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Basic grammar

Chinese grammar is very simple. There are no verb conjugations, no plurals, no gender forms, no articles and the sentence order is essentially the same as English. This section presents a basic guide to Chinese grammar in terms familiar to English speakers.

1 Word order

Chinese word order is the same as in English: subject + verb + object.

Wǒ bú huì shuō Hànyǔ.

I not can speak Chinese

= I don’t speak Chinese.

Wǒ yào qù Běijīng.

I want go Beijing

= I want to go to Beijing.

Qǐng gěi wǒ yí bēi lěng kāishuǐ.

Please give me one glass cold drinking water

= I’d like a glass of cold water.

When asking a question, add the question word ma 吗 at the end of the sentence. (See page 13)

Nǐ huì shuō Hànyǔ ma?

You can speak Chinese (question marker)

= Do you speak Chinese?

Nǐ yào qù Běijīng ma?

You want go Beijing (question marker)

= Do you want to go to Beijing?

Nǐ kěyí gěi wǒ yí bēi lěng kāi shuǐ ma?

You can give me one glass cold water (question marker)

= Can you give me a glass of cold (drinking) water?

2 Nouns

Mandarin nouns often consist of two characters or syllables joined together. For example, Hànyǔ “the Chinese language”, lǎoshī “teacher” or kāfēi “coffee”. No distinction is made between the singular and plural forms. When it is necessary to indicate a plural, this is done by adding a number and a measure word to indicate the number of items involved (see page 10).

3 Pronouns

Chinese pronouns are used just as we use English pronouns. The same word can have two meanings, for example, wǒ 我 can refer to both “I” and “me”. The other pronouns in Chinese are nǐ 你 “you”, tā 他 “he/him”, tā 她 “she/her” and tā 它 “it” (the last three all share the same pronunciation but are written with different characters).

To indicate plural forms, you add the suffix -men 们 so the plural forms are wǒmen 我们 “we/us”, nǐmen 你们 “you” (plural), tāmen 他们 “they/them” (either all male or mixed genders) and tāmen 她们 “they/them” (all female). The pronoun for animals or insects is tāmen 它们 “they/them” (same pronunciation but different characters).

4 “This” and “That”

In addition to the personal pronouns, there are demonstrative pronouns zhè 这 “this” and nà 那 “that”. The plural forms are: zhè xiē 这些 “these” and nà xiē 那些 “those”.

5 Possessives

To indicate possession, simply add the particle de 的 between the words. Thus,

Wǒ de shu

I/me (possessive particle) book

= “my book”

Nǐ de shǒujī

You (possessive particle) mobile phone

= “your mobile phone”

Jīntiān de tiānqì zěnmeyàng?

Today (possessive particle) weather what’s like

= What’s the weather going to be like today?

Wǒ shuō de huà

I speak (possessive particle) words

= “the words I’m saying”

Nǐmen de diànnǎo

you (plural form) (possessive particle) laptop (or computer)

= “your laptop”

6 Measure Words

Just as we would say “two cups of coffee” in English, in Chinese, the number comes first, followed by a measure word like zhāng 张 “sheet” and běn 本 “measure word for books” and finally, the object zhǐ 纸 “paper” or shū 书 “books”.

yī zhāng zhǐ

one sheet paper

= “one sheet of paper”

liǎng bēi kāfēi

two cups coffee

= “two cups of coffee”

sān běn shū

three (measure word for books) books

= “three books”

Take note that when counting objects, the word for èr 二 “two” becomes liǎng 两 “a couple of”. Here are some common measure words.

Measure words	Used for	Examples
zhāng 张	flat, wide objects	yì zhāng zhǐ “one sheet of paper”
		yì zhāng zhuōzi “one table”
běn 本	bound books	sān běn shū “three books”
zhī 只	one out of a pair	yì zhī shǒu “one hand”
zhī 支	stick-like objects	liǎng zhī bǐ “two pens”
liàng 辆	vehicles with wheels	sān liàng chē “three cars“
shuāng 双	a pair	yì shuāng xié “a pair of shoes”
tiáo 条	long pieces of clothing or fabric and roads	liǎng tiáo kùzi “two (pairs of) pants”
bēi 杯	cups or glasses	liǎng bēi kāfēi “two cups of coffee”

If you can’t remember all these, there is an all-purpose measure word ge 个 which can be used instead of the above measure words yī ge shū ”one book“ or sì ge xíngli “four suitcases”.

The word ge 个 means “piece” and is also used in phrases like zhè ge 这个 “this one”, nà ge 那个 “that one”, nǎ ge 哪个 “which one” or jǐ ge 几个 “how many (items)?”

7 Verbs

Chinese verbs are never conjugated, and have only one simple form regardless of subject or tense. Thus the verb chī “to eat” is the same whether the subject is I, you, he/she or they, and whether the action took place in the past, present or future. For example,

Wǒ chī jiǎozi.

I eat dumplings = “I eat dumplings.”

This sentence can mean “I ate dumplings” or “I am eating dumplings”.

Wǒ qù Běijīng.

I go Beijing = “I am going to Beijing.”

Similarly, this could mean “I went to Beijing”, “I am going to Beijing” or “I will go to Beijing”.

8 Past and future tense

To indicate time in Chinese, you add in time words like “yesterday”, “today”, “tomorrow”, “already” and “will”. For example:

Wǒ zuótiān chī jiǎozi.

I yesterday eat dumplings

= “Yesterday I ate dumplings.”

Wǒ jīntiān chī jiǎozi.

I today eat dumplings

= “Today I am eating dumplings.”

Wǒ míngtiān chī jiǎozi.

I tomorrow eat dumplings.

= “Tomorrow I’ll eat dumplings.”

You can also add the following to indicate time:

• The addition of guo 过 = “passed” after the verb indicates that the action occurred at an unspecified time in the past:

Wǒ chī guo jiǎozi.

I ate (passed) dumplings

= “I’ve eaten dumplings already.”

• The use of le 了 = “completed” after the verb indicates actions that were just completed:

Wǒ chī le jiǎozi.

I ate (completed) dumplings

= “I’ve just eaten dumplings.”

• The addition of yào 要 = “want” or huì 会 = “will/shall” before the verb indicates a future action:

Wǒ yào chī jiǎozi.

I want eat dumplings

= “I’m going to eat the dumplings.”

Wǒ huì chī nàxiē jiǎozi.

I will eat those dumplings

= “I’ll be eating those dumplings.”

9 Adjectives

Adjectives generally precede the nouns they modify, sometimes with the possessive word de 的 added in between. For example,

xiǎo xióngmāo	“a small panda”
zāng yīfu	“dirty clothes”
hǎo péngyou	“good friends”
měilì de fēngjǐng	“beautiful scenery”
míngguì de lǐwù	“expensive gift”
tǎoyàn de wénzi	“annoying mosquitoes”

10 Adverbs

Adverbs are usually placed before the words they modify. Common examples are: hěn 很 “very”, yě 也 “also”, bǐjiào 比较 “comparatively, relatively”, jiù 就 “then”, zǒng 总 “always”. For example,

Chángchéng hěn cháng.

Great Wall very long

= “The Great Wall is very long.”

Wǒ yě xiǎng qù Shànghǎi.

I also want go Shanghai

= “I want to go to Shanghai too.”

Shànghǎi xiàtiān bǐjiào rè.

Shanghai summer rather hot

= “Shanghai is rather hot in summer.”

Nǐ xiān zǒu, wǒ mǎshàng jiù lái

You first go, I immediately then come

= “Go first, I’ll join you very soon.”

Wǔyuè de shíhou, zhè lǐ zǒng xiàyǔ.

May (month) (possessive) time this place always rains

= “In May, it always rains here.”

11 Negatives

There are two common words used to express the negative in Chinese: bù 不 and méi 没. The most often used one is bù 不 = “not”. The word méi 没 is used express actions not completed as in 没有 měiyǒu = “do not have”, “did not”.

Fàncài bù hǎo chī.

Food not good eat

= “The food is not good.”

Wǒ bù qù le.

I not go anymore

= “I am not going anymore.”

Tā bù zài zhèr.

He not at here

= “He’s not here.”

Wǒ zhǎo bù dào zhège dìzhǐ.

I find cannot this address

= “I cannot find this address.”

12 Questions

There are three ways to ask a question in Chinese. The easiest way is to add the word ma 吗 at the end of the sentence. This word functions like a question mark.

Nǐ huì shuō Yīngyǔ ma?

You can speak English (question marker)

= “Can you speak English?”

Nǐ shì Bǐdé ma?

You are Peter (question marker)

=“Are you Peter?”

The second way is to use the yes/no verbal construction which presents two opposing alternatives.

Nǐ huì bu huì shuō Yīngyǔ?

You can not can speak English

= “Can you speak English?”

Nǐ shì bu shì Bǐdé?

You are not are Peter

= “Are you Peter?”

The third way is to use a question word like shéi “who”, shénme “what”, nǎli/nǎr “where”, wèishénme “why”, jǐ “how many”, nǎ “which” and zěnme “how”. Here are some examples of questions you can ask.

1. Nǐ shì shéi/shuí?

You are who

= “Who are you?”

2. Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

You called what name

= “What’s your name?”

3. Nǐ zěnme qù jīcháng?

You how go airport

= “How are you going to the airport?”

4. Nǐ cóng nar lái?

You from where come

= “Where are you from?”

5. Nǐ péngyǒu zài nǎli?

Your friends at where

= “Where are your friends?”

6. Nǐ wèishénme bù shuōhuà?

You why not speaking

= “Why aren’t you speaking?”

7. Xiànzài jǐ diǎnzhōng le?

Now what time already

= “What’s the time now?”

8. Nǐ shénme shíhou láide?

You what hour come

= “When did you arrive?”

13 Yes and no

There are no specific words in Chinese for expressing “yes” and “no” in a question. The closest equivalent is shìde 是的 “is”and búshì 不是 “is not” respectively. Usually, when the Chinese ask a question such as Nǐ yào qù Běijīng ma? 你要去北京吗？“Do you want to go to Beijing?”, the person answering uses the same verb. For example, the verb in the question is qù 去 “go”, thus the answer would be Wǒ yào qù Běijīng. 我要去北京。“I want to go to Beijing.” To answer in the negative, you add bù 不 before the verb used in the sentence, e.g., Wǒ bùyào qù Běijīng. 我不要去北京。“I don’t want to go to Beijing.”

Nǐ lèi bú lèi?

You tired not tired

= “Are you tired?”

“Yes” answer:

Hěn lèi.

Very tired

= “Yes, I’m very tired.”

“No” answer:

Bú lèi.

Not tired

= “No, I’m not tired.”

Nǐ gāoxìng bú gāoxìng?

You happy not happy

= “Are you happy?”

“Yes” answer:

Gāoxìng.

Happy

= “Yes, I’m happy.”

“No” answer:

Bù gāoxìng.

Not happy

=“No, I’m not happy.”

Alternatively you can use the words duì 对 meaning “correct” and bùduì 不对 “not correct” (often shortened to bù 不 “no”) in replies. For example:

Nǐ shì Měiguórén ma?

You are American (question marker)

= “Are you American?”

Duì, wǒ shì Měiguórén

Correct, I am American

= “Yes, I’m American” or

Bù, wǒ shì Yīngguórén

No, I am British

= “No, I’m British.”