Aspects
Aspect is a feature of grammar that gives information about the temporal flow of language. Chinese has a unique set of aspects: for example, there are two perfectives, 了 (-le) and 过 (-guo) which subtly differ in meaning.
- le (perfective)
我 当 了 兵 。
I became a soldier (and I still am).他 看 了 三 场 球 赛 。
He watched three ballgames (and he probably has watched many during his lifetime; often used in a time-delimited context such as "today" or "last week").
- guo (experiential perfective)
我 当 过 兵 。
I was/used to be a soldier before (but no longer am).他 看 过 三 场 球 赛 。
He has watched three ballgames (and that is the sum of all the ballgames he has ever watched; in the context of actions like "watch" or "take part," which can easily be repeated, this does not have the same connotation of the first usage, but merely denotes that the action was in the past and describes the state of affairs up to now).
The two imperfectives, 正在 (zhèngzài-) and 着 (-zhe) also differ in nuance:
- zhèngzài/zài (dynamic)
我 (正 )在 挂 画 。
I'm hanging pictures up. (The "hanging" is a continuous dynamic event.)
- zhe (static)
墙 上 挂 着 一 幅 画 。
A picture's hanging on the wall. (The "hanging" is a continuous current state.)
If the sentence could be rephrased using "in the middle of", then zhèngzai would be best; otherwise, zhe. "I'm hanging pictures up" would take zhèngzài, while "A picture's hanging on the wall" would take zhe. The two imperfectives may both occur in the same clause, e.g. 他正在打着电话 tā zhèngzai dǎ zhe diànhuà "He is in the middle of telephoning someone".
- Reduplication is used to form the delimitative aspect — an action that goes on for some time:
我 到 公 园 走 走 。
I'm going for a walk in the park.
This sentence could variably be expressed by 走一走 zǒu yi zǒu, which means the same thing, and could possibly be translated as "walk a little walk".
Read more about this topic: Chinese Grammar
Famous quotes containing the word aspects:
“All the aspects of this desert are beautiful, whether you behold it in fair weather or foul, or when the sun is just breaking out after a storm, and shining on its moist surface in the distance, it is so white, and pure, and level, and each slight inequality and track is so distinctly revealed; and when your eyes slide off this, they fall on the ocean.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The North American system only wants to consider the positive aspects of reality. Men and women are subjected from childhood to an inexorable process of adaptation; certain principles, contained in brief formulas are endlessly repeated by the press, the radio, the churches, and the schools, and by those kindly, sinister beings, the North American mothers and wives. A person imprisoned by these schemes is like a plant in a flowerpot too small for it: he cannot grow or mature.”
—Octavio Paz (b. 1914)
“An atheist may be simply one whose faith and love are concentrated on the impersonal aspects of God.”
—Simone Weil (1909–1943)