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!
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. |
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?😉
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. |
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. |
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? |
Start learning Chinese with us today! Join us at LingoCards!
When you travel other countries or live abroad, you will communicate with local people and…
"Of course." is a practical phrase in many situations. When people ask you to do…
People may say "Sorry." when they cause problem to you. They may hit you accidentally…
When people ask you something and you have no idea for that, you can say…
During traveling abroad, it's often not easy to communicate with people because you don't know…
Learning how to say "Please." in local language will be very useful during your trip.…