▎Omission of Nouns at 2nd Mention

 

Function In Chinese, old information that has already been mentioned before or that is understood from the context is often omitted at 2nd and future mentions. The end result is called a ‘zero pronoun’ in linguistics.

 

Structures The most frequently omitted elements are the subject and the object.

(1) Subject predictable from contexts

1 Ø請進！

Qǐng jìn!

(You) please come in.

2 [store clerk asking customer]

Ø要買什麼？

Yào mǎi shénme?

What would (you) like to buy?

請問Ø外帶還是內用？

Qǐngwèn, wàidài háishì nèiyòng?

Excuse me, is this for here or to go?

3 [A calling B]

今天晚上Ø要一起吃晚飯嗎？

Jīntiān wǎnshàng yào yìqǐ chī wǎnfàn ma?

Shall (we) eat dinner together tonight?

4 Ø聽說臺灣有很多小吃。

Tīngshuō Táiwān yǒu hěn duō xiǎochī.

(I’ve) heard that Taiwan has lots of (different kinds of) light repasts.

(2) Subject previously mentioned

1 我姓王，Ø叫開文。

Wǒ xìng Wáng, jiào Kāiwén.

I am surnamed Wang. (I) am called Kaiwen.

2 我常打籃球，Ø也常踢足球。

Wǒ cháng dǎ lánqiú, Ø yě cháng tī zúqiú.

I often play basketball and (I) often play football.

(3) Object previously mentioned

昨天朋友給我一個芒果，我還沒吃Ø。

Zuótiān péngyǒu gěi wǒ yí ge mángguǒ, wǒ hái méi chī.

Yesterday, a friend gave me a mango. I have not tried it yet.

 

Usage English allows reduction of nouns up to pronouns and no further. Chinese further reduces pronouns to zero. They are different process but the motivations are the same, i.e., avoiding redundancy.

P語法