II. Some distinctive features of Chinese

9. Actions and events generally follow a temporal/chronological sequence, that is, in a "first

happened, first mentioned" fashion. It is different from English, in which elements indicating location, means, purpose, etc. are usually after the predicative Verb Phrase. As a matter of fact,

it is very easy to follow this principle of "temporal sequence" logically by looking at these examples:

16) T` ch1ngch1ng z3i t{sh[gu2n y-ng di3nn2o xi6x*n

¬ ­ ®

he often at the library use computer write letter

He often writes letters with a computer at the library.

In Sentence 16), we can say that one has to be physically present at the library before doing anything, so the phrase "at the library" ¬ is mentioned first. Then he/she must use some sort of device or instrument as a means to do something, thus the phrase "use compute" ­ comes next. Last, the main Verb Phrase specifies the action "write letters" ® .

17) D3w7i m6iti`n zu-ch4 q] xu5xi3o sh3ngk7

¬ ­ ®

David everyday take bus to go to school to have class

David goes to school by bus to have class everyday.

By the same token, Sentence 17) tells by what means (¬ "taking the bus") David goes to where ( ­ "to school") to do what (® "have class") in a chronological order. If the sequence is altered, the meaning may differ. Compare these two sentences:

18) D3w7I zu-ch4 q] xu5xi3o

¬ ­

David take bus to go to school

David goes to school by bus.

19. D3w7i q] xu5xi3o zu-ch4

¬ ­

David go to school to take bus

David goes to school to take the bus.

Knowing this principle of "temporal sequence" will not only help learning the syntactic structure such as Serial Verbs, but also better understand other grammar features like Resultative Complement, Directional Complement, and Complex Sentences of cause and effect, purpose, hypothesis, condition, etc. and avoid mistakes influenced by the English word order.

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