The Bei Grammatical Structure: The Bane in Learning Chinese as a Second Language

Abstract

Every language has its own set of rules that guide it, and those rules are called the grammar of a language. Grammar serves as a guide to language learners to acquire and comprehend the target language. In other words, grammar of a language is vital in learning any language, therefore learning a language without learning the grammar of that language is like driving a car without a steering. Chinese like other languages has its own grammar(s) that guide it. Unlike other types of Chinese grammar, bei grammatical structure is the basic passive sentence construction in Chinese language which is considered very difficult, if not the most difficult form of Chinese grammar to learn based on observations. This paper therefore through qualitative research methodology, analyses the difficulties learners encounter in learning the bei passive structure, reasons for these difficulties and possible solutions for better comprehension and usage of the structure. The natural order hypothesis is adopted for the theoretical framework.