We have already explained the use of \{°khau-°i}/, \{nung-keu°}/, and
\{we°}/. There are other ways of expressing the possibility and
impossibility of doing things in Chinese. For instance one way is by
the addition of \{tuh le}/ or \{’veh le}/ after the verb. Thus:
\{Dok-tuh-le}/ (讀得來) means “Able to read.” \{Dok-’veh-le}/ (讀勿來)
means “Unable to read it.” Many verbs of one character admit of this
construction. Thus: \{Wo°-tuh-le}/ means “Able to speak.”
\{Wo°-’veh-le}/ means “Unable to speak.” \{Tsoo°-tuh-le}/ (做得來),
“Able to do.” \{Tsoo°-’veh-le}/ (做勿來), “Unable to do.”
Verbs made up of two characters do not take \{tuh-le}/ and
\{’veh-le}/ after them. Thus we do not hear \{°hyau-tuh-’veh-le}/ for
“Unable to know,” but \{’veh we° °hyau-tuh}/ (勿會曉得).
The literal meaning of \{tuh-le}/ is “Obtain, come,” and the literal
meaning of \{’veh-le}/ is “Not come.”
We also have the use of \{tuh-kuh}/ after verbs, expressing
possibility, and \{’veh-tuh}/, expressing impossibility. Thus we have
\{tsoo°-tuh-kuh}/ (做得個), meaning “it is possible to do a thing,” and
\{tsoo°-’veh-tuh}/ (做勿得), meaning “it is impossible to do a thing.”
With verbs of physical action, we have \{tuh-°doong}/ (得動) and
\{’veh-°doong}/ (勿動) used after the verb implying possibility and
impossibility. Thus we have \{°tseu-tuh-°doong}/ (走得動), meaning “I
have the physical ability to walk,” and \{°tseu-’veh-°doong}/ (走勿動),
meaning “I have not the physical ability to walk.” In the same way we
have \{tsoo°-tuh-°doong}/ (做得動) and \{tsoo°-’veh-°doong}/ (做勿動).
\{’Veh-°doong}/ literally means “Not move.”
Strange to say we have \{°zoo-’veh-°doong}/ (坐勿動), meaning “I have
not the physical ability to sit up,” and \{°zoo-tuh-°doong}/ (坐得動),
meaning “I have the physical ability to sit up.”
\{°Ma-tuh-°doong}/ (買得動) means “Possible to buy.” \{°Ma-’veh-°doong}/
(買勿動) means “Impossible to buy.”
With verbs of hearing and seeing impossibility is expressed in still
another way. Thus we have \{khoen°-tuh-kyien°}/ (看得見), meaning “It
is possible to see,” and \{khoen°-’veh-kyien°}/ (看勿見) meaning “It is
impossible to see it.” Literally translated these expressions are
“See, obtain, behold,” and “See, not behold.” We also have
\{khoen°-tuh-tsheh}/ (看得出), meaning to see a thing clearly.
Literally “See, obtain, come forth,” and \{khoen°-’veh-tsheh}/
(看勿出), meaning not to be able to see, or literally “See, not come
forth.”
In the same way we have \{thing-tuh-tsheh}/ (聽得出) and
\{thing-’veh-tsheh}/ (聽勿出) in regard to hearing. Instead of
\{thing-tuh-kyien°}/ and \{thing-’veh-kyien°}/ we have
\{thing-tuh-dzak}/ (聽得着) and \{thing-’veh-dzak}/ (聽勿着). Literally
“Hear, obtain” and “Hear, not obtain.”
We have already explained the use of \{°hau} /after verbs expressing
completed action. We also have other words used much in the same way.
Thus \{dok-°hau-tse}/ (讀好哉), \{dok-wen-tse}/ (讀完哉) or \{dok-°ba-tse}/
(讀罷哉) all mean the same thing. The verb \{wen}/ means “to finish.”
Accordingly in asking a question \{tsoo°-°hau-meh}/ (做好末),
\{tsoo°-wen-meh}/ (做完末) and \{tsoo°-°ba-meh}/ (做罷末), all mean
“Have you finished it?”
Verbal nouns are often formed by the addition of \{deu}/ (頭) or
\{fah}/ (法) after the verb. Thus \{tsoo°-deu}/ (做頭) or \{tsoo°-fah}/
(做法) means the manner of doing a thing.