tā míngnián gēn tā jiéhūn.

Questions & Answers about tā míngnián gēn tā jiéhūn.

Why are and both pronounced ?

In Mandarin, (he) and (she) are pronounced exactly the same: .

A few useful points:

  • The difference is only visible in writing.
  • In spoken Mandarin, you cannot tell the difference from pronunciation alone.
  • Context tells you whether the speaker means he or she.

Related forms:

  • = he
  • = she
  • = it

All three are pronounced .

Why isn’t there a word meaning will in this sentence?

Mandarin often does not need a separate future marker if the time is already clear.

Here, 明年 means next year, so the sentence is obviously about the future:

  • 他明年跟她结婚。
  • literally: He next year with her get married.

Because 明年 already shows future time, adding a word like will is unnecessary.

You could add something like or in some contexts, but that changes the nuance a bit:

  • 他明年会跟她结婚。 = He will marry her next year. / He is expected to marry her next year.
  • 他明年要跟她结婚。 = He is going to marry her next year. / He intends to marry her next year.

The original sentence is perfectly natural without them.

Why is 明年 placed before 跟她结婚?

Mandarin usually puts time expressions before the main verb phrase.

A very common pattern is:

So:

  • = he
  • 明年 = next year
  • 跟她结婚 = get married to her

This gives:

  • 他明年跟她结婚。

That word order is very natural in Chinese.

You can also say:

  • 明年他跟她结婚。

This is also correct, with 明年 placed at the beginning for emphasis on the time.

What does mean here?

Here, means with.

In the pattern 跟 + someone + 结婚, it expresses the person one is marrying:

  • 跟她结婚 = get married with her, which in natural English is marry her or get married to her

So although English says marry someone or get married to someone, Chinese commonly says:

  • 跟某人结婚
  • literally: get married with someone

This is a very common and natural structure.

Does 结婚 mean marry or get married?

结婚 most basically means to get married.

That is important, because it is not usually treated exactly like the English verb marry.

Compare:

  • 他明年结婚。 = He is getting married next year.
  • 他明年跟她结婚。 = He is getting married to her next year.

So in this sentence, 结婚 is closer to get married, while 跟她 tells you who the marriage partner is.

If you specifically want the more direct idea of marry her, Chinese also has:

  • 娶她 = marry her (said of a man marrying a woman)
  • 嫁给他 = marry him (said of a woman marrying a man)

But 结婚 is the more neutral, general word.

Why do we say 跟她结婚 instead of just using directly after 结婚?

Because 结婚 usually does not take the marriage partner as a direct object in the same way English marry does.

So English says:

  • He will marry her.

But Chinese more naturally says:

  • 他跟她结婚。
  • literally: He gets married with her.

This is one of those places where Chinese grammar does not match English grammar directly.

Natural Chinese options include:

  • 他跟她结婚。
  • 他和她结婚。

Less natural for basic learners would be trying to force English structure directly onto 结婚.

Can be replaced by ?

Yes, often it can.

These are both natural:

  • 他明年跟她结婚。
  • 他明年和她结婚。

Both mean essentially the same thing here.

A small nuance:

  • is very common in everyday spoken Mandarin.
  • also means and/with and is also common.

In this sentence, either works well.

How is this different from 他明年娶她?

They are related, but not identical.

  • 他明年跟她结婚。 = He is getting married to her next year.
  • 他明年娶她。 = He will marry her next year.

The difference:

  • 结婚 is neutral and focuses on the event of marriage.
  • is specifically used for a man taking a wife.

So:

  • 跟她结婚 is broader and more neutral.
  • 娶她 is more specifically marry her from the man’s point of view.

Similarly, from the woman’s side:

  • 她明年嫁给他。 = She will marry him next year.
Can the word order be changed?

Sometimes, yes.

These are natural:

  • 他明年跟她结婚。
  • 明年他跟她结婚。
  • 他跟她明年结婚。

All can work, though they may sound slightly different in emphasis.

A rough guide:

  • 他明年跟她结婚。
    Neutral, very common.
  • 明年他跟她结婚。
    Emphasizes next year.
  • 他跟她明年结婚。
    Also possible, with the relationship part introduced earlier.

For learners, 他明年跟她结婚。 is an excellent default pattern.

Does this sentence sound like a firm plan, or just a future possibility?

By itself, it usually sounds like a fairly straightforward statement about the future.

Depending on context, it could mean:

  • this is the plan
  • this is expected
  • this has been decided

But Mandarin often leaves that nuance to context.

If the speaker wants to make intention stronger, they might say:

  • 他明年要跟她结婚。
    He is going to marry her next year.

If they want to sound more predictive:

  • 他明年会跟她结婚。
    He will probably / will marry her next year.

The original sentence is neutral and natural.

Is a verb here, or more like a preposition?

Here, works more like a preposition-like word (often called a coverb in Chinese grammar).

It introduces the person connected to the action:

  • 跟她 = with her

Then the main verb is:

  • 结婚 = get married

So the structure is:

  • 他 / 明年 / 跟她 / 结婚
  • he / next year / with her / get married

For a beginner, it is fine to think of here as meaning with.

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