be expressed each in its own particular way.

"All men," for instance, would involve merely the duplication of the
character _jen_:—

人人爱他 _jen jen ai t'a_.

It is the same with tenses in Chinese. They are not brought out by
inflection, but by the use of additional words.

来 _lai_ is the root-idea of "coming," and lends itself as follows to the
exigencies of conjugation:—

Standing alone, it is imperative:—

来 _Lai!_ = "come!" "here!"

我来 _wo lai_ = "I come, _or_ am coming."

他来 _t'a lai_ = "he comes, _or_ is coming."

And by inserting 不 _pu_, a root-idea of negation,—

他不来 _t'a pu lai_ = "he comes not, _or_ is not coming."

To express an interrogative, we say,—

他来不来 _t'a lai pu lai_ = "he come no come?" _i.e._ "is he coming?"

submitting the two alternatives for the person addressed to choose from