New Members D.shiry Posted July 21, 2011 at 06:04 AM New Members Report Posted July 21, 2011 at 06:04 AM Sentences with 把，被，给 sometimes land me in a muddle, so could Chinese native speakers please see if the following sentences are ok: 1. 孩子把那些点心吃了！ 2. 孩子把那些点心给吃了！ 3. 那些点心，孩子给吃了！ 4. 那些点心被孩子吃了！ 5. 那些点心给孩子吃了！ 6. 那些点心让孩子给吃了！ 7. 那些点心叫孩子给吃了！ 8. 那些点心被孩子给吃了！ What I'd like to know is whether: a. The sentences are all grammatically acceptable. b. They all convey the basic meaning of ""The child ate the snack"". 1 Quote
coolnicholas Posted July 21, 2011 at 10:00 AM Report Posted July 21, 2011 at 10:00 AM As a Chinese native speaker, i can tell you the sentences are all grammatically acceptable, and with the same mean:The child ate the snack. Just emphasis points are different! Quote
Peter2010 Posted July 21, 2011 at 10:47 AM Report Posted July 21, 2011 at 10:47 AM I can figure out the basic meaning of "The child ate the snack" for all of these sentences, but i feel something wrong with sentence 3 and 5. Quote
Avatar Posted July 21, 2011 at 12:43 PM Report Posted July 21, 2011 at 12:43 PM All of them are OK! Quote
WestTexas Posted July 21, 2011 at 01:02 PM Report Posted July 21, 2011 at 01:02 PM Just out of curiosity, would a native speaker ever use 被 in a sentence like this? Like in sentence four, 那些点心被孩子吃了！. I know it's grammatically correct but it seems a bit strange to use the passive voice here. Also, sentence 5 seems to me to say something closer to "Gave the snack to the child to eat". The meaning here seems to me a little different from the other sentences. I feel like this sentence sounds more like an imperative, like if you changed the 了 to 吧 you get 那些点心给孩子吃吧！, "Give those snacks to the child to eat." Or am I misunderstanding 给 here? It seems like the child should be 给ing the snacks and not the other way around. I'm obviously not a native speaker tho, so if somebody could clear this up that would be great. Quote
yzl Posted July 22, 2011 at 01:55 AM Report Posted July 22, 2011 at 01:55 AM Just out of curiosity, would a native speaker ever use 被 in a sentence like this? Like in sentence four, 那些点心被孩子吃了！. I know it's grammatically correct but it seems a bit strange to use the passive voice here. We can use passive voice for this but if the tone and word speed are not consistent with the situation it may sound weird. I feel like this sentence sounds more like an imperative, like if you changed the 了 to 吧 you get 那些点心给孩子吃吧！, "Give those snacks to the child to eat." IMO, an imperative ending up with 了 should always be used for a negative expression, just like 那些点心别再给孩子吃了！ If you remove 了 from sentence 5, it will be more likely an imperative, means "Gave the snack to the child to eat". Or am I misunderstanding 给 here? Sentence 5 is to state snack is eaten by the child but not given to the child for above reason. So you can consider 给 as 被 in this sentence. I hope these Chinese wiki can be helpful. passive imperative Quote
WestTexas Posted July 23, 2011 at 06:38 AM Report Posted July 23, 2011 at 06:38 AM What about 孩子给那些点心吃了. Is this correct? Of the eight different sentences, which ones would be the most natural in speaking? Quote
skylee Posted July 23, 2011 at 08:52 AM Report Posted July 23, 2011 at 08:52 AM What about 孩子给那些点心吃了. Is this correct? Only if you want to say "the kids were eaten by the snacks." Like in a horror movie, perhaps? Quote
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