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#Lesson 1 – The Three Common Uses of 多(duō) in Chinese

Please click here to watch the video if you are located in China

Notes:

多, is pronounced as [duō], which means many, more. Now we will talk about the three most commonly used meanings in the beginning level.

多1:

When 多 is used as an interrogative pronoun, it`s used before an adjective to make an interrogative sentence to ask about the age, distance or degree.

e.g.

A: 你今年多大了? How old are you?

(Nǐ jīnnián duōdàle?)

B: 我今年20岁。I`m 20 years old this year.

   (Wǒ jīnnián 20 suì.)

多2

When 多 is an adjective, it`s used to show a large amount or the increase in numbers.

Subject + 多 (多 serves as the predicate)

e.g.

人很多。

(Rén hěnduō.)

他的头发不多。

(Tā de tóufa bù duō.)

degree adverb + 多 + noun/noun phrase (多serves as attribute)

e.g.

他有很多钱。

(Tā yǒu hěnduō qián.)

他总有许多理由。

(Tā zǒng yǒu xǔduō lǐyóu.)

Subject + 多 + verb.

e.g.

你要多休息。

(Nǐ yào duō xiūxi.)

学习汉语要多听多说。

(Xuéxí hànyǔ yào duō tīng duō shuō.)

 

多3

When 多 is used as a numeral word, it indicates an uncertain number.

For the measure words, such as 个(gè)/ 本(běn)/ 件(jiàn)/ 次(cì), 多 can not be put after the measure words or nouns. In this situation, 多 can only be put before the measure words or nouns.

e.g.

十多(个)人 (Shí duō (gè) rén)

一百多本书 (yībǎi duō běn shū)

一千多件衣服 (yīqiān duō jiàn yīfú)

三十多次 (sānshí duō cì)

For the measure words, such as 年(nián) / 月(yuè)/ 星期(xīng qī)/ 点(diǎn) / 岁(suì) / 块(kuài), 多 can be put both before or after the measure words or nouns.

e.g.

年:

一年多 (yī nián duō)

十多年 (shí duō nián)

月:

一个多月 (yī gè duō yuè)

十多个月 (shí duō gè yuè)

星期:

九个多星期 (jiǔ gè duō xīng qī)

十多个星期 (shí duō gè xīng qī)

点:

三点多 (sān diǎn duō)

岁:

五岁多 (wǔ suì duō)

二十多岁 (èrshí duō suì)

块:

九块多 (jiǔ kuài duō)

十多块 (shí duō kuài)

Note that there are no these sayings like “一个月多” “一个星期多” in Chinese. And 点 can only be put after the measure words, but before.

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