The sentence structure I do not understand

[Hansrudy]

I use an old reader and I understand most of the sentences in it, but sometimes there are some structures I simply cannot get and this is precisely one of them:

我這五本書都是高太太的.

Google translates it into:

"All five of my books belong to Mrs. Gao."

What I do not get is the juxtaposition of 我 and 這: Me/I these 5 books...???

Also, if the 5 books belong to Mrs Gao why the sentence starts with 我?

I simply cannot make sense of it.

If someone understands I would really appreciate a logical explanation!

Thanks in advance ?

Hans

 

[markhavemann]

9 hours ago, Hansrudy said:

What I do not get is the juxtaposition of 我 and 這: Me/I these 5 books...???

 

I might be wrong but I think it's something like "These five books over here by me/that I have"

[Hansrudy]

I might be wrong but I think it's something like "These five books over here by me/that I have"

 

Yes, thanks, I was thinking along such lines too but my grammar says that in such a case the following should be used:

这儿/這兒 or 这里/這裏

 

So I am still wondering...

[Moshen]

Quote

我這五本書

我here means "my" - my what?  My books.  Which books?  These five books over here.

 

So, it means, literally, my these five books here, or in better English, "these five books of mine here."

[Hansrudy]

So if I understand the logic well, the following statement (taken from the same reader):

我這張地圖三塊錢 would mean:

"My this map is three yuan" or "This map of mine (here) is three yuan"

Correct?

[markhavemann]

58 minutes ago, Hansrudy said:

我這張地圖三塊錢 would mean:

"My this map is three yuan" or "This map of mine (here) is three yuan"

Even though it seems kind of possessive I wouldn't take it like that necessarily. In the first sentence the books can't be mine AND hers, rather it shows that they are with me rather than with her. 

 

I think maybe context would determine if this shows possession or not (like if it's mine or just here by me).

 

1 hour ago, Hansrudy said:

Yes, thanks, I was thinking along such lines too but my grammar says that in such a case the following should be used:

这儿/這兒 or 这里/這裏

Good question, I guess they are related but I think it would be wrong to use those in these phrases (I'm a little out of my grammatical league here but I think they are place adverbial but maybe 我這 is adjectival describing the noun... hopefully somebody more knowledgeable can explain).

[Moshen]

Quote

我這張地圖三塊錢

Almost.  It's "my map that costs three yuan" or "my three-yuan map."  I don't believe it's a full sentence.

 

As you advance in Chinese, you'll encounter many examples of this, where modifiers upon modifiers are tucked amongst each other.  I just now came upon this sentence:

 

金濛表示，“愤怒屋”并不是为了促进暴力，而是为了缓解生活在像北京这样的城市的人们的压力。

 

The part "像北京这样的城市的人们的压力" is very much like your example.

[Hansrudy]

I have a third example of this strange structure, this time I am sure this is a full sentence:

我這張中國地園就是他的.

Translated by Google into:

My Chinese Garden belongs to him.

Thus, I would have a tendency to think like :

28 minutes ago, markhavemann said:

Even though it seems kind of possessive I wouldn't take it like that necessarily. In the first sentence the books can't be mine AND hers, rather it shows that they are with me rather than with her. 

The garden must be the one around me, or maybe it is the one I am using or renting?

If it is "by/around me" the  grammar I use says that in the north of China 这儿/這兒 should be used (and 这里/這裏 in the south) -- thus something is possibly missing in the sentence.

[Demonic_Duck]

15 minutes ago, Hansrudy said:

我這張中國地園就是他的.

 

You sure that's 地園 not 地圖? I've never heard of a 地園, nor any type of -園 that takes 張 as a classifier.

[Hansrudy]

3 minutes ago, Demonic_Duck said:

You sure that's not 地園 not 地圖? I've never heard of a 地園, nor any type of -園 that takes 張 as a classifier.

I have used 圖 NOT 園

[Demonic_Duck]

Not in the part of the post I quoted ?

 

地圖 is map, not garden.

 

In any case, I agree with @markhavemann - this usage of 我 is more vague than "belonging to me". It's more like something I have in my possession right now, but doesn't necessarily belong to me.

[Hansrudy]

8 minutes ago, Demonic_Duck said:

You sure that's not 地園 not 地圖? I've never heard of a 地園, nor any type of -園 that takes 張 as a classifier.

You are actually right! I thought you were referring to my previous statement (I am using a character recognition software and sometimes it goes wrong), the actual statement is:

我這張中國地圖就是他的.

The main question remains the same though...

[Lu]

我这张地图是他的。 This map of mine is his.

 

Seems confusing, so it needs a little context to make it work. Could be I regularly borrow things of his, for example this map I brought with me, which is his. Could be he has a shop that sells good maps, and I bought this map there. Either way, the grammatical structure doesn't change. If you want a similar sentence that's less confusing in content, consider 我这本书很贵 or 我这双鞋子是中国制造的。

 

我這張地圖三塊錢 is a full sentence (if you ask me), though you'd encounter it in spoken Chinese more than in written Chinese. The verb is left out, but the meaning is clear.

[Expert]

我這五本書都是高太太的.

I understand the confusion by the reader.

 

Actually, if the sentence is written as  這五本書都是高太太的 is better. I think the reader can just omit the 我when reading this sentence . 

[anonymoose]

I think there's maybe a confusion between possession and ownership that can only be clarified from context.

 

我這五本書 could be translated as "These five of my books", but could also be translated as "These five books that I've got here".

 

It may make more sense in context. Suppose you are at a swingers party where you and the other attendees put their car keys in a bowl. You then each take out another key at random. It would then make complete sense to say something like, "我這把鑰匙是老王的" - "The key I've got is Old Wang's".