Special Constructions in Chinese

In this article, we’ll see special constructions, peculiar to the Chinese language that will make your expressions in Chinese more elegant.

如 and 不如

如 (rú) “to be equal to, like a” is used more in the formal written form than in the spoken language. The comparison is created when it’s mainly used metaphorically.

Here are a few examples:

她如花一样漂亮。
Tā rú huā yị̄yàng piàoliang.
She is as pretty as a flower.

她如月亮一样明亮。
Tā rú yuèliang yị̄yàng míngliàng.
She is as bright as the Moon.

他如飞机一样快。
Tā rú fēijī yị̄yàng kuài.
He is as fast as a plane.

湖水如镜。
Húshuǐ rú jìng.
The lake is a mirror.

时间如流水。
Shíjiān rú liúshuǐ.
Time is like water that flows.

如 is often found inside 4 and 2 character constructions that can be memorized as they are. For example:

尽如人意 (jìn rú rényì) “things develop according to their desires”

人生如戏 (rénshēng rú xì) “life is like a theatrical opera”

如胶似漆 (rú jiāo sì qī) “attached together as if they were glued” (for those who love each other)

如火如荼 (rú huǒ rú tú) “with force”

往事如烟 (wǎng shì rú yān) “past events have vanished like a cloud of smoke”

身轻如燕 (shēn qīng rú yàn) “light as a feather” (a light body)

如获至宝 (rú huò zhì bǎo) “touch the sky with a finger” (like having found a priceless treasure)

宾至如归 (bīn zhì rú guī) “to feel at home”

如出一口 (rú chū yī kǒu) “unanimously”

如出一辙 (rú chū yī̠ zhé) “to be flour from the same sack”

如堕五里雾中 (rú duò wǔlǐ wùzhōng) “to feel lost” (as in five leagues of fog)

如释重负 (rú shì zhòng fù) “as relieved of a great weight”

如数家珍 (rú shǔ jiā zhēn) “to know like one’s own pockets”

如鱼得水 (rú yú dé shuǐ) “happy like an Easter” (like a fish in water)

时间如流水 (shíjiān rú liúshuǐ) “time is like water that flows” (flows quickly)

栩栩如生 (xụ̌xǔ rú shēng) “realistic/vivid (as in life)”

如下 (rú xià) “as below”

如上 (rú shàng) “as above”

如一 (rú yī) “same as before”

如此 (rúcǐ) “so”

如今 (rú jīn) “right now”

如常 (rú cháng) “like always, as usual”

不如 (bùrú) “to be inferior to, not like a” is used to form comparatives of minority when the characteristic evidenced in the comparison is a positive quality.

Here are some examples:

你不如老师漂亮。
Nǐ bùrú lǎoshī piàoliang.
You’re not as pretty as the professor / you’re less pretty than the professor.

老师不如你聪明。
Lǎoshī bùrú nǐ cōngming.
The professor isn’t as smart as you are / the professor is less intelligent than you are.

Adjectives like “short” and “small”, just to use two examples, are not considered positive qualities, so we’ll use the comparative of minority with 没有 (méiyǒu) and not 不如.

Here are some examples:

妈妈不如爸爸高。
Māma bùrú bàba gāo.
My mother is not as tall as my dad (“tall” is considered a positive characteristic).

爸爸不如妈妈矮。
Bàba bùrú māma ǎi.
My dad is not as short as my mom [You can’t do this because “short” is considered a negative characteristic].

If we wanted to make a phrase like that, we will use 没有:

爸爸没有妈妈矮。
bàba méiyǒu māma ǎi.
My dad is not as short as my mom.

When the adjective is used in construction with 不如 and 好(hǎo) “to be good, to be well”, 好 can be omitted.

Here are some examples:

谁都不如他好。
Shuí dōu bùrú tā hǎo.
Nobody is better than him.

谁都不如他。
Shuí dōu bùrú tā hǎo.
Nobody is better than him.

中国人常说：来得早不如来得巧。(好hǎo )
Zhōngguórén cháng shuō: láide zǎo bùrú láide qiǎo.
The Chinese often say: arriving early isn’t (good) as arriving on time.

择日不如撞日，就今天吧！ (好hǎo is omitted omesso)
Zérì bùrú zhuàng rì, jiù jīntiān ba!
Choosing a date isn’t as (good) as doing it randomly, so we’ll do it today!

最, 之一, 其中 y 当中

In the article about auxiliary modals we already saw the character 最(zuì) “the most, above all, more than all” used immediately before the auxiliary 会 (huì) to express that someone is better at doing something:

毛老师最会画画。
Máo lǎoshī zuì huì huà huà.
Professor Mao is best at painting.

最 (zuì), moreover, can be placed in the position immediately preceding the adjective to express the absolute superlative form:

他最高。
Tā zuìgāo.
He is the tallest

这本书最贵。
Zhè běn shū zuì guì.
This book is the most expensive.

As you can see, when using the absolute superlative form, you never put the conjunction represented by the character 是 (shì) “to be”. We can say that 最 functions as a predicate adjective, so it has the intrinsic value of “to be the most”.

Note this in the following examples:

北京是中国最漂亮的城市。
Běijīng shì Zhōngguó zuì piàoliang de chéngshì.
Beijing is the prettiest city in China.

长城是世界上最长的城。
Chángchéng shì shìjiè shàng zuìcháng de chéng.
The Great Wall is the longest wall in the world.

披萨是世界上最好吃的食物。
Pīsà shì shìjiè shàng zuìhǎochī de shíwù.
Pizza is the best food in the world.

In the examples listed above, there’s the character 是“to be”. Nevertheless, this introduces the specifier and not the specified when 最 is present.

The construction “最 (zuì) / 再 (zài) + Adjective + 不过 (bù guo) ”indicates that the adjective that is used has reached its maximum level. For example:

这样的解释已经再清楚不过了。
Zhèyàng de jiěshì yǐjing zài qīngchu buguò le.
By now the explanation couldn’t be clearer than this.

最 (zuì) could be followed by the predicative adjective 好 (hǎo) and a verb to indicate the best things to do: “is better than…”

下雨了，我们最好不出去。
Xiàyǔ le, wǒmen zuìhǎo bù chūqu.
It started raining, it’s better if we don’t go out.

我想你最好保持沉默。
Wǒ xiǎng nǐ zuìhǎo bǎochí chénmò.
I think it’s best that we stay silent.

你最好休息一下。
Nǐ zuìhǎo xiūxi yị̄xià.
It’s best if you rest a bit.

之一 (zhīyī), translatable as “one of”, is inserted at the end of the phrase.

她是我的好朋友之一。
Tā shì wǒ de hǎo péngyou zhīyī.
She is one of my best friends.

对我来说，纽约是世界上最漂亮的城市之一。
Duì wǒ lái shuō, Niǔyuē shì shìjiè shàng zuì piàoliang de chéngshì zhīyī.
In my opinion, New York is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

中国人觉得百事可乐是最好喝的汽水之一。
Zhōngguórén juéde bǎi shì kělè shì zuìhǎo hē de qìshuǐ zhīyī.
The Chinese consider Pepsi as being one of the best drinks.

In classic Chinese, 其 (qí) indicates “that / those”, referring to something or someone mentioned before. 其中 (qízhōng) is derived from classic Chinese and expresses the meaning of “among those”, referring to something mentioned before.

我有四个苹果，其中两个很大。
Wǒ yǒu sì gè píngguǒ, qízhōng liǎng gè hěn dà.
Two of my four apples are big (literally “I have 4 apples, among these, two are big”).

我有两辆汽车，其中一辆是宝马。
Wǒ yǒu liǎng liàng qìchē, qízhōng yī liàng shì Bạ̌omǎ.
Of my two cars, one is a BMW.

人类面临许多问题，其中最严重的是污染问题。
Rénlèi miànlín xǔduō wèntí, qízhōng zuì yánzhòng de shì wūrǎn wèntí.
Humanity is facing many problems; among these, the most serious is pollution.

当中 (dāngzhōng) is translated as “in the midst of/among”.

我朋友当中庄宁最聪明。
Wǒ péngyou dāngzhōng Zhuāng Nìng zuì cōngming.
Of my friends, Zhuang Ning is the smartest.

对我来说，西西里岛城市当中卡塔尼塞塔最漂亮。
Duì wǒ lái shuō, xīxī lǐ dǎo chéngshì dāngzhōng Kǎtǎnísāitǎ zuì piàoliang.
In my opinion, Caltanissetta is the prettiest among Sicilian cities.

她是我生命当中最重要的人。
Tā shì wǒ shēngmìng dāngzhōng zuì zhòngyào de rén.
She is the most important person in my life.

八月是一年当中最热的月份。
Bāyuè shì yī nián dāngzhōng zuì rè de yuèfèn.
August is the hottest month of the year.

Photo Credits: Photo by Evelyn_Chai on Pixabay