<p>It is a [topic + comment] sentence</p>
<p>Topic: '藏语呢' -- 'about the Tibetan language'</p>
<p>Comment: '我是略知一二(的)' -- 'I am slightly familiar with'</p>
<p>我是略知一二(的) is a relative phrase that gives a description/ comment on the topic/ object 藏语</p>
<p><em>SVO: '我對藏语略知一二' -- ''I am slightly familiar with the Tibetan language'</em></p>
<p>More example:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>SVO: 我是不会再去这间餐厅的</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>T/P: 这间餐厅 我是不会再去的</p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>in &quot;我 是 (XXX) 的&quot;, (XXX) describes &quot;我&quot;</em></p>
<blockquote>
<p>SVO: 我不会再去这间餐厅了</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>T/P: 这间餐厅 我不会再去了</p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>&quot;了&quot; is a final particle</em></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-10T09:33:51.523Z
oh i see, but with the second part isn't the 是 that's usually omitted and not the 的?
Leo
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-10T18:16:18.263Z
I put 的 in ( ) because it is not in the original quote. In practice, it should be there
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-10T06:07:13.530Z
2020-10-10T18:28:58.417Z
2020-10-10T18:28:58.417Z
Tang Ho
<p>This sentence is quite colloquial.
For written, it would be '藏语，我略知一二'.</p>
<p>'是' confuses you here. I found it hard to translate as well. I think you'd understand this as 'As for the Tibetan language, I do know a bit'.</p>
<p>So '是' here, you can treat it as 'do'. But unlike 'do' here usually means emphasis. '是' here, and '略知一二', together with '呢', they all mean less of certainty. A humility way to say something.</p>
<p>Humility or modest, can be a distinguishing feature in Chinese. As the Chinese saying goes '话不要说得太满'.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-10T07:27:55.333Z
2020-10-10T07:27:55.333Z
Desmond
<p>&quot;藏语呢我是略知一二&quot;
As other posters have explained, this is a topic-comment structure and 呢 indicates what goes before it is the topic, also used as a filler, as if you are trying to take more time for what follows. And this is exactly why &quot;是&quot; is used in the second part. This sentence sounds unfinished. The speaker/writer is trying to explain that yes, s/he knows a little about the Tibetan language, but ....</p>
<p>A couple of examples:</p>
<p>藏语呢我是略知一二，但藏文我卻一點都看不懂。</p>
<p>Yes, I know a little about the Tibetan spoken language, but the written language I can't read at all.</p>
<p>藏语呢我是略知一二，但蒙古語我就挺流利。</p>
<p>Yes, I know a little about the Tibetan language, but I speak Mongolian quite fluently.</p>
<p>In contrast, 藏语我略知一二 sounds more like a stand-alone topic-comment sentence.</p>
<p>I wish you had given us the context of this sentence, but my guess is that there is something following.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-10T18:40:01.583Z
2020-10-10T18:40:01.583Z
monalisa
<p>It's common in Chinese to indicate the topic (or a change in topic) by beginning with &quot;[topic]呢&quot;, which indicates something like &quot;As for [topic], ...&quot; or &quot;What about [topic]?  ...&quot;.  I feel it's more common in spoken Chinese than written Chinese, and I've seen it used in particular during presentations.</p>
<p>I tend to think of it as the speaker asking themself a question that they go on to answer (although when transcribed, the question mark is usually omitted).  In fact, an audience member could ask the same phrase as an actual question &quot;[topic]呢?&quot;.</p>
<p>Some examples on YouTube:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>当时呢</strong> 前三本对我没留下什么印象<br />
但是这第四本我就<br />
到现在我都记得特别清楚<br />
当时看到它那种感觉<br />
因为它这画风啊完全不一样<br />
<strong>后来呢</strong> 我就看他们那个介绍啊<br />
就是前三本都是这个宫廷画师去画的……<br />
<sub><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUyksHjgnRk" rel="nofollow noreferrer">【一席】張辰亮：海錯圖筆記</a>, around 1m30s</sub></p>
</blockquote>
<p>He begins by changing the topic with 当时呢 to indicate that the topic is now &quot;at that time&quot;, and later changes the topic to &quot;afterwards&quot; with 后来呢.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>我觉得中国作家<br />
很多在年轻的时候<br />
他就把自己架起来<br />
社会也把他架起来了<br />
就是非常的<br />
很快就在一个<br />
不落地的生活中<br />
所以<strong>在美国呢</strong>就是任何人<br />
作家也好什么也好<br />
我自己的感觉就是……<br />
<sub><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2m35Y8xYck" rel="nofollow noreferrer">【一席】嚴歌苓：職業寫作</a>, around 7m33ws</sub></p>
</blockquote>
<p>So she's changed the topic: it was originally about authors in China 中国, and now we're talking about in the USA 在美国呢.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-10T08:13:40.557Z
2020-10-10T08:13:40.557Z
Becky 李蓓
<p>藏语呢, when I read to 呢 I understand that 藏语 will be used to describe something or people will describe more about 藏语.</p>
<p>Keep reading 我是略知一二, I observe that 我 and 略知一二 are on the left of 是 and right of 是 receptively and 是 is used to denote 略知一二 is true. 略知一二 means &quot;know a little about&quot;. Because 我 is on the left of 是 so I interpret 我是略知一二 as &quot;I do know a little about (something).&quot;</p>
<p>And I interpret 藏语呢我是略知一二 as &quot;I do know a little about 藏语&quot;. I think people describe more about 藏语 after 呢 with 我是略知一二.</p>
<p>很 is used to denote extent is extreme. It will be used if you want to denote extent of something is extreme. For example, 我很懂(I know it very well). 很 is used to denote extent is extreme so 我很懂 not just means &quot;I know it&quot;, it means &quot;I know it very well&quot;. I don't need 很 in this situation since the extent is not extreme in your example, 略知一二 means &quot;know a little about (something).&quot;</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-10T12:15:40.167Z
2020-10-10T12:54:14.370Z
2020-10-10T12:54:14.370Z
000
<p>I think this dictionary definition of 是 is relevant to your example:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>（联系两种事物， 表示陈述的对象属于“是”后面所说的情况）:</p>
<p>It was winter outdoors, but spring indoors.</p>
<p>院子里是冬天， 屋子里是春天。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>我是略知一二 is saying 我 is in the state of 略知一二 about 藏语.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-10T08:07:48.063Z
2020-10-10T08:07:48.063Z
dan
<p>I was watching a show and one guy said &quot;藏语呢我是略知一二&quot;. Now I'm having a little bit of trouble understanding the grammar pattern for this sentence, especially with the use of the &quot;是&quot;. I'm not entirely sure why the &quot;是&quot; is place where it is, as I would assume the subject would be the idiom &quot;略知一二&quot;, which I've only ever watched or read them to be used as an adjective- so wouldn't that mean you would have to use an adverb like &quot;很&quot;?<br />
So my question is: What is the grammar pattern in this sentence?
Thanks everyone</p>

<grammar>
What is the grammar pattern in "藏语呢我是略知一二"？
# What is the grammar pattern in "藏语呢我是略知一二"？

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-10-10)

I was watching a show and one guy said "藏语呢我是略知一二". Now I'm having a little bit of trouble understanding the grammar pattern for this sentence, especially with the use of the "是". I'm not entirely sure why the "是" is place where it is, as I would assume the subject would be the idiom "略知一二", which I've only ever watched or read them to be used as an adjective- so wouldn't that mean you would have to use an adverb like "很"?  
So my question is: What is the grammar pattern in this sentence?
Thanks everyone

**Tags:** grammar


---

## 6 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-10-10. Score: 3

It is a [topic + comment] sentence

Topic: '藏语呢' -- 'about the Tibetan language'

Comment: '我是略知一二(的)' -- 'I am slightly familiar with'

我是略知一二(的) is a relative phrase that gives a description/ comment on the topic/ object 藏语

*SVO: '我對藏语略知一二' -- ''I am slightly familiar with the Tibetan language'*

More example:

> SVO: 我是不会再去这间餐厅的

> T/P: 这间餐厅 我是不会再去的

*in "我 是 (XXX) 的", (XXX) describes "我"*

> SVO: 我不会再去这间餐厅了

> T/P: 这间餐厅 我不会再去了

*"了" is a final particle*

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: oh i see, but with the second part isn't the 是 that's usually omitted and not the 的?  
> **username_1**: I put 的 in ( ) because it is not in the original quote. In practice, it should be there  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-10-10. Score: 2

This sentence is quite colloquial.
For written, it would be '藏语，我略知一二'.

'是' confuses you here. I found it hard to translate as well. I think you'd understand this as 'As for the Tibetan language, I do know a bit'.

So '是' here, you can treat it as 'do'. But unlike 'do' here usually means emphasis. '是' here, and '略知一二', together with '呢', they all mean less of certainty. A humility way to say something.

Humility or modest, can be a distinguishing feature in Chinese. As the Chinese saying goes '话不要说得太满'.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2020-10-10. Score: 1

"藏语呢我是略知一二"
As other posters have explained, this is a topic-comment structure and 呢 indicates what goes before it is the topic, also used as a filler, as if you are trying to take more time for what follows. And this is exactly why "是" is used in the second part. This sentence sounds unfinished. The speaker/writer is trying to explain that yes, s/he knows a little about the Tibetan language, but ....

A couple of examples:

藏语呢我是略知一二，但藏文我卻一點都看不懂。

Yes, I know a little about the Tibetan spoken language, but the written language I can't read at all.

藏语呢我是略知一二，但蒙古語我就挺流利。

Yes, I know a little about the Tibetan language, but I speak Mongolian quite fluently.

In contrast, 藏语我略知一二 sounds more like a stand-alone topic-comment sentence.

I wish you had given us the context of this sentence, but my guess is that there is something following.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2020-10-10. Score: 1

It's common in Chinese to indicate the topic (or a change in topic) by beginning with "[topic]呢", which indicates something like "As for [topic], ..." or "What about [topic]? ...". I feel it's more common in spoken Chinese than written Chinese, and I've seen it used in particular during presentations.

I tend to think of it as the speaker asking themself a question that they go on to answer (although when transcribed, the question mark is usually omitted). In fact, an audience member could ask the same phrase as an actual question "[topic]呢?".

Some examples on YouTube:

> **当时呢** 前三本对我没留下什么印象  
> 但是这第四本我就  
> 到现在我都记得特别清楚  
> 当时看到它那种感觉  
> 因为它这画风啊完全不一样  
> **后来呢** 我就看他们那个介绍啊  
> 就是前三本都是这个宫廷画师去画的……  
> [【一席】張辰亮：海錯圖筆記](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUyksHjgnRk), around 1m30s

He begins by changing the topic with 当时呢 to indicate that the topic is now "at that time", and later changes the topic to "afterwards" with 后来呢.

> 我觉得中国作家  
> 很多在年轻的时候  
> 他就把自己架起来  
> 社会也把他架起来了  
> 就是非常的  
> 很快就在一个  
> 不落地的生活中  
> 所以**在美国呢**就是任何人  
> 作家也好什么也好  
> 我自己的感觉就是……  
> [【一席】嚴歌苓：職業寫作](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2m35Y8xYck), around 7m33ws

So she's changed the topic: it was originally about authors in China 中国, and now we're talking about in the USA 在美国呢.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2020-10-10. Score: 1

藏语呢, when I read to 呢 I understand that 藏语 will be used to describe something or people will describe more about 藏语.

Keep reading 我是略知一二, I observe that 我 and 略知一二 are on the left of 是 and right of 是 receptively and 是 is used to denote 略知一二 is true. 略知一二 means "know a little about". Because 我 is on the left of 是 so I interpret 我是略知一二 as "I do know a little about (something)."

And I interpret 藏语呢我是略知一二 as "I do know a little about 藏语". I think people describe more about 藏语 after 呢 with 我是略知一二.

很 is used to denote extent is extreme. It will be used if you want to denote extent of something is extreme. For example, 我很懂(I know it very well). 很 is used to denote extent is extreme so 我很懂 not just means "I know it", it means "I know it very well". I don't need 很 in this situation since the extent is not extreme in your example, 略知一二 means "know a little about (something)."


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2020-10-10. Score: 0

I think this dictionary definition of 是 is relevant to your example:

> （联系两种事物， 表示陈述的对象属于“是”后面所说的情况）:
>
> It was winter outdoors, but spring indoors.
>
> 院子里是冬天， 屋子里是春天。

我是略知一二 is saying 我 is in the state of 略知一二 about 藏语.


---

