Language/Mandarin-chinese/Vocabulary/How-to-build-a-sentence-in-Chinese

How to build a sentence in Chinese? Sentence structures

你好 Chinese Learners! 😃

➡ In today's lesson, we will study the different sentence structures in Chinese.

Here you will find a real summary of the main sentence constructions to master to speak Mandarin: affirmative or interrogative, positive or negative, simple or complex, etc.

We will also see the different word orders and the position of the object so that you no longer make classic syntax errors.

Translation of the word "sentence" in Mandarin

First, a little vocabulary point. The word “sentence” is “句子” (jùzi) in Chinese. And “sentence structure” translates to “句子结构” (ùzi jiégòu).

The sentence in Chinese: simple structures

Subject + verb

The simplest possible sentence structure in Chinese consists of linking the subject and the verb. The verb is invariable in Mandarin: it does not conjugate and does not agree in gender and number with the subject.

Examples

• 我要 (wǒ yào)。I want.
• 我吃 (wǒ chī)。I eat.

Please note: in Chinese, adjectives have the value of verbs. So do not put the verb to be (是 – shì) between the subject and the adjective.

Examples

• 我忙 (wǒ máng)。I'm busy. (We don't say 我是忙)
• 我累 (wǒ lèi)。I'm tired.

Subject + verb + object

Another very simple structure: subject + verb + object. As in English or French, the object is placed after the verb in Mandarin.

Examples

• 我吃米饭 (wǒ chī mǐfàn)。I eat rice.
• 我喜欢汉语 (wǒ xǐhuān hànyǔ)。I like Chinese.

If there are two objects, direct object and indirect object, the indirect object is placed in front of the direct object. As a reminder, the direct object answers the questions “who”, “what”, and the indirect objectanswers the questions “to whom”, “to what”, “from whom”, “from what”.

Example

• 我送给玛丽一个礼物 (wǒ sòng gěi mǎlì yīgè lǐwù)。I am giving Marie a present.

Note: If you need to count objects, you must use a classifier, also known as a "specifier". To learn more about this, I invite you to read Classifiers: The Complete Guide.

Subject + 是/有 + object

Sentences with the verb "to be" (是) are constructed as in French or English. Simply put, this verb is often used to identify people and objects.

Examples

• 我是老师 (wǒ shì lǎoshī)。I am a teacher.
• 这是一个苹果 (zhè shì yī gè píngguǒ)。It's an apple.

有 is the equivalent of the verb "to have". It is also placed between the subject and the object.

Example

• 我有一只猫 (wǒ yǒuyī zhǐ māo)。I have a cat.

Subject + adverb + verb + object

Most adverbs come before the verb. In some cases, they can also be placed at the beginning of a sentence.

Examples

• 我常常去看电影 (wǒ chángcháng qù kàn diànyǐng)。I often go to watch movies
• 中国人都喝茶 (zhōngguó rén dōu hē chá)。The Chinese all drink tea.
• 我从不抽烟 (wǒ cóng bù chōuyān)。I never smoke.

The place of the adjective

In Mandarin, the ajective is always placed in front of the noun.

• 很好的书 (hěn hǎo de shū)。A very good book.
• 可爱的孩子 (kě’ài de háizi)。A cute child.

Interrogative Sentence Construction

The question with the 吗

The 吗 particle is used to ask questions whose answer is “yes” or “no”. It is placed at the end of an affirmative sentence.

Example

• 他是法国人 (tā shì fàguó rén)。He is French.

➡ 他是法国人吗 (tā shì fàguó rén ma)？Is it French?

• 你在学习 (nǐ zài xuéxí)。You are studying.

➡ 你在学习吗 (nǐ zài xuéxí ma)? Are you studying?

To form a question in 吗, there is no verb inversion or complicated turn of phrase! Easy, isn't it? 👍😀

The place of the interrogative word

Interrogative words like "who", "why" or "when" go in the same place as the answer.

Example

• Who are you ?你是谁？ (Nǐ shì shei?)

➡ I am Mary.我是玛丽。 (Wǒ shì mǎlì.)

• What did you eat last night?你昨晚吃了什么？ (Nǐ zuó wǎn chīle shénme?)

➡ I ate rice.我吃了米饭。(Wǒ chīle mǐfàn.)

• Where do you study ?他在哪里学习？ (Tā zài nǎlǐ xuéxí?)

➡ I am studying in China.我在中国学习。(Wǒ zài zhōngguó xuéxí.)

Here are the interrogative words to know to ask a question in Mandarin:

• 谁 (shei): who?
• 什么 (shén me): what?
• 哪里 (nǎ lǐ): where?
• 哪个 (nǎ gè): which one?
• 什么时候 (shén me shí hou): when?
• 为什么 (wèi shén me): why?
• 怎么 (zěn me): how?
• 多少 (duō shǎo): how much?

The negative sentence in Chinese

The negative with adjectives

To put an adjectival sentence in the negative, just add 不 before the adjective.

• 今天天气不好 (jīntiān tiānqì bù hǎo)。Today the weather is not good.
• 我不累 (wǒ bù lèi)。I'm not tired.
• 这只猫不可爱 (zhè zhǐ māo bù kě’ài)。This cat is not cute.

The negative with a verb in the present or the future

The 不 can also be placed before a verb in the present tense to say that the action is not happening or that it is wrong.

• 今天不上班 (jīntiān bù shàngbān)! I do not work today.
• 我不喜欢看书 (wǒ bù xǐhuān kànshū)。I don't like to read.
• 明天不上课 (míngtiān bù shàngkè)! I don't have class tomorrow.

The negative with a past tense verb

To negative verbs in the past tense, we use the adverb 没.

• 他昨天没来 (tā zuótiān méi lái)。He didn't come yesterday.
• 你去年没去中国 (nǐ qùnián méi qù zhōngguó)。Last year, you did not go to China.

The negative with the verbs “to be” and “to have”

When a sentence in Chinese includes the verb “to be” (是) in Chinese, you must always use 不 to do the negation. And for sentences with "to have" (有) you must always use 没.

• 他不是老师 (tā bùshì lǎoshī)。He is not a teacher.
• 他没有中国朋友 (tā méiyǒu zhòng guó péngyǒu)。He has no Chinese friends.

The place of complements of place and time

In Mandarin, the complements of place and time are placed before the action verb. They can also be placed at the beginning of a sentence if you want to emphasize this information. On the other hand, they are NEVER placed after the verb.

• 我在中国学习 (wǒ zài zhōngguó xuéxí)。I study in China.
• 我今天上班 (wǒ jīntiān shàngbān)。I work today.
• 他明天要来 (tā míngtiān yào lái)。He will come tomorrow.
• 今天，我不学中文 (jīntiān, wǒ bù xué zhōngwén)。Today, I am not studying Chinese.

Complex Sentence Structures

The sentence with 把

The 把 sentence structure is widely used in Chinese.

But it can be difficult for French speakers to understand, because it has no equivalent translation.

Simply put, the 把 highlights the object and what happened to it. With this structure, the object (preceded by 把) is placed before the verb. Let's see an example:

• 我把书放在桌子上 (wǒ bǎ shū fàng zài zhuōzi shàng)。

This sentence means: "I put the book on the table."

If we simply said: 书放在桌子上, it would mean "the book is on the table". We would not have the notion of “taking it and moving it” to put it on the table.

The sentence with 给

The first use of the word 给 is "to give", as in the Chinese phrase 我给你礼物 (I give you gifts).

However, 给 can also express doing something for someone. In this case, it is placed before the action verb.

Examples

• 他给我打电话 (tā gěi wǒ dǎ diànhuà)。She called me.
• 我给孩子讲一个故事 (wǒ gěi háizi jiǎng yīgè gùshì)。I tell a story to children.

The coordinated phrase

To coordinate two elements with an "and", you have the choice between "也" and "和".

The 也 is used to coordinate two verbs, and the 和 for two nouns.

Examples

• 我有一只猫和两只狗 (wǒ yǒuyī zhǐ māo hé liǎng zhī gǒu)。I have a cat and two dogs.
• 我喜欢学汉语，也喜欢学英语 (wǒ xǐhuān xué hànyǔ, yě xǐhuān xué yīngyǔ)。I like to learn Chinese, I also like to learn English.

To oppose a fact to the previous one, you can use 可是, which means "but".

• 我很想和你一起去，可是我有工作要做 (Wǒ hěn xiǎng hé nǐ yīqǐ quù, kěshì wǒ yǒu gōngzuò yào zuò)。

➡ I would like to go with you, but I have to work.

As you can see, the word order is the same as in English with the coordinates.

The cause and effect structure 因为…所以…

Do you want to express a cause and effect link between two ideas? Use the structure 因为…所以…

The cause comes before the consequence in Chinese.

Example

• 因为他是我的朋友，所以我参加她的派对 (yīnwèi tā shì wǒ from péngyǒu, suǒyǐ wǒ cānjiā tā from pàiduì)。

➡ I participate in this party, because he is my friend.

Building 如果…就…

如果…就… is a formula that is used in the same way as “if…, then…” in French.

Example

• 如果你不会游泳，下水就很危险 (rúguǒ nǐ bù huì yóuyǒng, xiàshuǐ jiù hěn wéixiǎn)。

If you can't swim, then going into the water is dangerous.

The expression of the degree with 得

If you want to express the degree, you will have to use the 得 structure. In the first part of your sentence, you must say what the person "does", and in the second you say how he does it. Let's take an example to make it clearer!

Examples

• 她唱得好 (tā chàng dé hǎo)。She sings well.
• 他们跑得快 (tāmen pǎo dé kuài)。They run fast.

Attention: if there is an object in the sentence, you must repeat the verb before the 得.

• 她说中文说得很流利 (tā shuō zhōngwén shuō dé hěn liúlì)。She is fluent in Chinese.

Sources

• https://chinoistips.com/phrase-en-chinois/