Is 结婚 separable?

[n0llakolm3]

I use Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar Workbook, and I was doing this exercise in which we rewrite the sentences with "是...的" construction. One of the sentences was 他们一九七零年结婚。I wrote "他们是一九七零年结婚的。" But the answer key says "他们是一九七零年结的婚。" Why did they separate the 结婚? Is my sentence incorrect, or is it just an alternative?

[Tomsima]

Yes, 结婚 is separable, and at least to my ear it sounds more typically 'native' when it gets split for sentences like this. That being said, both sentences are correct. I'm sure there is probably some very subtle shade of difference between the two in terms of meaning, but don't ask me what that is...

[abcdefg]

I'm not good at explaining Chinese grammar, but in conversations with native speakers, I do often hear sentences in which 结婚 is separated. One which comes to mind as a simple example is 她去年结了婚。(She got married last year.) 

[EnergyReaper]

On 1/24/2023 at 10:49 PM, n0llakolm3 said:

I wrote "他们是一九七零年结婚的。"

Your answer is absolutely correct. The answer key is just an alternative. Personally I usually prefer to use your answer. It just depends on your habit.

In fact, you can separate many words with "是。。。的" construction.

我是六点钟煮的饭。

我儿子是2003年上的大学。

凶手是在地铁的厕所里杀的人。

他爸爸是在他16岁的时候给他买的车。

他第一次是在2010年献的血。

 

[becky82]

On 1/25/2023 at 11:15 AM, EnergyReaper said:

我是六点钟煮的饭。

 

How do you know that it means "I boil[ed] rice at 6 o'clock" rather than "I am rice that was boiled at 6 o'clock"?  Ordinarily 我是A的B implies 我是B, and A modifies B.

[EnergyReaper]

On 1/25/2023 at 12:14 PM, becky82 said:

How do you know that it means "I boil[ed] rice at 6 o'clock" rather than "I am rice that was boiled at 6 o'clock"? 

natural logic. “我是饭” doesn't make sense. Native speakers will naturally know what you mean. In daily life, grammar is no big deal, and many people like to use less words as long as they can easily be understood, e.g. you can simplify it as 我六点煮的饭.

[sanchuan]

This user posted the exact same question on StackExchange. (And I attempted an answer over there, for what it's worth).

 

It's one of those elementary questions to which the answer is known, unambiguous, and yet can take lifetimes of expertise to explain to any real depth. It's a good question.

 

[Tomsima]

I feel like it's similar to when people ask me what's the difference between 'turn on the light' and 'turn the light on', depends how deep you want to go

[骏马的丕沿?]

"结婚" is a 离合词，so yes, it is 可拆分的. If you don't know what a 离合词 is, look it up. There's no super well-defined boundary between 离合词 and 非离合词, just so you're aware, but in any case, "结婚" is most definitely a 离合词。

 

One of my favorite 离合词 is "心黑"，because it has 主谓结构, which is relatively rare among 离合词. Other words like "心黑" include "手黑" and "心酸"。