汉语之路Spoken Mandarin → 现代汉语语法

课程 → Level 11 · 虚词与句式 → 课 1

Level 11 · Lesson 1

虚词总说
Function words: an overview

介词说关系，助词贴在词上，连词连接成分，语气词收住句子。

The four classes of function word — 介词 relate, 助词 attach, 连词 join, 语气词 close — and the one test they all share.

你已经会了 · You already know this

第九级你学过实词和虚词。其实四类虚词你早就在用了：说“我在家吃饭”用了介词，说“这是我的书”用了助词，说“我和他都去”用了连词，说“你去吗”用了语气词。四个小词，四种活儿，你一次也没弄错过。这一课把它们分开来说清楚。

Level 9 gave you the split between 实词 and 虚词. In fact you have been using all four classes of function word for a long time: 在 in 我在家吃饭 is a 介词, 的 in 这是我的书 is a 助词, 和 in 我和他都去 is a 连词, 吗 in 你去吗 is a 语气词. Four tiny words, four different jobs, and not once have you mixed them up. This lesson takes them one class at a time.

规则 · The rules

介词放在名词、代词前边，跟它合成一个短语，说明动作的地点、时间、对象或方向。
规则 1
在家、从北京、跟朋友、对我
A preposition never stands alone: it takes a noun after it, and the pair says where, when, with whom or towards whom.

介词是从动词来的，所以看着像动词，可是它不能自己做谓语的中心。“我在家”的“在”是动词；“我在家吃饭”的“在”就是介词，中心是后边的“吃”。这类短语在汉语里永远站在动词前边，下一课细讲。

Chinese prepositions grew out of verbs and still look like them, but a preposition cannot head a predicate by itself. In 我在家 the 在 is a full verb; in 我在家吃饭 the same 在 is a preposition and 吃 is the head. Such a phrase always stands in front of the verb — the next lesson takes that up properly.

助词附着在别的词或句子上，自己不能单说，也不能重读。
规则 2
我的书、慢慢地走、跑得很快；吃了、去过、开着
A particle clings to the word in front of it, is never stressed, and can never be said on its own.

助词分两组。结构助词“的、地、得”管词跟词的关系；动态助词“了、过、着”管动作到了哪一步。它们都读轻声，都黏在前边的词上，所以听着几乎不像一个词——三个结构助词还都念 de。本级第四课到第七课专讲这三个字。

Particles come in two groups. The structural particles 的, 地, 得 handle the relation between words; the aspect particles 了, 过, 着 report how far along an action is. All are neutral in tone and lean on the word before them, which is why they hardly sound like separate words — and all three structural ones are pronounced de. Lessons 4 to 7 of this level are devoted to them.

连词连接词、短语或者分句，本身不做句子成分。
规则 3
我和他、又便宜又好、因为下雨，所以没去
A conjunction joins two things of equal rank and is itself no part of the sentence's structure.

连词跟介词最容易混，“跟”正好两样都能当。“我跟他都去”里，两个人是并列的，“跟”是连词，可以换成“和”；“我跟他说”里，说话的只有我，“他”是对象，“跟”是介词，换成“和”就不行。办法是把前后调过来：“他跟我都去”意思不变，那是连词；“他跟我说”意思全变了，那是介词。

Conjunctions and prepositions are the pair most easily confused, and 跟 happens to be both. In 我跟他都去 the two people are parallel, so 跟 is a conjunction and 和 would do just as well. In 我跟他说 only I am speaking and he is the addressee, so 跟 is a preposition and 和 will not do. The test is to swap the two sides: 他跟我都去 means the same thing — conjunction; 他跟我说 means something quite different — preposition.

语气词放在句子末尾，只改变语气，不改变句子说的事情。
规则 4
你去。你去吗？你去吧！
A sentence-final particle changes the attitude, never the facts: statement, question, suggestion.

三句话说的是同一件事——你去。加“吗”是问，加“吧”是商量，什么都不加就是陈述。语气词都读轻声，都在最后。它们也不能单独回答问题：有人问“谁去”，你不能只回答一个“吗”。这一条四类虚词全一样，正是虚词的定义。能单独成句的“喂！哎呀！”是另一类词，叫叹词。

All three sentences report the same fact — you are going. 吗 turns it into a question, 吧 into a suggestion, and with nothing added it is a plain statement. Mood particles are neutral in tone and sit at the very end. Nor can they answer a question alone: asked 谁去, you cannot reply 吗. That holds for all four classes, and it is what makes a word a 虚词. The words that can stand as a whole utterance — 喂！哎呀！— are a separate class, the 叹词.

一步一步 · Step by step

一个一个加进去
  1. 他吃饭。 — 两个实词，已经是一个句子
  2. 他吃了饭。 — 助词“了”——说事情完成了
  3. 他在家吃了饭。 — 介词“在”——“在家”说地点
  4. 他和朋友在家吃了饭。 — 连词“和”——连接两个名词
  5. 他和朋友在家吃了饭吗？ — 语气词“吗”——句子变成问句
挑出一句话里的虚词
  1. 我的朋友因为有事，所以没跟我们一起去。 — 整句
  2. 的 — 助词——把“我”变成定语
  3. 因为…所以… — 连词——连接两个分句
  4. 跟我们 — 介词“跟”加代词，说的是同伴

练习 · Practice

“他在图书馆看书”里的“在”是哪一类虚词？ What class does 在 belong to here?
哪一句里的“跟”是连词？ In which sentence is 跟 a conjunction?
“的、地、得、了、过、着”这一类词叫______。 What is the class of 的, 地, 得, 了, 过, 着 called?
哪一类？ Match each set of words to its class.