Word order: subject, time, place, verb

The basic order of a Chinese sentence is the same as in English: first the subject (the person or thing doing the action), then the verb, then the object (the thing the action is done to): 我喝茶 (wǒ hē chá, I drink tea).

Verbs never change. 我喝, 他喝 and 我们喝 all use the same 喝 (hē, to drink), whether it happens now, every day or tomorrow. Because there are no endings to show time or person, the order of the words carries a lot of meaning.

In English, the time often comes at the end: “I get up at seven.” In Chinese it comes before the verb, straight after the subject: 我七点起床 (wǒ qī diǎn qǐchuáng). You can also put it at the very start to set the scene: 明天我去上海 (míngtiān wǒ qù Shànghǎi, tomorrow I'm going to Shanghai). It never goes at the end.

When a sentence has both a time and a place, the time comes first. So the full order is: subject – time – place – verb – object. Several time words go from big to small: 明天下午三点 (míngtiān xiàwǔ sān diǎn, tomorrow at three in the afternoon).

The place where something happens goes before the verb, with 在 (zài, at, in): 我在银行工作 (wǒ zài yínháng gōngzuò, I work at a bank). English says “work at a bank”; Chinese says “at a bank work”.

How you do something and who you do it with also come before the verb: 我坐地铁上班 (wǒ zuò dìtiě shàngbān, I go to work by metro), 我们一起吃饭吧 (wǒmen yìqǐ chīfàn ba, let's eat together).

With 住 (zhù, to live) the place can also come after the verb, with 在: 我住在上海 (wǒ zhù zài Shànghǎi, I live in Shanghai). 我在上海住 is correct too, but 住在 is more common.

Short adverbs such as 也 (yě, also), 都 (dōu, all), 不 (bù, not), 很 (hěn, very) and 常常 (chángcháng, often) always come after the subject and before the verb or adjective. They never start the sentence and never come at the end: “I'm from Beijing too” is 我也是北京人 (wǒ yě shì Běijīngrén).

When there are two, 也 comes first: 我也不喝 (wǒ yě bù hē, I don't drink it either), 她也很忙 (tā yě hěn máng, she's busy too).

English moves words around to ask a question. Chinese doesn't: put the question word where the answer will go, or add 吗 (ma) at the end of a statement. The page on questions has all the question types.

Chinese often starts with the topic, the thing you're talking about, and then says something about it. The object can move to the front this way, especially to point at something or to contrast two things. The rest of the sentence keeps its normal order.