en
cs
da
de
it
plCommon errors
This entry is on the positive imperative 请/請 ‘please’ and the negative imperative 別 ‘don’t’.
1. Incorrect position
1.1 Learners might place 请/請 or 别 in the wrong position.
*吃请饭!
*吃饭请!
请吃饭!
*吃請飯!
*吃飯請!
請吃飯!
*吃别饭!
*吃饭别!
别吃饭!
*吃別飯!
*吃飯別!
別吃飯!
1.2 When both 请/請 and 別 appear in the same sentence, learners may be unsure which one should come first.
*别请吃饭!
请别吃饭!
*別請吃飯!
請別吃飯!
1.3 When 请//請 or 別 co-occurs with adverbs, learners might place them in a wrong position.
*先请喝茶。
*先喝茶请。
请先喝茶。
*先請喝茶。
*先喝茶請。
請先喝茶。
*只别喝咖啡。
*别喝只咖啡。
别只喝咖啡。
*只別喝咖啡。
*別喝只咖啡。
別只喝咖啡。
1.4 In imperatives 请/請 and 别 usually comes before a prepositional phrase, however learners might place them after the prepositional phrase.
*用中文请回答这个问题。
请用中文回答这个问题。
*用中文請回答這個問題。
請用中文回答這個問題。
别 can be placed both before and after a prepositional phrase, but usually comes before the prepositional phrase. The two sentences have slightly different connotations.
在图书馆别说话。
在圖書館別說話。
别在图书馆说话。
別在圖書館說話。
For beginners, it might be easiest to focus on learning the last and most common pattern.
2. Uncertainty about what kind of verb can be used
In imperatives, mainly verbs expressing voluntary actions that are controllable are used. However, learners might mistakenly use 请/請 or 别 with verbs that do not make sense as requests or prohibitions.
*请高兴一点。
*請高興一點。
*别喜欢我。
*別喜歡我。
Teaching tip
Have students ask: Can I reasonably and politely ask someone to do this action? If yes, then 请/請 is likely valid. Is this something the listener can actually stop doing right now? If not, 别 is likely inappropriate.
Give the students a list of verbs and have them discuss whether each of them can be used in imperatives.
3. Pragmatic errors or inappropriate use
Chinese imperatives use a variety of expressions with 请/請 and 别 being just two possibilities. The choice imperative is very much dependent on context: is it a formal or causal context? What is the relationship between the speaker and the listener? etc. If the speaker fails to take context into consideration, the imperative might come across as either overly polite or too harsh.
Below are a couple of examples of inappropriate use of 请/請 and 别.
Overusing 请/請 in casual situations
请/請 can sound too formal among close friends.
请你现在来我家。
請你現在來我家。
In this context, the following would sound more natural.
你现在来我家吧。
你現在來我家吧。
Using 请/請 or 别 in socially inappropriate contexts
Using 请/請 or 别 in socially inappropriate contexts can make the imperative either too soft or too blunt.
If said with anger 请/請 feels overly polite or sarcastic.
请你关门！
請你關門！
Depending on how angry the speaker is and who the listerner is, the following would be more natural alternatives.
关门！
麻烦你关一下门。
關門！
麻煩你關一下門。
The strong emphasis on hierarchy and face in Chinese culture, can make the use of a direct imperative with 别 towards someone above you in status, such as a teacher, a boss or an elder relative, be seen as disrespectful. Here polite requests, suggestions or indirect phrasing would be more appropiate.
Teaching tip
To enhance students’ understanding of matching imperatives with context and relationship, set up different situations and have the students discuss which imperative is appropriate in which situation. Dependent on the students‘ level, a list of imperatives to choose from can be given to the them.
L1 inference error
1.1 In imperatives 请/請 translates as ‘please‘ and learners might overuse 请/請 by translating ‘please‘ directly in every request. Also, in English, ’please’ can appear at the end of an imperative sentence, whereas 请/請 cannot.
1.2 Contrary to‘please‘, 请/請 must be attached to the requested action and cannot stand alone.
*请，我要水。
请给我一杯水
*請，我要水。
請給我一杯水。