句群:联合关系
sentence groups of equal partners: listing, sequence, build-up, choice, explanation, summing up
Structure
句1 。 (接着/不仅如此/也就是说) 句2 。 … (总之) 总括
What it means
A sentence group (句群) is several sentences working as one unit. In the coordinate (联合) type no sentence is the main one: they stand side by side as equal partners.
How it is built
Sentences in a row, linked by order and a few signposts: 新诗不讲平仄。不仅如此,有的新诗连韵也不押 (new poetry ignores tone patterns. More than that, some does not even rhyme).
When to use it
Signposts: listing 首先…其次; sequence 接着, 后来; build-up 不仅如此, 更重要的是; choice 或者, 要么; explanation 也就是说, 换句话说; summing up 总之. Good writers often let time words carry the order: 小时候…长大后…后来…
Watch out
Do not carry the speech habit of starting every sentence with 然后 into writing: ✗…然后…然后…然后… Vary the links, or let the order speak for itself.
Examples
小时候,乡愁是一枚邮票;长大后,是一张船票;后来,是母亲的坟墓。总之,乡愁越来越沉重。
As a boy, homesickness is a stamp; grown up, a ticket for a boat; later, his mother’s grave. In short, homesickness weighs more and more heavily. (sequence, then summing up)
新诗不讲平仄,也不要求对仗。不仅如此,有的新诗连韵也不押。
New poetry ignores tone patterns and does not require parallel lines. More than that, some of it does not even rhyme. (build-up)
读诗可以先读原文,也可以先看翻译。也就是说,怎么读都行,只要多读几遍。
You can read the original first, or the translation first. In other words, any way will do, as long as you read it several times. (choice, then explanation)
Learn this in Lesson 225 · HSK 9+: 新诗一百年 (A century of modern poetry)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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