Lessons 3–4: Subjectless sentences and rhetorical questions

Subjectless sentences (verb + noun) and two kinds of rhetorical questions: 什么 and 不是……吗.

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着什么急？时间还早呢。

Zháo shénme jí? Shíjiān hái zǎo ne.

What's the rush? It's still early.

Explanation

Sentences without a subject: verb + noun. Chinese has some sentences with no subject, used (1) to talk about natural phenomena (刮风了, 下雨了, 没下雪); (2) to express wishes and blessings (祝你生日快乐！).

In the sentence “着什么急”, “什么” expresses a rhetorical question, showing displeasure or disagreement with something the other person has said.

“不是……吗” is a rhetorical question. A rhetorical question does not require an answer from the other person; the speaker knows perfectly well but asks on purpose, to emphasize an affirmative or negative tone, or to lead into what follows.

“啦” (有什么好事啦？) is a fusion of “了” and “啊”, and here it conveys a questioning tone.

Structure

1
动词名词 (không có chủ ngữ)
(1) Natural phenomena; (2) wishes and blessings.
- 刮风了。
  Guā fēng le.
  It's windy.
- 下雨了。
  Xià yǔ le.
  It's raining.
- 没下雪。
  Méi xià xuě.
  It hasn't snowed.
- 祝你生日快乐！
  Zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè!
  Happy birthday to you!
- 祝你新年快乐！
  Zhù nǐ xīnnián kuàilè!
  Happy New Year to you!
2
Vverb什么 (+ ……)？
“什么” expresses a rhetorical question, showing displeasure or disagreement with what the other person said.
- 着什么急？时间还早呢。
  Zháo shénme jí? Shíjiān hái zǎo ne.
  What's the rush? It's still early.
- 你笑什么？有什么可笑的？
  Nǐ xiào shénme? Yǒu shénme kě xiào de?
  What are you laughing at? What's so funny?
- 说什么？别说了，上课了。
  Shuō shénme? Bié shuō le, shàngkè le.
  What are you talking for? Stop talking, class has started.
3
不是……吗？
A rhetorical question that does not require an answer: the speaker knows perfectly well and asks for emphasis (the textbook notes: 我知道你是北京人 / 我知道你去了 / 我知道你不喜欢吃米饭).
- 你不是北京人吗？为什么不知道这个地方？
  Nǐ bú shì Běijīngrén ma? Wèishénme bù zhīdào zhège dìfang?
  Aren't you from Beijing? How come you don't know this place? (I know you're from Beijing.)
- 昨天你不是去了吗？为什么说不知道？
  Zuótiān nǐ bú shì qù le ma? Wèishénme shuō bù zhīdào?
  Didn't you already go yesterday? How can you say you don't know? (I know you went.)
- 你不是不喜欢吃米饭吗？
  Nǐ bú shì bù xǐhuan chī mǐfàn ma?
  Don't you dislike eating rice? (I know you don't like eating rice.)
4
啦 = 了啊
Here it conveys a questioning tone.
- 有什么好事啦？
  Yǒu shénme hǎoshì la?
  What good thing happened?

Practice

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