Level 7 · Lesson 1

什么是语法？
What is grammar?

语法说的是大家怎么说，不是谁规定应该怎么说。

Grammar describes what speakers already do — and every rule answers to an example.

读 · Read

你已经会说很多汉语了。你说“我喝茶”，不说“我茶喝”；你说“一本书”，不说“一书”；你说“我没去”，不说“我不去过”。没有人给过你这些命令，可是你一次也没说错。汉语的语法早就在你嘴里了，只是它还没有名字。第七级就是给它起名字的地方。

You can already say a great deal of Chinese. You say 我喝茶 and not 我茶喝; you say 一本书 and not 一书; you say 我没去 and not 我不去过. Nobody ever issued you those orders, yet you have not once got them wrong. The grammar of Chinese has been in your mouth all along — it simply had no names. Level 7 is where we give it the names.

讲解 · Explanation

语法不是命令，是记录：语法书不能说“你们说错了”，它只能说“大家是这样说的”。一条规则要用例子来试。先看很多例子，找出里面一样的地方，那就是规则；再拿新的例子去试它。要是有一个例子不合，就改规则，不改例子——因为例子是真话。

Grammar is not a command but a record: a grammar book cannot tell you that you are speaking wrongly, only report how people speak. And a rule has to be tested against examples. Look at many examples, find what they share — that is your rule — then try it on a fresh one. If one example does not fit, you change the rule, not the example, because the example is the real speech.

“我喝茶”有三个部分：谁、做什么、什么。这三个部分排在一起的样子，就叫结构。把一句话拆开，看它有哪几个部分、哪个在前、哪个在后，这就叫分析。第八级到第十二级，我们做的都是这件事。

我喝茶 has three parts: who, does what, to what. The shape those parts make when they line up is its 结构, its structure. Taking a sentence apart to see how many parts it has and which one comes first is 分析, analysis. From level 8 to level 12 that is the whole job.

规则 · The rules

语法说的是大家怎么说，不是谁规定应该怎么说。

规则 1

大家都说“一本书”，没有人说“一书”，所以“一本书”是规则。

Everyone says 一本书 and nobody says 一书 — that is why 一本书 is the rule. The rule follows the speakers; the speakers do not follow the rule.

一条规则要用例子来试；例子跟规则不合，就改规则。

规则 2

大家都说“我喝茶”，没有人说“我茶喝”，所以这个顺序就是一条规则。

Everyone says 我喝茶 and nobody says 我茶喝, so that order is itself a rule. Try it on a fresh sentence — and if a sentence people really say breaks it, the rule is what has to give way.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
语法	grammar	汉语的语法
规则	rule	一条规则
例子	example	举一个例子 jǔ yí gè lìzi
结构	structure	“我喝茶”的结构
分析	to analyse, to take apart	分析一句话
部分	part, portion	三个部分

练习 · Practice

这一课说，语法是什么？ According to this lesson, what is grammar?

一个新例子跟规则不合，应该怎么办？ A new example does not fit the rule. What do you do?

把一句话拆开，看它有几个部分，这就叫 ________。 Fill in: taking a sentence apart to see its parts is called …

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'We use examples to test a rule.'

语法、规则、例子、结构、分析 Match each term to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

今天说三句你天天说的汉语，比如“我八点上课”“我没吃饭”“这本书很有意思”。每一句都问自己两个问题：里面有几个部分？哪个部分在最前面？你不用马上会回答——会问，就已经开始分析了。

Say three sentences you use every day — 我八点上课, 我没吃饭, 这本书很有意思. Ask each one two questions: how many parts are in it, and which part comes first? You do not need the answers yet. Asking the question is already the beginning of analysis.