You have to understand the basic Chinese grammars to become fluent in Chinese. If you are a beginner Chinese learner, I would recommend starting with something short and simple, like this!
1. Basic Sentence Structure
Just like English, the basic form of Chinese sentence structure is Subject + Verb + Object.
| Subject | Verb | Object |
| 我 | 是 | 學生。 |
| 我 | 是 | 学生。 |
| Wǒ | shì | xué shēng。 |
| I | am | a student. |
2. No Verb ‘To Be’. All You Need is「是」!
Unlike English, there is no verb ‘to be’ rules in Chinese. All personal pronouns, from ‘I’ to ‘it’, use 是 (shì) as the linking verb (Yes, 是 does not change form at all). Apart from being regarded as the verb ‘to be’ in Chinese, you will often find the word 是 in other contexts!
| Subject | Verb | Object |
| 我 | 是 | 學生。
学生。 xué shēng. a student. |
| 我 | 是 | |
| Wǒ | shì | |
| I | am | |
| 你/您 | 是 | |
| 你/您 | 是 | |
| Nǐ/nín | shì | |
| You | are | |
| 他/ 她/它 | 是 | |
| 他/ 她/它 | 是 | |
| Tā/tā/tā | shì | |
| He/She/It | is | |
| 我們 | 是
是 shì are |
學生。
学生。 xué shēng. students. |
| 我们 | ||
| Wǒ men | ||
| We | ||
| 你們 | ||
| 你们 | ||
| Nǐ men | ||
| You | ||
| 他們/她們/它們 | ||
| 他们/她们/它们 | ||
| Tā men/tā men/tā men | ||
| They |
Did you notice that there is no 您們 in Chinese？😉
3.「不」for the Opposite!
不 (bù), which means ‘no’ or ‘not’, is used to negate a verb. A kind reminder: 不 does not apply for all cases, there is another negative particle, 沒 (méi). 不 is placed before the verb, adjective, or preposition in a sentence.
| Subject | Negative Determiner | Verb | Object |
| 我 | 不 | 是 | 學生。 |
| 我 | 不 | 是 | 学生。 |
| Wǒ | bù | shì | xué shēng。 |
| I | am not | a student. | |
4. 「也」for Also/As Well/Too
Also/as well/too is expressed in Chinese as 也 (yě). As an adverb. 也 is written after the subject and before the verb. If there is a negative determiner, 也 is placed before the negative determiner.
| Subject | Also/As Well/Too | Verb | Object |
| 我 | 也 | 是 | 學生。 |
| 我 | 也 | 是 | 学生。 |
| Wǒ | yě | shì | xué shēng。 |
| I | am also | a student. | |
| Subject | Also/As Well/Too | Negative Determiner | Verb | Object |
| 我 | 也 | 不 | 是 | 學生。 |
| 我 | 也 | 不 | 是 | 学生。 |
| Wǒ | yě | bù | shì | xué shēng。 |
| I | am not a student as well. | |||
5. Asking Questions Using「嗎」
Finally, you can use the question word 嗎 (ma) to ask almost any yes-no questions! You can convert your statement into a question, simply by placing it at the end of the sentence.
| Subject | Verb | Object | Question Word |
| 你 | 是 | 學生 | 嗎? |
| 你 | 是 | 学生 | 吗？ |
| Nǐ | shì | xué shēng | ma? |
| Are you a student? | |||
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