Differences in Subject and in Predicate between English and Chinese英语毕业论文.docx

Differences in Subject and in Predicate between English and Chinese1 IntroductionWithout doubt, a sentence is always a unit for people to express something and we usually translate an article sentence by sentence. The subject and the predicate are the main parts of a sentence. When we translate a sentence, the first and also most important thing we should do is to determine the subject of the sentence, then to determine the predicate and other elements of the sentence. However, because of the differences in language between east and west, there also exist dissimilarities in the use of the subject between the two languages, so it is necessary for us to know the differences in subject and in predicate between English and Chinese.2 Differences in SubjectChinese linguists' research on the subject, most of them had been done in the 20th Century. Recent years, with fewer and fewer learners pay attention to both English and Chinese subject, it is thought that it's important to attach some importance to them, for which its good for our recent study and later research. In order to research the differences in English and Chinese subjects, this chapter lays stress on the structures and forms of subjects in English and Chinese.2.1 Different Structures for SubjectSome different structures for subjects can be seen through analysing and comparing Chinese sentences and English sentences.2.1.1 Words Used as Subject in EnglishIt usually use noun, pronoun, or the words can be regarded as noun or noun phrases as subject in English. Read the following examples:(1).My brother is a worker. (noun as subject)(2).He lives in the new house.（pronoun as subject）(3).The first of October is our National Day.（numeral as subject）(4).To read something is a good habit.（the infinitive as subject） (5).Reading will do you good in your English study.（V+ing as subject） (6).What they are doing is for the modernization of our motherland.（subordinate clause as subject）2.1.2 Words Used as Subject in ChineseIn Chinese, besides noun, pronoun, numeral, verb, adjective, "de" structure, coordinative word group and verb-object word group can also used as subject in Chinese sentences. Eg:(1).等待不能解决问题。(Dng daì bù néng ji jué wèn tí.)（verb as subject）(2).快也不能解决问题。(kuaì y bù néng ji jué wèn tí.)（adjective as subject）(3).没有本科学历的不能录用。(meí yu bn k xué lì d bù néng lù yòng. ）("de" as subject）(4).大家都去不可能。(dà ji du qù bù k néng.)（predicate phrase as subject）(5).光说空话不能解决任何问题。(gung shu kng huà bù néng ji jué rèn hé wèn tí.)（verb-object word group as subject）2.2 Different Forms of SubjectsSome obvious different forms of subjects can be seen from the personal subject and impersonal subject. Besides, whether there exist the omissions of the subject is also a big difference between English and Chinese subjects.2.2.1 Personal Subject and Impersonal SubjectIn a specific language environment, subjects can include the subject and the impersonal subject or named the animate subject and the inanimate subject. The so-called personal subject is a “person” as the subject in sentences. Things can be always as the subjects in English sentence. “Person” usually becomes the subject in Chinese sentences. This is also because the difference of thoughts between the East and the West. Chinese philosophical thinking stresses subjective consciousness. However, English philosophical thinking advocates reason. (Liu Rurong, 2004:98-99)2.2.2 Different Attention on SubjectThe subject can be left out in Chinese, or the sentences do not have subject. These sentences called predicate sentences. The following sentences will exemplify the concept.(1).起风了。(q fng l.) The wind is rising.(2).要吃饭就得劳动。(yào ch fàn jiù d láo dòng.) If you want to eat, you must work.The sentences in the above examples are all predicate sentences, while if you want to express the same meaning in English, the sentences must have a subject, or change the related part as subject, or use the generic pronoun to add the subject, or use "there be" sentence pattern or the formal subject-"it" to guide the whole sentence. In short, an integrated English sentence cant be without subject, except for the special circumstance like the imperative sentence or other special sentence, otherwise, the sentence is not correct. But Subject has been left out is common in Chinese. For example:(1).我吃了午饭就去。(w ch l w fàn jiù qù.) (2).他回家后立刻就睡觉了。(t huí ji hòu lìkè jiù shuì jiào l.) When translate them into English, it needs to add the subject:(1)I will go when I finish my lunch.(2)He went to bed as soon as he came home.3 Differences in PredicateAs we all kwon, Chinese is isolated language as it lacks change if form, so it mainly depends on the word order or the function word to display the grammar relations. English is an inflectional language and it mainly depends on the change in form to show the grammar relations. All these differences can be reflected in the structure and form of predicates.3.1 Different Structures of PredicateDifferent structures of predicates between English and Chinese can show up in the different words acting as predicate.3.1.1 The Words Used as PredicateLi Ping ever concluded in his paper1 that the word classes of the predicate in English must be a verb or a verb group while that in Chinese is of much more diversity: It can be verbs- nouns- adjectives or phrase structures. Like verbal predicate, adjective predicate, nominal predicate and subject-predicate predicate are able to work as predicates. For example:今天星期天。（jn tan xng q tan. Noun acts as predicate）Today is Sunday.太阳热烘烘的。（taì yang rè hng d. Adjective acts as predicate）The sun is hot. 2The underlined parts act as predicates in Chinese even though they are not verbs. However, when we translate the sentence into English, the link-verbs must be added.3.2 Different Forms of PredicateThe form of predicates is another difference between English predicates and Chinese predicates. It mainly includes tense, aspect, voice and mood.3.2.1 Tense and AspectThere is a change in tense and aspect in English predicates. Tense refers to the absolute location of an event or action in time, either the present or the past. It is marked by an inflection of the verb. Reference to other times - the future, for instance - can be made in a number of ways, by using the modal auxiliary will, or the semi-auxiliary be going to. Aspect refers to how an event or action is to be viewed with respect to time, rather than to its actual location in time. This can be illustrated by using the following examples: (1)David fell in love on his eighteenth birthday.(2)David is falling in love.In (1), the verb fell tells us that David fell in love in the past, and specifically on his eighteenth birthday. This is a simple past tense verb. In (2), the action of falling in love is still in progress - David is falling in love at the time of speaking. For this reason, we call it progressive aspect, and the auxiliary is called the progressive auxiliary.Compared with tense and aspect of predicates in English, Chinese verbs dont have tense and aspect. Thats to say, Chinese verbs use specific words to display different time of an action or event, instead of depending on the morphological change of verbs. For example:男孩子们正在操场上踢足球。（nán hízi mn zhèng zaì co chng shàng t zú qiú.）The boys are playing on the ground.This sentence uses “正在”(be doing)to express the aspect of predicate, which makes the verb-“踢”(playing) doesnt change its form.3.2.2 VoiceVoice refers to a form of the verb which indicates the semantic relationship between the subject and the predicate. The passive voice in English is formed by combining a form of the verb to be with the past participle of a transitive verb, namely, “be +done”. The main verb is always in its past participle form. But the auxiliary verb can change its tense to deliver information of action in time. So, the voice of verbs in English has a close relationship to the change of verbs. Whereas, Chinese predicate lacks of the morphological change as English. The passive voice in Chinese shows itself with the help of specific words. Such as “被”（beì）“叫”(jiào)“教”(jio)“让”(ràng) and so on.3.2.3 MoodThere exist many different moods both in English and in Chinese. The differences are reflected in their verbs. In English, mood of the verb are three major types: indicative, imperative and subjunctive. Different moods correspond to different forms of predicates. However, different moods in Chinese are shown by using different punctuations and modal particles.4 Different Relations of Subject and PredicateBesides different subjects and predicates, the different relation of subject and predicate is another distinction between English and Chinese.4.1 The Different Grammatical Relation of Subject and PredicateSubject is restricted by the grammatical relation, and the verb and it's subject must agree in person and number. While Chinese sentence is more logical, it does not need this congruent relationship. For example:(1).He is a student and we are all students.他是学生，我们都是学生。(t shì xué shng, w mn du shì xué shng.)(2).I study English, but he studies Japanese.我学习英语，但他学习日语。(w xué xí yng y,dàn t xué xí rì y.)In the examples above, the verb and it's subject must agree in person and number in English, but it does not need this congruent relationship in Chinese.5 ConclusionIn the three parts above, by the contrast analysis of the subjects and predicates between English and Chinese sentences from many different aspects, it can be concluded that the greatest differences of subject and predicate between Chinese and English is the differences in structure, form and relationship between subject and predicate. Through analyzing grammatical relation of the subject and predicate, English major students will have a clear subject and predicate conception of the two languages. Notes1 Contrasting the Predicates between English and Chinese in Terms of Word ClassesJournal of Huaihua University 2005-032Bai Lilan Comparasion of Predicates of Structures between English and Chinese Journal of Liaoning Teachers College(social sciences edition)