Modal verbs

Modal verbs express obligation, necessity, permission, possibility, ability, desire, admonition or daring. Note that: (1) they can precede any type of verb including attitudinal and intentional verbs, though they occur less commonly with
shì [to be] or
ynu [to have]; (2) they are almost never preceded by another verb (see note below); (3) they are never immediately followed by a noun or pronoun object (though

yào [want] can be used as a full verb when it may take an object).

As we will see later (18.3.1), sentences with modal verbs are topic-comment rather than subject-predicate sentences.

Note: Modal verbs may be preceded by verbs expressing hope or aspiration, such as
 xcwàng,
 pànwàng,
 klwàng, etc.

 ! Wn xCwàng néng (lit. I hope can again see polite:you)

 !5 zài jiàn dào nín. I hope to see you again.

See also note on
 gaoxìng [happy] at 15.3.2 below.

(1)
 Ycnggai or, more colloquially,
gai or
dli indicate obliga-tion ([ought to], [should], [have to]):

 ! Nm yCnggAi qù (lit. you should go sleep p)

 5 shuìjiào le! You ought to go to bed./It]s time you went to bed.

 ! Nm bù yCnggAi (lit. you not should at here

inhale-
 zài zhèr smoke) You shouldn]t smoke here.

/
5 chduyan/xcyan.

/ Wn gAi/ (lit. I should leave p)

 5 dLi znu le. I must be off.

117

 Nmde xcn (lit. your new watch should

 shnubiko dLi report-tax) You will have to

5 bàoshuì. declare your new watch

[at customs].

 ! Lwkè ddu dLi (lit. passengers all should

 ! tiánxil zhèi yll-write this mw form)

5 zhang bikogé. All passengers should yll in this form.

(2)
 Bìxe conveys necessity or compulsion ([must]):

 ! Nm bìxE qù (lit. you must go hit-needle)

5 dkzhbn. You must go and have an

injection.

 !" Nm bìxE huídá (lit. you must answer my

 !5 wnde wèntí. question) You must answer my question.

Note:
 Bìxe may be considered an adverb. Like modal verbs it is placed before the verb, but it cannot be used in an afyrmative-negative form: *

 bìxe bù bìxe.

(3)
=Klym and
néng express permission ([may], [can]):

 !"/ Wn xiànzài kLyM/ (lit. I now may/can leave p p)

 !9 néng znu le ma? May I leave now?

 !/
Nm bù kLyM/néng (lit. you not may/can at here

 !"5 zài zhèr tíng chb. stop car p) You may not park your car here.

 /
Wn kLyM/néng (lit. I may/can look-look your

 ! kànkàn nmde jiàshm driving licence p) May I have

 !9 zhízhào ma? a look at your driving licence?

 /
 Wn kLyM/néng tí (lit. I may/can raise one mw

 !"9 yc gè wèntí ma? question) May I ask a question?

Modal and similar verbs

118 II Verbs

(4)
Huì indicates either possibility/probability ([may], [is likely to]):

 Jcntian huì (lit. today likely blow wind p)

 9 gua fbng ma? Is it likely to be windy today?

 ! Tamen (lit. they tomorrow not likely come)

 5 míngtian bù They won]t come tomorrow.

huì lái.

or, ability in the sense of an acquired skill (‘can’):

 Dkoyóu huì (lit. tourist-guide can speak

 5 shud Ycngyo. English) The tourist guide can speak English.

 Wn bù huì (lit. I not can play piano)

 5 tán gangqín. I cannot play the piano.

 ! Nm huì dk (lit. you can hit shadow-boxing p)

 9 tàijíquán ma? Can you do shadow-boxing?

(5)
Néng and
(
) néng(gòu) also convey ability but in the sense of physical strength or capability ([can]):

 Wo yc tian (lit. I one day able run ten miles

(
)
néng(gòu) pko road/way) I can walk/run ten

 !5 shí ycnglm lù. miles a day.

 ! Jcntian wn bù (lit. today I not can go on-shift)

(
)
néng(gòu) qù I can]t go to work today.

5 shàngban.

Note: In contrast to the potential complement,
(
) néng(gòu) tends to imply that personal attitude, capacity or judgement, rather than external circumstances, determine ability (or inability).

(6)
Xikng and
yào expresses wish or desire ([want], [would like to]):

 Wn xiKng mki (lit. I want buy some food and (
)
 (yc) xib shípmn drink) I]d like to buy some food

 5 hé ymnliào. and drink.

 Nm xiKng (lit. you want go visit factory p)

 qù canguan Do you want to go and visit

 9 gdngchkng ma? a factory?

 Ta yào xué (lit. s/he want learn drive-car)

 5 kai chb. S/he wants to take driving lessons.

119

 Ta yào zài (lit. she want at Guangzhou stay

 (
) Gukngzhdu dai two mw week) She wants to stay

 !5 likng gè lmbài. in Guangzhou for two weeks.

 Wn xiKng huàn (lit. I want change yve-hundred

 5 wobki yuán. yuan) I would like to change yve hundred yuan.

Note 1: The
yuán (or more colloquially
kuài) is the basic unit of Chinese currency. It is divided into 10
jiko (more colloquially
máo) and 100
fbn.

Note 2:
dai and
dai can be used interchangeably to mean ‘stay’.

However, in imperative sentences
yào and its negative form

 bù yào mean respectively admonition ([must]) and prohibi-tion ([don]t]):

 !8 Nm yào (lit. you must small-concern) xikoxcn! You must be careful!

 8 Bù yào dòng! (lit. not must move) Don]t move!

Note 1: With
yào in this sense the pronoun subject is normally present, but with
 bù yào it is optional.

Note 2:
=Yào may also be used by itself as a transitive verb to mean [want] or [need], when it takes a noun or pronoun object:

 3 Wn yào chá, I want tea, not coffee.

 !5 bù yào kafbi.

 !" Zuò chb qù zhm It takes only an hour

 !5 yào yc gè xikoshí. to go by car.

Bié can be used as an alternative to
 bù yào for [don]t]:

8 Bié dòng! Don]t move!

 8 Bié xiào wn! Don]t laugh at me!

 8 Bié jìn lái! Don]t come in!

(7)
 Yuànyi and
kln indicate willingness ([be willing]):

 ! Xiàozhkng (lit. headmaster willing retire)

5 yuànyi tuìxie. The headmaster is willing to retire.

 ! Ta bù yuànyi (lit. he not willing talk religion or

 ! tán zdngjiào politics) He is not willing to talk

5 huò zhèngzhì. about religion or politics.

Modal and similar verbs

120 II Verbs

 ! Jcnglm bù kLn (lit. manager not willing see me)

5 jiàn wn. The manager is not willing to see me.

 Ta kLn jiao (lit. she willing teach you p)

9 nm ma? Is she willing to teach you?

(8)
Gkn indicates either bravery or audacity ([dare]):

 ! Ta bù gKn (lit. he not dare jump enter water

 !5 tiào jìn in go) He did not dare to jump into shum li qù. the water.

 !8 Nm gKn (lit. you dare scold people) How dare mà rén! you use abusive language (to people)!

 !8 Shéi gKn (lit. who dare hit him) Who dares to dk ta! hit him! (i.e. nobody dares to hit him) 15.2.1 Modal verbs and adverbs of degree

Modal verbs do not generally take adverbial modiyers. However, adverbs of degree (e.g.
hln,
 fbicháng, etc.) naturally occur with

xikng [want] and
 yuànyi [be willing]:

 Wn hLn xiKng (lit. I very want go spend-holiday) I want

 5 qù dùjià. very much to go away for a holiday.

 Tamen (lit. they extremely willing help you)

 fBicháng yuànyi They are extremely willing to help

 5 bangzhù nm. you.

Also, negative expressions are regularly softened by the addition of

/
tài/dà [too]:

 ! Míngtian bù (lit. tomorrow not too likely fall-rain)

 5 dà huì xià yo. It is not too likely to rain tomorrow.

 ! Ta bù tài yuàn (lit. he not too willing support me)

 !5 yi zhcchí wn. He is not too willing to support me.

 ! Wn bù dà gkn (lit. I not too dare eat raw-oyster)

 5 chc shbng háo. I]m a bit of a coward when it comes to eating raw oysters.

15.2.2 Modal verbs and comparison

Comparisons can be expressed using modal verbs, with the [
bm + (pro)noun] phrase preceding the modal verb (see 7.2 for comparison structures):

121

 Nm bM wN (lit. you compare me can eat)

5 néng chc. You can eat more than I can.

 ! Ta bM wN huì (lit. she compare me able speak)

5 shudhuà. She can speak better than me.

 Ta bM shéi (lit. she compare anybody all willing

 ddu yuànyi help me) She is willing to help me

 5 bangzhù wn. more than anybody else.

In document 20125311147206509 (Page 131-136)