Verb phrases

Original teaching practice. Read one pattern, cover its model and try the questions before checking the separate answer section. Examples adapted from Chinese Grammar Wiki (AllSet Learning, CC BY-NC-SA) retain the course-reference provenance.

hard to avoid难免nán miǎn (hard to avoid / bound to)

Reassure a beginner, then help

• A teacher says new hand新手xīn shǒuhard to avoid难免nán miǎnto make a mistake出错chū cuò。 – mistakes are hard for beginners to avoid. The teacher is recognising a common difficulty.
• The next step can still be to check and correct the work. Recognising the difficulty does not mean every error should stay.

Name the difficult-to-avoid result

• Use hard to avoid难免nán miǎn + result or action phrase: the first time第一次dì yī cìto rise to power (in…上台shàng tái，hard to avoid难免nán miǎnnervous紧张jǐn zhāng。 – feeling nervous on a first stage appearance is hard to avoid.
• Keep the situation in view: first-time performing supplies a reason for the expectation. hard to avoid难免nán miǎn itself supplies no number or percentage.

beginners新手xīn shǒubound to难免nán miǎnmake mistakes出错chū cuò。

Keep expectation separate from a count

• In a fictional practice record, twelve beginners try a task and three make an error; nine do not. Those numbers come from the record.
• The teacher can acknowledge mistakes as hard to avoid without claiming that all twelve must fail. A learner who succeeds does not turn the phrase into a numerical rule.

Use the named situation

• 路上车lù shàng chē很多hěn duō，难免会nán miǎn huì晚一点wǎn yì diǎn。 presents heavy traffic as a reason to expect some lateness. It does not specify ten minutes.
• A different route with little traffic needs its own assessment. Do not transfer the first route’s reason to every journey.

Difficulty does not remove responsibility

• hard to avoid难免nán miǎnto make a mistake出错chū cuò describes an expectation. to ask请qǐnginspection检查jiǎn chávariant of 并并bìng改正错误gǎi zhèng cuò wù。 asks for checking and correction; the two ideas can fit together.
• A speaker may reassure someone or acknowledge a problem. The phrase alone does not prove the mistake was harmless or that correction is forbidden.

Read a bounded expectation

• Name the circumstances and the result treated as difficult to avoid. Keep actual counts and waiting times tied to explicit evidence.
• Do not turn hard to avoid难免nán miǎn into every person, every time, a fixed probability or permission to ignore the result.

Practise this pattern step by step.

to receive受shòu (receive / be affected)

Identify who receives the welcome

• Students like a teacher: this (person)这位zhè wèiteacher老师lǎo shīdegree / adjective linker很hěnpopular受欢迎shòu huān yíng。 – this teacher is popular. The teacher is the person receiving a favourable response.
• The sentence does not say the teacher welcomes someone else. It also does not prove that every student likes the teacher.

Learn established combinations

• popular受欢迎shòu huān yíng describes being welcomed or popular; to receive受shòuinfluence影响yǐng xiǎng describes being affected; to sustain injuries受伤shòu shāng describes getting hurt.
• Learn these combinations as words or phrases. to receive受shòu is not a slot that can replace (passive: by)被bèi before every verb.

he他tāvery很hěnbe受shòuwelcomed欢迎huān yíng。

Reverse the viewpoint carefully

• student学生xué shēngto welcome欢迎huān yíngteacher老师lǎo shī。 makes students the people giving the welcome. teacher老师lǎo shīto receive受shòustudent学生xué shēngto welcome欢迎huān yíng。 keeps the teacher as its recipient.
• Both describe a favourable response in this example. to receive受shòu does not mean every affected person suffers something bad.

Follow the named effect

• competition (sports etc)比赛bǐ sàito receive受shòuweather天气tiān qìinfluence影响yǐng xiǎng。 says the match is affected by the weather. The weather is the source of the effect; the match is affected.
• The sentence alone does not report cancellation. A delay, changed conditions or cancellation needs further information.

Separate a condition from its cause

• he / him他tāto sustain injuries受伤shòu shāng(completed / change)了le。 reports that he got hurt. It does not name an attacker, a cause or an intention.
• A fictional report says three of eight players were injured. That leaves five not reported injured; the numbers come from the report, not from to receive受shòu.

Track the recipient and the claim

• Find who receives the response or effect. Check the established phrase and any explicitly named source, such as student学生xué shēng or weather天气tiān qì.
• Do not infer universal popularity, deliberate harm or cancellation. Use a separate complete sentence when you need to give that extra information.

Practise this pattern step by step.

Practice without the models

Choose a pattern, cover its teaching examples, and attempt its questions. Use the labels to find feedback in the separate key.

hard to avoid难免nán miǎn (hard to avoid / bound to)

1201.1 Use the lesson target hard to avoid难免nán miǎn: Mistakes are hard for beginners to avoid: new hand新手xīn shǒu ………… to make a mistake出错chū cuò。

1201.2 {'en': 'hard to avoid难免nán miǎn treats the outcome as…', 'zh': 'hard to avoid难免nán miǎn (把: marks the object)把bǎoutcome结果jié guǒto look upon as看作kàn zuò……'}

• A. Hard to avoid under the circumstances
• B. Easily prevented without effort

1201.3 new hand新手xīn shǒuhard to avoid难免nán miǎnto make a mistake出错chū cuò means a teacher is forbidden to ask beginners to correct mistakes.

True or false? Explain or repair the statement.

1201.4 A teacher reassures beginners that mistakes are normal. What does new hand新手xīn shǒuhard to avoid难免nán miǎnto make a mistake出错chū cuò。 communicate?

• A. The speaker treats mistakes as difficult to avoid.
• B. hard to avoid难免nán miǎn proves every beginner makes every possible mistake.

1201.5 new hand新手xīn shǒuhard to avoid难免nán miǎnto make a mistake出错chū cuò specifies that exactly half of the beginners will make an error.

True or false? Explain or repair the statement.

1201.6 A fictional record has twelve beginners; three made an error. How many did not make an error in that task?

1201.7 Match each statement to what it does.

• 1. new hand新手xīn shǒuhard to avoid难免nán miǎnto make a mistake出错chū cuò。
• 2. to ask请qǐnginspection检查jiǎn chávariant of 并并bìng改正错误gǎi zhèng cuò wù。
• 3. 十二个shí èr gèphiltrum人中rén zhōngto have / there is有yǒu三个sān gèperson人rénto make a mistake出错chū cuò。

• A. Report an explicit count

• B. Ask for checking and correction

• C. Acknowledge a difficult-to-avoid outcome

1201.8 Heavy traffic on route A supports 难免会nán miǎn huì晚一点wǎn yì diǎn. Route B has little traffic. What follows about B?

• A. It must have exactly the same delay as A
• B. It needs its own assessment; A’s traffic does not establish B’s delay

1201.9 Recall the situation: Reassure a beginner, then help. Decide what the speaker wanted to communicate. Close the examples. Say a Mandarin response, then write it in Chinese. Explain briefly in English what the lesson’s pattern adds. Compare with the model, then change one detail and try again.

Write or say your own response before reading the key.

to receive受shòu (receive / be affected)

1202.1 Using the lesson pattern in this demonstrated example: He's very popular: he / him他tādegree / adjective linker很hěn ………… to welcome欢迎huān yíng。

1202.2 {'en': 'to sustain injuries受伤shòu shāng means…', 'zh': 'to sustain injuries受伤shòu shāng to be / is是shìwhat什么shén meidea意思yì si?'}

• A. {'en': 'get injured / be hurt', 'zh': 'to sustain injuries受伤shòu shāng / to receive (praise, an…受到shòu dàoto injure伤害shāng hài'}
• B. {'en': 'cause an injury to others', 'zh': 'to make使shǐother people别人bié rénto sustain injuries受伤shòu shāng'}

1202.3 {'en': 'to receive受shòu gives the sentence a passive flavour (the subject undergoes it).', 'zh': 'to receive受shòu to / for / give给gěisentence句子jù zione kind of一种yī zhǒngpassive被动bèi dòngtint色彩sè cǎi(subject (in grammar)主语zhǔ yǔto bear承受chéng shòu)。'}

True or false? Explain or repair the statement.

1202.4 Many people like a particular teacher. What does this (person)这位zhè wèiteacher老师lǎo shīdegree / adjective linker很hěnpopular受欢迎shòu huān yíng。 communicate?

• A. The teacher receives a favourable response from others.
• B. to receive受shòu can replace (passive: by)被bèi before every verb without changing the grammar.

1202.5 to receive受shòu can replace (passive: by)被bèi before every verb without changing the grammar.

True or false? Explain or repair the statement.

1202.6 Match the complete sentence to its recipient or affected subject.

• 1. teacher老师lǎo shīto receive受shòustudent学生xué shēngto welcome欢迎huān yíng。
• 2. competition (sports etc)比赛bǐ sàito receive受shòuweather天气tiān qìinfluence影响yǐng xiǎng。
• 3. he / him他tāto sustain injuries受伤shòu shāng(completed / change)了le。

• A. Match is affected by the weather

• B. He is the person injured

• C. Teacher receives the welcome

1202.7 competition (sports etc)比赛bǐ sàito receive受shòuweather天气tiān qìinfluence影响yǐng xiǎng shows that the match was cancelled.

True or false? Explain or repair the statement.

1202.8 A fictional report lists eight players and says three were injured. How many players are not reported injured?

1202.9 Recall the situation: Identify who receives the welcome. Decide what the speaker wanted to communicate. Close the examples. Say a Mandarin response, then write it in Chinese. Explain briefly in English what the lesson’s pattern adds. Compare with the model, then change one detail and try again.

Write or say your own response before reading the key.

A fresh situation

R1. Interpret and repair. A learner reads 难免会nán miǎn huìto make a mistake出错chū cuò as a claim that every attempt must fail. What should you qualify?

R2. Use it yourself. Describe a task affected by weather and a possible mistake that careful checking can reduce.

Write your responses before opening the key. Compare meaning as well as form; a different valid answer need not copy the model.