▎跟, gēn, (Prep), Various Meanings of the Preposition (2)

 

Function 跟 can be variously translated in English, depending on contexts.

(1) ‘to’, recipient of the action.

1 老師跟學生說，明天要考試。

Lǎoshī gēn xuéshēng shuō, míngtiān yào kǎoshì.

The teacher told the students that there will be an exam tomorrow.

2 他剛跟我說明了他們國家的文化。

Tā gāng gēn wǒ shuōmíngle tāmen guójiā de wénhuà.

He just explained (part of) his country’s culture to me.

3 語言中心主任跟小高介紹工作環境。

Yǔyán zhōngxīn zhǔrèn gēn Xiǎo Gāo jièshào gōngzuò huánjìng.

The language center director introduced Xiao Gao to the work environment.

(2) ‘with’, companion of the action.

1 小明昨天跟小美一起踢足球。

Xiǎomíng zuótiān gēn Xiǎoměi yìqǐ tī zúqiú.

Xiaoming played soccer with Xiaomei yesterday.

2 我是跟朋友一起來的。

Wǒ shì gēn péngyǒu yìqǐ lái de.

I came with my friends.

3 這個週末，我想跟朋友去台南玩。

Zhè ge zhōumò, wǒ xiǎng gēn péngyǒu qù Táinán wán.

I’d like to go to Tainan this weekend with my friends.

(3) ‘from’, source of the action of imparting.

1 小明想跟王老師學寫書法。

Xiǎomíng xiǎng gēn Wáng lǎoshī xué xiě shūfǎ.

Xiaoming would like to study calligraphy from (with) the teacher Miss Wang.

2 他打算跟麵包店老闆學做麵包。

Tā dǎsuàn gēn miànbāo diàn lǎobǎn xué zuò miànbāo.

He plans to learn how to make bread from the owner of the bakery.

3 我想跟朋友買他的那支舊手機。

Wǒ xiǎng gēn péngyǒu mǎi tā de nà zhī jiù shǒujī.

I would like to buy from my friend his old cell phone.

 

Structures

Negation：The negation occurs before 跟 as in the case of all prepositions. Either 不 or 沒 can be used.

1 請你不要跟別人說起我的薪水。

Qǐng nǐ bú yào gēn biérén shuōqǐ wǒ de xīnshuǐ.

Please don’t tell anyone how much money I make.

2 小明並沒跟臺灣朋友去看電腦展。

Xiǎomíng bìng méi gēn Táiwān péngyǒu qù kàn diànnǎo zhǎn.

Xiaoming didn’t go to the computer exhibition with his Taiwanese friend.

3 我不是跟王老師學西班牙文，是跟別人學的。

Wǒ búshì gēn Wáng lǎoshī xué Xībānyáwén, shì gēn biérén xué de.

I did not learn Spanish from Teacher Wang. I studied with others.

Questions：The A-not-A pattern can be applied to prepositions including 跟, not to the verb. 是不是 is also commonly used.

1 你是不是跟李教授學書法？

Nǐ shìbúshì gēn Lǐ jiàoshòu xué shūfǎ?

Are you learning calligraphy from Professor Li?

2 你跟大家介紹辦公室環境沒有？

Nǐ gēn dàjiā jièshào bàngōngshì huánjìng méi yǒu?

Have you shown everybody around the office?

3 下個星期，你跟不跟我去爬山？

Xià ge xīngqí, nǐ gēn bù gēn wǒ qù páshān?

Are you coming with me when I go hiking next week?