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Pronouns & Basic Sentence Structure

Personal pronouns
他知道我不想去。
He knows I don't want to go.
Tā zhīdào wǒ bù xiǎng qù.
Complex embedded sentence
饭吃了。
The food was eaten.
Fàn chī le.
Passive implied: no agent
她写的那封很长的信
that very long letter she wrote
tā xiě de nà fēng hěn cháng de xìn
Long modifier before noun
喝茶的人
people who drink tea
hē chá de rén
Nominalisation: Verb phrase + 的 = noun phrase
我是在图书馆学习的。
It's in the library that I study.
Wǒ shì zài túshūguǎn xuéxí de.
Cleft sentence with 是…的 for focus
人们 vs 大家
people in general vs everyone here
rénmen vs dàjiā
Impersonal subject distinction
图书馆里有书。vs 书在图书馆里。
There are books in the library. vs The book is in the library.
yǒu vs zài contrast
Existential 有 vs locative 在 contrast
他说他不来。
He said he wasn't coming.
Tā shuō tā bù lái.
Quotation with 说 (shuō) as complementiser
我希望能去。
I hope (I) can go.
Wǒ xīwàng néng qù.
Null subject in subordinate clause
所说的 (suǒ + V)
what was said
suǒ shuō de
Formal 所 + V structure in written Chinese