Chinese grammar
The main rules of Chinese, each on one short page with tables and examples you can listen to. Use it to look something up, or read it alongside the course: every chapter links to the pages it uses.
Start here: Pinyin, tones and characters
- Pinyin and the four tonesHow Mandarin sounds are spelled in pinyin: initials, finals, the four tones and the neutral tone, and the tone changes of 不 and 一.
- How Chinese characters workCharacters as syllables with a meaning: radicals, stroke order, simplified vs traditional, and your first 50 characters.
Beginner (A1)
- Adjectives and 很Chinese adjectives work like verbs: 我很好, with no 是. How to use 很, 太…了, 有点儿 and 不, and adjective + 的 before a noun.
- Asking questionsQuestions keep the word order of statements: 吗 at the end, question words where the answer goes, A-not-A, 呢, 还是 and 吧.
- Measure wordsBetween a number and a noun, Chinese always adds a measure word: 一个人, 两杯咖啡, 三张桌子. The common ones and how to use them.
- Modal verbs: 会, 能, 可以, 要, 想, 应该Want, can, may, should and must: the verbs that go before another verb, the three words for “can”, and their negatives.
- Negation: 不, 没 and 别Three words for “not”: 不 for now, habits and the future, 没(有) for the past and for 有, and 别 or 不要 for “don't”.
- Numbers and moneyCounting from 0 to a hundred million, 二 vs 两, phone numbers with yāo, and prices in 块, 元 and 毛.
- Pronouns and 你 vs 您I, you, he, she, we: Chinese pronouns, plurals with 们, when to say the polite 您, and how to address people by title.
- Time and datesTelling the time with 点, 半, 刻 and 分, parts of the day, days of the week, and dates from the biggest unit to the smallest.
- Verb + object words (离合词)Words like 睡觉, 游泳, 见面 and 吃饭 are a verb and its object. They can't take another object, and other words can go in the middle.
- Word order: subject, time, place, verbChinese has no verb endings, so word order does the work: subject, time, place, verb, object. Questions keep the same order.
- 是: to be是 links two nouns (我是老师), but it isn't used before adjectives or usually with ages. The negative 不是, and questions with 是不是.
- 有 and 在, and location words有 for having and “there is”, 在 for where something is, location words after the noun (桌子上, 房间里), and 在 + place before a verb.
- 的: possession and describing的 links an owner or a description to a noun: 我的手机, 漂亮的房间, 穿红衣服的人. When to drop it, and 的 without a noun.
Elementary (A2)
- Comparisons: 比, 没有, 一样How to compare with 比, 没有…那么 and 跟…一样, how to say “much bigger” or “a bit cheaper”, and 最, 越来越 and 越…越….
- Doubling words: 看看, 试试, 高高兴兴How doubling a verb (看看, 试试, 休息休息) makes it softer and shorter, and how doubled adjectives (高高兴兴) make descriptions livelier.
- How long and how oftenHow to say how long something lasts (住两个晚上, 学了三年) and how often it happens (常常, 每天, 一个星期两次).
- Joining sentences: connectorsConnectors that join clauses: 因为…所以 and 如果…就 (A2), 虽然…但是 and 不但…而且 (B1), 尽管, 即使, 不管 and 除非…否则 (B2).
- Talking about the futureHow to talk about the future with time words, 要, 想, 打算, 准备 and 会, how to say “about to” with 要…了 and 快…了, and 将 in writing.
- The 把 constructionHow 把 moves the object before the verb when you do something to a specific thing, what must follow the verb, and 把 with complements.
- 了 after the verb: completed actions了 after a verb shows a completed action (我看了一个电影). Its negative is 没(有) without 了, and questions use 了吗 or 了没有.
- 了 at the end: change and new situationsHow 了 at the end of a sentence shows a change, 不…了 for “not any more”, 要…了 for “about to”, and 了…了 for “so far”.
- 在, 正在 and 着How 在 and 正在 (+ 呢) show that an action is going on right now, and how 着 describes a state that lasts, such as 穿着 and 坐着.
- 得: how well something is doneHow verb + 得 + comment says how well or how something is done, where the object goes, and 长得 for describing looks.
- 过: have you ever…?How verb + 过 talks about experiences, how to say you've never done something with 没…过, and when to use 过 rather than 了.
Intermediate (B1)
- Direction complements: 来, 去 and moreHow 来 and 去 after a verb show movement towards or away from the speaker, compound forms like 出来 and 回去, where the object goes, and uses like 想起来.
- Result and potential complementsHow result complements like 完, 好, 到 and 懂 show the outcome of an action, and how 得 and 不 make potential forms like 听得懂 and 找不到.
- The passive with 被How the 被 passive works, 让 and 叫 in speech, the passive without 被, and written forms such as 受到, 由 and 为…所.
- 就 and 才How 就 shows that something is early, quick or easy, how 才 shows that it is late, slow or hard, and their roles in 如果…就, 一…就 and 只有…才.
- 是…的: focusing on detailsHow 是…的 focuses on when, where, how or with whom a past event happened, where the object goes, and 是…的 for emphasis.
Upper intermediate (B2)
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