<p>The fact is that there is no Clause in Chinese grammar. The choices for you are:</p>

<p>(1) Separate to two sentence and use conjunction words. For example: </p>

<p>He is the one THAT I saw</p>

<p>-> I saw him. He is the one. </p>

<p>-> Wo3 Jian4 Dao4 Ta1 Le. Ta1 (Jiu4) Shi4 (Na4 Ge4) Ren2.</p>

<p>(2) Change to adjective or adverb, depends on the meaning of the sentence. For example: </p>

<p>It's the one THAT I want. </p>

<p>-> It is the expected thing.</p>

<p>-> Zhe4 Shi4 Wo3 Xiang3 Yao4 de Dong1 Xi1. de is most used for adjective.</p>

<p>(3) Use :"" or just : for what it said. For example:</p>

<p>They said THAT they would come.</p>

<p>-> They said : they would come.</p>

<p>-> Ta1 Men2 Shou1 Guo4 : Ta1 Men2 Hui4 Lai2.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-06T01:10:07.277Z
I think you may be misunderstanding what "They said that they would come" means here. The "they" refers to the same people. It is not a direct quote. Using : in mandarin seems to imply a direct quote, which in this case would have to be something like 'They said: "We will come".' But saying "they said that they would come" has more information than a direct quote, as it conveys some amount of interpretation (not a direct quote) on the part of the speaker.
pixelearth
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-06T01:48:55.107Z
Yes, it should not be in the quotation marks. As of the ":", it could be substituted with a comma, or nothing.
PdotWang
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-05T19:22:14.570Z
2015-02-06T01:22:16.260Z
2015-02-06T01:22:16.260Z
PdotWang
<p>The word &quot;that&quot; in your third example actually doesn't introduce a relative clause. Rather it's being used as a subordinating conjunction. In this situation, the word &quot;that&quot; is generally optional in English, and it also is similarly omitted in Chinese:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>They said [that] they would come.</p>
<p>他们说他们会来。</p>
<p><code>Tāmen shuō tāmen huì lái.</code></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Relative clauses generally describe a noun or noun phrase (known as the antecedent). In Chinese, while 的 <code>de</code> is often used to indicate possession, it more generally is used to link a description to a noun or noun phrase, and thus can similarly be used to introduce a relative clause. When the noun or noun phrase being described is understood in context, it is omitted, leaving simply <code>description + 的</code>.</p>
<p>Let's look at your first example:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>He is the one that I saw.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The relative clause is &quot;I saw&quot;, which is simply 我看见 <code>wǒ kànjiàn</code>. In English the noun being described cannot be omitted when &quot;that&quot; is used to introduce the clause, which is why the word &quot;one&quot; appears to serve as the placeholder. In Chinese, it can be omitted, so &quot;the one that I saw&quot; ends up being simply 我看见的 <code>wǒ kànjiàn de</code>, thus:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>He is the one that I saw.</p>
<p>他是我看见的。</p>
<p><code>Tā shì wǒ kànjiàn de.</code></p>
</blockquote>
<p>If instead there was a specific noun, such as &quot;person&quot; instead of &quot;one&quot;, you would have:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>He is the person that I saw.</p>
<p>他是我看见的人。</p>
<p><code>Tā shì wǒ kànjiàn de rén.</code></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Applying the same principles to your second example:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It's the one that I want.</p>
<p>它是我想要的。</p>
<p><code>Tā shì wǒ xiǎngyào de.</code></p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>EDIT - Addendum:</strong></p>
<p>Note that in English the noun being described can be omitted if you instead use a relative pronoun to introduce the relative clause rather than using the word &quot;that&quot;. So instead of &quot;He is the one that I saw&quot; and &quot;It's the one that I want&quot;, you could say &quot;He is who I saw&quot; and &quot;It's what I want&quot;. The former have what are known as <em>bound</em> relative clauses while the latter have <em>free</em> relative clauses. The word &quot;that&quot; can only be used in bound relative clauses.</p>
<p>I just wanted to add this note to let you know that when you see a free relative clause, you can translate it to Chinese similarly, e.g.:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I like what he sees. (i.e., I like the one that he sees.)</p>
<p>我喜欢他看见的。</p>
<p><code>Wǒ xǐhuān tā kànjiàn de.</code></p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-22T14:56:16.763Z
Summarizing: S **V** O **的** noun = noun **THAT** S **V** O  //
  
你**学**中文**的**学校 = school **THAT** you **study** Chinese  //

他**买的**苹果 = apple **THAT** he **buys** (bought)
Enrico Brasil
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-05T19:30:03.460Z
2015-02-05T22:04:19.340Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Claw
<p>Can someone help me understand how to say "that" in the following uses? Please provide pinyin in your answer, since my characters aren't so good :(</p>

<ul>
<li>He is the one THAT I saw. </li>
<li>It's the one THAT I want. </li>
<li>They said THAT they would come.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-05T18:57:50.707Z
THAT introduces the attributive clause in the first two sentences. You can follow the pattern: "object + THAT + attr. clause" = "attr. clause + 的 + object". Though in many cases this literal translation doesn't sound native, they are grammatical and understandable to native speakers.
Stan
<pronouns>
"that" in Mandarin joining clauses or sentences?
# "that" in Mandarin joining clauses or sentences?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-02-05)

Can someone help me understand how to say "that" in the following uses? Please provide pinyin in your answer, since my characters aren't so good :(

* He is the one THAT I saw.
* It's the one THAT I want.
* They said THAT they would come.

**Tags:** pronouns

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: THAT introduces the attributive clause in the first two sentences. You can follow the pattern: "object + THAT + attr. clause" = "attr. clause + 的 + object". Though in many cases this literal translation doesn't sound native, they are grammatical and understandable to native speakers.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2015-02-05. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

The word "that" in your third example actually doesn't introduce a relative clause. Rather it's being used as a subordinating conjunction. In this situation, the word "that" is generally optional in English, and it also is similarly omitted in Chinese:

> They said [that] they would come.
>
> 他们说他们会来。
>
> `Tāmen shuō tāmen huì lái.`

Relative clauses generally describe a noun or noun phrase (known as the antecedent). In Chinese, while 的 `de` is often used to indicate possession, it more generally is used to link a description to a noun or noun phrase, and thus can similarly be used to introduce a relative clause. When the noun or noun phrase being described is understood in context, it is omitted, leaving simply `description + 的`.

Let's look at your first example:

> He is the one that I saw.

The relative clause is "I saw", which is simply 我看见 `wǒ kànjiàn`. In English the noun being described cannot be omitted when "that" is used to introduce the clause, which is why the word "one" appears to serve as the placeholder. In Chinese, it can be omitted, so "the one that I saw" ends up being simply 我看见的 `wǒ kànjiàn de`, thus:

> He is the one that I saw.
>
> 他是我看见的。
>
> `Tā shì wǒ kànjiàn de.`

If instead there was a specific noun, such as "person" instead of "one", you would have:

> He is the person that I saw.
>
> 他是我看见的人。
>
> `Tā shì wǒ kànjiàn de rén.`

Applying the same principles to your second example:

> It's the one that I want.
>
> 它是我想要的。
>
> `Tā shì wǒ xiǎngyào de.`

**EDIT - Addendum:**

Note that in English the noun being described can be omitted if you instead use a relative pronoun to introduce the relative clause rather than using the word "that". So instead of "He is the one that I saw" and "It's the one that I want", you could say "He is who I saw" and "It's what I want". The former have what are known as *bound* relative clauses while the latter have *free* relative clauses. The word "that" can only be used in bound relative clauses.

I just wanted to add this note to let you know that when you see a free relative clause, you can translate it to Chinese similarly, e.g.:

> I like what he sees. (i.e., I like the one that he sees.)
>
> 我喜欢他看见的。
>
> `Wǒ xǐhuān tā kànjiàn de.`

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Summarizing: S **V** O **的** noun = noun **THAT** S **V** O  //    你**学**中文**的**学校 = school **THAT** you **study** Chinese  //  他**买的**苹果 = apple **THAT** he **buys** (bought)  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2015-02-05. Score: 0

The fact is that there is no Clause in Chinese grammar. The choices for you are:

(1) Separate to two sentence and use conjunction words. For example:

He is the one THAT I saw

-> I saw him. He is the one.

-> Wo3 Jian4 Dao4 Ta1 Le. Ta1 (Jiu4) Shi4 (Na4 Ge4) Ren2.

(2) Change to adjective or adverb, depends on the meaning of the sentence. For example:

It's the one THAT I want.

-> It is the expected thing.

-> Zhe4 Shi4 Wo3 Xiang3 Yao4 de Dong1 Xi1. de is most used for adjective.

(3) Use :"" or just : for what it said. For example:

They said THAT they would come.

-> They said : they would come.

-> Ta1 Men2 Shou1 Guo4 : Ta1 Men2 Hui4 Lai2.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I think you may be misunderstanding what "They said that they would come" means here. The "they" refers to the same people. It is not a direct quote. Using : in mandarin seems to imply a direct quote, which in this case would have to be something like 'They said: "We will come".' But saying "they said that they would come" has more information than a direct quote, as it conveys some amount of interpretation (not a direct quote) on the part of the speaker.  
> **username_2**: Yes, it should not be in the quotation marks. As of the ":", it could be substituted with a comma, or nothing.  

---

