Breakdown of jīntiān bàngōngshì lǐ méi yǒu biérén, wǒ yí gè rén ānjìng de bǎ zuòyè dōu zuòwán le.
Used when counting nouns or when specifying a specific instance of a noun.
There are also classifiers for people, for bound items such as books and magazines, for cups/glasses, etc.
The classifier 个 is a general one that can be used for any of these.
Used after a verb. Marks that an action is completed.
Questions & Answers about jīntiān bàngōngshì lǐ méi yǒu biérén, wǒ yí gè rén ānjìng de bǎ zuòyè dōu zuòwán le.
In Mandarin, 有 is almost always negated with 没 / 没有, not with 不.
- 有 = “to have; there is/are”
- Its standard negative form: 没有 / 没
- 办公室里没有别人 = “There is no one else in the office.”
不有 is basically ungrammatical in modern Mandarin in this meaning.
So:
- ✅ 我没有钱。= I don’t have money.
- ❌ 我不有钱。 (incorrect)
里 means “inside”, so:
- 办公室里 = “inside the office / in the office”
You can sometimes omit 里 and just say 在办公室 for “at the office”, especially when the “inside” idea is not important.
In this sentence:
- 今天办公室里没有别人 emphasizes inside that physical space there was no one else.
- You could also say 今天在办公室没有别人, which is also natural.
With people and rooms, 里 is very common and sounds very natural.
Yes, you can say:
- 今天在办公室里没有别人。
Both structures are common:
- [Place] + 有/没有 + [thing/person]
- 办公室里没有别人。= “In the office, there was no one else.”
- [在 + Place] + 有/没有 + [thing/person]
- 在办公室里没有别人。= “At/in the office, there was no one else.”
Here, 办公室里没有别人 uses the first pattern: place noun phrase directly before 有/没有. 在 is optional in such existential “there is/are” sentences.
In Chinese, the usual order is:
Time → Place → Subject → Manner → Verb …
So:
- 今天 办公室里 没有别人
Time (今天) first is very natural and common.
Other possibilities:
- 办公室里今天没有别人。(also possible, but less neutral)
- 今天办公室里没有别人，我一个人安静地把作业都做完了。 (original)
- 我今天在办公室里一个人安静地把作业都做完了。 (time after subject)
Putting 今天 at the start is the most typical, neutral pattern.
别人 literally means “other people / others”.
- 没有别人 = “there was no one else / no other people (there)”
Comparisons:
- 别人: “other people” (as a noun)
- 别的 + noun: “other + noun”
- 别的同事 = other colleagues
- 其他人: also “other people; the others” (a bit more formal/neutral)
Here, 没有别人 could also be said as 没有其他人 with almost no change in meaning.
没有别的人 is also possible but less common and a bit wordier.
我一个人 explicitly emphasizes “I, by myself / I alone”:
- 我一个人 = “I alone / just me, by myself”
- 我 = just “I”
So:
- 今天办公室里没有别人，我一个人安静地…
= “There was no one else in the office today; I quietly… by myself.”
If you only said 我, that extra nuance of being alone would be weaker or missing. 一个人 is a very common way to express “alone”:
- 我一个人吃饭。= I eat alone.
- 他喜欢一个人住。= He likes living alone.
安静 means “quiet; peaceful”.
安静地 is the adverbial form: “quietly / in a quiet way.”
In Mandarin:
- 的: links adjective → noun (attributive)
- 安静的办公室 = a quiet office
- 得: links verb → complement
- 说得很安静 = speaks very quietly
- 地: links adjective (or noun) → verb (adverbial)
- 安静地工作 = to work quietly
So in 安静地把作业都做完了, 安静地 modifies the action “(把作业都)做完了”:
“I finished all the homework quietly.”
The 把 construction is:
Subject + 把 + Object + (other parts) + Verb/Result
It’s used when:
- the object is known/specific, and
- you want to focus on what happens to the object.
Here:
- Subject: 我
- 把-object: 作业 (“the homework” – known, specific)
- 都: all (adverb)
- Verb + result: 做完了 (“finished doing”)
So:
- 我把作业都做完了。
= “I finished all (of) the homework.”
Without 把:
- 我作业都做完了。 (also OK)
- 我都做完作业了。 (less natural)
把 makes it very clear that the homework is the thing being completely dealt with.
都 means “all; both”.
In 作业都做完了:
- 作业 here refers to a set of assignments.
- 都 indicates “all of that set” was completed.
So:
- 作业做完了 = the homework (in general) is finished.
- 作业都做完了 = all the homework is finished (nothing left).
Even though 作业 looks like a singular noun in English, in Chinese it can represent a collection (all the individual exercises/assignments), so adding 都 is natural.
Position:
- Subject / object + 都 + Verb is the usual pattern: 作业都做完了.
- 做完: verb + result complement
- 做 (do) + 完 (to finish) = “to finish doing”
- 做完了: same, but with 了 marking completion / a change of state.
In a full sentence, you almost always need 了 (or some other marker) to show that the action is actually completed:
- 我把作业做完了。= I have finished the homework. (completed fact)
- 我想把作业做完。= I want to finish the homework. (no 了; just intention)
So 了 turns it from just a “finish-do” form into an actual completed event from the speaker’s viewpoint.
This is a common existential sentence pattern:
[Place] + 有 / 没有 + [thing/person]
There is no explicit subject like “there” in English. Instead, the location works like the topic:
- 办公室里没有别人。
= “In the office, there was no one else.”
(literally: “In the office, not-have other people.”)
So:
- Place: 办公室里
- Verb: 没有
- “Object”: 别人
This pattern is very common for “there is/are (not)” statements.
In 一个人, 一 is pronounced yí, not yī.
This is a case of tone sandhi:
- 一 normally: first tone yī
- But before a fourth-tone syllable, it changes to second tone yí.
Since 个 (gè) is fourth tone:
- 一 + 个 → yí gè
- So: 我一个人 = wǒ yí gè rén.
Other common examples:
- 一个 = yí gè
- 一个月 = yí ge yuè
Taken together:
- 安静地: quietly
- 把作业: (take) the homework
- 都: all (of it)
- 做完了: finished doing (it) (completely)
So 安静地把作业都做完了 expresses:
“(I) quietly finished all the homework.”
The manner (安静地) comes before the 把 phrase, and 都 and 完了 stress that everything was finished, completely and calmly.
Yes, the original has a bit more nuance and naturalness:
- 安静地 adds the idea of in a quiet atmosphere / calmly.
- 把…都做完了 highlights that the homework was completely dealt with.
Comparisons:
- 今天办公室里没有别人，我一个人做完作业了。
= “There was no one else in the office today; I finished my homework by myself.” (basic) - 今天办公室里没有别人，我一个人安静地把作业都做完了。
= “…I quietly finished all my homework by myself.” (more specific and vivid)