Why does google-translate keep adding "的" to the end of standalone adjectives?

[Alice24]

大家好! 😃

When I translate a standalone adjective, there is always 的 (de) added in google translate:

 

big - 大的 (Dà de)

small - 小的 (Xiǎo de)

smart - 聪明的 (Cōngmíng de)

stupid - 愚蠢的 (Yúchǔn de)

 

However, I tried another dictionary and it shows the translation without the 的. How does the addition of 的 make sense? As a beginner in Chinese, I figured it must make some sense in some way I'm not yet realizing. Curiosity overdrive, so I decided to ask here.

[Tomsima]

Google is trying to meet your expectations of a translation of the Western grammatical concept of 'adjective'. Chinese does not have adjectives, at least in the same sense as say English, but rather 'adjectival verbs' (sometimes also called 'verbal adjectives'). For example, 大 does not mean 'big', but rather 'the state of being big' or perhaps 'the existence of big-ness'. In order to better match the English function of big, some translators will use a 的 to imply a relationship with an unstated noun. This is perfectly acceptable, but there is a difference: 大的 big (limited to functioning like a standalone adj, or as an attribute to a noun), 大 big (can be used in a number of places in a Chinese sentence, some of which dont match up with 'adjectival' usage in the English sense).

 

Hope this was more helpful than confusing!

[Alice24]

Hmm, so they don't use such standalone adjectives in Chinese at all, only if it has an associated noun to go along with it?

[anonymoose]

On 3/29/2024 at 6:18 PM, Tomsima said:

Chinese does not have adjectives, at least in the same sense as say English, but rather 'adjectival verbs' (sometimes also called 'verbal adjectives'). For example, 大 does not mean 'big', but rather 'the state of being big' or perhaps 'the existence of big-ness'.

 

I feel that this is overcomplicating things a bit. If nothing else, 'the state (of being big)' or perhaps 'the existence (of big-ness)' are nouns rather than verbs, so doesn't help to understand 大 functioning as a verb.

 

On 3/29/2024 at 7:30 PM, Alice24 said:

Hmm, so they don't use such standalone adjectives in Chinese at all, only if it has an associated noun to go along with it?

 

What do you mean by 'using standalone adjectives'? Even in English, if you use an adjective, it has to be associated with a noun somehow, right?

 

I think all you need to remember is that when an adjective precedes a noun in Chinese, it is usually followed by 的, and that is probably why Google translates standalone adjectives with a 的. This is just a choice Google makes, I guess to clarify the word's role as an adjective, as words such as 大 may have other grammatical roles depending on context. Not adding 的 would also be fine, but it wouldn't be clear without context whether 大 were functioning as an adjective or something else.

[sanchuan]

On 3/30/2024 at 2:45 PM, anonymoose said:

 'the state (of being big)' or perhaps 'the existence (of big-ness)' are nouns rather than verbs, so doesn't help to understand 大 functioning as a verb.

大 may well function as a verb, but whether it is a verb is questionable and has been questioned. 

 

Be that as it may, it's quite enough for a beginner to know that most adjectives in English will have an equivalent 'stative verb' (such as they are also called) in Chinese. Stative verbs are parts of speech that describe a state and that (can) behave like a verb. 

 

On 3/30/2024 at 2:45 PM, anonymoose said:

What do you mean by 'using standalone adjectives'? Even in English, if you use an adjective, it has to be associated with a noun somehow, right?

I think they may be discussing the difference between using them attributively as opposed to predicatively, in which case the beginner rule of thumb would be:

 

Attributive use:

- 大 + 的 + [most nouns]

- 大 + [some monosyllabic nouns]

 

Predicative use:

- 是 + 大 + 的

- 很 (or other adverb) + 大

- 大 + 了 (or other particle/intensifier)