Percent of nouns, verbs, etc. in Mandarin?

[trisha2766]

Does anyone know what the relative percent of nouns and verbs, etc. are? I tried doing some searches but couldn't find any information.

I am curious because I am finding that I'm learning way more new nouns than verbs or other parts of speech. And I was kind of concerned about that. Then it occurred to me that maybe there are just more nouns anyway so it makes sense.

Does anyone know more about this?

[cababunga]

In the word list made by Sogou I counted 32666 nouns and 14093 verbs. Of those, 472 are used as both, nouns and verbs. Form old HSK word list, 5018 nouns, 2894 verbs, 803 marked as both.

[trisha2766]

It sounds like I'm not too far off then with my vocabulary! I wonder if all languages are like that? It would seem there are more things to name than there are things you can do with them.

[roddy]

Basically, yes. Also, new nouns get created faster than new verbs.

[WestTexas]

Does anyone else feel like the line between different parts of speech is sometimes not as clear in Mandarin as in English? I feel like, especially through use of 的, that the part of speech of Mandarin words is often more plastic than in English, which requires you to select the appropriate word ending. Also, why doesn't Baidu list the part of speech for words? English dictionaries always list the part of speech. I guess I've been slightly confused about this for a long time. It always seems clear to me when I'm reading Chinese what part of speech a given word is, but then in Anki when I'm reviewing I often feel confused about whether a given word is a noun, verb, or adjective even though I can remember the basic meaning.

[tooironic]

@WestTexa That's because the whole concept of "part of speech" is a European one. Some dictionaries - presumably influenced by Western-style dictionaries - will break up Chinese words into different parts of speech. AFAIK the differentiation between parts of speech is a relatively modern development in linguistics in China.

@roddy Yes it's true that nouns get created much faster than verbs in most modern languages. That being said, as a learner it's important not to overlook the importance of learning a range of different verbs, as they are sometimes crucial to getting your meaning across in some situations. My latest blog post might be of relevance here.

[jasoninchina]

It's reasonable to learn more nouns than verbs. One thing I try to do is connect the nouns and verbs in someway in my head. If I learn the word 书, what can I do with this word. I can 看书，卖书，etc. On the otherhand, if I learn a verb, 打, what can I hit? I can 打人，打球，etc. It's really quite ok if you're learning a mountain of nouns, but stop to ask yourself what verbs (adjectives, etc.) can accompany this noun.

[trisha2766]

Any advice for learning how to use new verbs? nciku has sample sentences, but they are usually very complex sentences. I think I would most benefit from seeing a few basic sentences with a new verb to have a better feel of how to use it.

[tooironic]

@trisha2766 Something like the Starter Oxford Chinese Dictionary may be helpful in that regard.