List 2 on pages xvi–xvii for the common measure words.
In Chinese grammar, particles are words attached to other words or at the end of a sentence to indicate grammatical concepts or to express emotions. For example, the particles 了 le, 着 zhe, 过 guo are attached to verbs to indicate, respectively, whether the actions denoted are completed, in progress or past experiences.
4.2 Word classes
Following are brief explanations of the basic terms in Chinese grammar used in this dictionary. (A word of warning: it is a rather complicated matter to define grammatical terms accurately. Here we will be content with some general but useful ideas.)
| ADJECTIVE | a describing word, a word that describes people, things or actions, typically used before a noun |
| ADVERB | a word that modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb |
| CONJUNCTION | a word used to link two words, phrases or sentences, indicating certain relationships between them |
| IDIOM | a set phrase, the meaning of which cannot be readily derived from its components |
| INTERJECTION | a word that expresses strong emotions |
| MEASURE WORD | a word that connects a numeral to a noun. Measure words are a special feature of Chinese; a list of measure words is given in List 2 |
| MODAL VERB | a word used before a verb to indicate necessity, possibility, willingness, etc. |
| NOUN | a naming word, a word that names people, animals, plants, things, ideas, etc. |
| NUMERAL | a word that represents a number, typically used with a noun |
| ONOMATOPOEIA | a word that imitates the sounds of a thing or an action |
| PARTICLE | a word used with another word, phrase, or sentence to indicate certain grammatical meanings or to express strong emotions |
| PREPOSITION | a word used before a noun or pronoun to indicate time, place, direction, manner, reason of an action, etc. |
| PRONOUN | a word that is used in the place of a noun, a verb, an adjective, etc. |
| VERB | an action word, a word that indicates what somebody does or feels |
4.3 Other grammar terms
| ATTRIBUTE | the element that modifies the subject or object of a sentence; or, in word-formation analysis, a word that modifies a noun |
| ADVERBIAL | the element that is used before the predicate of a sentence and modifies it; or, in word-formation analysis, a word that precedes a verb or an adjective to modify it |
| COMPLEMENT | the element that is used after the predicate of a sentence and modifies it; or, in word-formation analysis, a word that follows a verb or an adjective to modify it |
| IMPERATIVE SENTENCE | a command or a request |
| OBJECT | the element that follows a predicative verb, typically to indicate the target of an action |
| PREDICATE | the comment or information about the subject, typically a verb or an adjective |
| PREFIX | an additional element that immediately precedes the word it is attached to |
| SUBJECT | the topic of a sentence, what the speaker wants to talk about, typically a noun or pronoun |
| SUFFIX | an additional element that closely follows the word it is attached to |
List 1
Meaningful Character Components
冫 = freezing, ice (e.g. 冰 bīng, 冷 lěng, 寒 hán)
讠, 言 = word (e.g. 语 yǔ, 词 cí)
八 = dividing (e.g. 分 fēn, 半 bàn)
亻, 人 = man, person (e.g. 他 tā, 信 xìn)
刂, 刀 = knife (e.g. 利 lì, 剩 shèng)
力 = muscle, strength (e.g. 男 nán, 办 bàn)
阝(on the left) = mound, steps (e.g. 院 yuàn, 附 fù)
阝(on the right) = city, region (e.g. 部 bù, 邮 yóu)
氵, 水 = water (e.g. 河 hé, 海 hǎi)
忄, 心 = the heart, emotions (e.g. 情 qíng, 怕 pà, 感 gǎn)
宀 = roof, house (e.g. 家 jiā, 室 shì)
广 = roof, hut (e.g. 庭 tíng, 店 diàn)
门 = door, gate (e.g. 闻 wén, 间 jiān)
土 = earth (e.g. 场 chǎng, 城 chéng)
女 = woman (e.g. 妇 fù, 妈 mā)
饣, 食 = food (e.g. 饭 fàn, 饱 bǎo)
口 = the mouth, speech, eating (e.g. 问 wèn, 吃 chī)
囗 = boundary (e.g. 围 wéi, 园 yuán)
子, 孑 = child (e.g. 孩 hái, 学 xué)
艹 = plant, vegetation (e.g. 草 cǎo, 菜 cài)
纟 = silk, texture (e.g. 组 zǔ, 纸 zhǐ)
辶 = walking (e.g. 道 dào, 过 guò)
彳 = path, walking (e.g. 行 xíng, 往 wǎng)
巾 = cloth (e.g. 布 bù, 带 dài)
马 = horse (e.g. 骑 qí)
扌, 手, 攵 = the hand, action (e.g. 拿 ná, 擦 cā)
灬, 火 = fire, heat (e.g. 烧 shāo, 热 rè)
礻, 示 = spirit (e.g. 神 shén, 祖 zǔ)
户 = door, window (e.g. 房 fáng)
父 = father (e.g. 爸 bà)
日 = the sun (e.g. 晴 qíng, 暖 nuǎn)
月= the moon (e.g. 阴 yīn, 明 míng)
月, 肉 = flesh, human organ (e.g. 脸 liǎn, 脚 jiǎo)
贝 = shell, treasure (e.g. 贵 guì)
止 = toe (e.g. 步 bù)
木 = tree, timber (e.g. 树 shù, 板 bǎn)
王, 玉 = jade (e.g. 理 lǐ, 球 qiú)
见 = seeing (e.g. 视 shì, 现 xiàn)
气 = vapor (e.g. 汽 qì)
车 = vehicle (e.g. 辆 liàng)
疒 = disease, ailment (e.g. 病 bìng, 疼 téng)
立 = standing (e.g. 站 zhàn, 位 wèi)
穴 = cave, hole (e.g. 空 kōng, 窗 chuāng)
衤, 衣 = clothing (e.g. 裤 kù, 袜 wà)
钅, 金 = metal (e.g. 银 yín, 钱 qián)
石 = stone, rock (e.g. 碗 wǎn, 磁 cí)
目 = the eye (e.g. 眼 yǎn, 睡 shuì)
田 = farm, field (e.g. 界 jiè, 里 lǐ)
瓜
