Cornerstones for Learning the Chinese Language: Concepts, Rules, and Usages

by Zhou Xiaogeng

"Interesting", "practical" and "unique" are the right words for describing this grammar book. This book not only introduces the fundamental knowledge about the Chinese language but also, and more importantly, reveals the reasons behind the principles and rules, which helps learners to understand this language and apply the grammar rules well.

Contents

CHAPTER 1 Preparing to Start 1.1 A New Perspective 1.2 Chinese Language, Dialect, and Mandarin Chinese 1.3 Chinese Character, Simplified Character, and Traditional Character1.4 Pronunciation, Tone, and Pinyin 

CHAPTER 2 Secrets of Combination2.1 Concepts and Mechanisms2.2 Three Basic Types of Combining Processes2.3 Know More, Do More 

Chapter 3 Detailed Types of Combining Processes3.1 Concepts and Mechanisms3.2 Combining between Nouns3.3 Combining between Verbs3.4 Combining between Adjectives3.5 Combining between a Noun and an Adjective3.6 Combining between a Noun and a Verb3.7 Combining between a Verb and an Adverb3.8 Know More, Do More

Chapter 4 Multiple Combining Processes4.1 Concepts and Mechanisms4.2 Logical Relations and Combining Sequences4.3 Details and Skills4.4 Know More, Do More

Chapter 5 Structures and Gradations5.1 Intermissions5.2 Structure-Marking Words5.3 Relation-Marking Words5.4 Know More, Do More

Chapter 6 Words in Special Types6.1 Words as Affixes6.2 Words as Reduplication6.3 Words as Sounds Imitations6.4 Words as Abbreviations6.5 Chinese Idioms

Chapter 7 Quantities, Times, and Places7.1 To Describe Numbers and Quantities7.2 To Describe Times7.3 To Describe Places

Chapter 8: About Sentences8.1 Concepts and Mechanisms8.2 Consistency in Combining Principles and Rules

Chapter 9 To Make Comments and Descriptions9.1 Concepts and Mechanisms9.2 To Make Comments about Objects9.3 To Describe Properties of Objects9.4 To Describe Definitions9.5 To Make Comparisons and Conclusions

Chapter 10 To Describe Existence10.1 Concepts and Mechanisms10.2 To Describe Existence in General Statuses10.3 To Describe Existence in Specific Statuses

Chapter 11 To Describe Acts11.1 Concepts and Mechanisms11.2 To Describe Issuers and Acts11.3 To Describe Acts and Receivers11.4 To Describe Issuers, Acts, and Receivers11.5 Special Sentence Structures

Chapter 12 To Raise Yes or No12.1 Concepts and Mechanisms12.2 To Apply Interrogative Words12.3 To Apply Reduplicative Structures12.4 To Apply Independent Structures

Chapter 13 To Raise Ask for Details13.1 Concepts and Mechanisms13.2 To Inquire about Unknown People13.3 To Inquire about Unknown Things13.4 To Inquire about Unknown Acts13.5 To Inquire about Unknown Places13.6 To Inquire about Specific Unknown Objects13.7 To Inquire about Unknown Statuses13.8 To Inquire about Unknown Reasons13.9 To Inquire about Unknown Quantities13.10 To Inquire about Unknown Times13.11 Know More, Do More

Chapter 14 Past, Present, and Future14.1 Concepts and Mechanisms14.2 Tense of Present Indefinite14.3 Tense of Past Indefinite14.4 Tense of Future Indefinite14.5 Tense of Present Continuous14.6 Tense of Past Continuous14.7 Tense of Future Continuous14.8 Tense of Present Perfect14.9 Tense of Past Perfect14.10 Tense of Future Perfect14.11 Know More, Do More

Chapter 15 Start, End, and Span15.1 Concepts and Mechanisms15.2 To Describe a Specific Point15.3 To Describe a Span15.4 Know More, Do More

Chapter 16 Connection and Integration16.1 Concepts and Mechanisms16.2 To Specify Coordinating Relationships16.3 To Specify Progressive Relationships16.4 To Specify Adversative Relationships16.5 To Specify Conditional Relationships16.6 To Specify Cause-and-Effect Relationships16.7 To Specify Objective Relationships16.8 To Apply Independent Reminding Words16.9 Know More, Do More

308 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2014

About the author

I once heard that everyone carries a mission when he or she comes to this world.

I realized something important: to help learners radically increase efficiency in the learning process, they first needed to understand this language. That is, they needed to know the specific way of thinking beneath the surface and to catch the rationalities in rules and the ways in which to apply them. It is similar to how we learn math: we always focus on the philosophies and approaches, and we never try to memorize the equations and the results.

Most people find great pleasure in thinking and creating in their own way, but it also calls for more hard work to make any progress. In the coming days, I will do just like many others would do with their own dreams. I want to fulfill my mission well: to create good things for learners so that they can learn this ancient and vibrant language in a much easier and interesting way.