"whenever" "whatever" repeating verbs

[Rhiannon]

Hi all,

 

I have been learning mandarin chinese by using several different resources. One of them is several Anki (flashcard) decks, one of which (called SpoonFed Chinese) has suddenly jumped significantly in difficulty with sentences that include "whenever" and "whatever" expressions. I also suspect the translation may be slightly bogus, but that's another matter.

 

Here are the sentences I am having trouble understanding. They all share a similar structure, in that the first part is repeated with 就 which, when it appears before a verb, means "just". Also I'm sorry about the weird formatting issues from copying from the program, I can't seem to remove the indentations.

 

Program's translation: Go when you want, ok?

My literal translation: At what time you want to leave, just leave, okay?
Pinyin: nǐ xiǎng zǒu de shíhou jiù zǒu ba.
Characters: 你想走的时候就走吧。

Program's translation: Do whatever he tells you.

My literal translation: You follow what he says, you just do what (implied: he says?)
Pinyin: tā gēn nǐ shuō shénme, nǐ jiù zuò shénme .
Characters: 他跟你说什么，你就做什么。

 

Program's translation: Give the book to whomever wants it.
Pinyin: zhè běn shū shéi xiǎng yào jiù gěi shéi ba .
Characters: 这本书谁想要就给谁吧。

 

I looked all through the chinese grammar wiki for this particular issue but couldn't find a solution (or maybe I overlooked something). I just find it strange how the two parts of the sentence are repeated. Hopefully somebody can help explain this to me! I would really appreciate the help! Is 就 the key, is repetition the key, or is both together?

[imron]

Also I'm sorry about the weird formatting issues from copying from the program, I can't seem to remove the indentations.

Fixed.  On the post reply toolbar, second button from the left, there is an icon that looks like an eraser.  Highlight the text with the bad formatting, hit the eraser, and all formatting is removed.

[anonymoose]

This is a common structure.

 

You can break it down into, "just (do) A what/when B", but in Chinese, the clause order is reversed, so it becomes "what/when B, just A".

 

Take your examples:

 

你想走的时候就走吧。

 

B is 想走 (want to go). Then to make this into "when you want to go", we change it to 你想走的时候.

 

Then, as you said, 就 here means "just", and A is "走", so "just A" is 就走。

 

你想走 you want to go → 你想走的时候 when you want to go → 你想走的时候就走 when you want to go, just go

 

吧 doesn't change the meaning of this structure - it just softens the tone of the sentence.

 

他跟你说什么，你就做什么。

 

This sentence has the same basic structure as the one above, but it also includes a separate grammar point, being the repeated use of 什么. Here, 什么 is not a question word. The first 什么 simply means "what", and the second 什么 simply refers to the same thing as the first 什么.

 

他跟你说 he tells you → 他跟你说什么 what he tells you → 他跟你说什么，你就做什么 what he tells you, you just do what (he tells you)

 

You can also think of the first 什么 as "whatever", and the second 什么 as "it". Then you could translate the sentence word for word as "Whatever he tells you, you just do it".
 

这本书谁想要就给谁吧。

 

The repeated 谁 here plays an analogous role to the repeated 什么 in the previous example.

 

想要 want to have → 谁想要 whoever wants to have → 这本书谁想要 whoever wants to have this book → 这本书谁想要就给谁 whoever wants to have this book, just give it to that whoever

 

In fact, the sentences you quoted are just special examples of the much more general sentence pattern mentioned above. Using 就 is also not compulsory (depending on the specific sentence).

 

For example:

 

下雨的时候就带伞 take an umbrella when it rains

饿的时候就吃饭 eat when (one is) hungry

他送你礼物的时候，你（就）应该向他道谢 when he gives you a present, you should thank him

 

And, similar to your examples, using repeated interrogative pronouns:

 

你想去哪里就去哪里。 Go wherever you want to go.

她想去哪里，你就带她去哪里。 Take her wherever she wants to go.

你想买多少就买多少。 Buy however many you want to buy.

你肯等多久就等多久。 Wait for however long you are willing to wait.

他让你怎么做，你就怎么做。 Do (it) however he makes you to do (it).

[Rhiannon]

Wonderful. Thank you for that detailed response, anonymoose! And imron, sorry, I'll be sure to use that function next time!

[jeromino]

Thank you!!! I just ran into this same problem. Spoonfed suddenly got quite hard and my native Chinese speaker wife had difficulty explaining the grammar to me. This really, really helped.