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Pronouns & Basic Sentence Structure

Personal pronouns
看起来他很累。
He looks tired.
Kàn qǐlái tā hěn lèi.
Raising construction: 看起来 as raising predicate
我的朋友，王明，来了。
My friend
Wang Ming
came.
那个人嘛，我不认识他。
That person
I don't know him.
Nèi gè rén ma
他来了，那个朋友。
She came — that friend.
Tā lái le
nèi gè péngyǒu.
你说什么，我就做什么。
Whatever you say
I'll do.
Nǐ shuō shénme
我不去的。
I'm NOT going. (emphatic)
Wǒ bù qù de.
Sentential 的 as emphatic/assertive marker
所说的 / 所做的
what was said / what was done
suǒ shuō de / suǒ zuò de
Formal written 所 + V nominalisation
无论…都 / 即使…也
no matter…all / even if…still
wúlùn…dōu / jíshǐ…yě
Classical-influenced concessive patterns
你买了什么？ — wh in situ
What did you buy?
Nǐ mǎi le shénme?
Wh-in-situ: question word stays in place
他吃饭，她喝汤。(gapping)
He eats
she drinks soup. (gap)
Tā chī fàn; tā hē tāng.