II. Some distinctive features of Chinese

Another feature of SOV word order that Chinese language bears is that modifiers usually precede the Elements to be modified. Specifically, they are: Adverb preceding Verb, Adjective preceding Noun, Relative Clause preceding Noun, and Possessive preceding Noun. In English, another SVO Language,

it is possible to put a Modifier before a Noun or a Verb in some cases whereas to put a Modifier after a Noun or a Verb in other cases. Compare the following examples in both languages:

9) Adjective before Noun:

old man

l2o r5n

10) Adjective after Noun:

the department concerned

y0ugu`n b]m5n

11) Preposition after Noun:

the chair to the left

zu0bi`nde y&zi

12) Relative clause after Noun:

The characters that she wrote

t` xi6 de z*

13) Adverb before Verb:

They patiently waited, and waited.

t`men n3ix%nde d6ng a, d6ng a

14) Adverb after Verb:

Run quickly!

ku3i p2o

As shown in above, English modifiers (in bold) can either precede or follow the elements they modify, but their Chinese counterparts (in italic) can appear only before a Noun or a Verb. As modifiers, it is rare to see a Noun precede an Adjective, an Verb precede an Adverb, or a Relative Clause precede a Noun in a Chinese sentence in normal word order. This should be born in mind when learning Chinese.

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