Complete Guide to Basic Chinese Grammar & Sentence Structures

Basic Chinese Grammar and Sentence Structures // The Complete Guide

Basic Chinese Grammar is not hard – honestly!

Chinese grammar is relatively easy to get your head around once you’ve nailed the basics.

We’ll prove this to you right now with a rundown of all the key Chinese grammar points you need to know.

✅ Plus we’ve included example sentences and audio to help you consolidate your knowledge and perfect that pronunciation.

Let’s dive in!

Basic Chinese Grammar – Subject + Verb Sentence

Basic Chinese Grammar – Subject + Verb + Object Sentence

Basic Chinese Grammar – The 是 (shì) Sentence

Basic Chinese Grammar – The 有 (yǒu) Sentence

Basic Chinese Grammar – The 吗 (ma) Question?

Basic Chinese Grammar – Expressing “and” with 和 (hé)

Basic Chinese Grammar – Expressing Existence with 在 (zài)

Basic Chinese Grammar – Basic Negative Form of Verbs

Basic Chinese Grammar – Questions with Question Words?

Basic Chinese Grammar – The 把 (bǎ) Sentence

Basic Chinese Grammar – Expressing Experience with 过 (guò)

BONUS – Free Quickfire Grammar Quiz

Basic Chinese Grammar – FAQs

PSST – If you want an even more in-depth look into Grammar check out our Chinese Grammar Bank here. We are adding new articles all the time so you have a one stop place to understand every bit of grammar in Mandarin

1. Subject + Verb Sentence

So for our first basic Chinese grammar point, we’re going to show you the simplest sentence structure in the Chinese language.

You can form very simple sentences with just two words, a subject + verb. For example:

👉 Play 我忙 (wǒ máng): I’m busy.

我 (wǒ) means “I” (or in some cases “me”). 忙 (máng) means “busy”. Simple! Some other examples include:

2. Subject + Verb + Object Sentence

The next basic sentence structure of Mandarin Chinese is the same as in English: subject + verb + object.

3. The 是 (shì) Sentence

This is a sentence in which the main verb is (well, obviously) the verb “shi” (是), which is best translated as the verb “to be” or “is”.

The sentence structure goes like this: subject + 是 (shì) + object.

At beginner level, 是 (shì) is usually used to identify people or objects. The position of the subject and object cannot be reversed, so for example the following sentence is incorrect:

❌ 学生是你。(The literal translation would be: “Student you are”.)

The correct form of this sentence would be:

✔️ Play 你是学生 (nǐ shì xuéshēng): You are a student.

Here are some other examples:

4. The 有 (yǒu) Sentence

Another sentence structure common in Chinese is one where the main verb is 有 (yǒu). It means “to have” or “to possess”. For instance:

Notice how the last sentence (“I am sick”) is different from the rest. With 有, you can use nouns and adjectives as well.

The 有 sentence can also be used to express existence. In this case, it is similar to the expression “there is/there are” in the English language, when meaning that something “exists” at a certain place.

This can sometimes be confusing to learners of the Chinese language (but also to Chinese people learning English, who tend to literally translate such sentences into English). Let’s take the next sentence as an example:

👉 Play 我家有五口人 (wǒ jiā yǒu wǔ kǒu rén): There are five people in my family (literally: my family has five people).

In this example, the sentence would be translated with the “there is/there are” expression and not as “my family has five people”, since the verb 有 has a different meaning here.

Note: 有 is the equivalent of the English verb “to have”. The 有 verb does not, however, change in any way to indicate subject or tense.

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5. The 吗 (ma) Question

Asking a 吗 (ma) question is similar to asking a yes or no question in English.

To make a 吗 question, we simply add the particle 吗 at the end of the statement. This means that any statement can be turned into a question. Let’s look at a simple sentence, such as: “You like coffee.” (Who doesn’t?!)

❗ Play 你喜欢咖啡 (nǐ xǐhuān kāfēi): You like coffee.

We simply turn it into a question by adding the particle 吗 (ma) at the end of the sentence.

❓ Play 你喜欢咖啡吗? Nǐ xǐhuān kāfēi ma? Do you like coffee?

Some more examples:

For some more top tips on how to order a coffee, check out our blog.

But back to the grammar.

It is important to note that we cannot add the 吗 particle at the end of a sentence that is already a question. For example:

✔️ 你是谁? is already a question asking, “Who are you?”

❌ 你是谁吗？Nǐ shì shéi ma? Who are you “ma”? Doesn’t really make sense. It’s already a question without the “ma” particle.

To answer a 吗 (ma) question, one can give either an affirmative or negative answer.

In English, the word order and format of a “yes/no” question may change depending on a subject, tense and verb forms. But in Chinese, the form of the 吗 question never changes.

👉Pro tip – also, be careful with the use of the verbs 是 (shì) and 有 (yǒu), which we mentioned earlier.

Questions that contain the verb 是 (shì) should be answered with 是 (shì, affirmative) or 不是 (bú shì, negative). Those that contain 有 (yǒu) should be answered with 有 (yǒu, affirmative) or 没有 (méi yǒu, negative).

The question can also be affirmatively answered with 对 (duì).

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6. Expressing “and” with 和 (hé)

The character 和 (hé) is the most common way to express “and” in Chinese. But be careful! It is only used to link nouns. So don’t use it to link verse, adjectives or subordinate clauses.

The structure is the following: noun 1 + 和 (hé) + noun 2

7. Expressing Existence with 在 (zài)

The verb 在 (zài) can be used to express “existence in a place”. This is similar to English in which we use “to be at” or “to be in” to express the same.

The structure is the following: subject + 在 (zài) + place

Let’s look at the following examples.

What do we see in these examples? Although it can be tempting to use a verb here, there’s no need for it. In fact, using a verb here would be grammatically incorrect. Here, 在 functions as a verb, so there is no need for 是 (shì) or 有 (yǒu) or any other verb.

在 can also be used as a preposition or adverb.

8. Basic Negative Form of Verbs

In Chinese, there are basically two adverbs used for negation: 不 bù and 没(有) méi(yǒu). Both are placed before the verb in a sentence.

👉 Note that 是 (shì) cannot be negated with 没/有 (méi/yǒu), and 有 (yǒu) cannot be negated with 不 (bù).

不 (bù)

不 (bù) is used to negate an action done at the present:

It can also be used to negate an action in the future:

Or to negate a habitual action:

没有 (méiyǒu)

没 (méi) is used to negate 有 (yǒu) — 没有 (méiyǒu) — and means that one “does not have”. The negative form of 有 (yǒu) is always 没有 (méiyǒu), never 不有 (bùyǒu).

WANT MORE? We’ve prepared a more in depth post about negation in Mandarin here.

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9. Questions with Question Words?

First things first, let’s look at some of the most common question words in Chinese. Look closely at this list, it will come in handy often!

*Note: 哪里 (nǎ lǐ) is different from 那里 (nà lǐ).

Alone, 哪里 (nǎ lǐ) is a question — 哪里? Where? 我的笔在那里？Where is my pencil?

那里 (nà lǐ) is a statement saying something is there. Where is my pencil? 那里。There. 你的笔在那里。Your pencil is there.

Now, let’s talk about the most common structure of questions which use question words.

The question word is placed in relation to (meaning, in the position of) the word you’re asking about. Here are some of the most common sentence structures:

Question word + verb + (object)

Subject + verb + question word

Question word + subject + verb + (object)

Subject + verb + question word + (object)

As you can see, the sentence structure of a question is the same as a statement. The main difference is that a question has the addition of question words to make it a question. This is different from English, where questions and statements have very different sentence structures.

Keep the last section in mind! The particle 吗 (ma) cannot be used in questions with question words, because 吗 (ma) is a question word itself.

WANT MORE – We’ve prepared a more in depth post about all the key questions in Chinese here.

10. The 把 (bǎ) Sentence

The 把 (bǎ) sentence is a useful structure for making longer sentences. The focus of the 把 (bǎ) sentence is on the action and its object.

This is a really common sentence pattern in Chinese, but can (at least at first) feel a bit weird for English speakers.

A basic sentence in Chinese is formed with a subject-verb-object (SVO) word order, as in English:

Subject + [verb phrase] + object

In a 把 (bǎ) sentence, things are changed and the structure goes like this:

Subject + 把 (bǎ) + object + [verb phrase]

We can see now that the object has moved, it is preceded by the 把 (bǎ) and the word order is now in fact an SOV word order.

So, why use this sentence which is somewhat weird (well, at least weird for English speakers)?

Though you may think you’ll never need the 把 (bǎ) sentence, they’re quite convenient. Let’s look at the following example:

Play 把书放在桌子上 。

Bǎ shū fàngzài zhuōzi shàng. Put the book on the table.

How would you say this without the 把 (bǎ) construction? You might try this: Play 书放在桌子上 (Shū fàng zài zhuōzi shàng.)

While this sentence is grammatically correct, the meaning may change. 书放在桌子上 (without 把, bǎ) can mean the same thing, but it could also mean “The book is on the table”. It is the answer to two questions: (1) where should I put the book?, and (2) where is the book?

The 把 (bǎ) sentence is clearer. 把书放在桌子上 is a command; you are telling someone to put the book on the table. There is less room for confusion.

Here’s another example of a 把 (bǎ) sentence.

Play 她把我的手机放在她的包里了。

Tā bǎ wǒde shǒujī fàngzài tāde bāo lǐ le. She put my phone in her bag.

In the 把 (bǎ) sentence, we put emphasis on the object and what happens to it. This is something that is useful to remember if you don’t know when to use this sentence structure.

11. Expressing Experience with 过 (guò)

The particle 过 (guò) is used to express that an action has been experienced in the past. The basic structure is formed so that you just place it after the verb:

Subject + verb + 过. The particle “guo” can also take on an object.

The usual sentence structure with an object is the following: Subject + verb +过 (guò) + object.

This 过 (guò) expression is used to talk about if something has ever happened. In that respect it is similar to the present perfect tense in English and how it is used to express past experiences.

It is useful to think about how in English, you would say “I have been to London” or “I have travelled to Shanghai” to express past experience.

过 (guò) is used in the same manner in Chinese.

We form the negative sentence using 没 (méi) and the structure is the following: Subject + 没 (méi) + verb + 过 (guò) + object.

You can also use 没有 (méiyǒu) for emphasis.

Asking questions with 过 (guò)

A few of the example sentences above were questions, but you might like to see a couple more ways you can ask questions with 过 (guò).

The following sentences are the same question structured in different ways, all grammatically correct. They’re asking, “Have you been to Japan?”

This is a similar question: 你没去过日本？Nǐ méi qù guò Rìběn? You’ve never been to Japan?

Using 过 (guò) with 从来没有 (cónglái méiyǒu)

Since 过 (guò) is used to talk about experience in the past, it can be combined with 从来没有 (cónglái méiyǒu) to express something that has never happened.

Structure: Subject +从来没有 (cónglái méiyǒu) + verb + object

We hope you found this post useful! Let us know if you want us to cover any other topic, grammatical or not!

WANT MORE? We spent hours putting together these Free HSK Quizzes which are excellent are giving you a rough idea on your Chinese level. Come check them out.

BONUS – Free Quickfire Grammar Quiz

OK, so now you’ve got the basics nailed down it’s time to see how much you remember.

To help you we’ve prepared a quick quiz which is only 15 questions long.

Get your results instantly upon submission and see how well you did. Any questions, drop us a comment below!

We hope it’s useful

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Happy studying!

Basic Chinese Grammar — FAQ’s

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