UNIT ONE The ffi bä structure
A The |E bS structure, which is unique to the Chinese language, has the effect of shifting the object of the verb in the sentence to a pre-verbal position. It is u&ed most often with action verbs. The sentence: fflXSI&T M^ft-f- * ta da pb le na/nei ge beizi 'He broke that cup.*, for example, may also be expressed as; teffiBG'HH^JTiKT * ta ba na/nei ge belri dfi po le. There are two important rales concerning the use of IE bfi:
(1) The object must be of definite reference. In our example, the object ■W't'ff 7 na/nei ge beizi is of definite reference.
One cannot say:
*tt-1^?fl&7 * ta ba yi ge beizi d3 po le
because   -1^7 yi ge beizi is of indefinite reference.
(2) The verb mnst incorporate a complement. In our example, the verb da is complemented by fl£ po, without which the sentence would sound incomplete.
One cannot say:
*ftffifHtff 7-n - ta ba na/nei ge beizi da
B There are various kinds of complements. In (he examples given below, the complement in each case is shown in round brackets:
(1) Resnlt complements. These are either adjectives or verbs, which indicate the outcome of an action. po above is an example of a verbal result complement. (See also Basic Chinese, Unit 22.)
^iTlffifi^llf *?7 ° siji ba qicbe xiu hao le (5F hao)
The driver repaired his car.
2   Unit 1
^iffimSffl-T* T » xuesheng ba heiban ca ganjing le (T# ganjing) The student cleaned the blackboard.
ta ba na/nei pi an wen/hang xie w6n k (£e wan) He has finished writing that essay.
m^^^tJWJ - ta ba chuanghu dou da kai le (iff kai) She opened all the windows.
j£#fflfcMl#*rT * didi ba dianshjji nong huaJ Ic (if huai) My younger brother broke the television set.
'h$1e±ftS#fl£7 ° mAo mao ba ditln nong zang le (M iang) The kitten has made the carpet dirty.
Note. Jt can be seen from the above examples that the particle / le, which usually signifies a changed state, is naturally associated with these result complements. If lhe verb used In the ITU bA strocture, apart from indicating an action, also possesses an inherent notion of result, \ k by itself may be sufficient to function as the complement:
WES^ill'-T • tfl bi chuajighu dOti kai le She opened all the windows.
teffJJtin^j f " tamen bh men guan le They closed (he doo;.
(2) Location complements using £ zai phrases. (See Basic Chinese, Unit 21.)
wo ba huar gua zai qiing shang (:tL . - . L zai . ., shang)
1 hung the picture on the wall.
mama ba huar cha zai huaping li ftt -.. ffi zai... Ii> Mother put the flowers in the vase.
mfeimei bA yasuiqtfn fang zai zh£ntou xi& (£e ■ ■. t" zai... xia)
(My) younger sister put her new-year lucky money under (her) pillow.
(3) Direction indicators as complements. (See Basic Chinese, Unit 21.)
w6 ba yifu fang hui yigui li qu le (IeI -..    hui... qu)
I put the clothes back into the wardrobe.
Unit 1 3
baba ba qiaa cun jin yinhang li qu le (j& .   ife jin ■ ■ qu)
Father put the money in the bank.
ta ba cha duan shang km Uii k (_L . *. 5|t shang. .. Lai)
She carried the tea upstairs.
(4) Duration and frequency complements. (See Basic Chinese, Unit 14.)
w6 ba kewen fuxf le llang bian (ftiM hang bian frequency complement) I revised the text twice.
m m&m&iT—t *m ■>
chushl ba jr kao le yi ge xiaoshi (^IM^t yl ge xiaoshi duration complement)
The cook roasted the chicken for an hour.
wo ba toufa shu le yixia (—t" yixia brief duration complement) I gave my hair a brush.
Note: Brief duration may also be expressed by repeating the verb:
#fc*KBH'.rtt' w<J b3 toufa shu le shu I gave my hair a brush.
(5) $L cherigyf^ zuo 'treat. .. as', 'regard ... as' as complements.
ta ba xuesheng dang cheng zlJK de baizi     cheng...)
He treated his students as his own children.
tamen ba zhe/zhei zhong jiu jiao zub maotai jiu (ft zuo ,,,)
They call this kind of liquor 'Maotai',
zuojia ba ziji de zuopin fanyi cheng yingwen ($ cheng...)
The anthor translated his/her own works into English.
(6) ^ gel 'give to' as complement;
ayi ba na/nei ping xiangsfaul song gei wo     gfi,. ,)
(My) aunt gave me that bottle of perfume.
4   Unit 1
qlng nt bd zheVxhei feng xin jiao gei m baba (££ gel...}
Please pass this letter to your father.
{!) The manner/resultant stale ^ de phrase/clause as a complement. (See also fiflj/c Chinese, Unit 22.)
(a) Phrase:
a & « # # m *k vam*fc ■ r °
lifashi b-1 didi de ton fa jian de lai duan le <f4 de ...)
The barber cut (my) younger brother's hair too short.
ta bi zhe/zhei gi went! jieshi de qingqingchuchu (f# de ...)
He explained this problem extremely clearly,
(b) Clause:
ta ba zhe/zhei jian shiqing ban de dajia dou mdnyi     de ...)
She dealt with the problem to the satisfaction of everybody.
C In imperative sentences! T le and zhe may sometimes be used as complements for a IE ba structure to indicate completion or continuation of the verb in question:
iiffllrl&'ST c qing ba dangao chi le Please finish the cake.
Ml^WASfc*^ •> qing ba wo de dayl ni zhe Please hold my coat,
D   When the negators mei(ydu) 'did not', "have not' (used in state-
ments) and S1] bie or bu. yao 'do not' (used in imperatives) occur with rtE ba, they are always placed before JC bS in the sentence:
ftferSWIEi(S-irffl K ° ta mciyou ba maozi dai shang He didn't put his hat on.
WmMW^WSiJ - bie ba wo de dongxi gao luan le Don't mess up my things.
The IE b& structure usually expresses an action which has already been realised, and the negator (as above) is likely to be & iM) mei(y6u). However, ^ bu may be used with it, where a condition is stated:
Unit 1 5
muqin dui hAizi shud: dI bil b£ jiake chuan shang, bie chu qu wanr
Mother said to her child: 'If you don't put on your jacket, you mustn't (tit, don't) go out and play/
E   Modal verbs always precede the fE ba structure:
Ift^^ffiM^pJJ&Jn^^ * ni bixu ba wuzi shoushi ganjing You must tidy up the room,
WteiSmtf^MK * meimei bil k£n ba wanju. hudn g£i jiijie The younger sister was not willing to return the toy to the elder sister.
F Coverbal phrases and adverbials of manner generally precede IE ba. They may, however, follow the ffi ba phrase, where emphasis is on them:
ta yong daozi bd ningmeng qie cheng yl plan pian
She cut the lemon into slices with a knife.
less usual:
ta ba ningmeng yong daozi qie cheng yt pian pian
She cut the lemon into slices with a knife.
Similarly:
ffeS^tfeffi^iSJ&feT 0 ta qingqing de ba dongxi fang xia He put the things down quietly.
less usual:
ffelE^ffiS^*,fej!&T 0 ta ba dongxi qingqing de fang xia He put the things down quietly.
G Generally speaking, jE ba constructions indicate 'intentional manipulation' as most of the above examples show. Occasionally, however, a ba construction may also indicate 'unintentional intervention' or the result of it. For example:
W^lE^^ffMT 0 meimei ba qunzi nong zang le
My younger sister dirtied her skirt.
(W) lE^aaffiff ° didi mei(ydu) ba diannao gao huai My younger brother did not break the computer.
Note; gio and '■/!■ nong both meaning 'handle' are often used in association with complements indicating undesirable results.
6   Unit 1
Exercise 1.1
Rewrite the following sentences using the    ba structure:
1 'N£JlfTKxiaohair da po ie bmichuang The child broke the window.
2 'J^SOHSET—'fxiao hong shu le yixia njufu Xiao Hong gave his hair a brush.
3 t*u£i?C!*t^« qtag chi zhe/zhei xie yao Please lake this medicine.
4 *6M^fi-MJRi±J7^IE^ * ta cong yinhang li qu chu le na/nci bi qian lai She took the money out of the bank.
5 &tW®i%mMUnum& * zhe/zhei ge wejili laoshi jieshi de hen qlngchu The teacher explained the problem very clearly,
6 fftlft^litfeteTlE^tiELP.T ° ni de yifu wo fang zai yigui li le I put your clothes in the wardrobe.
Exercise 1.2
Make fEi ha sentences using the words and phrases below and translate the resulting sentences into English:
J WX jiangyi      fa g# £W l&osh} xuesheng
2 ikl xi le im yifu (ft ta
3 *p± bilshl m% di gel      yaopian ffiA bingren
4 liu zai jia li le ft wo fSit yaoshi
5 /MS xiftotou t& jtngchd #Ktt7 zhua zhu le
6 W7 xlu haa le ^IflL stf! W qiche
Exercise 1.3
The following Chinese sentences all contain errors. Make the necessary correction in each case:
1 /] ^ffiff7fT * xiaohii ba beizi da The child broke the cup.
2 ^Jifii343&-£7_h D laoshi ba sbu zai zhuozi sbang The teacher put the books on the table.
3 Sfclfifa&Si''!lS • wo ba rin bixu xtf win I must finish writing the letter.
Unit 1 7
4 mWE*kmnM.£$bT ° ta ba shitou dao hai li qu reng le She threw the stone into the sea.
5 fdiJiTiW^T • chushl ba ji shu/sh<iu le The cook roasted the chicken.
6 i^tE^ff :A:T.|E - qing ba nd hao budchepiao
Please keep your train ticket safe, (/ir Please hold on to your train ticket.)
7 /J^ftE—^^^H£7 ° xiao It ba y« ge pingguo chi lc Xiao Li has eaten an apple.
8 m^m^J ° ta ba shcngci ji le She remembered, all the new words.
9 |^±}EniS^ Ji ° hiishi ba men mei guan shang The nurse didn't shut the door.
10 IfflBj&fW^iS^TJTfi ° qing b£ zhe/zhei jian shi bu yao gaosu ta Please don't tell him about this.
Exercise 1.4
Complete the Chinese sentences below with the appropriate complement in each case:
1 im^.—— %.m-°
ta ba qich* ting_cheltu_(location)
She parked the car in the garage.
2 ftEffifoiLgrr--------/-.----■
huajiang ba huar jiflo le--/--(frequency)
The gardener watered the flowers twice.
3 ^^ffiSfrtP*_7 « laodaye ba chi dou he_le (result)
The old man drank all the tea.
4 /Mjk^JB&JCm^---7 0
xiaohuozi li pen gy oil b£ cai sa&i....................... le (direction)
The young man came back with the food he had bought for his friend.
5 HBUWS'h££ir----H-"
nanhair ba xiao didi bei-bei-(location)
The boy carried his little brother on his back.
6 ttw^'btam^-------------°
laodaniang bfl xiao guniang dang----(result)
The old woman treated the little girl as her own daughter,
7 £)tm$7__/_■
kuaiji ba qian sh& le____/_ (brief duration)
The cashier counted the money.
8 mmJE3&S7_(_—)---•
chiisbi ba cai zhii le_(_)--(duration)
It took the chef half an hour to prepare the dish.
8   Unit 1
Exercise 1.5
Translate the following into Chinese, using the ffi ba construction:
1 Don't forget (your) keys.
2 He put the book back on the shelf.
3 I don't want to mix up my things with yours,
4 He also looked on me as a friend.
5 They made (# nong) me furious.
6 1 read her application five times.
7 He wrote the letter very long.
8 Would you like to leave your bag here?
Exercise 1.6
Rewrite the following Chinese sentences as IE ba constructions, adding an appropriate adjective or verb complement (together with t le in each case) to match the English:
example:
T#vS'XJfcSi P * qlngjlegong ma ctmanghu The cleaners wiped the windows (clean).
Answer: fltinXJEgT^STif 7 * qJngjiegong ba chuanghu ma ganjing le
1 Sgffir6^* babaxfqkhe Father washed the car.
2 fl^Bgr^Kli ° mama Hang ylfu Mother hung out the clothes to dry.
3 |££Es£!A4 yisheng yi bingren The doctor cured the patient.
4 /h$5      £1** xiio mao zhua/dai laashii The kitten caught the mouse,
5 ^MM.^^" wo pengyou zhu fan My friend cooked the meal.
6 ° meimei jie shii
(My) younger sister borrowed the books.
7 Ifffe"0 mishu ji xin
The secretary posted the letter.
8 /J^$fl8J!£l£ * xiao oanhii ca pixie The little boy brushed (his) leather shoes.