???????, ???????.
• (?) ???????????.
• (?) ???????? ?????????.
• (?) ?????? ???.
• (?) ??????????.
• (?) ?????.
• (?) ??????.
• (??) ?????????.
• (??) ??????.
• (??) ??????, ????.
• (??) ??????? ????.

Notes.

• (1) In regard to °sau, meaning ”few,” it should be noted that it never occurs before a noun. If you wish to say a few men the idiomatic expression would be °yeu ’veh too °kyi-kuh nyung (??????) or m-meh °kyi-hau° nyung (?????). The men are few would be nyung °sau (??). °Sau is often used to qualify verbs. Thus we have °sau dok kuh, meaning “to read less.”
• (2) As already pointed out in a previous lesson what correspond to prepositions in English are really postpositions in Chinese, as they come after the nouns instead of before them. When used as adverbs, however, they generally precede the verbs. Thus we have °li-hyang° °zoo for “Sit inside,” °zaung-deu °zoo (???) for “take a higher seat.” This is the usual polite phrase said to a guest when he enters your guest room. He will take a seat near the door, and you ask him “to be seated higher.”
• (3) The first sentence of the First Exercise is really an oath, and is used when one is calling Heaven and Earth to witness that his words are true.
• (4) Note the impersonal use of °yeu in the second sentence of the First Exercise. Literally it is “There are many characters.”
• (5) In the seventh sentence of the Second Exercise you have the usual form of inquiring whether the gentleman you wish to see is at home. You say Sien-sang leh-la° va°? “is the master there?” The answer is leh-la°, if he is at home, meaning “He is there.” If he is not at home, the answer may be tsheh chi° la°, “he has gone out,” or ’veh leh-la°, “he is not there.”