Chinese grammar

The grammar of Standard Chinese or Mandarin shares many features with

other varieties of Chinese. The language almost entirely lacks inflection; words
typically have only one grammatical form. Categories such as number
(singular or plural) and verb tense are frequently not expressed by any
grammatical means, but there are several particles that serve to express verbal
aspect and, to some extent, mood.

The basic word order is subject–verb–object (SVO), as in English. Otherwise,

Chinese is chiefly a head-final language, meaning that modifiers precede the
words that they modify. In a noun phrase, for example, the head noun comes
last, and all modifiers, including relative clauses, come in front of it. This
phenomenon however is more typically found in subject–object–verb
languages, such as Turkish and Japanese.

Chinese frequently uses serial verb constructions, which involve two or more
verbs or verb phrases in sequence. Chinese prepositions behave similarly to
serialized verbs in some respects,[a] and they are often referred to as coverbs.
中 文 语法
zhōngwén yǔfǎ
There are also location markers, which are placed after a noun and are thus
often called postpositions; they are often used in combination with a coverb. [ 中文語法 ],
Predicate adjectives are normally used without a copular verb ("to be") and so meaning "Chinese
can be regarded as a type of verb. grammar", written
vertically in simplified
As in many other East Asian languages, classifiers or measure words are (left) and traditional
required when numerals and sometimes other words, such as demonstratives, (right) Chinese
are used with nouns. There are many different classifiers in the language, and characters
each countable noun generally has a particular classifier associated with it.
Informally, however, it is often acceptable to use the general classifier ge
个 個
(simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ) in place of other specific classifiers.

Contents
Word formation
Reduplication
Prefixes
Suffixes
Infixes
Sentence structure
Objects
Plurals
Noun phrases
Relative clauses
Classifiers

1
Numerals
Pronouns
Adjectives
Adverbs and adverbials
Locative phrases
Comparatives and superlatives
Copula
Aspects
Passive
Negation
Questions
Imperatives
Serial verb constructions
Auxiliaries
Verbal complements
Complement of result
Complement of direction
Coverbs
Other cases
Particles
Cleft sentences
Conjunctions
See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links

Word formation
In Chinese, the concept of words and the boundaries between them is not always transparent,[b] and the
Chinese script does not use spaces between words. Grammatically, some strings of characters behave as
single words in some contexts, but are separable in others. Many English intransitive verbs are translated by
verb+noun compounds, such as tiàowǔ ( 跳舞 literally "to jump a dance", meaning "to dance"); such items
may be regarded as single lexical words, although the two parts can become separated by (for example)
aspect markers, and in fact they generally behave grammatically as a verb plus an object. Sometimes the
behavior of such compounds is anomalous, however; for instance guānxīn ( 关心 關心 ; , "to be concerned
about") behaves as an inseparable word when the perfective particle le is attached, although it is separable
in the phrase guān shénme xīn (
[1]
关什么心 關什麼心 ; , literally "concern what about", meaning "to be
concerned about what").

2
 Chinese morphemes, or minimum units of meaning, are mostly monosyllabic. Syllables, and thus in most
cases morphemes, are represented as a rule by single characters. Some words consist of single syllables, but
many words are formed by compounding two or more monosyllabic morphemes. These may be either free
or bound – that is, they may or may not also be able to stand independently. Most two-syllable compound
nouns have the head on the right, while in compound verbs the head is usually on the left.[2] Loanwords
from other languages may be polysyllabic; they are usually written using selected pre-existing characters
that have the right phonetic values, for example, shāfā ( 沙发 沙發 ; , "sofa") is written with the characters
沙 发發
shā ( , originally "sand") and fā ( ; , originally "to send/to issue"). Many native disyllabic morphemes
such as zhīzhū (蜘蛛 , "spider") have consonant alliteration, although some such as gālá ( 旮旯 ) do not.

Many monosyllabic words have alternative disyllabic forms with virtually the same meaning, such as
dàsuàn ( 大蒜 蒜
, literally "big garlic") for suàn ( , "garlic"). Many disyllabic nouns are produced by adding
子
the suffix zi ( , originally meaning "child") to a monosyllabic word or morpheme. There is a strong
tendency for monosyllables to be avoided in certain positions; for example, a disyllabic verb will not
normally be followed by a monosyllabic object. This may be connected with the preferred metrical
structure of the language.

Reduplication

A common feature in Chinese is reduplication, where a syllable or word is repeated to produce a modified
meaning. This can happen with:

classifiers, to produce a phrase meaning "all"; for example, zuòzuò shān ( 座座山
, "all the
mountains"), where ordinarily zuò is the classifier used in a phrase denoting a specific
number of mountains
syllables in some informal words denoting family relations, for example māma ( 妈妈; 媽媽,
"mother"), dìdi ( 弟弟, "younger brother")
some adjectives, to add emphasis: hónghóng ( ;红红 紅紅 红紅
"so red"), from hóng ( ; , "red").
This is most common with monosyllabic adjectives, but can also occur with some disyllabic
ones, in some cases on the pattern gāogāoxìngxìng ( 高高兴兴 高高興興
; 高), from gāoxìng (
兴 高興
; 冰凉冰凉 冰涼冰涼
, "happy"); and in others on the pattern bīngliáng-bīngliáng ( ; ),
from bīngliáng ( 冰凉 冰涼
; , "ice-cool") [c][3]
many verbs, to mark the delimitative aspect ("to do something for a little bit") or for general
emphasis – see the § Aspects section
星星, "[distant] star,
certain other single-syllable words and morphemes, as in xīngxīng (
speck"), from xīng (星, "star"); chángcháng (常常, "often"); or gǒugǒu (狗狗, "puppy/doggy")
where gǒu (狗) is "dog"
other adjectives have ABB reduplication structure. (香喷喷, xiāngpēnpēn "delicious"). (亮晶
晶, liàngjīngjīng "shining").
Prefixes

可 — "-able"
kě

可 靠 — "reliable"
kě kào

3
 可 敬 — "respectable"
kě jìng

反 — "anti-"
fǎn

反 恐 [反恐] — "anti-terror"
fǎn kǒng

反 堕胎 [反墮胎] — "anti-abortion"
fǎn duòtāi

Suffixes

化 — "change"
huà

国际 化 [國際化] — "internationalise"
guójì huà

恶 化 [惡化] — "worsen"
è huà

性 — "attribute"
xìng

安 全 性 — "safety"
ānquán xìng

有 效 性 — "effectiveness"
yǒuxiào xìng

Infixes

得 — "can" and 不 — "cannot"

de bu

听 得 懂 — "can understand"
tīngdedǒng

听 不 懂 — "cannot understand"
tīngbudǒng

Sentence structure
Chinese, like English, is classified as an SVO (subject–verb–object) language. Transitive verbs precede
their objects in typical simple clauses, while the subject precedes the verb. For example:[4]

他 喝 酒。
tā hē jiǔ
He drink alcohol
He drinks alcohol.

Chinese can also be considered a topic-prominent language:[5] there is a strong preference for sentences
that begin with the topic, usually "given" or "old" information; and end with the comment, or "new"
information. Certain modifications of the basic subject–verb–object order are permissible and may serve to
achieve topic-prominence. In particular, a direct or indirect object may be moved to the start of the clause to
create topicalization. It is also possible for an object to be moved to a position in front of the verb for
emphasis.[6]

4
 Another type of sentence is what has been called an ergative structure,[7] where the apparent subject of the
verb can move to object position; the empty subject position is then often occupied by an expression of
有
location. Compare locative inversion in English. This structure is typical of the verb yǒu ( , "there is/are";
in other contexts the same verb means "have"), but it can also be used with many other verbs, generally
denoting position, appearance or disappearance. An example:

院子 里 停着
yuànzi lǐ tíngzhe
Courtyard in park
车。 [院子裡停著車。/ 院子裏停着車。]
chē  
vehicle  
In the courtyard is parked a vehicle.

Chinese is also to some degree a pro-drop or null-subject language, meaning that the subject can be omitted
from a clause if it can be inferred from the context.[8] In the following example, the subject of the verbs for
"hike" and "camp" is left to be inferred—it may be "we", "I", "you", "she", etc.

今天 爬 山
jīntiān pá shān
Today climb mountain,
明天 露 营。
míngtiān lù yíng
tomorrow outdoors camp
[今天爬山，明天露營。 ]
 
 
Today hike up mountains, tomorrow camp outdoors.

In the next example the subject is omitted and the object is topicalized by being moved into subject
被
position, to form a passive-type sentence. For passive sentences with a marker such as ; bèi, see the
passive section.

饭 做 好
fàn zuò hǎo
Food make complete
了。 [飯做好了。]
le  
pfv  
The food has been made or the food is ready.

Adverbs and adverbial phrases that modify the verb typically come after the subject but before the verb,
although other positions are sometimes possible; see Adverbs and adverbials. For constructions that involve
more than one verb or verb phrase in sequence, see Serial verb constructions. For sentences consisting of
more than one clause, see Conjunctions.

Objects

Some verbs can take both an indirect object and a direct object. Indirect normally precedes direct, as in
English:

5
 我 给 了
wǒ gěi le
I give pfv

她 六 本
tā liù běn
her six book-cl
书。 我給了她六本書。]
[
shū  
books  
I gave her six books.

给給
With many verbs, however, the indirect object may alternatively be preceded by prepositional gěi ( ; );
in that case it may either precede or follow the direct object. (Compare the similar use of to or for in
English.)

把
In certain situations a direct object may be preceded by the accusative marker bǎ ( ).[9] This generally
denotes an action that results in a change of state in the object. For further details of this, see the bǎ
construction section. Such a bǎ phrase no longer occupies the normal direct object position, but moves in
front of the verb. Compare:

我 打 坏
wǒ dǎ huài
I [verb-form] break
了 盘子。 [我打壞了盤子。]
le pánzi  
pfv plate  
I broke a plate.

我 把 盘子
wǒ bǎ pánzi
I ba plate
打 坏 了。
dǎ huài le
[verb-form] break pfv

[我把盤子打壞了。]
 
 
I ba plate broke.

The meanings of the above two sentences are similar, but the one with bǎ may be considered to place more
emphasis on what happened to the object. It may also indicate definiteness—"the plate" rather than "a
将將
plate". Certain other markers can be used in a similar way to bǎ, such as the formal jiāng ( ; ) and
拿
colloquial ná ( ).

Some verbs can apparently take two direct objects, which may be called an "inner" and an "outer"
object.[10] These cannot both follow the verb – typically the outer object will be placed at the start of the
sentence (topicalized) or introduced via the bǎ construction. For example:

我 把 橘子
wǒ bǎ júzi
I ba tangerine

6
 皮 剥 了。
pí bō le
skin peel pfv

[我把橘子皮剝了。]
 
 
I peeled the tangerine.[d]

皮 橘子, "tangerine") is introduced via the bǎ construction as

Here pí ( , "skin") is the inner object, and júzi (
the outer object.[11]

Plurals
Chinese nouns and other parts of speech are not generally marked for number, meaning that plural forms
们們
are mostly the same as the singular. However, there is a plural marker men ( ; ), which has limited
usage. It is used with personal pronouns, as in wǒmen ( 我们 我們
; , "we" or "us"), derived from wǒ ( , 我
"I, me"). It can be used with nouns representing humans, most commonly those with two syllables, like in
péngyoumen (
[12]
朋友们 朋友們 ; 朋友
, "friends"), from péngyou ( , "friend"). Its use in such cases is
optional. It is never used when the noun has indefinite reference, or when it is qualified by a
numeral. [13]

The demonstrative pronouns zhè ( ; 这 這 , "this"), and nà (那 , "that") may be optionally pluralized by the
些
addition of xiē ( ), making zhèxiē (这些; 這些, "these") and nàxiē (那些, "those").
Noun phrases
The head noun of a noun phrase comes at the end of the phrase; this means that everything that modifies
the noun comes before it. This includes attributive adjectives, determiners, quantifiers, possessives, and
relative clauses.

Chinese does not have articles as such; a noun may stand alone to represent what in English would be
一
expressed as "the ..." or "a[n] ...". However the word yī ( , "one"), followed by the appropriate classifier,
may be used in some cases where English would have "a" or "an". It is also possible, with many classifiers,
to omit the yī and leave the classifier on its own at the start of the noun phrase.

这這 那
The demonstratives are zhè ( ; , "this"), and nà ( , "that"). When used before a noun, these are often
followed by an appropriate classifier (for discussion of classifiers, see Classifiers below and the article
Chinese classifiers). However this use of classifiers is optional.[14] When a noun is preceded by a numeral
(or a demonstrative followed by a numeral), the use of a classifier or measure word is in most cases
considered mandatory. (This does not apply to nouns that function as measure words themselves; this
includes many units of measurement and currency.)

The plural marker xiē ( 些 , "some, several"; also used to pluralize demonstratives) is used without a
几 幾, "some, several, how many") takes a classifier.
classifier. However jǐ ( ; [15]

For adjectives in noun phrases, see the Adjectives section. For noun phrases with pronouns rather than
nouns as the head, see the Pronouns section.

的
Possessives are formed by adding de ( )—the same particle that is used after relative clauses and
sometimes after adjectives—after the noun, noun phrase or pronoun that denotes the possessor.

7
Relative clauses
Chinese relative clauses, like other noun modifiers, precede the noun they modify. Like possessives and
的
some adjectives, they are marked with the final particle de ( ). A free relative clause is produced if the
modified noun following the de is omitted. A relative clause usually comes after any determiner phrase,
such as a numeral and classifier. For emphasis, it may come before the determiner phrase.[16]

There is usually no relative pronoun in the relative clause. Instead, a gap is left in subject or object position
as appropriate. If there are two gaps—the additional gap being created by pro-dropping—ambiguity may
arise. For example, chī de (吃的 ) may mean "[those] who eat" or "[that] which is eaten". When used alone,
it usually means "things to eat".

If the relative item is governed by a preposition in the relative clause, then it is denoted by a pronoun, e.g. tì
tā (替他 , "for him"), to explain "for whom". Otherwise the whole prepositional phrase is omitted, the
preposition then being implicitly understood.

For example sentences, see Relative clause → Mandarin.

Classifiers
量词 量詞
Chinese nouns require classifiers called liàngcí ( ;
[e]
; 'measure words') in order to be counted. That
is, when specifying the amount of a countable noun, a classifier must be inserted which agrees with the
noun. Hence one must say liǎng tóu niú ( 两头牛 兩頭牛; , "two head of cattle") for "two cows", with tóu
being the measure word or classifier. This phenomenon is common in East Asian languages. In English,
some words, as in the cited example of "cattle", are often paired with a noun used much like the Chinese
measure word. Bottle in "two bottles of wine" or sheet in "three sheets of paper" are further examples.
However, certain nouns representing units of measurement, time, or currency are themselves classifiers.
These can therefore be counted directly.

Classifiers are generally associated with certain groups of nouns related by meaning, such as tiáo ( ; ) 条條
把
for long, thin objects or animals, like ropes, snakes or fish; bǎ ( ) for objects with handles, like knives or
张張
umbrellas; or zhāng ( ; ) for flat, sheet-like objects like photographs, or fur. While there are dozens of
classifiers, which must be memorized individually for each noun, a majority of words use the general
个個
classifier gè ( ; ). Many nouns that are associated with other classifiers can also use gè if the speaker
chooses. The classifiers for many nouns appear arbitrary. The word zhuōzi ( 桌子 , "table") is a zhāng noun,
椅子
probably because a table-top is sheet-like; while yǐzi ( , "chair") is a bǎ noun, likely because a chair is
moved by lifting something like a handle. Dèngzi ( 凳子 ), another word for chair or stool, is a gè noun.

Classifiers are also used optionally after demonstratives, and in certain other situations. See the Noun
phrases section, and the article Chinese classifier.

Numerals

Pronouns
我 你 你妳 他她牠它
The Chinese personal pronouns are wǒ ( , "I, me"), nǐ ( ; / ,[f] "you"), and tā ( / / / , "he;
们們 我们
him/she; her/it (animals)/it (inanimate objects)". Plurals are formed by adding men ( ; ): wǒmen ( ;
我們 , "we, us"), nǐmen ( 你们 你們 ; , "you"), tāmen ( 他们 她们 它们 它们 他們 她們 牠們 它們
/ / / ; / / / ,
您
"they/them"). There is also nín ( ), a formal, polite word for singular "you", as well as a less common

8
 plural form, nínmen ( 您们 咱
). The alternative "inclusive" word for "we/us"—zán ( ) or zá[n]men ( 咱们 咱
;
們 ), specifically including the listener[17] (like the difference between English let us and let's)—is used
colloquially. The third-person pronouns are not often used for inanimates, with demonstratives used instead.

的
Possessives are formed with de ( ), such as wǒde ( 我的, "my, mine"), wǒmende ( 我们的 我們的 ,
;
"our[s]"), etc. The de may be omitted in phrases denoting inalienable possession, such as wǒ māma (我妈
妈 我媽媽
; , "my mom").

这這
The demonstrative pronouns are zhè ( ; , "this", colloquially pronounced zhèi) and nà ( , "that", 那
些
colloquially pronounced nèi). They are optionally pluralized by the addition of xiē ( ). There is a reflexive
pronoun zìjǐ (自己 ) meaning "oneself, myself, etc.", which can stand alone as an object or a possessive, or
may follow a personal pronoun for emphasis. The reciprocal pronoun "each other" can be translated from
bǐcǐ ( 彼此 ), usually in adverb position. An alternative is hùxiāng (互相 , "mutually").

Adjectives
的
Adjectives can be used attributively, before a noun. The relative marker de ( )[g] may be added after the
adjective, but this is not always required; "black horse" may be either hēi mǎ ( 黑马 黑馬
; ) or hēi de mǎ
黑的马 黑的馬
( ; ). When multiple adjectives are used, the order "quality/size – shape – color" is followed,
although this is not necessary when each adjective is made into a separate phrase with the addition of
de.[18]

Gradable adjectives can be modified by words meaning "very", etc.; such modifying adverbs normally
precede the adjective, although some, such as jíle ( 极了 極了
; , "extremely"), come after it.

When adjectives co-occur with classifiers, they normally follow the classifier. However, with most common
classifiers, when the number is "one", it is also possible to place adjectives like "big" and "small" before the
classifier for emphasis.

ex: 一 大 个
一 大 個
yí dà ge
one big cl

西瓜  
西瓜  
xīguā  
watermelon [15]

Adjectives can also be used predicatively. In this case they behave more like verbs; there is no need for a
copular verb in sentences like "he is happy" in Chinese; one may say simply tā gāoxìng ( 他高兴 他高興
; ,
"he happy"), where the adjective may be interpreted as a verb meaning "is happy". In such sentences it is
很
common for the adjective to be modified by a word meaning "very" or the like; in fact the word hěn ( ,
"very") is often used in such cases with gradable adjectives, even without carrying the meaning of "very".

It is nonetheless possible for a copula to be used in such sentences, to emphasize the adjective. In the phrase
他是高兴了 他是高興了
tā shì gāoxìng le, ( ;
[19]
, "he is now truly happy"), shì is the copula meaning "is", and
le is the inceptive marker discussed later. This is similar to the cleft sentence construction. Sentences can
的
also be formed in which an adjective followed by de ( ) stands as the complement of the copula.

Adverbs and adverbials

9
Adverbs and adverbial phrases normally come in a position before the verb, but after the subject of the
verb. In sentences with auxiliary verbs, the adverb usually precedes the auxiliary verb as well as the main
verb. Some adverbs of time and attitude ("every day", "perhaps", etc.) may be moved to the start of the
clause, to modify the clause as a whole. However, some adverbs cannot be moved in this way. These
常
include three words for "often", cháng ( ), chángcháng ( 常常) and jīngcháng ( 经常 經常
; ); dōu ( , 都
就 又
"all"); jiù ( , "then"); and yòu ( , "again"). [20]

地
Adverbs of manner can be formed from adjectives using the clitic de ( ).[h] It is generally possible to
move these adverbs to the start of the clause, although in some cases this may sound awkward, unless there
很
is a qualifier such as hěn ( , "very") and a pause after the adverb.

Some verbs take a prepositional phrase following the verb and its direct object. These are generally
obligatory constituents, such that the sentence would not make sense if they were omitted. For example:

放 本 书
fàng běn shū
put book-cl book
在 桌子 上
zài zhuōzi shàng
in table on
放本書在桌子上]
[
 
 
Put the book on the table[21]

There are also certain adverbial "stative complements" which follow the verb. The character dé ( )[i] 得
followed by an adjective functions the same as the phrase "-ly" in English, turning the adjective into an
adverb. The second is hǎo le ( 好了 , "complete"). It is not generally possible for a single verb to be
followed by both an object and an adverbial complement of this type, although there are exceptions in cases
where the complement expresses duration, frequency or goal.[22] To express both, the verb may be
repeated in a special kind of serial verb construction; the first instance taking an object, the second taking
the complement. Aspect markers can then appear only on the second instance of the verb.

The typical Chinese word order "XVO", where an oblique complement such as a locative prepositional
phrase precedes the verb, while a direct object comes after the verb, is very rare cross-linguistically; in fact,
it is only in varieties of Chinese that this is attested as the typical ordering.[23]

Locative phrases

Expressions of location in Chinese may include a preposition, placed before the noun; a postposition,
placed after the noun; both preposition and postposition; or neither. Chinese prepositions are commonly
上
known as coverbs – see the Coverbs section. The postpositions—which include shàng ( , "up, on"), xià
下 里裡 内 外
( , "down, under"), lǐ ( ; , "in, within"), nèi ( , "inside") and wài ( , "outside")—may also be
called locative particles.[24]

In the following examples locative phrases are formed from a noun plus a locative particle:

桌子 上
zhuōzi shàng
table on
on the table

10
 房子 里 [房子裡]
fángzi lǐ  
house in  
in the house

在
The most common preposition of location is zài ( , "at, on, in"). With certain nouns that inherently denote
a specific location, including nearly all place names, a locative phrase can be formed with zài together with
the noun:

在 美国 [在美國]
zài měiguó  
in America  
in America

However other types of noun still require a locative particle as a postposition in addition to zài:

在 报纸 上
zài bàozhǐ shàng
in newspaper on
在報紙上]
[
 
 
in the newspaper

If a noun is modified so as to denote a specific location, as in "this [object]...", then it may form locative
phrases without any locative particle. Some nouns which can be understood to refer to a specific place, like
家
jiā ( , home) and xuéxiào ( 学校 學校; , "school"), may optionally omit the locative particle. Words like
shàngmiàn ( 上面 , "top") can function as specific-location nouns, like in zài shàngmiàn ( 在上面 , "on top"),
but can also take the role of locative particle, not necessarily with analogous meaning. The phrase zài
bàozhǐ shàngmiàn ( 在报纸上面 在報紙上面
[25]
; ; 'in newspaper-top'), can mean either "in the newspaper" or
"on the newspaper".

In certain circumstances zài can be omitted from the locative expression. Grammatically, a noun or noun
phrase followed by a locative particle is still a noun phrase. For instance, zhuōzi shàng can be regarded as
short for zhuōzi shàngmiàn, meaning something like "the table's top". Consequently, the locative
expression without zài can be used in places where a noun phrase would be expected – for instance, as a
的
modifier of another noun using de ( ), or as the object of a different preposition, such as cóng ( ; ,从從
"from"). The version with zài, on the other hand, plays an adverbial role. However, zài is usually omitted
when the locative expression begins a sentence with the ergative structure, where the expression, though
having an adverbial function, can be seen as filling the subject or noun role in the sentence. For examples,
see sentence structure section.

在
The word zài ( ), like certain other prepositions or coverbs, can also be used as a verb. A locative
expression can therefore appear as a predicate without the need for any additional copula. For example, "he
他在学校 他在學校
is at school" ( ; ; tā zài xuéxiào, literally "he at school").

Comparatives and superlatives

Comparative sentences are commonly expressed simply by inserting the standard of comparison, preceded
比 比
by bǐ ( , "than"). The adjective itself is not modified. The bǐ ( , "than") phrase is an adverbial, and has a
fixed position before the verb. See also the section on negation.

11
If there is no standard of comparison—i.e., a than phrase—then the adjective can be marked as comparative
by a preceding adverb bǐjiào ( 比较 比較
; 较較 更
), jiào ( ; ) or gèng ( ), all meaning "more". Similarly,
最
superlatives can be expressed using the adverb zuì ( , "most"), which precedes a predicate verb or
adjective.

Adverbial phrases meaning "like [someone/something]" or "as [someone/something]" can be formed using
跟 同 像
gēn ( ), tóng ( ) or xiàng ( ) before the noun phrase, and yīyàng (
[26]
; 一样 一樣
) or nàyàng ( ; )那样 那樣
after it.

The construction yuè ... yuè ... 越...越... can be translated into statements of the type "the more ..., the more
...".

Copula
是
The Chinese copular verb is shì ( ). This is the equivalent of English "to be" and all its forms—"am",
"is", "are", "was", "were", etc. However, shì is normally only used when its complement is a noun or noun
phrase. As noted above, predicate adjectives function as verbs themselves, as does the locative preposition
在
zài ( ), so in sentences where the predicate is an adjectival or locative phrase, shì is not required.

For another use of shì, see shì ... [de] construction in the section on cleft sentences. The English existential
有
phrase "there is" ["there are", etc.] is translated using the verb yǒu ( ), which is otherwise used to denote
possession.

Aspects
Chinese does not have grammatical markers of tense. The time at which action is conceived as taking place
—past, present, future—can be indicated by expressions of time—"yesterday", "now", etc.—or may
simply be inferred from the context. However, Chinese does have markers of aspect, which is a feature of
grammar that gives information about the temporal flow of events. There are two aspect markers that are
了
especially commonly used with past events: the perfective-aspect le ( ) and the experiential guo ( ; ). 过過
Some authors, however, do not regard guo (or zhe; see below) as markers of aspect.[27] Both le and guo
immediately follow the verb. There is also a sentence-final particle le, which serves a somewhat different
purpose.

The perfective le presents the viewpoint of "an event in its entirety".[28] It is sometimes considered to be a
past tense marker, although it can also be used with future events, given appropriate context. Some
examples of its use:

我 当 了
wǒ dāng le
I serve as le
兵。 [我當了兵。]
bīng  
soldier.  
I became a soldier.

了
Using le ( ) shows this event that has taken place or took place at a particular time.

他 看 了
tā kàn le
He watch le

12
 三 场 球赛。
sān chǎng qiúsài
three sports-cl ballgames.
他看了三場球賽。
[ ]
 
 
He watched three ballgames.

了
This format of le ( ) is usually used in a time-delimited context such as "today" or "last week".

The above may be compared with the following examples with guo, and with the examples with sentence-
final le given under Particles.

The experiential guo "ascribes to a subject the property of having experienced the event".[29]

我 当 过
wǒ dāng guo
I serve-as guo
兵。 [我當過兵。]
bīng  
soldier.  
I have been a soldier before.

This also implies that the speaker no longer is a soldier.

他 看 过
tā kàn guo
He watch guo
三 场 球赛。
sān chǎng qiúsài
three sports-cl ballgames.
他看過三場球賽。
[ ]
 
 
He has watched three ballgames up to now.

There are also two imperfective aspect markers: zhèngzài ( 正在 在 着著

) or zài ( ), and zhe ( ; ), which denote
ongoing actions or states. Zhèngzài and zài precede the verb, and are usually used for ongoing actions or
dynamic events – they may be translated as "[be] in the process of [-ing]" or "[be] in the middle of [-ing]".
Zhe follows the verb, and is used mostly for static situations.

我 正在
[ ] 挂
wǒ zhèng zài guà
I in-middle-of hang
画。 我 正 在掛畫。]
[ [ ]
huà  
pictures  
I'm hanging pictures up.

墙 上 挂
qiáng shàng guà

13
 Wall on hang
着 一 幅
zhe yì fú
ongoing one picture-cl
画。 [ 牆上掛著一幅畫。]
huà  
picture  
A picture is hanging on the wall.

Both markers may occur in the same clause, however. For example, tā zhèngzai dǎ [zhe] diànhuà, "he is in
the middle of telephoning someone" (
[30]
他正在打 着 电话 他正在打 著 電話
[ ] ; [ ] ; 'he [in-middle-of] [verb
form] [ongoing] telephone').

The delimitative aspect denotes an action that goes on only for some time, "doing something 'a little
走
bit'".[31] This can be expressed by reduplication of a monosyllabic verb, like the verb zǒu ( "walk") in
the following sentence:

我 到 公园
wǒ dào gōngyuán
I to park
走 走。 [我到公園走走。]
zǒu zǒu  
walk walk  
I'm going for a walk in the park.

一
An alternative construction is reduplication with insertion of "one" ( yī). For example, zǒu yi zǒu ( 走一
走 ), which might be translated as "walk a little walk". A further possibility is reduplication followed by kàn
看
( "to see"); this emphasizes the "testing" nature of the action. If the verb has an object, kàn follows the
object.

Some compound verbs, such as restrictive-resultative and coordinate compounds, can also be reduplicated
on the pattern tǎolùn-tǎolùn ( 讨论讨论 討論討論 ; ), from the verb tǎolùn ( 讨论 討論 ; ), meaning
"discuss". Other compounds may be reduplicated, but for general emphasis rather than delimitative aspect.
In compounds that are verb–object combinations, like tiào wǔ ( 跳舞 ; 'to jump a dance', "dance"), a
delimitative aspect can be marked by reduplicating the first syllable, creating tiào-tiào wǔ (跳跳舞 ), which
看
may be followed with kàn ( ).

Passive
As mentioned above, the fact that a verb is intended to be understood in the passive voice is not always
marked in Chinese. However, it may be marked using the passive marker 被 bèi, followed by the agent,
though bèi may appear alone, if the agent is not to be specified.[j] Certain causative markers can replace bèi,
such as those mentioned in the Other cases section, gěi, jiào and ràng. Of these causative markers, only gěi
can appear alone without a specified agent. The construction with a passive marker is normally used only
when there is a sense of misfortune or adversity.[32] The passive marker and agent occupy the typical
adverbial position before the verb. See the Negation section for more. Some examples:

我们 被 他
wǒmen bèi tā
We by him

14
 骂 了。 [我們被他罵了。]
mà le  
scolded pfv  
We were scolded by him.

他 被 我
tā bèi wǒ
He by me
打 了 一
dǎ le yí
beaten pfv one
顿。 [ 他被我打了一頓。]
dùn  
event-cl  
He was beaten up by me once.

Negation
不
The most commonly used negating element is bù ( ), pronounced with second tone when followed by a
fourth tone. This can be placed before a verb, preposition or adverb to negate it. For example: "I don't eat
chicken" ( 我不吃鸡 我不吃雞 ; ; wǒ bù chī jī; 'I not eat chicken'). For the double-verb negative
有
construction with bù, see Complement of result, below. However, the verb yǒu ( )—which can mean
没沒
either possession, or "there is/are" in existential clauses—is negated using méi ( ; ) to produce méiyǒu
没有 沒有
( ; ; 'not have').

For negation of a verb intended to denote a completed event, méi or méiyǒu is used instead of bù ( ), and不
了
the aspect marker le ( ) is then omitted. Also, méi[yǒu] is used to negate verbs that take the aspect marker
过過
guo ( ; ); in this case the aspect marker is not omitted.[33]

In coverb constructions, the negator may come before the coverb (preposition) or before the full verb, the
latter being more emphatic. In constructions with a passive marker, the negator precedes that marker;
similarly, in comparative constructions, the negator precedes the bǐ phraseNot clear (unless the verb is
更
further qualified by gèng ( , "even more"), in which case the negator may follow the gèng to produce the
meaning "even less").[34]

别
The negator bié ( ) precedes the verb in negative commands and negative requests, such as in phrases
meaning "don't ...", "please don't ...".

未
The negator wèi ( ) means "not yet". Other items used as negating elements in certain compound words
无無 勿 免
include wú ( ; ),wù ( ), miǎn ( ) and fēi ( ). 非
A double negative makes a positive, as in sentences like wǒ bú shì bù xǐhuān tā ( 我不是不喜欢她 我不 ;
是不喜歡她 是
, "It's not that I don't like her" ). For this use of shì ( ), see the Cleft sentences section.

Questions
In wh-questions in Chinese, the question word is not fronted. Instead, it stays in the position in the sentence
that would be occupied by the item being asked about. For example, "What did you say?" is phrased as nǐ
shuō shé[n]me ( 你说什么 你說什麼？
?; , literally "you say what"). The word shénme ( 什么 什麼; ,
"what" or "which"), remains in the object position after the verb.

15
Other interrogative words include:

谁 誰)
"Who": shuí/shéi ( ;
"What": shénme (什么; 什麼); shá (啥, used informally)
"Where": nǎr (哪儿; 哪兒); nǎlǐ (哪里; 哪裡)
"When": shénme shíhòu (什么时候; 什麼時候); héshí (何时; 何時)
"Which": nǎ (哪)

When used to mean "which ones", nǎ is used with a classifier and noun, or with xiē ( ) 些
and noun. The noun may be omitted if understood through context.
"Why": wèishé[n]me ( 为什么; 為什麼); gànmá (干吗; 幹嘛)
"How many": duōshǎo (多少)

When the number is quite small, jǐ (几; 幾) is used, followed by a classifier.

"How": zěnme[yang] (怎么[样]; 怎麼[樣]); rúhé (如何).

Disjunctive questions can be made using the word háishì ( 还是 ; 還是 ) between the options, like English
"or". This differs from the word for "or" in statements, which is huòzhě (或者).

Yes-no questions can be formed using the sentence-final particle ma ( 吗 ; 嗎 ), with word order otherwise
the same as in a statement. For example, nǐ chī jī ma? ( 你吃鸡吗 ?; 你吃雞嗎？ ; 'you eat chicken MA',
"Do you eat chicken?").

An alternative is the A-not-A construction, using phrases like chī bu chī ( 吃不吃 , "eat or not eat").[k] With
喜不喜欢 喜不喜歡
two-syllable verbs, sometimes only the first syllable is repeated: xǐ-bu-xǐhuān ( ; , "like
or not like"), from xǐhuān ( 喜欢 喜歡
; , "like"). It is also possible to use the A-not-A construction with
prepositions (coverbs) and phrases headed by them, as with full verbs.

没沒
The negator méi ( ; ) can be used rather than bù in the A-not-A construction when referring to a
completed event, but if it occurs at the end of the sentence—i.e. the repetition is omitted—the full form
méiyǒu ( 没有 沒有
; ) must appear.[35]

For answering yes-no questions, Chinese has words that may be used like the English "yes" and "no" – duì
对對
( ; ) or shì de ( 是的 不
) for "yes"; bù ( ) for "no" – but these are not often used for this purpose; it is
more common to repeat the verb or verb phrase (or entire sentence), negating it if applicable.

Imperatives
Second-person imperative sentences are formed in the same way as statements, and like in English, the
subject "you" is often omitted.

请
Orders may be softened by preceding them with an element such as qǐng ( , "to ask"), in this use
吧
equivalent to English "please". See Particles for more. The sentence-final particle ba ( ) can be used to
form first-person imperatives, equivalent to "let's...".

Serial verb constructions

16
 Chinese makes frequent use of serial verb constructions, or verb stacking, where two or more verbs or verb
phrases are concatenated together. This frequently involves either verbal complements appearing after the
main verb, or coverb phrases appearing before the main verb, but other variations of the construction occur
as well.

Auxiliaries

A main verb may be preceded by an auxiliary verb, as in English. Chinese auxiliaries include néng and
能 能够 能夠
nénggòu ( and ; 会會
, "can"); huì ( ; , "know how to"); kéyǐ (可以 敢
, "may"); gǎn ( , "dare");
肯
kěn ( , "be willing to"); yīnggāi ( 应该 應該; , "should"); bìxū ( 必须 必須
; , "must"); etc. The auxiliary
normally follows an adverb, if present. In shortened sentences an auxiliary may be used without a main
verb, analogously to English sentences such as "I can."

Verbal complements

The active verb of a sentence may be suffixed with a second verb, which usually indicates either the result
of the first action, or the direction in which it took the subject. When such information is applicable, it is
generally considered mandatory. The phenomenon is sometimes called double verbs.

Complement of result

A complement of result, or resultative complement ( 结果补语 結果補語

; ; jiéguǒ bǔyǔ) is a verbal suffix
which indicates the outcome, or possible outcome, of the action indicated by the main verb. In the
听聽 懂
following examples, the main verb is tīng ( ; "to listen"), and the complement of result is dǒng ( , "to
understand/to know").

听 懂 [聽懂]
tīng dǒng  
hear understand  
to understand something you hear

Since they indicate an absolute result, such double verbs necessarily represent a completed action, and are
没沒
thus negated using méi ( ; ):

没 听 懂
méi tīng dǒng
not hear understand
[ 沒聽懂 ]
 
 
to have not understood something you hear

得
The infix de ( ) is placed between the double verbs to indicate possibility or ability. This is not possible
with "restrictive" resultative compounds such as jiéshěng (
[36]
节省
, literally "reduce-save", meaning "to save,
economize").

听 得 懂
tīng de dǒng
hear possible/able understand

17
 [聽得懂]
 
 
to be able to understand something you hear

This is equivalent in meaning to néng tīng dǒng ( 能听懂 ; 能聽懂 ), using the auxiliary néng ( 能 ),
equivalent to "may" or "can".[l]

得
To negate the above construction, de ( ) is replaced by bù ( ): 不
听 不 懂
tīng bù dǒng
hear impossible/unable understand
[聽不懂]
 
 
to be unable to understand something you hear

With some verbs, the addition of bù and a particular complement of result is the standard method of
negation. In many cases the complement is liǎo, represented by the same character as the perfective or
了
modal particle le ( ). This verb means "to finish", but when used as a complement for negation purposes it
may merely indicate inability. For example: shòu bù liǎo ( 受不了, "to be unable to tolerate").

The complement of result is a highly productive and frequently used construction. Sometimes it develops
饿死了 餓死了
into idiomatic phrases, as in è sǐ le ( ; , literally "hungry-until-die already", meaning "to be
气死了 氣死了
starving") and qì sǐ le ( ; , literally "mad-until-die already", meaning "to be extremely
看不起
angry"). The phrases for "hatred" ( ; kànbùqǐ), "excuse me" ( 对不起 對不起 ; ; duìbùqǐ), and "too
买不起 買不起
expensive to buy" ( ; 起
; mǎi bùqǐ) all use the character qǐ ( , "to rise up") as a complement
of result, but their meanings are not obviously related to that meaning. This is partially the result of
看不起
metaphorical construction, where kànbùqǐ ( ) literally means "to be unable to look up to"; and
duìbùqǐ ( 对不起 對不起
; ) means "to be unable to face someone".

Some more examples of resultative complements, used in complete sentences:

他 把 盘子
tā bǎ pánzi
he object-cl plate
打 破 了。
dǎ pò le
hit break prf

[他把盤子打破了。]
 
 
He hit/dropped the plate, and it broke.

Double-verb construction where the second verb, "break", is a suffix to the first, and indicates what
happens to the object as a result of the action.

这 部 电影
zhè(i) bù diànyǐng
this   movie

18
 我 看 不
wǒ kàn bù
I look impossible/unable
懂。 [這部電影我看不懂。 ]
dǒng  
understand  
I can't understand this movie even though I watched it.

Another double-verb where the second verb, "understand", suffixes the first and clarifies the possibility and
success of the relevant action.

Complement of direction

A complement of direction, or directional complement ( 趋向补语 趨向補語; ; qūxiàng bǔyǔ) indicates the
去
direction of an action involving movement. The simplest directional complements are qù ( , "to go") and
来來
lái ( ; , "to come"), which may be added after a verb to indicate movement away from or towards the
speaker, respectively. These may form compounds with other verbs that further specify the direction, such
as shàng qù (上去 , "to go up"), gùo lái (过来 過來
; , "to come over"), which may then be added to another
走
verb, such as zǒu ( , "to walk"), as in zǒu gùo qù ( 走过去 走過去
; , "to walk over"). Another example,
in a whole sentence:

他 走 上
tā zǒu shàng
he walk up
来 了。 他走上來了。]
[
lái le  
come prf  
He walked up towards me.

The directional suffixes indicate "up" and "towards".

If the preceding verb has an object, the object may be placed either before or after the directional
complement(s), or even between two directional complements, provided the second of these is not qù
去
( ).[37]

The structure with inserted de or bù is not normally used with this type of double verb. There are
起不来床 起不來床
exceptions, such as "to be unable to get out of bed" ( ; ; qǐ bù lái chuáng or 起床不来
;
起床不來 ; qǐ chuáng bù lái).

Coverbs

Chinese has a class of words, called coverbs, which in some respects resemble both verbs and prepositions.
They appear with a following object (or complement), and generally denote relationships that would be
expressed by prepositions (or postpositions) in other languages. However, they are often considered to be
lexically verbs, and some of them can also function as full verbs. When a coverb phrase appears in a
sentence together with a main verb phrase, the result is essentially a type of serial verb construction. The
coverb phrase, being an adverbial, precedes the main verb in most cases. For instance:

我 帮 你
wǒ bāng nǐ

19
 I help you
找 他。 [我幫你找他。]
zhǎo tā.  
find him  
I will find him for you.

找 帮幫
Here the main verb is zhǎo ( , "find"), and bāng ( ; ) is a coverb. Here bāng corresponds to the
English preposition "for", even though in other contexts it might be used as a full verb meaning "help".

我 坐 飞机
wǒ zuò fēijī
I sit airplane
从 上海 到
cóng Shànghǎi dào
from Shanghai arrive(to)
北京 去。 [我坐飛機從上海到北京去。]
Běijīng qù.  
Beijing go  
I'll go from Shanghai to Beijing by plane.

坐 从從 到
Here there are three coverbs: zuò ( "by"), cóng ( ; , "from"), and dào ( , "to"). The words zuò and
dào can also be verbs, meaning "sit" and "arrive [at]" respectively. However, cóng is not normally used as
a full verb.

在
A very common coverb that can also be used as a main verb is zài ( ), as described in the Locative
给
phrases section. Another example is gěi ( ), which as a verb means "give". As a preposition, gěi may
mean "for", or "to" when marking an indirect object or in certain other expressions.

我 给 你
wǒ gěi nǐ
I to you
打 电话。 [我給你打電話。]
dǎ diànhuà  
strike telephone  
I'll give you a telephone call

Because coverbs essentially function as prepositions, they can also be referred to simply as prepositions. In
Chinese they are called jiè cí ( 介词 介詞
; ), a term which generally corresponds to "preposition", or more
generally, "adposition". The situation is complicated somewhat by the fact that location markers—which
also have meanings similar to those of certain English prepositions—are often called "postpositions".

Coverbs normally cannot take aspect markers, although some of them form fixed compounds together with
such markers, such as gēnzhe ( 跟著
; 'with +[aspect marker]'), ànzhe ( 按著
, "according to"), yánzhe ( , 沿着
"along"), and wèile (为了 "for").[38]

Other cases

Serial verb constructions can also consist of two consecutive verb phrases with parallel meaning, such as hē
kāfēi kàn bào, "drink coffee and read the paper" ( 喝咖啡看报 喝咖啡看報 ;
[39]
; 'drink coffee read paper').
Each verb may independently be negated or given the le aspect marker. If both verbs would have the

20
 same object, it is omitted the second time.

Consecutive verb phrases may also be used to indicate consecutive events. Use of the le aspect marker with
the first verb may imply that this is the main verb of the sentence, the second verb phrase merely indicating
the purpose. Use of this le with the second verb changes this emphasis, and may require a sentence-final le
在
particle in addition. On the other hand, the progressive aspect marker zài ( ) may be applied to the first
去 来來
verb, but not normally the second alone. The word qù ( , "go") or lái ( ; , "come") may be inserted
between the two verb phrases, meaning "in order to".

For constructions with consecutive verb phrases containing the same verb, see under Adverbs. For
immediate repetition of a verb, see Reduplication and Aspects.

Another case is the causative or pivotal construction.[40] Here the object of one verb also serves as the
给
subject of the following verb. The first verb may be something like gěi ( , "allow", or "give" in other
让讓 叫 使
contexts), ràng ( ; , "let"), jiào ( , "order" or "call") or shǐ ( , "make, compel"), qǐng ( ; , 请請
令
"invite"), or lìng ( , "command"). Some of these cannot take an aspect marker such as le when used in
this construction, like lìng, ràng, shǐ. Sentences of this type often parallel the equivalent English pattern,
except that English may insert the infinitive marker "to". In the following example the construction is used
twice:

他 要 我
tā yào wǒ
he want me
请 他 喝
qǐng tā hē
invite him drink
啤酒。 [他要我請他喝啤酒。]
píjiǔ  
beer  
He wants me to treat him [to] beer.

Particles
Chinese has a number of sentence-final particles – these are weak syllables, spoken with neutral tone, and
placed at the end of the sentence to which they refer. They are often called modal particles or yǔqì zhùcí
语气助词 語氣助詞
( ; ), as they serve chiefly to express grammatical mood, or how the sentence relates to
reality and/or intent. They include:[41]

吗 嗎), which changes a statement into a yes-no question

ma ( ;
ne (呢), which expresses surprise, or produces a question "with expectation"
ba (吧), which serves as a tag question, e.g. "don't you think so?"; produces a suggestion
e.g. "let's..."; or lessens certainty of a decision.
a (啊), which reduces forcefulness, particularly of an order or question. It can also be used
[m]
to add positive connotation to certain phrases or inject uncertainty when responding to a
question.
呕 噢), which signals a friendly warning
ou ( ;
zhe (着; 著), which marks the inchoative aspect, or need for change of state, in imperative
sentences. Compare the imperfective aspect marker zhe in the section above)

21
 了
le ( ), which marks a "currently relevant state". This precedes any other sentence-final
particles, and can combine with a (啊) to produce la (啦); and with ou (呕; 噢) to produce lou
(喽; 囉).

This sentence-final le ( 了 ) should be distinguished from the verb suffix le ( 了 ) discussed in the Aspects
section. Whereas the sentence-final particle is sometimes described as an inceptive or as a marker of perfect
aspect, the verb suffix is described as a marker of perfective aspect.[42] Some examples of its use:

我 没 钱
wǒ méi qián
I no money
了。 [ 我沒錢了。 ]
le  
prf  
I have no money now or I've gone broke.

我 当 兵
wǒ dāng bīng
I work soldier
了。 我當兵了。]
[
le  
prf  
I have become a soldier.

The position of le in this example emphasizes his present status as a soldier, rather than the event of
becoming. Compare with the post-verbal le example given in the Aspects section, wǒ dāng le bīng.

他 看 三
tā kàn sān
He watch three
场 球赛 了。
chǎng qiúsài le
sports-cl ballgames prf

[他看三場球賽了。 ]
 
 
He [has] watched three ballgames.

Compared with the post-verbal le and guo examples, this places the focus on the number three, and does
not specify whether he is going to continue watching more games.

The two uses of le may in fact be traced back to two entirely different words.[43][44] The fact that they are
now written the same way in Mandarin can cause ambiguity, particularly when the verb is not followed by
an object. Consider the following sentence:

妈妈 来 了！
māma lái le
[媽媽來了！]
 
Mom come le

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 This le might be interpreted as either the suffixal perfective marker or the sentence-final perfect marker. In
the former case it might mean "mother has come", as in she has just arrived at the door, while in the latter it
might mean "mother is coming!", and the speaker wants to inform others of this fact. It is even possible for
the two kinds of le to co-occur:[45]

他 吃 了
tā chī le
He eat pfv

饭 了。 [他吃飯了]。
fàn le  
food prf  
He has eaten.

Without the first le, the sentence could again mean "he has eaten", or it could mean "he wants to eat now".
Without the final le the sentence would be ungrammatical without appropriate context, as perfective le
cannot appear in a semantically unbounded sentence.

Cleft sentences
There is a construction in Chinese known as the shì ... [de] construction, which produces what may be
是
called cleft sentences.[46] The copula shì ( ) is placed before the element of the sentence which is to be
的
emphasized, and the optional possessive particle de ( ) is placed at the end of the sentence. For example:

他 是 昨天
tā shì zuótiān
He shi yesterday
买 菜 的。
[ ]
m ǎi cài [de]
buy food [de].
[他是昨天買菜 的 。 [ ] ]
 
 
It was yesterday that he bought food.

If an object following the verb, is to be emphasized in this construction, the shì precedes the object, and the
de comes after the verb and before the shì.

他 昨天 买
tā zuótiān m ǎi
He yesterday buy
的 是 菜。
de shì cài
de shi vegetable.
[他昨天買的是菜。 ]
 
 
What he bought yesterday was vegetable.

Sentences with similar meaning can be produced using relative clauses. These may be called pseudo-cleft
sentences.

23
 昨天 是 他
zuótiān shì tā
yesterday is he
买 菜 的
m ǎi cài de
buy food de
时间。 昨天是他買菜的時間。]
[
shíjiān  
time  
Yesterday was the time he bought food.[47]

Conjunctions
Chinese has various conjunctions ( 连词 連詞
; 和
; liáncí) such as hé ( , "and"), dànshì ( 但是
, "but"), huòzhě
或者
( , "or"), etc. However Chinese quite often uses no conjunction where English would have "and".[48]

Two or more nouns may be joined together by the conjunctions hé ( , "and") or huò (和 或 "or"); for
example dāo hé chā ( 刀和叉
, "knife and fork"), gǒu huò māo ( 狗或貓
, "dog or cat").

Certain adverbs are often used as correlative conjunctions, where correlating words appear in each of the
linked clauses, such as búdàn ... érqiě ( 不但 而且... 虽然 还
; 'not only ... (but) also'), suīrán ... háishì ( ...
是 雖然 還是
; ... ; 'although ... still'), yīnwèi ... suǒyǐ (因为 所以 因為 所以
... ; ...
[49]
; 'because ... therefore').
Such connectors may appear at the start of a clause or before the verb phrase.

Similarly, words like jìrán ( 既然, "since/in response to"), rúguǒ ( 如果) or jiǎrú (假如) "if", zhǐyào (只要
就
"provided that") correlate with an adverb jiù ( , "then") or yě ( 也 , "also") in the main clause, to form
conditional sentences.

In some cases, the same word may be repeated when connecting items; these include yòu ... yòu ... ( ... 又
又 一边 一边
..., "both ... and ..."), yībiān ... yībiān ... ( ... 越 越
..., "... while ..."), and yuè ... yuè ... ( ... ..., "the
more ..., the more ...").

Conjunctions of time such as "when" may be translated with a construction that corresponds to something
like "at the time (+relative clause)", where as usual, the Chinese relative clause comes before the noun
("time" in this case). For example:[50]

当 我 回
dāng wǒ huí
At I return
家 的 时候 ...
jiā de shíhòu...
home de time
[當我回家的時候 ...]
 
 
When I return[ed] home...

当 以前 當 以前
Variants include dāng ... yǐqián ( ... ; ... "before ...") and dāng ... yǐhòu ( ... 当 以后 當 以後
; ... ,
"after ..."), which do not use the relative marker de. In all of these cases, the initial dāng may be replaced
在
by zài ( ), or may be omitted. There are also similar constructions for conditionals: rúguǒ /jiǎrú/zhǐyào ...
dehuà ( 如果 假如 只要 的话
/ / ... 话話
, "if ... then"), where huà ( ; ) literally means "narrative, story".

24
 See also
Classical Chinese grammar
Cantonese grammar

Notes
a. Several of the common prepositions can also be used as full verbs.
词詞
b. The first Chinese scholar to consider the concept of a word (cí, ( ; ) as opposed to the
字
character (zì, ) is claimed to have been Shizhao Zhang in 1907. However, defining the
word has proved difficult, and some linguists consider that the concept is not applicable to
Chinese at all. See San, Duanmu (2000). The Phonology of Standard Chinese. Oxford
University Press. ISBN 9780198299875.
c. bīngbīngliángliáng 冰冰凉凉 冰冰涼涼 ; is also commonly used
我把橘子皮剥了 我把橘子
d. A more common way to express this would be wǒ bǎ júzi pí bō le ( ;
皮剝了 我剥了橘子皮 我剝了橘子皮
, "I BA tangerine's skin peeled"), or wǒ bō le júzi pí ( ; , "I
peeled tangerine's skin").
e. More rarely used for uncountable nouns.
妳 你
f. is an alternative character for nǐ ( , "you") when referring to a female; it is used mainly in
script written in traditional characters.
g. Also used after possessives and relative clauses
h. Not the same character as the de used to mark possessives and relative clauses.
i. Note that this is a different character again from the two types of de previously mentioned.
j. This is similar to the English "by", though it is always followed by an agent.
k. Either the verb or the whole verb phrase may be repeated after the negator bù; it is also
possible to place bù after the verb phrase and omit the repetition entirely.
能
l. Néng ( ) does not mean "may" or "can" in the sense of "know how to" or "have the skill to".
呀 哇
m. alternately ya ( ), wa ( ), etc. depending on the preceding sound

References
1. Sun (2006), p. 46 ff. 11. Li (1990), p. 89.
2. Sun (2006), p. 50. 12. Sun (2006), p. 64.
3. Melloni, Chiara; Basciano, Bianca (2018). 13. Yip & Rimmington (2004), p. 8.
"Reduplication across boundaries: The 14. Sun (2006), p. 159.
case of Mandarin" (https://www.oapen.org/ 15. Sun (2006), p. 165.
download?type=document&docid=100168
3#page=343). The Lexeme in Theoretical 16. Sun (2006), p. 188.
and Descriptive Morphology. 4: 331 – via 汉语我们和咱们有区别吗？
17. " " (https://www.
OAPEN. zhihu.com/question/22461478). Retrieved
4. Sun (2006), p. 147. 2022-01-08.
5. Sun (2006), p. 184. 18. Sun (2006), pp. 152, 160.
6. Sun (2006), p. 185. 19. Sun (2006), p. 151.
7. Li (1990), p. 234 ff.. 20. Sun (2006), p. 154.
8. Sun (2006), p. 161. 21. Sun (2006), p. 163.
9. Li & Thompson (1981), pp. 463–491. 22. Sun (2006), p. 203.
10. Li (1990), p. 195.

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23. "Chapter 84: Order of Object, Oblique, and 37. Sun (2006), p. 53.
Verb" (http://wals.info/chapter/84). World 38. Sun (2006), p. 208.
Atlas of Language Structures. 2011. 39. Sun (2006), p. 200.
24. Sun (2006), p. 81 ff. 40. Sun (2006), p. 205.
25. Sun (2006), p. 85.
41. Sun (2006), p. 76 ff.
26. Sun (2006), p. 199.
42. Li & Thompson (1981), quoted in Sun
27. Yip & Rimmington (2004), p. 107. (2006), p. 80.
28. Li & Thompson (1981), p. 185. 43. Li & Thompson (1981), pp. 296–300.
29. Sun (2006), p. 70. 44. Chao (1968), p. 246.
30. Yip & Rimmington (2004), p. 109. 45. Sun (2006), p. 80.
31. Li & Thompson (1981), pp. 29, 234. 46. Sun (2006), p. 190.
32. Sun (2006), p. 211. 47. Sun (2006), p. 191.
33. Yip & Rimmington (2004), p. 110. 48. Yip & Rimmington (2004), p. 12.
34. Sun (2006), pp. 209–211. 49. Sun (2006), p. 197.
35. Sun (2006), p. 181. 50. Sun (2006), p. 198.
36. Sun (2006), p. 52.

Bibliography
Chao, Yuen Ren (1968). A Grammar of Spoken Chinese (https://archive.org/details/grammar
ofspokenc0000chao). Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-00219-7.
Li, Charles N.; Thompson, Sandra A. (1981). Mandarin Chinese: A functional reference
grammar. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-06610-6.
Li, Yen-hui Audrey (1990). Order and Constituency in Mandarin Chinese. Springer.
ISBN 978-0-792-30500-2.
Lin, Helen T. (1981). Essential Grammar for Modern Chinese. Cheng & Tsui. ISBN 978-0-
917056-10-9.
Ross, Claudia; Ma, Jing-Heng Sheng (2006). Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A
Practical Guide. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-70009-2.
Sun, Chaofen (2006). Chinese: A Linguistic Introduction. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN 978-0-521-82380-7.
Yip, Po-Ching; Rimmington, Don (2004). Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar. Routledge.
ISBN 0-415-15031-0.
Yip, Po-Ching; Rimmington, Don (2006). Chinese: An Essential Grammar (2nd ed.).
Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-96979-3.
Lü Shuxiang ( 吕叔湘 ) (1957). Zhongguo wenfa yaolüe 中国文法要略 [Summary of Chinese
grammar]. Shangwu yinshuguan. OCLC 466418461 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/4664184
61).
Wang Li (1955). Zhongguo xiandai yufa 中国现代语法 [Modern Chinese grammar].
Zhonghua shuju.

Further reading
W. Lobscheid (1864). Grammar of the Chinese language: in two parts, Volume 2 (https://boo
ks.google.com/books?id=v6tFAAAAcAAJ). Office of Daily Press. p. 178. Retrieved
2011-07-06.

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 Joshua Marshman, Confucius (1814). Elements of Chinese grammar: with a preliminary
dissertation on the characters, and the colloquial medium of the Chinese, and an appendix
containing the Tahyoh of Confucius with a translation (https://books.google.com/books?id=s
48PAAAAYAAJ). Printed at the Mission press. p. 622. Retrieved 2011-07-06.

External links
A Summary of Chinese Grammar (https://web.archive.org/web/20090720194207/http://chine
senotes.com/grammar.php)

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