Level 3 · Lesson 12

新的和旧的
The new one and the old one

这本是新的，那本是旧的。我有很多书。

的 turns an adjective into 'the … one', and 多 before a noun always needs 很.

听 · Listen

你的书很多
 李明 —  安娜，你有很多书！ 
Anna, you have a lot of books!  
 安娜 —  我的书很多，衣服很少。 
I have many books and few clothes.  
 李明 —  这本词典是新的吗？ 
Is this dictionary a new one?  
 安娜 —  这本是新的，那本是旧的。 
This one is new, that one is old.  
 李明 —  新的很好看。 
The new one is nice-looking.  
 安娜 —  旧的也不错。 
The old one isn't bad either.  
 李明 —  你有几件新衣服？ 
How many new clothes do you have?  
 安娜 —  一件新的，很多旧的。 
One new one, and lots of old ones.  

讲解 · Explanation

新的，旧的，大的，小的。

Put 的 after an adjective and the phrase becomes a noun: 新的 'the new one', 旧的 'the old one', 大的 'the big one'. The thing itself is simply left out, because both speakers know what is being talked about. It is the same 的 you met in 这本书是我的, where 我的 means 'mine'. English has to supply the word 'one'; in Chinese the 的 does that work by itself, and 是 needs exactly such a noun after it — 这本是新的, never 这本是新.

我有很多书。我的衣服很少。

多 and 少 behave differently from other adjectives. In front of a noun 多 cannot stand alone — 多书 is not Chinese — so 'many books' is 很多书, and 'many people' is 很多人. Learn 很多 as one word and you will never slip. 少 is normally used the other way round, after the noun, as an ordinary predicate: 我的衣服很少 'I have few clothes', 钱很少. Both work as predicates: 书很多, 钱很少.

新和旧，多和少，大和小。

Chinese adjectives come in tidy opposite pairs, and learning them two at a time doubles what you can say. Note that 新 / 旧 is for things only: a coat is 旧衣服, but a person who is old is never 旧. And 好看 is your first two-syllable adjective — as a predicate it works like any other (这件衣服很好看), but in front of a noun two syllables mean you must add 的: 好看的衣服.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
新	new	一件新衣服
旧	old, used (of things)	一本旧书; not used of people
多	many, much	很多书 before a noun; 书很多 after it
少	few, little	钱很少
好看	good-looking, pretty	好看的衣服 — two syllables, so 的

练习 · Practice

我有______书。 I have a lot of books.

这件是新的，那件是______。 This one is new, that one is old.

那件衣服很______。 That piece of clothing is very pretty.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'That dictionary is an old one.'

新、旧、多、少、好看 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

我有很多书。这本是新的，那本是旧的。新的很好看。

Pick up two of anything you own — two shirts, two cups, two books — and say aloud which is 新的 and which is 旧的, with the right measure word each time. Then say what you own a lot of (我有很多…) and what you own little of (我的…很少). End by praising one of them: 这件很好看.