Key Chinese grammar structure: modifier

+ de + noun (的)
This grammar structure is one of the most basic and important features of Chinese grammar:

modifier + 的 + noun

This comes up all the time in all sorts of sentences in Chinese. It follows the general rule that what
precedes modifies what follows - first the modifier, then 的 (de) to link them, and then the noun.

Noun + 的 + noun
This may be the most basic grammar structure with 的. By placing 的 between two nouns, you can
indicate possession. That is, the second noun belongs to the first. Some examples:

你的衣服
nǐ de yīfú

your clothes

小李的朋友
Xiǎo Lǐ de péngyǒu

Xiao Li's friend

他们的钱
tāmen de qián

their money

You can think of 的 as being similar to ’s (apostrophe s) in English. It marks possession in the same
way and appears between the two nouns. More example of 的 behaving like ’s:

小王的房子
Xiǎo Wáng de fángzi

Xiao Wang's house

赵先生的自行车
Zhào Xiānshēng de zìxíngchē

Mr Zhao's bike

老张的猫
Lǎo Zhāng de māo

Old Zhang's cat

And now some full example sentences with 的 showing possession between two nouns:

这是你的吗？
Zhè shì nǐ de ma?

Is this yours?

那是他们的。
Nà shì tāmen de.

It's theirs.

我喜欢你的帽子。
Wǒ xǐhuan nǐ de màozi.

I like your hat.

This noun + 的 + noun structure is one of the most basic grammar structures in Chinese. It should
be one of the first structures that learners get familiar with.

Adjective + 的 + noun
As well as marking actual possession between two nouns, 的 is also used to modify things more
generally. What it actually does is attach attributes to things.

One way 的 can attach attributes to things is by appearing between an adjective and a noun. This
simply links the adjective to the noun to describe it. Some examples:

红色的衣服
hóngsè de yīfu

red clothes

好吃的菜
hǎochī de cài

tasty food

漂亮的花
piàoliang de huā

beautiful flowers

You could think of this as literally saying e.g. “red’s clothes” or “clothes that belong to red”. This is
the standard way of linking adjectives to nouns in Chinese grammar.

Some full example sentences for this adjective + 的 + noun grammar structure:

我喜欢很辣的菜。
Wǒ xǐhuan hěn là de cài.

I like spicy food.

她是个很无聊的人。
Tā shì ge hěn wúliáo de rén.

She is a very boring person.

这是一种很浓的咖啡。
Zhè shì yìzhǒng hěn nóng de kāfēi.

This is a very strong kind of coffee.

By now you can see that 的 is a very versatile linking word in Chinese. It appears all over the place,
and is generally considered the most commonly used Chinese character.

clause + 的 + noun
Finally, we’ll have a look at a slightly more complicated 的 grammar structure. Because 的 can be
used to attach pretty much anything to anything else, you can use it to link entire phrases to
things. The phrase then becomes a description or quality.

This sounds complicated but it will probably become clearer with some examples:

我买的茶
wǒ mǎi de chá

the tea I bought

他喜欢的那个女孩
Tā xǐhuan de nàge nǚhái

that girl he likes

你最喜欢的颜色
nǐ zuì xǐhuan de yánsè
your favourite colour (the colour you like the most)

In those examples, rather than a noun or an adjective, we have a phrase (e.g. 我买 - “I buy”). The
phrase is linked to a noun using 的, and becomes a description or attribute of the noun.

Some more examples of this modifying clause / phrase with 的:

他弄丢的东西
tā nòng diū de dōngxi

the thing he lost

我不认识的一个人
wǒ bù rènshi de yīge rén

someone that I don't know

我们第一次见到彼此的地方
wǒmen dì yī cì jiàn dào bǐcǐ dì dìfāng

the place where we first met

昨天跟我一块儿吃饭的那个人
zuótiān gēn wǒ yīkuàir chīfàn dì nàge rén

the person with whom I ate yesterday

Notice how you can attach quite complicated things to a noun using 的. That whole complex
phrase just becomes an attribute of the noun. Have a look at some full example sentences for this
structure:

他们买的自行车很便宜。
Tāmen mǎi de zìxíngchē hěn piányi.

The bike they bought is very cheap.

这是我看过最好看的书。
Zhè shì wǒ kànguò zuì hǎo kàn de shū.

This is the best book I've ever read.

你是第一个这样做的人。
Nǐ shì dì yī gè zhèyàng zuò de rén.

You are the first person to do it this way.

10 basic Chinese grammar points for

beginners
Here are ten basic Chinese grammar points that everyone interested in the language should know.
If you’ve recently started learning Chinese, it’s a good idea to make sure you’re familiar with these
points.

The grammar points listed here might make a nice refresher if you’ve already got a few Chinese
lessons under your belt. Once you’ve been studying for a while, they’ll probably seem very
obvious!

Basic Chinese Grammar 101

Talk about locations with 在 (zài)

To talk about things being in places, use the word 在 (zài). This is actually a verb, so you don’t
need to use any other words to talk about something being somewhere.

The structure is:

[something] 在 [place]

Have a look at some example:

我在这里。
Wǒ zài zhèlǐ.

I am here.

你在那里。
Nǐ zài nàlǐ.

You are there.

上海在中国。
Shànghǎi zài Zhōngguó.

Shanghai is in China.

猫在沙发上。
Māo zài shāfā shàng.

The cat is on the sofa.

Notice how English uses the verb “to be” where Chinese uses 在. English also uses prepositions -
“to be in” - whereas Chinese often just uses 在.

Use measure words with nouns

Measure words are used whenever you talk about quantities in Chinese. You can’t attach
numbers directly to nouns - you have to put a measure word in between.

There are different measure words for different categories of things. For example, the measure
word for books is 本 (běn), whilst the measure word for flat things is 张 (zhāng).
Luckily, there is also a general purpose measure word: 个 (ge). This can be used for pretty much
everything, but it’s better to use more specific measure words when you can.

Talk about having things with 有 (yǒu)

You can talk about having things with the word 有 (yǒu) - “to have”. Remember that you don’t
need to conjugate (change) verbs in Chinese, so 有 is always 有 no matter whom you’re talking
about.

The structure is simply:

[subject] 有 [object]

Let’s have a look at some example sentences. Notice that the nouns in the sentences
have measure words before them: 个 (ge), 本 (běn) and 把 (bǎ).

我有一个妹妹。
Wǒ yǒu yī gè mèimei.

I have a younger sister.

我有一本书。
Wǒ yǒu yī běn shū.

I have a book.

他有一把枪！
Tā yǒu yī bǎ qiāng!

He has a gun!

Hopefully you won’t ever have to use the last example sentence there.

是 (shì) is not exactly the same as “to be”

The closest equivalent of the English word “to be” in Chinese is 是 (shì). This is used to link nouns
to other nouns. The structure is:

[noun] 是 [noun]
Let’s have a look at some examples:

我是学生。
Wǒ shì xuéshēng.

I am a student.

他是老师。
Tā shì lǎoshī.

He is a teacher.

她是医生。
Tā shì yīshēng.

She is a doctor.

这是书。
Zhè shì shū.

This is a book.

Notice how 是 is used to talk about one noun being another. You can’t use 是 to link adjectives to
nouns, though, as in “this book is heavy”. To do that, you have to use 很 (hěn).

The basic structure for 很 (hěn) is the same as for 是, but 很 is used with adjectives. Have a look at
some example sentences:

这本书很重。
Zhè běn shū hěn zhòng.

This book is heavy.

她很高。
Tā hěn gāo.

She is tall.

我们很高兴。
Wǒmen hěn gāoxìng.

We are happy.
Sometimes 很 is translated as “very”, but opinions vary on how accurate this is. We think it’s
simply used to link adjectives to nouns, whilst others think it also intensifies the adjectives.

Talk about wanting things with 要 (yào)

You can talk about directly wanting something with the word 要 (yào). This word is also used to
talk about the future, as in “I’m going to do” something.

要 is quite versatile and can be used with nouns or verbs:

[subject] 要 [noun]

or

[subject] 要 [action]

Have a look at some examples:

我要一个三明治。
Wǒ yào yīgè sānmíngzhì.

I want a sandwich.

我要吃三明治。
Wǒ yào chī sānmíngzhì.

I'm going to eat a sandwich / I want to eat a sandwich.

她要去北京。
Tā yào qù Běijīng.

She's going to go to Beijing.

我们要走了。
Wǒmen yào zǒu le.

We're going to leave.

Be careful when using 要 to mean “to want”, as it could be quite abrupt, just as in English.
Negate 有 (yǒu) with 没 (méi)

To talk about “not having” something, you negate the word 有 (yǒu) with 没 (méi). Remember
this important point: if you negate 有, always use 没. The two words go together.

Examples:

我没有车。
Wǒ méiyǒu chē.

I don't have a car.

他们没有钱。
Tāmen méiyǒu qián.

They don't have money.

他没有学位。
Tā méiyǒu xuéwèi.

He doesn't have a degree.

That’s how you negate 有. But there’s a different word for everything else!

Negate everything else with 不 (bù)

Every other verb apart from 有 is negated with 不 (bù). 不 is pretty much equivalent to “not” or
“don’t” in English. It goes before a verb and negates it.

Some examples:

我不喜欢啤酒。
Wǒ bù xǐhuan píjiǔ.

I don't like beer.

我不要去纽约。
Wǒ búyào qù Niǔyuē.

I'm not going to New York.

我不想念他们。
Wǒ bù xiǎngniàn tāmen.

I don't miss them.

Remember to negate 有 with 没, and everything else with 不.

Mark possession with 的 (de)

The most common character in Chinese is 的 (de). That’s because 的 is used all the time to
mark possession. That means that it’s used to talk about things belonging to other things, or to
attach qualities to things.

的 is extremely versatile in Chinese. Pretty much any relationship where one thing belongs to
another, or is the property of another, can be described with 的.

的 is kind of equivalent to ’s (apostrophe s) in English. It goes between two things to indicate

possession. But it’s used very widely to attach any kind of quality or possession.

Some examples:

这是你的。
Zhè shì nǐde.

This is yours.

那是小李的书。
Nà shì Xiǎo Lǐ de shū.

That is Xiao Li's book.

这是我的电话号码。
Zhè shì wǒde diànhuà hàomǎ.

This is my phone number.

这是他们的房子。
Zhè shì tāmende fángzi.

This is their house.

这条裤子是黑色的。
Zhè tiáo kùzi shì hēisè de.

These trousers are black.

她是一个很重要的人。
Tā shì yīgè hěn zhòngyào de rén.

She is a very important person.

You might want to have a look at a more challenging example sentence for 的. Don’t worry if this
is beyond your ability at the moment, though:

我今天学的东西很有意思。
Wǒ jīntiān xué de dōngxi hěn yǒuyìsi.

The things I have learnt today are very interesting.

The main point to remember is that 的 can attach pretty much anything to anything else. You’ll
get more used to it the more you read and listen to Chinese.

Link nouns with 和 (hé)

The most common way to express “and” in Chinese is probably 和 (hé). Remember, though, that
和 can only be used to link nouns. You can’t link verbs together with 和.

和 is used to link nouns in the same way “and” is used in English. Some examples:

我和我哥哥要去北京。
Wǒ hé wǒ gēgē yào qù Běijīng.

My brother and I are going to Beijing.

我喜欢米饭和面条。
Wǒ xǐhuan mǐfàn hé miàntiáo.

I like rice and noodles.

我和你一样。
Wǒ hé nǐ yīyàng.
You and I are the same.

Link nouns with 和 but not verbs. Linking verbs in Chinese is a bit more complicated so we won’t
look at it here.

Ask yes/no questions with 吗 (ma)

Finally, use 吗 (ma) to ask yes / no questions in Chinese. These questions are also known as polar
questions or binary questions. You can turn any statement into a yes / no question simply by
putting 吗 at the end.

Some examples:

你喜欢他吗？
Nǐ xǐhuan tā ma?

Do you like him?

这是你的吗？
Zhè shì nǐde ma?

Is this yours?

你要去上海吗？
Nǐ yào qù Shànghǎi ma?

Are you going to go to Shanghai?

Chinese grammar rules: 5 general rules

for Chinese grammar
Whilst it’s important to learn grammar in detail in small chunks, it can be very useful to get
familiar with some general Chinese grammar rules. These aren’t specific grammatical structures,
but general facts about the Chinese language that apply in most cases. They can help you get a
feel for Mandarin Chinese and how it works.

Chinese grammar rule #1: What precedes modifies what follows

This rule sounds a little bit complicated when you first see it, but it’s actually quite straightforward.
It simply means that modifiers come before the thing they modify. The Chinese language, right
through from the written classical language to the modern spoken vernacular, has always had this
rule.

Let’s look at some simple examples to demonstrate this rule.

他不喜欢 贵的 东西。
Tā bù xǐhuan guì de dōngxi.
He doesn't like expensive things.

我哥哥 慢慢地 开车。

Wǒ gēgē mànmande kāichē.
My brother drives slowly .

她能喝 很多 啤酒。
Tā néng hē hěnduō píjiǔ.

She can drink a lot of beer.

As you can see in each of the Chinese sentences, the modifier (colored red) comes before the
thing it modifies. 贵的 (expensive) comes before 东西 (things), 慢慢地 (slowly) comes before 开
车 (drive) and 很多 (a lot of) comes before 啤酒 (beer). Notice how the position of the modifier
varies in the English sentences.

Knowing about this ‘modifiers first’ rule in Chinese grammar can be very helpful in the early stages
of your Chinese studies. It lets you follow the structure of sentences more quickly because you
can identify modifiers (adjectives and adverbs) and the things they’re modifying (nouns and verbs)
more easily.

It also lets you form sentences with more confidence because you know that adjectives should be
placed before the nouns they modify, and adverbs should be placed before the verbs they modify.

Rule #2: Words do not change

Unlike in European languages, words in Chinese do not change. They have a fixed form that is the
same no matter what they’re used for or where the appear in a sentence. In Chinese, you don’t
conjugate verbs and you don’t make adjectives agree. According to Chinese grammar rules, a
word is a word.

Have a look at these examples that illustrate this point:

她去工作。
Tā qù gōngzuò.

She goes to work.

我去工作。
Wǒ qù gōngzuò.
I go to work.

他们去工作。
Tāmen qù gōngzuò.
They go to work.

我们去工作。
Wǒmen qù gōngzuò.
We go to work.

These simple sentences show that verbs do not change in Chinese, whereas they do in English.
The verb 去 (qù) is the same in every sentence and doesn’t change. These sentences would be
even more varied in a language like French, but in Chinese the verb is the same every time.

It’s not just verbs that never change according to Chinese grammar rules. Adjectives are also fixed
in their form and are the same no matter what noun they modify. Let’s see some examples:

这是一辆 黑色的 车。
Zhè shì yī liàng hēisède jū.
This is a black car.

我看到了一些 黑色的 猫。
Wǒ kàn dàole yīxiē hēisède māo.
I saw some black cats.

这是一件 黑色的 衬衫。

Zhè shì yī jiàn hēisède chènshān.
This is a black shirt.

The adjective in these sentences, 黑色的 (hēisède) , is the same for each of the items. There is no
gender or grammatical number in Chinese grammar rules.

Rule #3: Chinese is topic-prominent

This is a rule that English-speakers often find hard to get used to. Chinese is topic prominent. This
means that it puts the thing the sentence is about first. English is subject prominent, which means
that it puts the doer of an action (the subject) in a sentence first.

If you haven’t studied grammar before, you might not be familiar with these terms. The subject in
a sentence is the thing that performs the action of the verb. The subject of the following
sentences is colored red:

He likes cheese.

You are awesome.

New York is exciting.

We eat rice.

English and other European languages usually prefer to put the subject first, as you can see in the
sentences above. But Chinese and other East Asian languages often prefer to put the topic of the
sentence first.

The topic of a sentence isn’t as clear as the subject. The topic is not a grammatical role, but the
thing that the sentence is about. It’s the main point of the sentence. It’s also called the theme of
the sentence for this reason.

I've finished my work .

In this sentence the subject is “I”, but that’s not really what the sentence is about. The sentence is
not about the speaker, it’s about the work. So the topic of this sentence is “the work”.
Because Chinese is topic-prominent, it’s often possible and very natural to put the topic first in a
sentence rather than the subject. It is also possible in English, but it sounds much less natural, as
you can see in the following examples:

红酒我不太喜欢。
Hóngjiǔ wǒ bù tài xǐhuan.

Red wine, I don't really like.

法国我没去过。
Fàguó wǒ méi qùguò.

France, I haven't been to.

一支笔有吗？
Yī zhī bǐ yǒu ma?

A pen - got one?

The sentences above are perfectly permissible according to Chinese grammar rules, but quite odd
in English. Note that you could also form the Chinese sentences with the subject first and they
would be just as grammatical.

Also notice that the last sentence doesn’t include the subject (you) at all. This is possible because
Chinese grammar is primarily interested in the topic (a pen) and not the subject.

Rule #4: Aspect, not tense

Another big difference between European languages and Chinese is aspect and tense. European
languages usually indicate both of these things in a sentence, whereas Chinese tends to only
indicates aspect.

Again, you might not be aware of what these terms mean. Tense is about when an action took
place relative to now, when we’re speaking. Aspect is about the completeness of an action
relative to when it took place. Have a look at these two sentences in English to see the difference:

I will set off to Beijing.

I will have set off to Beijing.

Both of these sentences are in the future tense. But the aspect is different, because the
completeness of the action (setting off to Beijing) is different in the time frame of each sentence.
The speaker hasn’t yet set off to Beijing in either sentence. In the time frame they’re speaking
about in the second sentence, though, they will have. So the aspect is different (the action is
complete in that time frame).

How Chinese marks for aspect is difficult and quite complex. It revolves around a few particles,
most importantly 了 (le), but we won’t go into details of that here. The lesson here is to bear in
mind that Chinese doesn’t mark for tense, but it does mark for aspect. This will take some getting
used to, but you will get there eventually!

Rule #5: Chinese is logical

Finally, we come to the most general rule about Chinese grammar. One of the joys of studying
Chinese is that on the whole it’s a very logical, consistent language. This is very true in Chinese
vocabulary, as you can usually see very clearly the logic behind most words. It’s also true in
Chinese grammar rules, which tend to be consistent and reusable once you’ve learned them.

One example of this is that Chinese tends to only indicate things once in a sentence. For example,
if the time has already been made clear, it doesn’t need to be indicated again. Similarly, the
number of a noun only needs to indicated once in most cases. More of these examples crop up as
you get further into the language. Try to bear this point in mind and you will often find that you
can guess how to say new things with some accuracy.

That rounds up this short list of Chinese grammar rules, which aims to give a very generalized feel
for how the language works. If you’d like to get into further, have a browse around this site!

How to use the particles 吗 (ma) and 呢

(ne) in Chinese grammar
The particles 呢 (ne) and 吗 (ma) are extremely common in Chinese. This article explains the two
particles for beginners.

呢 and 吗 are similar in the following ways:

 Both go at the end of a sentence.

  Both of them can form questions.
 Both of them are pronounced in neutral tone.

But these two particles have different uses:

 吗 is used to turn statements into yes-no questions.

 呢 is mostly used to turn statements into queries (amongst other things).

Now let’s look at the two particles in detail.

吗 (ma)
As mentioned above, 吗 is a question particle that is used to turn statements into yes-no
questions. What exactly does that mean? A yes-no question is also known as a “binary question”
or a “polar question”. This simply means that it’s a question that can only be answered with “yes”
or “no”. In other words, it’s not an open question.

The question particle 吗 is the easiest way to form this kind of question in Mandarin Chinese. All
you do is put it on the end of a plain statement, and the statement becomes a yes-no question.
Have a look at some examples:

你是李先生吗？
Nǐ shì Lǐ Xiānshēng ma?
Are you Mr Li?

你会中文吗？
Nǐ huì Zhōngwén ma?
Do you speak Chinese?

这里有洗手间吗？
Zhèli yǒu xǐshǒujiān ma?
Is there a toilet here?

Those would all be valid sentences without 吗. They would just be plain statements:

你是李先生。
Nǐ shì Lǐ Xiānshēng.
You are Mr Li.

你会中文。
Nǐ huì Zhōngwén.
You speak Chinese.

这里有洗手间。
Zhèli yǒu xǐshǒujiān.
There is a toilet here.

Compare the two sets of sentences. You can see that when 吗 is added on the end, they become
yes-no questions. All of those questions can only be answered with agreement or disagreement.
That’s what 吗 is for.

In this way, 吗 is almost like a question mark that you say out loud. It goes on the end of the
sentence and indicates that it’s a question. Have a look at some point statements being changed
into yes-no questions with 吗:

这是你的。
Zhè shì nǐ de.
This is yours.

这是你的吗？
Zhè shì nǐ de ma?
Is this yours?

他是泰国人。
Tā shì Tàiguórén.
He's from Thailand.

他是泰国人吗？
Tā shì Tàiguórén ma?
Is he from Thailand?
那是飞机。
Nà shì fēijī.
That's a plane.

那是飞机吗？
Nà shì fēijī ma?
Is that a plane?

Notice how in English you have to re-arrange the word order of the sentence to form these
questions. In Chinese, all you have to do is add 吗 on the end.

呢 (ne)
The particle 呢 has more uses than 吗, but we’ll look at the most important one here:
forming queries, or asking bounce-back questions.

The most common use for 呢 is probably to form simple queries. All you do is put 呢 after the
thing you want to query. This is often equivalent to saying “and … ?“, “what about … ?” or “how
about … ?” in English. Some examples:

你呢？
Nǐ ne?
And you?

我呢？
Wǒ ne?
What about me?

这些东西呢？
Zhèxiē dōngxi ne?
What about these things?

As you can see, it’s very easy to query things in Chinese using 呢. Just say the thing you’d like to
know about, and put 呢 right after it. This is very commonly used to ask ‘bounce-back questions’
in Chinese. This is when someone asks you a question, and you return the question to them after
answering it. This is commonly done by simply asking “你呢？”.

There are a few other uses for 呢 in Chinese grammar, but we won’t go into detail about those in
this article.

Comparing 吗 and 呢
As you can see above, these two particles are fairly similar. But what are the important
differences? Let’s have a look at a few here.

The first difference is that 吗 is only for yes-no questions, whereas 呢 cannot be used in yes-no
questions. 吗 always forms these questions, whereas when 呢 is used to form queries, they are
open-ended.

The second difference is that 呢 can combine with question words to emphasize a query. 吗 can’t
be doubled-up with other question words; it marks questions on its own. For example, 呢 is being
used to add a further querying element to these questions:

你为什么不去呢？
Nǐ wèishénme bù qù ne?
Why aren't you going?

他有什么不喜欢吃的呢？
Tā yǒu shénme bù xǐhuan chī de ne?
What is there that he doesn't like to eat?

Those would both be grammatically valid questions without 呢, but by adding 呢 the speaker
makes it clear that they don’t just want an answer to the question - they’requestioning the
situation or even criticising it. They’ve added a further query to it.

吗, on the other hand, can’t combine directly with other question words in a statement. If there’s
already a question word, it fills up the question “slot”, and there’s no more space for 吗.

The only way 吗 can appear with other question words in the same sentence is if it’s used to ask a
yes-no question about a condition. That sounds complicated, but this example might make it
clearer:
你知道他为什么不吃肉吗？
Nǐ zhīdào tā wèishéme bù chī ròu ma?
Do you know why he doesn't eat meat?

吗 is appearing with another question word (为什么) in that sentence, but it’s not actually part of
that question. There are two questions in the sentence here: an innerquestion about why the
person doesn’t eat meat, and an outer question about whether the listener knows the answer to
the inner question:

你知道吗？
Nǐ zhīdào ma?
Do you know?

他为什么不吃肉？
Tā wèishénme bù chī ròu?
Why doesn't he eat meat?

吗 really only applies to the outer question, so it doesn’t clash with the question word in the inner
one. Other than that kind of situation, 吗 can’t appear directly together with other question
words.

The sentence particles 吧 (ba) and 吗

(ma) in Chinese grammar
吧 (ma) and 吗 (ma) are two of the most common sentence particles in Chinese grammar. (A
sentence particle just means a particle that goes on the end of a sentence.)

They have some similarity in that both can be used to ask questions, but they are quite distinct in
their uses. Learn how to use both of these sentence particles correctly with the guide below.

As always, if you have any questions or suggestions, please share them in them comments at the
end of the page.

How to use the 吧 (ba) sentence particle

Once you’ve been learning Mandarin for a while, you’ll probably start to notice that the particle
吧 (ba) crops up all over the place. It’s extremely common in everyday speech. 吧 has two main
uses, which we will cover here.

吧 makes instructions less direct

The first is to mark and soften commands, requests and suggestions. Remember that 吧 doesn’t
just indicate that something is a command or suggestion - it also makes it sound a little bit softer.
This use of the 吧 sentence particle can turn a slightly pushy instruction into a more neutral one.

Let’s have a look at some example sentences for this use of 吧:

咱们走吧。
Zánmen zǒu ba.

Let's go.

我帮你吧。
Wǒ bāng nǐ ba.

Let me help you.

快点吧！
Kuài diǎn ba!

Hurry up!

你来吧。
Nǐ lái ba.

Why don't you do it?

给我点儿纸吧。
Gěi wǒ diǎn er zhǐ ba.

Can you give me some paper?

Notice how English has a few different ways of making these sorts of requests and suggestions
less direct. In Chinese, 吧 can be used in all of these situations. Also remember that all of the
above sentences would still work without 吧, they would just be more direct.
吧 asks for agreement or confirmation

The second main use of 吧 is as a tag question to ask for agreement or confirmation with what is
being said. These aren’t ‘true’ questions - they’re just prompting the listener to agree. The
speaker thinks that what they are saying is probably true, but they’d like to confirm it.

Let’s have a look at some example sentences for this use of 吧:

他姓王，对吧？
Tā xìng wáng, duì ba?

His surname is Wang, isn't it?

你们很饿吧？
Nǐmen hěn è ba?

You must be hungry!

不错吧？
Bùcuò ba?

Pretty good, right?

不对吧？
Bùduì ba?

That's not right, is it?

You might be able to see the similarity between both uses of the sentence particle 吧. They’re
both used in situations where the speaker doesn’t want to be too certain or direct in what they’re
saying.

How to use the 吗 (ma) sentence particle

Most students of Chinese grammar find that the sentence particle 吗 (ma) is a little bit easier to
understand. It is placed on the end of a sentence to turn it into a yes-no question. This type of
question is also known as a polar question or binary question. It simply means that the question
can only be answered with “yes” or “no” (rather than an open-ended response).

Here are some quick example sentences for the 吗 sentence particle:
你饿吗？
Nǐ è ma?

Are you hungry?

吃饭了吗？
Chīfànle ma?

Have you eaten?

你要去上海吗？
Nǐ yào qù Shànghǎi ma?

Are you going to go to Shanghai?

你看过这部电影吗？
Nǐ kànguò zhè bù diànyǐng ma?

Have you seen this film before?

As you can see above, 吗 is fairly easy to use as a sentence particle. You simply place it after a
statement and it turns it into a yes-no question.

The difference between 吧 and 吗

As you saw above, 吧 and 吗 are similar in some ways but definitely not the same. 吧 is for
softening commands, requests, questions and suggestions. 吗 is simply for turning statements
into yes-no questions.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please share them in the comments below (bonus points
if you use 吧 or 吗 in your question or suggestion!)

Level A2
With A2 level Chinese, you're able to:
 1. Understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate
relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography,
employment).
2. Communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of
information on familiar and routine matters.
3. Describe in simple terms aspects of your background, immediate environment and matters
in areas of immediate need.

Essential A2 articles
1. 以前 (yǐqián) and 以后 (yǐhòu) in Chinese grammar: before and after, past and future
2. 过 (guò) in Chinese grammar: past experiences, past actions
3. 除了…以外 (chúle…yǐwài) in Chinese grammar: apart from, except, in addition
4. Chinese grammar: verb + 出来 (chūlái) construction
5. Chinese grammar de hua (的话): expressing "if" in Chinese with de hua
6. Chinese le grammar summary (了)

Important A2 articles
1. Five uses of 要 (yào) in Chinese grammar
2. The 要是…就 (yàoshi…jiù) construction in Chinese grammar
3. When should you put 的 (de) after adjectives in Chinese grammar?
4. Past events in Mandarin Chinese grammar (there's no past tense!)
5. The 一 ... 就 pattern in Chinese grammar (yī ... jiù): as soon as, once, whenever
6. When 在 (zài) comes after the verb in Chinese grammar

Supplementary A2 articles
1. How to use 跟 (gēn) and 也 (yě) correctly in Chinese grammar
2. Using 人 (rén) and 男人 (nánrén) - "man" - correctly in Mandarin Chinese
3. The difference between 碰见 (pèngjiàn), 遇见 (yùjiàn) and 见面 (jiànmiàn) in Chinese
以前 (yǐqián) and 以后 (yǐhòu) in Chinese
grammar: before and after, past and
future
Most learners of Chinese encounter the terms 以前 and 以后 fairly early on in their studies.
They’re probably the easiest way to sequence events in time in Chinese, but getting them right
still takes some effort and practice. Here’s a heads-up on using these words correctly.

Before and after

With an event or action

Let’s first look at using 以前 and 以后 to talk about events happening before or after other things.
The basic structure is the same for 以前 and 以后:

[event] 以后，[something happens]

We’ve deliberately kept the terms simple here. The structure above is used to say that something
happens after that event. The same structure can be used to talk about past or future events - it
simply sequences the events in time. You can swap 以后 (after) for 以前 (before) - the structure is
the same.

Have a look at some example sentences for this pattern with 以前 and 以后:

吃饭以前，我们先祈祷。
Chīfàn yǐqián, wǒmen xiān qídǎo.
Before eating, we pray.

去加拿大以前，他在英国教书。
Qù Jiānádà yǐqián, tā zài Yīngguó jiāoshū.
Before he went to Canada, he taught in the UK.

到办公室以前，我需要打个电话。
Dào bàngōngshì yǐqián, wǒ xūyào dǎ gè diànhuà.
Before I get to the office, I need to make a phone call.

吃饭以后，我要看书。
Chīfàn yǐhòu, wǒ yào kànshū.
After I've eaten, I'm going to read.

下班以后，我要学习中文。
Xiàbān yǐhòu, wǒ yào xuéxí zhōngwén.
After finishing work, I'm going to study Chinese.

二战以后，世界就不一样了。
èrzhàn yǐhòu, shìjiè jiù bù yīyàng le.
After the Second World War, the world was different.

吃了早餐以后，我要去健身房。
Chīle zǎocān yǐhòu, wǒ yào qù jiànshēnfáng.
After eating breakfast, I'm going to go to the gym.

遇到了她以后，我的生活就不一样了。
Yù dàole tā yǐhòu, wǒ de shēnghuó jiù bù yīyàngle.
After I met her, my life was different.

Notice how the basic structure is the same for 以前 and 以后, and how versatile this pattern is.
You can put pretty any event or action in the first part, and use that to sequence the other event
in relation to it.

With an amount of time

You can also use this pattern to talk about things happening before or after a specific amount of
time. The structure is the same:

[amount of time] 以后，[something happens]

Again, you can swap 以后 (after) for 以前 (before). This pattern works the same way as the one
above. Have a look at some examples:

三天以前，我在南京。
Sān tiān yǐqián, wǒ zài Nánjīng.
Three days ago, I was in Nanjing.

我们晚上八点以前就会到。
Wǒmen wǎnshàng bā diǎn yǐqián jiù huì dào.
We'll arrive before 8pm.

很久以前，在一个很遥远的恒星系……
Hěnjiǔ yǐqián, zài yīgè hěn yáoyuǎn de héngxīng xì……
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

十分钟以后，他就走了。
Shí fēnzhōng yǐhòu, tā jiù zǒule.
He left ten minutes later.

我一个星期以后会回来。
Wǒ yīgè xīngqí yǐhòu huì huílái.
I will come back in one week.

五年以后，我会有自己的房子。
Wǔ nián yǐhòu, wǒ huì yǒu zìjǐ de fángzi.
In five years I will have my own house.

Notice how can fit this pattern into different parts of the sentence. We’ve avoided giving any rigid
sentence structures for this pattern, as it’s usually better to focus on examples and getting lots of
practice.
Amount of time before or after an event

You can also combine the two patterns described above, to talk about things happening a certain
amount of time before or after an event. The structure for this is:

[event] [amount of time] 以后，[something happens]

Have a look at some examples (we’ve included some trickier ones to keep you on your toes):

米饭煮好五分钟以前，要开始炒肉。
Mǐfàn zhǔ hǎo wǔ fēnzhōng yǐqián, yào kāishǐ chǎo ròu.
Five minutes before the rice is boiled, you should start frying the meat.

你到这里三天以前，我梦到过你。
Nǐ dào zhèlǐ sān tiān yǐqián, wǒ mèng dàoguò nǐ.
Three days before you got here, I dreamt about you.

哥伦布到美洲几百年以前，维京人已经到过。
Gēlúnbù dào měizhōu jǐ bǎi nián yǐqián, wéi jīng rén yǐjīng dàoguò.
Several hundred years before Columbus got there, the Vikings had already been to the Americas.

吃了这种药 15 分钟以后就会有效果。
Chīle zhè zhǒng yào 15 fēnzhōng yǐhòu jiù huì yǒu xiàoguǒ.
This medicine takes effect in fifteen minutes.

开始有互联网不久以后，我们的世界就变小了。
Kāishǐ yǒu hùliánwǎng bùjiǔ yǐhòu, wǒmen de shìjiè jiù biàn xiǎole.
Not long after the Internet came along, our world got smaller.

地震发生五天以后，救援队还没到。
Dìzhèn fāshēng wǔ tiān yǐhòu, jiùyuán duì hái méi dào.
Five days after the earthquake, rescue teams still hadn't arrived.
Some of the above sentences might be a little difficult at your current level, but fear not - with
more practice they will become easy.

General past and future

Finally, you can use the words 以前 and 以后 to talk about the general past and future, without
specifying any points in time. Have a look at some examples:

以前，我不喜欢吃蔬菜。
Yǐqián, wǒ bù xǐhuan chī shūcài.
Before, I didn't like to eat vegetables.

以前，我以为他很害羞。
Yǐqián, wǒ yǐwéi tā hěn hàixiū.
Before, I thought he was very shy.

以前，这个房子没有电。
Yǐqián, zhège fángzi méiyǒu diàn.
In the past, this house didn't have electricity.

以后，我再也没喝过酒。
Yǐhòu, wǒ zài yě méi hēguò jiǔ.
Afterwards, I never drank again.

以后，你不要再迟到了。
Yǐhòu, nǐ bùyào zài chídàole.
Don't be late again in future.

以后，人类会到火星居住。
Yǐhòu, rénlèi huì dào Huǒxīng jūzhù.
In the future, humans will go to live on Mars.

Five uses of 要 (yào) in Chinese grammar

要 (yào) is one of the most common words in Chinese, and it has a versatile range of uses. In this
article, we’ll cover five common uses of 要 in Chinese grammar: “want”, “need”, “should”, for
commands and for future tense.

要 meaning “want”
The dictionary definitions for 要 always include “want” in English. 要 is the most direct and simple
way of expressing a desire in Chinese. For example:

我要那个玩具。
Wǒ yào nàge wánjù.

I want that toy.

我要吃糖果。
Wǒ yào chī tángguǒ.

I want to eat sweets.

谁要去游泳？
Shéi yào qù yóuyǒng?

Who wants to go swimming?

Notice how in the first sentence, 要 is the main verb, whereas in the last two sentences, 要 is an
auxiliary verb.

As in English, expressing “want” in this way can be quite direct and abrupt, so be careful with it.
See also: the difference between 想, 要 and 想要

要 meaning “need”
In much the same way as it can be used to express “want”, 要 can also express “need”. Have a
look at these examples:

我要找到我的钥匙。
Wǒ yào zhǎodào wǒ de yàoshi.

I need to find my keys.

去美国要申请签证。
Qù Měiguó yào shēnqǐng qiānzhèng.

You need to apply for a visa to go to America.

买汽车要花很多钱。
Mǎi qìchē yào huā hěnduō qián.

You have to spend a lot of money to buy a car.

In the above sentences, 要 could be swapped with 需要 (xūyào) without a great deal of difference.

要 meaning “should”
要 can often be somewhat ambiguous as to whether it expresses “need” or “should”. Have a look
at the example sentences below; you could interpret them as meaning “need” or “should” in
English, but all of them use 要 in Chinese.

葡萄要先洗一洗再吃。
Pútáo yào xiān xǐ yī xǐ zài chī.

We should wash the grapes before we eat them.

生病时要多喝水。
Shēngbìng shí yào duō hē shuǐ.

You should drink more water when you're ill.

你学习中文要努力一点。
Nǐ xuéxí Zhōngwén yào nǔlì yīdiǎn.

You should put more effort into studying Chinese.

Often, 需要 is used to unambiguously express “need”. A lot of the time, though, the two concepts
are not fully distinguished in Chinese sentences.

要 for commands
要 is often used to form imperative sentences in Chinese. That is, sentences that give commands.
要 is pretty much only used to form negative commands.

For example, 要 is the easiest way to express “don’t”:

不要碰我的东西。
Búyào pèng wǒ de dōngxī.

Don't touch my stuff.

什么都不要说
Shénme dōu búyào shuō.

Don't say anything.

不要看我。
Búyào kàn wǒ.

Don't look at me.

Note that when 不 comes before 要, it becomes second tone due to tone change rules.

You may know that the particle 了 (le) can be used to indicate a change of state. If you combine
this with 不要, you get commands that express “stop”.

Here are some examples:

不要说话了。
Búyào shuōhuàle.

Stop talking.

不要嘲笑我了！
Búyào cháoxiào wǒle!

Stop mocking me!

不要这样了！
Bú yào zhèyàng le!

Stop it!
You can also replace 不要 with 别 in most situations. A couple of examples:

别误会我。
Bié wùhuì wǒ.

Don't misunderstand me.

别打扰我。
Bié dǎrǎo wǒ.

Don't disturb me.

别离开我。
Bié líkāi wǒ.

Don't leave me.

These kinds of commands might also be expressed in English with “any more” or “again”, for
example:

不要再喝了。
Bùyào zài hēle.

Don't drink any more.

你不要见她了吧。
Nǐ bùyào jiàn tāle ba.

Don't see her again.

When 了 is used in this way, it often corresponds with “any more” in English.

要 for future tense

Finally, 要 can be used to express future tense. This is similar to many European languages that
express future actions with words like “want” or “will”. You might say that technically an intent or
desire is being expressed, but everyone understands it as a future action.

Some examples:
他们要来这里吃饭。
Tāmen yào lái zhèlǐ chīfàn.

They're going to come here to eat.

我们明天要去颐和园。
Wǒmen míngtiān yào qù Yíhéyuán.

We're going to go to the Summer Palace tomorrow.

看起来要下雨了。
Kànqǐlái yào xiàyǔ le.

Looks like it's going to rain.

The example sentences in this article will give you a good foundation for understanding 要 in all of
its contexts (you could use them for sentence mining). Just remember that the best approach to
Chinese grammar is to develop your general sense for the language rather than trying to
memorise specific rules.

过 (guò) in Chinese grammar: past

experiences, past actions
The particle 过 (guò) is used to talk about past experiences or past actions in Chinese grammar. It
is placed immediately after the verb to indicate that that verb was done or experienced in the past.
In English, the equivalent would simply be “have”, e.g. in “I have done that”, “I have eaten”, “He
has seen it” and so on.

Basic use of 过 for past experiences

The most basic structure for 过 is to just place it immediately after the verb without an object:

[subject] [verb] 过

Have a look at some example sentences for how to use 过 in this way:

我已经看过。
Wǒ yǐjīng kànguò.
I've already seen it.

我听说过。
Wǒ tīng shuōguò.
I've heard about that.

我试过。
Wǒ shìguò.
I've tried that.

In each case, the speaker is expressing that they’ve already done an action at least once before in
the past. Using 过 doesn’t give an exact time to the action - it could have been a long time ago or
just a few moments ago. Unless the time is specified, we can only know from context (or not at
all).

Note that whilst the Chinese sentences above don’t have objects as such, their English
translations do. This is because Chinese can often omit the object if it’s clear in the context,
whereas English usually cannot.

Using 过 with an object

You can also use 过 in sentences with an object. The structure only gets slightly more complicated
- you just put the object right after 过.

[subject] [verb] 过 [object]

Have a look at some example sentences for 过 with an object:

我去过加拿大。
Wǒ qùguò Jiā'nádà.
I've been to Canada.

我已经看过那部电影。
Wǒ yǐjīng kànguò nà bù diànyǐng.
I've already seen that film.

你见过他吗？
Nǐ jiànguò tā ma?
Have you seen him before?

他已经吃过这种菜。
Tā yǐjīng chīguò zhè zhòng cài.
He's had this kind of dish before.

You could think of the verb and 过 as combining into one unit: the action plus the aspect (aspect
refers to whether or not the action was completed). Then the object just comes after this unit.

Using 过 in a topic-prominent sentence

过 often appears in topic-prominent sentences. Don’t worry if you don’t know what that means. It
just means a sentence where the topic, the main point of the sentence, comes first. These are
very common in Chinese. The structure for a topic-prominent sentence with 过 is:

[topic] [subject] [verb] 过

This might seem a bit weird but when you see it in action it should seem a lot more
straightforward:

这部电影你看过吗？
Zhè bù diànyǐng nǐ kànguò ma?
Have you seen this film before?

这个我没听说过。
Zhège wǒ méi tīng shuōguò.
I haven't heard about that.

湘菜我吃过。
Xiāngcài wǒ chīguò.
I've eaten Hunan food before.
These sentences draw particular attention to the topic (the thing that comes first), and may
indicate a contrast depending on the context. For example, the last sentence might come right
after the speaker says they haven’t eaten some other kind of food.

Negating 过
Because 过 is about past actions, you have to use 没(méi)
to negate it. The structure for this is:
[subject] 没 [verb] 过 [object]

As is often the case in Chinese grammar, the object is optional and the subject is even more
optional. 没 can also be swapped for 没有 for emphasis. Have a look at some example sentences:

没看过。
Méi kànguò.
I haven't seen it.

我没有喝过你的酒！
Wǒ méiyǒu hēguò nǐ de jiǔ!
I haven't drunk your wine!

他没去过美国。
Tā méi qùguò Měiguó.
He hasn't been to America.

That last sentence might be quite a nice one to practice your tones with!

过 with 从来没有
(cónglái méiyǒu)
Because 过 is used to talk about things that have been experienced in done in the past, you can
combine it with 从来没有 to say that something has never happened. The structure for this is:
[subject] 从来没有 [verb] 过 [object]

Have a look at some examples:

我从来没有吃过这么多饭！
Wǒ cónglái méiyǒu chīguò zhème duō fàn!
I've never eaten so much before!

我从来没有这么生气过。
Wǒ cónglái méiyǒu zhème shēngqìguò.
I've never been angry like this before.

他从来没有见过如此大的狗。
Tā cónglái méiyǒu jiànguò rúcǐ dà de gǒu.
He'd never seen such a big dog before.

Saying the full 从来没有 is quite emphatic. You can often reduce it to 从来没 if you don’t want
such a long sentence.

The difference between 过 and 了

The two particles 过 and 了 (le) might seem quite similar: both can be used to talk about
completed actions. The difference is:

 了 can be used to talk about completed actions in the past, present or future.
 了 can also be used to talk about changes of state (“it is now the case that”).
 The particle 过 is always about completed past events.

Compare the following sentences:

她去过日本。
Tā qùguò Rìběn.
She's been to Japan (and she's no longer there).

她去日本了。
Tā qù Rìběn le.
She's gone to Japan (and she's still there - completed action 了). She's gone to Japan (she's on her
way there - change of state 了).
他来过我们家。
Tā láiguò wǒmen jiā.
He's been to our house (in the past - he's left now).

他来我们家了。
Tā lái wǒmen jiā le.
He's come to our house (and he's still here - completed action 了). He's coming to our house
(change of state 了).

If you’re not used to 了 grammar then the above sentences might be quite confusing. English has
distinct ways of expressing the two possibilities for each of the 了 sentences. When you say the
Chinese sentences, though, it’s not definite which one you mean.

Using 过 and 了 together

Things can get trickier still, though! You can use 过 and 了 in the same sentence. When this
happens, you’re always dealing with a ‘change of state 了’, also known as ‘sentence 了’. Change
of state 了 is like saying “it is now the case that”. Things have changed, or there is new
information.

When this combines with 过, you get something like “it is now the case that something has been
done”. This is nearly always used to talk about frequent, every day actions. Sentences that
combine 过 and 了 are also about specific objects, i.e. ones that the speaker and listener know
about already.

Have a look at some examples:

我吃过了。
Wǒ chīguòle.
I've eaten.

我已经做过了。
Wǒ yǐjīng zuòguòle.
I‘ve already done it.
你洗过澡了吗？
Nǐ xǐguò zǎole ma?
Have you had a shower?

你吃过药了吗？
Nǐ chīguò yàole ma?
Have you taken your medicine?

Note how all of these sentences are sort of ‘status updates’. The thing has been done. Also note
how they’re all about specific objects, or at least common actions that both speakers are used to
and aware of already.

Whilst 过 + 了 is nearly always about frequent actions, we did manage to think of a couple of
situations where it would be used for one off or special events. Have a look:

我们去过美国啦！
Wǒmen qùguò Měiguó la!
We've now been to America! (Said to your companion on the flight home from America.)

我终于考过试了。
Wǒ zhōngyú kǎoguò shìle.
I've finally finished my exams now.

These situations are definitely not the norm, though. The first one is expressing a meaning like
“We can now say that we’ve been to America” or “It’s now the case that we’ve been to America.”
As you can see it’s quite unusual and contrived. Usually a sentence with 过 and 了 is about
everyday actions.

Asking questions with 过

A few of the example sentences above were questions, but you might like to see a few more ways
you can ask questions with 过. Have a look at these example sentences and pay attention to the
way various questions can be formed:

你有没有去过中国？
Nǐ yǒu méiyǒu qùguò Zhōngguó?
Have you ever been to China?

你吃过饭了吗？
Nǐ chīguò fànle ma?
Have you eaten?

你喝过白酒没有？
Nǐ hēguò báijiǔ méiyǒu?
Have you had baijiu before?

你是不是已经看过这部电影？
Nǐ shì bùshì yǐjīng kànguò zhè bù diànyǐng?
Have you seen this film before?

你听说过吧？
Nǐ tīng shuōguò ba?
You've heard about it, right?

你怎么没说过呢？
Nǐ zěnme méi shuōguò ne?
How come you didn't say?

As you can see, 过 can combine with all the usual ways of forming questions in Chinese grammar.

过 is for repeatable events

One final thing to note about 过 is that it’s only supposed to be used for repeatable events. It’s for
actions that are completed and in the past, but have been done at least once or could in theory be
done again in the future. This is why 过 is described as being about experiences - the action or
event has been experienced.

The sort of actions that you can’t really use 过 with are one-off or once-in-a-lifetime events that
by their nature can’t be done twice, such as dying or being born. You might also include
graduating from university and getting married as one off events that can’t be used with 过,
unless you plan on doing them again in future (e.g. getting a PhD, or after getting divorced).

Because of that, if you do use 过 with one of these actions, the implication is that the action is
done with now, and possibly that you might do it again in future. For example:

我结过婚。
Wǒ jiéguò hūn.
I got married once. I've been married before.

So be careful not to say embarrassing things with 过 by making it sound like something is done
with or a thing of the past!

Because we’re in the mood for contrived scenarios today, we’ve come up with one where you
could theoretically say “死过”. Imagine that person A is talking about the afterlife with great
conviction and as if they knew everything about it. Person B is sceptical of their experience in this
matter, and says:

你死过吗？
Nǐ sǐguò ma?
Oh, so you've died before?

As you can see, though, these situations are really weird. The general rule is that 过 is for
repeatable events only.

The 要是…就 (yàoshi…jiù) construction in

Chinese grammar
The 要是…就 (yàoshi…jiù) construction is a very common way to form conditional statements in
Chinese. Conditional statements are simply sentences that involve “if” in English.

The basic structure for using 要是…就 is:

要是
[condition]，就 [result]

So you start the sentence with 要是 - “if”, then you give the condition. That’s the first part done.
Then you just add another phrase after it with 就 and some action or result for the condition.

Let’s have a look at some example sentences:

要是卖完了，就算了。
Yàoshi màiwánle, jiù suànle.
If it's sold out, then just forget it.

要是你不喜欢，就不吃。
Yàoshi nǐ bù xǐhuan, jiù bù chī.
If you don't like it, then don't eat it.

要是他们没有发现，就没问题了。
Yàoshi tāmen méiyǒu fāxiàn, jiù méi wèntíle.
If they hadn't noticed, there wouldn't have been any problems.

This is a very versatile structure, and it’s usually quite easy to use because it’s similar to how “if”
sentences are formed in English. Say the “if” word, give the condition, then give the result.

要是…就 with a subject

Be careful when adding a subject in the result or action part of a 要是 sentence! The structure for
this is:

要是
[condition]，[subject] 就 [result]

As you can see, the subject comes before 就. Have a look at some example sentences for 要是
sentences with a subject in the result:

要是他不同意，他就会说。
Yàoshi tā bù tóngyì, tā jiù huì shuō.
If he doesn't agree, he'll say.

要是你不还给他，他就会生气！
Yàoshi nǐ bù huán gěi tā, tā jiù huì shēngqì!
If you don't give it back to him, he'll be angry!

要是我是你，我就会去。
Yàoshi wǒ shì nǐ, wǒ jiù huì qù.
If I were you, I would go.

Just remember to always put the subject before 就, and not after it.

要是…就 with 的话
(dehuà)
You can also combine 要是…就 with 的话 to form “if” sentences in Chinese. The structure for this
is:

要是
[condition] 的话，就 [result]

This is still the same basic structure - the only difference is that 的话 has been added after the
condition. Chinese “if” sentences have a lot of options like this. You can use various different “if”
words before the condition, and it’s optional whether or not to put 的话 after the condition.

Some example sentences for 要是…就 with 的话:

要是我很忙的话，我可能就会迟到的。
Yàoshi wǒ hěn máng dehuà, wǒ kěnéng jiù huì chídào de.
If I am busy then I may arrive late.

要是我很有钱的话，我就会到处去旅游。
Yàoshi wǒ hěn yǒu qián dehuà, wǒ jiù huì dàochù qù lǚyóu.
If I were rich, I would go travelling all over the place.

要是我们早十分钟到的话，我们就能赶上飞机了。
Yàoshi wǒmen zǎo shí fēnzhōng dào dehuà, wǒmen jiù néng gǎnshàng fēijī le.
If we'd arrived ten minutes earlier, we would've made it onto the plane.

Don’t worry if that last sentence is a bit difficult! It’s a bit trickier than most 要是…就 sentences
that you might see in textbooks, but you’ll become familiar with everything in it soon if you keep
studying.

The 一 ... 就 pattern in Chinese grammar

(yī ... jiù): as soon as, once, whenever
The 一 … 就 pattern (yī … jiù) is very common in Chinese grammar. It’s used to say things like “as
soon as”, “once” and “whenever”, so it’s a very useful and important structure to know.

The basic structure is:

[subject] 一 [action] 就 [another action]

This is equivalent to saying “As soon as [subject] does [action], they do [another action]” or
“whenever [subject] does [action], they do [another action]“.

You can also use this structure with two different subjects. In that case, the second subject just
goes before 就. This will seem natural once you see it in the example sentences below.

Let’s have a look at the slightly different meanings this structure can have one by one.

一 … 就: “as soon as”

Perhaps the most common use of the 一 … 就 pattern is to say “as soon as”. You just put the first
event or action after 一, and the following event or action after 就.

Have a look at some example sentences:

我一到上海就打电话给你。
Wǒ yī dào Shànghǎi jiù dǎ diànhuà gěi nǐ.

I'll phone you as soon as I arrive in Shanghai.

小偷一看到警车就跑走了。
Xiǎotōu yī kàn dào jǐngchē jiù pǎo zǒu le.

The thief ran off as soon as he saw the police car.

他一放学就回宿舍了。
Tā yī fàngxué jiù huí sùshè le.

He went back to the dorm as soon as he finished class.

Notice how the actions are put into the same slots in each of the sentences: 一 [first action] 就
[second action].

一 … 就: “once” or “when”
Using 一 … 就 to mean “once” or “when” is actually very similar to using it to mean “as soon as”.
It’s just an alternative translation in English. The meaning is the same. In all cases, this pattern is
about doing one thing immediately after another.

Some examples:

我工作一做完就来找你们。
Wǒ gōngzuò yī zuò wán jiù lái zhǎo nǐmen.

I'll come and find you once I've finished my work.

太阳一出来，雪就会融化。
Tàiyáng yī chūlái, xuě jiù huì rónghuà.

The snow will melt when the sun comes out.

她一戴上安全帽就感觉安全多了。
Tā yī dàishàng ānquán mào jiù gǎnjué ānquán duō le.

She felt much safer once she'd put her helmet on.

In all of the above example sentences, “as soon as”, “once” and “when” are pretty much
interchangeable as translations.
一 … 就: “whenever”
Finally, this pattern can also be used to express “whenever”. This is used to talk about habitual
actions that happen whenever some other event or action happens.

Let’s have a look at some example sentences:

我一有问题就用谷歌查一下。
Wǒ yī yǒu wèntí jiù yòng Gǔgē chá yīxià.

Whenever I have a question, I just Google it.

我一得到一大笔钱就捐一部分给慈善机构。
Wǒ yī dédào yī dà bǐ qián jiù juān yī bùfèn gěi císhàn jīgòu.

Whenever I get a large sum of money, I donate some of it to charity.

那两个人一遇到彼此就开始吵架。
Nà liǎng gèrén yī yù dào bǐcǐ jiù kāishǐ chǎojià.

Those two people start arguing whenever they meet.

Hopefully you can see the common theme for using 一 … 就. It’s always about things that happen
right after or because of other events.

除了…以外 (chúle…yǐwài) in Chinese

grammar: apart from, except, in addition
除了…以外 (chúle…yǐwài) is often considered one of the core, ‘basic’ patterns in Chinese grammar.
It’s included in pretty much every Chinese textbook and course. That’s because it’s really common
and really useful! You can use it to express “apart from”, “except” and “addition to”. For the main
part of this structure, you just put the exception or addition in between 除了 and 以外:

除了 [something] 以外

That can then be used to express “apart from something” or “in addition to something”,
depending on what comes after it in the sentence. Let’s have a look at each one in turn.
除了…以外: “apart from”, “except”
This may be the most common use of 除了…以外. You use the structure described above, and
follow it with 都:

除了 [something] 以外, [something] 都 [verb]

You can use this to express anything along the lines of “apart from A, B all…” in English. Have a
look at some example sentences:

除了小李以外，其他学生都回答错了。
Chúle Xiǎo Lǐ yǐwài, qítā xuéshēng dōu huídá cuòle.
Apart from Xiao Li, all the students answered incorrectly.

除了这个词以外，我都看得懂。
Chúle zhège cí yǐwài, wǒ dōu kàndedǒng.
I understand all of it except for this word.

除了炒饭以外，她什么都不会做。
Chúle chǎofàn yǐwài, tā shénme dōu bù huì zuò.
Apart from fried rice, she can't cook anything at all.

Notice how in these sentences 除了…以外 is paired with 都. When it’s paired with 都, it means
“apart from” except.

除了…以外: “in addition”

To express “in addition” or “as well as”, all you do is change the adverb that comes after 除了…以
外. This time, you use 还 or 也. Have a look at some example sentences:

除了中文以外，他还学过德文。
Chúle Zhōngwén yǐwài, tā hái xuéguò Déwén.
As well as Chinese, he's also studied German.

除了咖啡以外，我也喜欢喝茶。
Chúle kāfēi yǐwài, wǒ yě xǐhuan hē chá.
As well as coffee, I also like to drink tea.

除了工资以外，我还有一些其他的收入。
Chúle gōngzī yǐwài, wǒ hái yǒu yīxiē qítā de shōurù.
In addition to my salary, I also have some other sources of income.

Notice how you could actually translate these sentences using “apart from” in English. The point is
that the function is different in this second set of sentences. They’reinclusive, whereas the first set
above are exclusive.

This can be a source of confusion for people learning Chinese. Just remember that 除了…以外 can
be used to exclude things (“apart from”) or include things (“in addition to”). It’s very versatile!

Omitting 除了 or 以外
The next thing to note about 除了…以外 is that one half of it is often left out. So you’ll often see
or hear sentences with just 除了 or just 以外, and not both. The structure is still the same, it’s just
that one part has been skipped out.

Have a look at some example sentences:

除了法国，我们也想去西班牙。
Chúle Fǎguó, wǒmen yě xiǎng qù Xībānyá.
As well as France, we'd also like to go Spain.

春节以外，中国还有什么节日？
Chūnjié yǐwài, Zhōngguó hái yǒu shénme jiérì?
Apart from Spring Festival, what other holidays does China have?

银河系以外，还有多少星系？
Yínhéxì yǐwài, hái yǒu duōshǎo xīngxì?
Apart from the Milky Way, what other galaxies are there?

除了我们地球，太阳系还有七个星球。
Chúle wǒmen Dìqiú, Tàiyángxì hái yǒu qī gè xīngqiú.
There are seven more planets in the Solar System besides Earth.

That turned a bit astronomical for some reason! And before anyone complains about the accuracy
of that last sentence: Pluto is not a planet! Anyway, just remember that either 除了 or 以外 can
often be omitted from a sentence.

除了…以外 with various adverbs

We described the different functions of 除了…以外 (inclusive and exclusive) above, and you might
have noticed that the important difference is the adverb that comes afterwards. In other words,
what the sentence means centres around that adverb!

With that in mind, let’s have a look at four different adverbs that you might use after 除了…以外.
Three of them were already covered above, but it can’t hurt to get some more example sentences
for them!

都 (dōu)

As mentioned above, using 都 after 除了…以外 makes it exclusive. 都 means “all”, so you’re
saying “apart from X, Y all…“. Have a look at a couple more example sentences:

除了我以外，大家都吃过饭了。
Chúle wǒ yǐwài, dàjiā dōu chīguò fànle.
Apart from me, everyone has eaten.

除了她以外，其他人都穿着牛仔裤。
Chúle tā yǐwài, qítā rén dōu chuānzhe niúzǎikù.
Except for her, everyone was wearing jeans.

So, 都 makes a 除了…以外 sentence exclusive. It’s equivalent to “except for” or “apart from” in
English.
还 (hái)

If you follow 除了…以外 with 还, it becomes inclusive. This is because 还 means “still” or “also”.
You’re saying “As well as X, Y _also _does something.” Have a look at some more example
sentences:

除了钱以外，他还担心他的健康。
Chúle qián yǐwài, tā hái dānxīn tā de jiànkāng.
As well as money, he also worries about his health.

除了丈夫以外，她还有一个情人。
Chúle zhàngfū yǐwài, tā hái yǒu yīgè nán qíngrén.
As well as her husband, she also has a lover.

除了能力以外，我还缺乏耐心。
Chúle nénglì yǐwài, wǒ hái quēfá nàixīn.
As well as ability, I also lack patience.

Hopefully you can now see how the adverb that comes after 除了…以外 determines whether it’s
inclusive or exclusive.

也 (yě)

As well as 还, you can also use 也 to express inclusion*. Some examples:

除了学生以外，老师也在这里吃饭。
Chúle xuéshēng yǐwài, lǎoshī yě zài zhèlǐ chīfàn.
As well as students, teachers also eat here.

他除了抱怨以外，什么也没做。
Tā chúle bàoyuàn yǐwài, shénme yě méi zuò.
He did nothing but complain.
You might have noticed that the first sentence could be interpreted differently if you have a
devious mind. Rather than meaning “apart from students, teachers also eat here”, it could mean
“as well as food, teachers also eat students here”! Don’t worry though, most people would
interpret it the first way!

 For those who spotted that this is an inclusive sentence and were wondering how to say it
in Chinese, you could phrase it like this:

除了“还”以外，还可以用“也”来表达包含的意思。
Chúle “hái” yǐwài, hái kěyǐ yòng “yě” lái biǎodá bāohán de yìsi.
As well as 还, you can also use 也 to express inclusion.

Don’t worry if that sentence is a bit tricky though, we just included it for those who might be
curious.

又 (yòu)

Finally, you can also use 又 with 除了…以外. This literally means “again” or “then”, but is often
more like “also” in these sentences. Have a look at some examples:

除了在家里喝的红酒，我又喝了四杯啤酒。
Chúle zài jiālǐ hē de hóngjiǔ, wǒ yòu hēle sì bēi píjiǔ.
Apart from the red wine I drank at home, I also had four beers.

除了举重以外，我今天又跑了一会儿步。
Chúle jǔzhòng yǐwài, wǒ jīntiān yòu pǎole yīhuìr bù.
Apart from lifting weights, I also went running for a while today.

除了这个以外，又没有什么好办法。
Chúle zhège yǐwài, yòu méiyǒu shénme hǎo bànfǎ.
Apart from this, there aren't any good options.

Like 还 and 也, 又 forms inclusive sentences with 除了…以外.

Different versions of 除了…以外

The above is more than enough to be able to understand things like “apart from” and “in addition”
in Chinese. We even included some fairly difficult sentences for this level, just to keep you on your
toes! If you’re still in the mood for more advanced material, though, you might be interested in
this different ‘versions’ of 除了…以外.

除了…之外 (chúle…zhīwài)

You can make 除了…以外 more formal by changing the 以 into 之

(zhī)
. It works exactly the same, it just sounds a bit more formal. Have a look at some example
sentences, and don’t worry if one or two of them seem quite hard at the moment. They’ll seem
easy if you keep studying!

除了衣服之外，我们工厂还生产鞋子。
Chúle yīfú zhīwài, wǒmen gōngchǎng hái shēngchǎn xiézi.
As well as clothes, our factory also produces shoes.

除了你之外，我一无所有。
Chúle nǐ zhī wài, wǒ yīwúsuǒyǒu.
Apart from you, I have nothing.

除了鲜血、辛劳、泪水和汗水之外，我没有什么可奉献的。
Chúle xiānxiě, xīnláo, lèishuǐ hé hànshuǐ zhī wài, wǒ méiyǒu shénme kě fèngxiàn de.
I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.

That last sentence really is pretty difficult at this level, but you might find it interesting if you
recognise the quote! 一无所有 is a set phrase meaning “to have nothing at all”. It’s also the title
of a famous Chinese rock song.

除此之外 (chúcǐzhīwài)

Finally, there’s a formal set phrase: 除此之外. If you didn’t know already, the character 此 is just a
formal way of saying “this”. So this set phrase simply means “apart from this” or “in addition”.
Note that you can’t split this phrase up or insert other things into it.
除此之外 is often used in Chinese writing as a conjunction or connector. You say one point, then
add a related one using 除此之外. It can also be used in everyday speech as a convenient way to
say “besides…” Have a look at some examples:

除此之外，我还有更多。
Chú cǐ zhī wài, wǒ hái yǒu gèng duō.
I've got plenty more besides that.

除此之外，就没有什么好办法了。
Chú cǐ zhī wài, jiù méiyǒu shé me hǎo bànfǎle.
There's no good way to do apart from this.

除此之外，我认为她的论点还些缺陷。
Chú cǐ zhī wài, wǒ rènwéi tā dì lùndiǎn hái xiē quēxiàn.
As well as that, I think her argument still has further flaws.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please share them in the comments below! We always
like to get feedback.

Chinese le grammar summary (了)

了 le grammar can be one of the trickiest aspects of learning Chinese, right the way up to
intermediate level. This particle is extremely common in Chinese, and that’s why learning its
grammar can be so tricky. The first thing to remember is that 了 actually has many distinct uses,
so it makes sense to try and separate these and understand them individually.

Here is one way to categorize Chinese le grammar, in the order that learners would most likely to
want to study them:

 了 (le) in set structures

 了 (le) used to mark change of state
 了 (le) as an aspect marker
 When 了 isn’t le at all
You might not immediately understand exactly what the last three items mean, but fear not, as
we’re going to explain them clearly and concisely below! This article is intended as a concise
summary that covers the entirety of le grammar in one page. More detailed explanations of each
了 usage are also linked above.

了 le grammar #1: Set structures

The most basic use of the 了 (le) particle is in specific set structures. We think that the easiest way
for learners to understand these is as set vocabulary items that just are, rather than trying to do
any deeper analysis.

There are endless examples of these words / patterns, but the most common include:

 太 [adjective] 了
 [adjective] 极了
 [adjective] 死了
 可 [adjective] 了

All of these set patterns can be used to intensify or strengthen the adjective used. That is,
these le grammar structures emphasize the adjective used in them. The “太 [adjective] 了”
structure is also used to express an excess of something. Also note that the 极了 structure is only
used with positive adjectives, and the 死了 structure is only used with negative adjectives.

We won’t go into more detail than that here, as this page is just a summary of legrammar. Here
are some quick examples of these structures in action:

太棒了！
Tài bàng le!

Fantastic!

这个盒子太大了。
Zhège hézi tài dà le.

This box is too big.

你的普通话好极了。
Nǐ de pǔtōnghuà hǎo jí le.
Your Mandarin is very good.

我们饿死了！
Wǒmen è sǐ le!

We're starving!

这只狗可臭了！
Zhè zhī gǒu kě chòule!

This dog _stinks_!

Notice how the English translations of these structures can vary massively. In language learning,
it’s always important to remember that grammatical patterns rarely match up exactly with those
in another language. In other words, translations of the same structure will often be different.

Because of that, we think it’s better to focus on understanding the function of a structure rather
than any set translations or meanings for it.

了 le grammar #2: Change of state

Now we’re on to the slightly trickier le grammar! This kind of 了 is used to indicate a new situation
or change of state. Because it is only used at the end of a sentence, it is also called sentence final
了 or just sentence 了. It’s technically referred to as modal 了 as well.

Change of state 了 is used to draw attention to the fact that the situation is now different
compared to before. The state of something has changed. In English, this might be expressed with
“now”, or “it is now the case” that if we wanted to really emphasize it.

Have a look at these example sentences for change of state 了:

他是老师了。
Tā shì lǎoshī le.

He's a teacher now.

她会走路了。
Tā huì zǒulù le.

She can walk now.

我不喝酒了。
Wǒ bù hējiǔ le.

I don't drink anymore.

他会用电脑了。
Tā huì yòng diànnǎo le.

He can use a computer now.

他们不住在这里了。
Tāmen bù zhù zài zhèlǐ le.

They don't live here anymore.

Notice how English marks a negative change of state (i.e. something is no longer the case) with
the word “anymore”. In Chinese, any change of state can be marked with 了.

了 le grammar #3: Aspect marker

This kind of 了 is also called completed action 了. More technically, it’s called perfective aspect 了.
This means that it marks an action as complete. It is also called verb 了 as it appears right next to
the verb in a sentence.

This “aspect 了” (or verb 了) is used to indicate that an action is complete within the time frame
we’re talking about. That could be in the past, present or future. Remember that aspect 了 has
nothing to do with tense. It’s about the completeness of an action, not when it happened.

Let’s have a look at a few examples to make this clearer:

昨天我偷了三辆车。
Zuótiān wǒ tōu le sān liàng chē.

I stole three cars yesterday.

我到了城里卖掉我偷的车。
Wǒ dào le chéng lǐ mài diào wǒ tōu de chē.

I've come to the city to sell the cars I stole.

我卖了这些车以后，我就会有很多钱。
Wǒ mài le zhèxiē chē yǐhòu, wǒ jiù huì yǒu hěnduō qián.

After I've sold these cars, I'll have a lot of money.

Hopefully these example sentences make it clear that verb 了 isn’t about tense, but the
completeness of an action. In each example the action is complete but the tense is different. The
cars have been stolen. The speaker is already in the city. The cars will have been sold in the time
frame the speaker is talking about.

When two kinds of le grammar appear together

If you’re on the ball and you’ve had a lot of coffee today, you might be wondering what happens if
a sentence has both a verb 了 and a sentence 了. This actually happens quite a lot.

Such a sentence expresses both completed action and change of state. So it means something like
“it is now the case that this has been completed”. It most commonly expresses what has been
completed “up to now” or “so far”.

Here are some examples of double 了 sentences. Note that these sentences nearly always include
已经 (already) to show what’s been done up till now:

他已经吃了八碗面条了！
Tā yǐjīng chīle bā wǎn miàntiáo le!

He's eaten eight bowls of noodles!

你已经花了太多钱了！
Nǐ yǐjīng huāle tài duō qián le!

You've spent too much money!

他们已经跑了两个小时步了。
Tāmen yǐjīng pǎole liǎng gè xiǎoshí bù le.

They've been running for two hours.

Now you might be wondering what happens if there’s a verb 了 at the end of a sentence that also
needs a sentence 了. Can you put two 了 s in the same place? The answer is that the two 了 s just
combine into one.
In this case, it may not be totally clear whether it’s a combined 了 or just one. Either way, the
meaning will come from context.

Some examples for this combined double 了:

我吃了。
Wǒ chī le.

I've eaten. / I ate.

他去了。
Tā qù le.

He's gone. / He went.

你说了。
Nǐ shuō le.

You've said it. / You said.

Even for native speakers, it’s pretty difficult to explain the difference between the English
sentences above. But not to worry - they’re the same in Chinese, so you don’t have to think about
it!

了 le grammar #4: liǎo

Now we come to one final kind of 了 that isn’t pronounced le. It’s pronounced liǎo. This kind of 了
is completely and utterly different to the ones above. If you look up this liǎo 了 in a dictionary,
you will that it means “finish” or “complete”.

It is not a particle like the le 了, but a verbal complement. This means that it’s attached to verbs to
give more information about the action. Liǎo 了 is used to indicate the potential for an action to
be successful. That is, it indicates whether the action can or can’t be done.

To do this, it’s combined with either 得 (can) or 不 (can’t). So 得了 after a verb means that the
action can be done, whilst 不了 means that it can’t. Here are some examples:

我做得了。
Wǒ zuò déliǎo.
I can do it.

我受不了。
Wǒ shòu bùliǎo.

I can't stand it.

我觉得他们来得了。
Wǒ juéde tāmen láidéliǎo.

I think they'll be able to make it.

这么多饭 - 你吃得了吗？
Zhème duō fàn - nǐ chī déliǎo ma?

There's so much food - can you eat it all?

Hopefully you can see how 得了 and 不了 work as neat little units that are placed after verbs to
indicate their potential.

When le grammar and liǎo grammar work together

Note that liǎo 了 can also appear together with sentence 了. This indicates that an action can now
be done, or cannot be done anymore. In this pattern, the two 了 s will appear side by side: 了了.
If you see this, you know that it must be pronounced “liǎo le”.

Here are some examples:

我受不了了。
Wǒ shòu bùliǎo le.

I can't stand it anymore.

我吃不了了。
Wǒ chī bùliǎo le.

I can't eat any more food!

我瘦了这么多，这条裤子我现在穿得了了。
Wǒ shòule zhème duō, zhè tiáo kùzi wǒ xiànzài chuān déliǎole.

I've lost so much weight, I can wear these trousers now.

Chinese le grammar super short summary
And now a very, very short summary of le grammar:

 了 in set structures. These are best seen as fixed vocabulary items.

 了 to mark change of state:
o Expresses “it is now the case that…”
o Expresses “it is no longer the case that … anymore”

o Also called sentence 了 as it goes at the end of the sentence.

 了 as an aspect marker:
o Indicates that an action is complete.
o Does not mark tense: used in past, present and future.
o Also called verb 了 as it appears with the verb.

 Sentence 了 and verb 了 in the same sentence:

o Expresses what has been completed up till now, or so far.
o Can ‘overlap’ each other at the end of a sentence as just one 了.

 了 pronounced liǎo:
o Completely different to the kinds of 了 described above.

o Used with 得 or 不 as a part of a potential complement for verbs.

o Indicates whether or not an action can happen.

o Can appear together with sentence 了.

That rounds off this concise summary of _le_ grammar. If anything is unclear or you can suggest
some improvements for the article, please leave a comment below!

Chinese grammar: verb + 出来 (chūlái)

construction
The verb + 出来 (chūlái) construction is a common pattern in Chinese grammar. It’s useful for
adding information to verbs. There are two main usage patterns for the verb + 出来 construction.
Learn how to use and understand them with this guide.

Verb + 出来 to express physical movement

The first usage of this pattern is to express physical movement. The characters 出 and 来 are
literally “out” and “come”, so this pattern means “come out”. When verb + 出来 is used in this
way, it simply expresses that the during the action of the verb, something comes out of something
else.

This pattern is fairly easy to use. Simply place 出来 right after the verb, and you’re done.

Here are some examples:

我那么紧张，感觉心都要跳出来了。
Wǒ nàme jǐnzhāng, gǎnjué xīn dōu yào tiào chūláile.

I'm so nervous - I feel like my heart is going to jump out.

一个犯人从监狱里逃出来了。
Yīgè fànrén cóng jiānyù lǐ táo chūláile.

A criminal escaped from prison.

我从盒子里拿出来了一块巧克力。
Wǒ cóng hézi lǐ ná chūláile yīkuài qiǎokèlì.

I took a piece of chocolate out of the box.

As you can see, in this pattern 出来 expresses the physical movement of one thing out of another.

Verb + 出来 to express a result

The same construction can also be used to express more metaphorical meanings. These include:

 the success of an action

 the completion of an action
 recognition
 gaining information from an action

In any case, the meaning here is just a metaphorical version of the one above. Something
is coming out from the action, but it could be information or some sort of result. Let’s look at
some examples to make this clearer:
我能听出来他们的声音。
Wǒ néng tīng chūlái tāmen de shēngyīn. I recognize their voices.

你能吃出来大蒜的味道吗？
Nǐ néng chī chūlái dàsuàn de wèidào ma?

Can you taste the garlic?

他猜出来了这个字的意思。
Tā cāi chūláile zhège zì de yìsi.

He guessed the meaning of the character.

我帮你算出来这些东西的总价吧。
Wǒ bāng nǐ suàn chūlái zhèxiē dōng xī de zǒng jià ba.

Let me calculate the total cost of these items for you.

这是谁想出来的主意？
Zhè shì shuí xiǎng chūlái de zhǔyì?

Whose idea was this?

To make this structure negative, simply make it 不出来 or 没出来. Some examples:

这个问题太难了，我说不出来答案。
Zhège wèntí tài nánle, wǒ shuō bu chūlái dá'àn.

The question is too hard - I can't answer it.

我没认出来是她。
Wǒ méi rèn chūlái shì tā.

I didn't recognize her.

我想不出来他的名字了。
Wǒ xiǎng bù chūlái tā de míngzìle.

I can't recall his name now.

Another structure for verb + 出来
Note that there is another structure for this pattern. In this alternative structure, the object in the
sentence goes between 出 and 来. The structure is:

[verb] 出 [object] 来

Here are some example sentences for this structure:

我能画出一匹马来。
Wǒ néng huà chū yī pǐ mǎ lái.

I can paint a horse.

他激动得说不出话来。
Tā jīdòng de shuō bu chū huà lái.

He was so excited he couldn't speak.

If you've got any questions or suggestions, please share them in the comments!

Chinese grammar de hua (的话):

expressing "if" in Chinese with de hua
In Chinese grammar de hua (的话) is a very common and important word. It is used either alone
or in combination with other words to express “if”. De hua is probably the most common way to
express “if” in Chinese, in fact. Because of this, all students of Mandarin Chinese should be
familiar with how to use this word, and that’s what this guide is for.

The simplest way to use 的话 is to place it right after a phrase, which will make it into a “if”
statement. The structure is:

[phrase] 的话

Let’s have a look at some examples of these “if” statements:

你去北京的话……
nǐ qù Běijīng dehuà......

if you go to Beijing...

他喜欢的话……
tā xǐhuan dehuà......

if he likes it...

我们弄丢了的话……
wǒmen nòng diūle dehuà......

if we've lost it...

You can see how adding 的话 to the end of a phrase in Chinese works the same as adding “if” in
front of a phrase in English. Now lets have a look at a few full example sentences for 的话:

你喜欢的话就多吃点。
Nǐ xǐhuan dehuà jiù duō chī diǎn.

If you like it, eat a bit more.

我们弄丢了的话，怎么办？
Wǒmen nòng diūle dehuà, zěnme bàn?

If we've lost it, what'll we do?

不是他们的话，那么又会是谁？
Bùshì tāmen dehuà, nàme yòu huì shì shuí ne?

If it wasn't them, then who else could it be?

This structure is the simplest way to use de hua in Chinese, but this word can also be combined
with others in slightly more complex structures.

Chinese grammar de hua with other words

As mentioned above, 的话 can also be used in combination with other words to express “if”. Each
of these words is placed _before _the statement, and 的话 is placed after it as usual. This can
alter the register (formality) and tone of the sentence.
要是……的话 (yàoshi……dehuà)

The least formal of the words we’re covering here is probably 要是……的话. This is a very
common way to express “if” in Chinese. The structure is:

要是 [statement] 的话

As you can see, 要是 goes before the statement and 的话 is placed after it. Here’s a quick
example sentence:

要是去北京的话，一定要看一下天安门广场。
Yàoshi qù Běijīng dehuà, yīdìng yào kàn yīxià tiān'ānmén guǎngchǎng.

If you go to Beijing, definitely have a look at Tiananmen Square.

Note that in all these examples, 的话 is optional and can be left out.

如果……的话 (rúguǒ……dehuà)

The next structure is 如果……的话, and it’s just a little bit more formal than 要是……的话. It’s still
not particularly formal though, and you can use it day to day in normal speech. An example:

如果不努力学习的话，就考不上大学。
Rúguǒ bù nǔlì xuéxí dehuà, jiù kǎo bù shàng dàxué.

If you don't study hard, you won't be able to get into university.

万一……的话 (wànyī……dehuà)

This structure is slightly different to the others in this article. It’s not a general purpose word for
“if”. Instead, it’s more like “in the unlikely event that”. Here’s an example:

万一我来晚的话，请不要等我。
Wàn yī wǒ lái wǎn dehuà, qǐng bùyào děng wǒ.

If by any chance I arrive late, please don't wait for me.

假如……的话 (jiǎrú……dehuà)

Moving up the formality scale, we get to 假如……的话. This is not a general purpose “if” word
either. 假如 is used only to express totally hypothetical situations that currentlyaren’t true, rather
than simple options or alternatives. An example:

假如我有一双翅膀的话，我会在蓝天飞翔。
Jiǎrú wǒ yǒu yīshuāng chìbǎng dehuà, wǒ huì zài lántiān fēixiáng.

If I had wings, I would fly in the blue sky.

假设……的话 (jiǎshè……dehuà)

Another special purpose word, 假设 means more than just “if”. It also includes the sense of
“supposing”. Again, it’s for more hypothetical, non-true situations. An example:

假设李先生从来没来过这里的话，那他怎么可能是凶手呢？
Jiǎshè li xiānshēng cónglái méi láiguò zhèlǐ dehuà, nà tā zěnme kěnéng shì xiōngshǒu ne?

Supposing Mr Li had never been here, then how could he be the killer?

假使……的话 (jiǎshǐ……dehuà)

This is the last of the hypothetical, “supposing” if words here. 假使 is probably the most formal of
these (as always, if you don’t agree, please leave a comment below).

假使你遇到这种问题的话，你怎么办？
Jiǎshǐ nǐ yù dào zhè zhǒng wèntí dehuà, nǐ zěnme bàn?

What if you encounter this kind of problem - then what will you do?

若是……的话 (ruòshì……dehuà)

Now we’re back on to the true, general purpose “if” words. These last two are more formal than
the rest. The first is 若是. Here’s an example:

若是一切可以重来的话，我不会再那样对他了。
Ruòshì yīqiè kěyǐ chóng lái dehuà, wǒ bù huì zài nàyàng duì tāle.
If I could do everything again, I wouldn't treat him like that.

倘若……的话 (tǎngruò……dehuà)

This last one is very formal and not for casual use. The writer 鲁迅 (Lu Xun) was particularly fond
of this expression in his writing. It’s just a very formal way to say “if”. Here’s an example:

倘若分裂的话，我们则无所作为。
Tǎngruò fēnliè dehuà, wǒmen zé wúsuǒzuòwéi.

If we are divided, we will achieve nothing.

Got questions? Suggestions? Please share them in the comments!

When should you put 的 (de) after

adjectives in Chinese grammar?
Sometimes in Chinese you see the particle 的 (de) after adjectives, but sometimes you don’t.
What is the rule for whether or not you should put 的 after an adjective?

As usual with Chinese grammar, there isn’t a 100% concrete rule for this, but there is a strong
guideline. In general, you need to put 的 after a two-syllable adjective, and should not put it after
a single-syllable adjective.

As always, remember that there can be exceptions to these “rules”. They are just useful guidelines
that help you get a better sense of the language. Always include lots of listening and reading in
your learning diet to get a real feel for Chinese.

Don’t put 的 after single-syllable adjectives

In general, you should not put 的 after a single-syllable adjective. Adjectives with just one syllable
can usually be placed directly before a noun to modify it. Some examples:

辣菜
làcài

spicy food
美女
měinǚ

pretty girl

帅哥
shuàigē

handsome guy

坏人
huàirén

bad person

好人
hǎorén

good person

The words above are actually more like compound nouns that function as individual units. There’s
no need to separate them with 的. You might use these words in sentences like these, for
example:

我很喜欢吃辣菜。
Wǒ hěn xǐhuan chī là cài.

I really like eating spicy food.

他是好人。
Tā shì hǎorén.

He's a good person.

那个城市帅哥很多。
Nàgè chéngshì shuàigē hěnduō.

There are a lot of handsome guys in that city.

As you can see, these words are really just compound nouns consisting of an adjective that
modifies a noun. You don’t need to put 的 after these single-syllable adjectives.
Do put 的 after multi-syllable adjectives

If you add in extras that make the adjective longer, then you have to use 的. For example, if you
put 很 (hěn) in front of the adjective to intensify it, it’s now two syllables and you should put 的
after it.

Some examples:

很坏的人
hěn huài de rén

very bad person

十分大的房子
shífēn dà de fángzi

very big house

非常贵的车
fēicháng guì de chē

extremely expensive car

The adjective in this structure can be as long as you like, or even be replaced with a more
complicated phrase, and still be used to modify the noun. All you have to do isput 的 in between.

As well as adjectives that have been modified and become multi-syllable, there are also adjectives
that are multi-syllable on their own. These should also have 的 after them when used to modify
nouns. Some examples:

好看的人
hǎokàn de rén

good-looking person

红色的衣服
hóngsè de yīfú

red clothes

舒服的椅子
shūfú de yǐzi

comfortable chair

友好的老师
yǒuhǎo de lǎoshī

friendly teacher

The only rule you have to remember is that if the adjective is one syllable, you usually don’t put 的
after it. Otherwise, no matter what the adjective is, you should usually use 的.

Past events in Mandarin Chinese

grammar (there's no past tense!)
Talking about past events in Chinese is actually quite straightforward, because Chinese does not
have tenses. That is, you don’t need to change the verb to indicate when something happened like
you do in English.

Instead, Chinese tends to rely on context to indicate that something happened in the past. You
can simply indicate that the event happened in the past with a time word like “yesterday” or “two
hours ago”. Sometimes you don’t need to indicate past at all.

Past events with time words

This is often the easiest and most straightforward way to talk about past events. By including a
time word that sets the event in time, you make it clear when it happened. Sometimes you don’t
even need to change the sentence in any other way.

Below is a list of common time words for past events, but there are of course endless time words
in Chinese. This list should get you started.

昨天 (zuótiān): yesterday
我昨天在食堂吃饭了。
Wǒ zuótiān zài shítáng chīfàn le.

Yesterday I ate in the canteen.

我昨天遇见了他。
Wǒ zuótiān yùjiàn le tā.

I bumped into him yesterday.

昨天发生了一件有趣的事。
Zuótiān fāshēngle yī jiàn yǒuqù de shì.

Something interesting happened yesterday.

前天 (qiántiān): the day before yesterday

他前天到北京的。
Tā qiántiān dào Běijīng de.

He arrived in Beijing the day before yesterday.

假如今天是星期五，前天就是星期三。
Jiǎrú jīntiān shì xīngqíwǔ, qiántiān jiùshì xīngqísān.

If today is Friday, the day before yesterday was Wednesday.

我前天收到了你的信。
Wǒ qiántiān shōudào le nǐ de xìn.

I received your letter the day before yesterday.

上个星期 (shàng ge xīngqī): last week

上个星期我感冒了。
Shàng gè xīngqī wǒ gǎnmàole.

I had a cold last week.

上个星期天天下雪。
Shàng gè xīngqī tiāntiān xiàxuě.

It snowed every day last week.

她上个星期没有上课。
Tā shàng gè xīngqī méiyǒu shàngkè.

She didn't go to class last week.

上个月 (shàng ge yuè): last month
现在是九月，那么上个月是八月。
Xiànzài shì jiǔyuè, nàme shàng gè yuè shì bāyuè.

It's September now, so last month was August.

我上个月在那里度假。
Wǒ shàng gè yuè zài nàlǐ dùjià.

I went on holiday there last month.

他上个月辞的职。
Tā shàng gè yuè cí de zhí.

He quit his job last month.

去年 (qùnián): last year

我们是去年认识的。
Wǒmen shì qùnián rènshi de.

We met last year.

我去年就戒烟了。
Wǒ qùnián jiù jièyānle.

I quit smoking last year.

我去年夏天去了中国旅游。
Wǒ qùnián xiàtiān qùle zhōngguó lǚyóu.

I went travelling in China last summer.

前年 (qiánnián): the year before last

他前年去世的。
Tā qiánnián qùshì de.

He passed away the year before last.

前年这里下大雪。
Qiánnián zhèlǐ xià dàxuě.
There was heavy snowfall here the year before last.

她前年退休的。
Tā qiánnián tuìxiū de.

She retired the year before last.

以前 (yǐqián): before

This is a general purpose word for talking about past events or situations. It’s a very easy way to
express “used to” or “in the past”.

以前，他不喜欢吃辣的东西。
Yǐqián, tā bù xǐhuan chī là de dōngxi.

Before, he didn't like eating spicy things.

以前，我们没有手机。
Yǐqián, wǒmen méiyǒu shǒujī.

In the past, we didn't have mobile phones.

以前，他很害羞。
Yǐqián, tā hěn hàixiū.

He used to be very shy.

……前
(qián)
： … ago

By putting a specific amount of time in front of 前, you can express how long ago the past event
happened or was happening.

十年前他来到了中国。
Shí nián qián tā lái dàole Zhōngguó.

He arrived in China ten years ago.

一个小时前我们去散了个步。
Yīgè xiǎoshí qián wǒmen qù sànle gè bù.
We went on a walk an hour ago.

三个月前她在上海。
Sān gè yuè qián tā zài Shànghǎi.

She was in Shanghai three months ago.

……的时候 (de shíhou): when …

You can place things in time with 的时候 - it goes after the event or action it’s linked to.

我小的时候不喜欢吃蔬菜。
Wǒ xiǎo de shíhou bù xǐhuan chī shūcài.

I didn't like eating vegetables when I was little.

他做饭的时候伤到了自己。
Tā zuò fàn de shíhou shāngdào le zìjǐ.

He injured himself whilst cooking.

我在美国的时候很想家。
Wǒ zài Měiguó de shíhou hěn xiǎng jiā.

I was very homesick when I was in America.

Negate past events with 没 (méi)

To negate past events in Chinese, i.e. to say that something didn’t happen, you can use 没 or 没有.

对不起，刚才没听见。
Duìbùqǐ, gāngcái méi tīngjiàn.

Sorry, I didn't hear you.

我没想到在这里会碰到你。
Wǒ méi xiǎngdào zài zhèlǐ huì pèng dào nǐ.

I didn't expect to bump into you here.

你没有犯错误。
Nǐ méiyǒu fàn cuòwù.
You didn't make a mistake.

Past events with 是……的 (shì…de)

A slightly trickier way to talk about past events in Chinese is with the 是……的
construction construction in Chinese grammar”). As this isn’t the main topic of this post we won’t
go into too much detail, but the structure for this is:

[subject] 是 [detail] [action] 的

You can use this structure to emphasise certain details about an action, such as where or when it
happened. 是……的 is usually used to talk about past events. Some examples:

我们是在伦敦认识的。
Wǒmen shì zài Lúndūn rènshi de.
We met in London. It was in London that we met.

我是跟我哥哥一起开车去青岛的。
Wǒ shì gēn wǒ gēgē yīqǐ kaichē qù Qīngdǎo de.
I drove to Qingdao with my brother. It was with my brother that I drove to Qingdao.

他们是去年搬的家。
Tāmen shì qùnián bān de jiā.
They moved house last year. It was last year that they moved house.

Each of the example sentences for 是……的 has been given a double translation to show how this
structure draws attention to certain details of the action. Read more:是……的 construction.

Chinese has aspect but not tense

Always remember that Chinese does not have a past tense. It doesn’t have any tenses at all. What
it does have, though, is something called aspect.

Unlike tense, aspect isn’t about when an action happened but whether or not it is completed in
the time-frame we’re talking about. Aspect can appear in the past, present or future.
This is the difference between “I will have done it” and “I will do it”. Both of those sentences are
future tense, but in one of them the action is complete and in the other it isn’t complete.

了 (le) is not about the past!

One of the uses of the particle 了 in Chinese is to mark completed aspect. Many learners of
Chinese confuse this for 了 being about past events or the past tense. It’s not!

了 will often appear in sentences about the past, but it can also appear with present or future
actions. It’s an aspect marker (amongst other things), not a tense marker.

This is quite hard to grasp, but try not to over-think it in the early stages. The best advice is to
simply listen to and read as much Chinese as you can (that is nearly always the best thing you can
do for your Chinese).

When 在 (zài) comes after the verb in

Chinese grammar
In Chinese grammar, the preposition 在 (zài) can sometimes appear after the verb. This can be
confusing for people learning Chinese, because in most constructions prepositions like 在 should
come before the verb.

First, let’s have a look at the more common, ‘normal’ placement of 在 in a Chinese sentence:

我在家里学习。
Wǒ zài jiālǐ xuéxí.

I study at home.

Notice how the preposition 在家里 comes before the verb in this Chinese sentence. This is
different to English, in which the preposition ‘at home’ comes after the verb. However, in some
situations, 在 can come after the verb in Chinese as well.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a nice, general rule that decides whether or not 在 should go before or
after the verb. Normally it should come before, but with verbs that
indicate position, movement or placement, 在 should come after. There are also specific verbs
that nearly always appear in this structure.

As always, we recommend listening and reading as much real Chinese as you can to get a natural
feel for these situations. In the meantime, let’s have a look at some example sentences to try and
demonstrate this point.

在 often comes after the verb 住 (zhù)

The most common situation where 在 comes after the verb is probably in 住在 - ‘to live in [a
place]‘. The basic structure for this is:

[person] 住在 [place]

That is the set, standard way to talk about people living in specific locations. Some examples:

我住在香港。
Wǒ zhù zài Xiānggǎng.

I live in Hong Kong.

他住在哪儿？
Tā zhù zài nǎr?

Where does he live?

我以前住在泰国，但现住在俄罗斯。
Wǒ yǐqián zhù zài Tàiguó, dàn xiàn zhù zài èluósī.

I used to live in Thailand, but now I live in Russia.

我出生于东京，但现住在柏林。
Wǒ chūshēng yú Dōngjīng, dàn xiàn zhù zài Bólín.

I was born in Tokyo, but now I live in Berlin.

As you can see, 在 comes after the verb in each of these sentences. This is a very common
structure, and you can’t put 在 before the verb in this situation.

在 often comes after the verb 坐 (zuò)

Another very common situation in which 在 comes after the verb is with the verb 坐 - ‘to sit’. You
might notice the similarity between 坐在 and 住在 - both are about position or placement. Let’s
have a look at some examples for 坐在:

请你坐在这里。
Qǐng nǐ zuò zài zhèlǐ.

Please sit here.

我可以坐在这里吗？
Wǒ kěyǐ zuò zài zhèlǐ ma?

Can I sit here?

他坐在那里发愣。
Tā zuò zài nàlǐ fālèng.

He sat there daydreaming.

It might be helpful to think of 住在 and 坐在 as set vocabulary items, and try to practice using
them in various sentences. This way you will get used to putting 在 and the location after these
verbs.

在 often comes after the verb 放 (fàng)

Our last example verb here is 放 - ‘to put’ or ‘to place’. Hopefully you can see the pattern with
these verbs - they’re all about placement or location.

放在桌子上。
Fàng zài zhuōzi shàng.

Put it on the table.

不要把脏衣服放在床上！
Bùyào bǎ zàng yīfú fàng zài chuángshàng!

Don't put dirty clothes on the bed!

工具应该放在手边。
Gōngjù yīnggāi fàng zài shǒubiān.

You should keep your tools close at hand.

我把我买的东西放在包里。
Wǒ bǎ wǒ mǎi de dōngxi fàng zài bāolǐ.

I put the things I bought in the bag.

(See also: 把 (bǎ) structure)

Whilst we’ve only looked at 住在, 坐在 and 放在 in this article, there are many more situations in
which 在 may come after the verb. These are just the most common situations which beginners
are likely to encounter. If you’re interested, have a look at a few more example sentences with
some other verbs:

请把名字写在这里。
Qǐng bǎ míngzì xiě zài zhèlǐ.

Please write your name here.

我把雨伞忘在家里了。
Wǒ bǎ yǔsǎn wàng zài jiālǐ le.

I left my umbrella at home.

你生在哪儿？
Nǐ shēng zài nǎr?

Where were you born?

How to use 跟 (gēn) and 也 (yě) correctly

in Chinese grammar
Some people learning Mandarin Chinese can get the words 跟 (gēn) and 也 (yě) confused, or use
them incorrectly. The two words have related meanings and functions, but they’re used quite
differently. Here’s a quick explanation of the differences between 跟 and 也.
跟 (gēn): “and”, “with” (conjunction)
跟 is a conjunction.

As with 和, you can’t use 跟 to link verbs or verb phrases. This is an important point, and using 跟
or 和 to link verbs is a common mistake that people learning Mandarin often make.

Always remember that you can only use 跟 to link nouns together. That is, it links things not
actions.

Have a look at some example sentences for 跟:

我跟我男朋友去北京的。
Wǒ gēn wǒ nánpéngyǒu qù Běijīng de.

I went to Beijing with my boyfriend.

我跟我爸爸都是老师。
Wǒ gēn wǒ bàba dōu shì lǎoshī.

My father and I are both teachers.

你跟你的室友合得来吗？
Nǐ gēn nǐ de shìyou hédelái ma?

Do you get on well with your flat mates?

我喜欢学中国的历史跟文学。
Wǒ xǐhuan xué Zhōngguó de lìshǐ gēn wénxué.

I like studying Chinese history and literature.

As you can see, 跟 is simply used to link nouns together, where “with” or “and” might be used in
English.

也 (yě): “also” (adverb)

也 is an adverb meaning “also”, “too”, “as well”, “either” etc. Unlike 跟, it links verbs, verb
phrases and adjectives (remember that adjectives often behave like verbs in Chinese). That’s the
most important difference between 跟 and 也:跟 links nouns, 也 links verbs.
Have a look at some example sentences for 也:

我爸爸是老师，我也是老师。
Wǒ bàba shì lǎoshī, wǒ yěshì lǎoshī.

My father is a teacher; I am also a teacher.

我去问她了，她也不知道怎么办。
Wǒ qù wèn tā le, tā yě bù zhīdào zěnme bàn.

I went to ask her, and she didn't know what to do either.

他也很帅。
Tā yě hěn shuài.

He is also good-looking.

*A:* 我喜欢炒饭。
Wǒ xǐhuan chǎofàn.
I like fried rice. *B:* 我也喜欢。
Wǒ yě xǐhuan.
I like it too.

Notice how 也 always links verbs or adjectives, and 跟 always links nouns.

Using 人 (rén) and 男人 (nánrén) - "man"

- correctly in Mandarin Chinese
The words 人 (rén) and 男人 (nánrén) in Chinese are sometimes misused by English speakers.
There are probably two main reasons for this:

 The English word “man” can mean “the human race”, whereas 男人 in Chinese cannot.
 In English, it is common to refer to a man as “a man” rather than “a person”, but in Chinese
男人 tends to draw attention specifically to the person’s gender.
Let’s look at these two differences between the languages in turn. The main point to remember
here is that 男人 in Chinese is often quite different from “man” in English.

These differences might be obvious to some people, but depending on your linguistic background
and experience it might be helpful to have these differences pointed out.

男人 ≠ “the human race”

The first difference between “man” and 男人 is probably the most straightforward. English can
use “man” to refer to “the human race” as a whole. Although this usage is becoming less common,
a lot of fairly recent texts and films from the twentieth century use “man” and “men” this way,
and we still use words like “man-made”.

In Chinese, though, you absolutely cannot use 男人 to refer to “the human race”. It specifically
means “male person”, and can only be used to refer to males.

To speak about people in general Chinese, you should just use 人 on its own. The word “man-
made” in Chinese is 人为 (rénwéi) or 人造 (rénzào). Literally these are “person-made” - no gender
involved! Similarly, “humans” or “the human race” are 人类 (rénlèi) - “human kind”.

Let’s have a look at some example sentences in Chinese using 人 in this general sense:

人类不断地犯错误。
Rénlèi bùduànde fàn cuòwù.
Human beings constantly make mistakes.

人类会永远生存下去吗？
Rénlèi huì yǒngyuǎn shēngcún xiàqù ma?
Will the human race survive forever?

许多人造卫星已经发射到地球轨道。
Xǔduō rénzào wèixīng yǐjīng fāshè dào dìqiú guǐdào.
Many man-made satellites have already been put into orbit.

人造的纺织品通常比天然的纺织品还要坚韧。
Rénzào de fǎngzhīpǐn tōngcháng bǐ tiānrán de fǎngzhīpǐn hái yào jiānrèn.
Man-made fabrics are often more durable than natural ones

As you can see, whilst you could translate the Chinese sentences into English using “man” or
“men”, there is no use of 男人 at all.

男人 and 女人 draw attention to gender

This difference is far less concrete than the one above, and is probably quite debatable. However,
it’s often that case that the words 男人 and 女人 (nǚrén) in Chinese are used when the person’s
gender is particularly relevant. Otherwise you just say 人.

In other words, in English we often refer to people as “a man” or “a woman”, and less often as “a
person”. In Chinese, though, you can often just say “a person”.

For example, in English you would probably say “he’s a very popular guy”, and less commonly say
“he’s a very popular person”. Again, this may differ from person to person. In any case, it’s usually
better to say “person” in Chinese unless the gender is very relevant.

Some examples:

他是一个备受欢迎的人。
Tā shì yīgè bèi shòu huānyíng de rén.

He's a very popular guy. (person)

她是个很有成就的人。
Tā shìgè hěn yǒu chéngjiù de rén.

She is a very successful woman. (person)

前门有个人来找你。
Qiánmén yǒu gèrén lái zhǎo nǐ.

There is a man / a woman / someone to see you at the door.

Again, you could of course say “person” in each of the above sentences in English. Happily, this
practice is becoming more and more common in English as people put less emphasis on gender.
The point here is that it’s usually better to use 人 in Chinese.
The situations where you should use 男人 and 女人 in Chinese are when you really are singling
out men or women and not including both genders. Some examples:

女人一般比男人长寿。
Nǚrén yībān bǐ nánrén chángshòu.

Women usually live longer than men.

男人工作时受伤机率比女人的大。
Nánrén gōngzuò shí shòushāng jīlǜ bǐ nǚrén de dà.

Men are injured at work more often than women.

女性的平均工资仍然没有男性的高。
Nǚxìng de píngjūn gōngzī réngrán méiyǒu nánxìng de gāo.

The average salary of women is still not as high as that of men.

The difference between 碰见 (pèngjiàn),

遇见 (yùjiàn) and 见面 (jiànmiàn) in
Chinese
The Chinese verbs 碰见 (pèngjiàn), 遇见 (yùjiàn) and 见面 (jiànmiàn) can be easy to get confused
because of their similarity. Whilst all three words can mean “to meet”, they’re actually quite
different in usage and grammar. Here’s a quick explanation of how to use these words correctly.

The first point to remember is that 碰见 and 遇见 are actually very similar to each other, whilst 见
面 is very different.

碰见 and 遇见: unexpected encounters

碰见 and 遇见 are very similar in grammar and usage. Both of them mean “to meet”, but in the
sense of “to bump into”, “to run into” or “to meet unexpectedly”. They’re very similar in meaning,
so don’t worry too much about any differences between the two.
The other thing to remember about these two verbs is that they are transitive. That simply means
that they can take an object - Wikipedia”). E.g. in “I met someone”,someone is the object.

Some example sentences for 碰见 and 遇见:

今天我碰见了一个老朋友。
Jīntiān wǒ pèngjiànle yīgè lǎo péngyǒu.

Today I bumped into an old friend.

我上个星期在聚会上偶然遇见了他。
Wǒ shàng gè xīngqí zài jùhuì shàng ǒurán yùjiànle tā.

I bumped into him at a party last week.

我从来没碰见过一个像你这样的女孩儿。
Wǒ cónglái méi pèngjiànguò yīgè xiàng nǐ zhèyàng de nǚháir.

I've never met a girl like you before.

我昨天在车站遇见了一个帅哥。
Wǒ zuótiān zài chēzhàn yùjiànle yīgè shuàigē.

I met a handsome guy at the bus stop yesterday.

Hopefully you can get the sense that 碰见 and 遇见 are about bumping into people unexpectedly.
You might already know the person or be meeting them for the first time, but the meeting was
unplanned.

Also note how 碰见 and 遇见 always take an object (they are transitive verbs).

见面: planned meetings

Unlike 碰见 and 遇见, 见面 is about meeting someone intentionally. This could be informally
planning to see a friend or arranging to meet with your boss, but 见面 usually means it’s
intentional.

The other big difference between 见面 and 碰见 / 遇见 is that 见面 is intransitive. That is, it can’t
take any objects (it can’t have a noun after it). Notice that 见面 almost contains its own object
with 面 (it’s a separable verb, with other words in between.“)).
This means you have to use structures like this:

[subject] 跟 [noun] 见面

You can use various conjunctions instead of 跟, e.g. 和 (hé) or 与 (yǔ), but remember that you
can’t put that noun directly after 见面. Alternatively, you can just use 见面 without the noun at all.

Some example sentences for 见面:

我希望我们能多和你见面。
Wǒ xīwàng wǒmen néng duō hé nǐ jiànmiàn.

I hope that we will see you more often.

我们见面时间安排在一星期后。
Wǒmen jiànmiàn shíjiān ānpái zài yī xīngqí hòu.

Let's arrange to meet in one week's time.

你们经常见面吗？
Nǐmen jīngcháng jiànmiàn ma?

Do you often see each other?

我想我们以前没见过面。
Wǒ xiǎng wǒmen yǐqián méi jiànguò miàn.

I don't think we've met before.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please share them in the comments.

Level B1
With B1 level Chinese, you're able to:

1. Understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly
encountered in work, school, leisure, etc.
2. Deal with most situations likely to arise while traveling in an area where Chinese is spoken.
 3. Produce simple connected text on topics that are familiar or of personal interest.
4. Describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions and briefly give reasons
and explanations for opinions and plans.

Essential B1 articles
1. Understanding 把 (bǎ) in ten minutes
2. The 是…的 (shì…de) construction in Chinese grammar
3. Chinese grammar 把 structure: a basic introduction
4. Chinese grammar de particles summary: 的, 地 and 得

Important B1 articles
1. How to use 拿起来 (náqilai) and 拿上来 (náshanglai) correctly in Chinese grammar
2. How to use 没关系 (mei2 guānxi) in Chinese: it doesn't matter, not related to

Supplementary B1 articles
1. How to use 碰 (pèng), 碰见 (pèngjiàn) and 碰上 (pèngshàng) in Chinese grammar
2. 接 (jiē) and 接到 (jiēdào) in Chinese grammar: answering and receiving
3. How to use 对 (duì) and 跟 (gēn) as prepositions in Chinese grammar
4. The difference between 对不起 (duìbuqǐ), 请问 (qǐngwèn), 麻烦你 (máfan nǐ) and 劳驾
(láojià)
5. 长 (zhǎng) vs 长得 (zhǎngde) in Chinese grammar
6. How to use 划算 (huásuàn) in Mandarin Chinese: to be a bargain
7. The difference between 终于 (zhōngyú) and 最后 (zuìhòu) in Mandarin Chinese: 'finally' vs
'the last'
8. When 给 (gěi) comes directly after verbs in Mandarin Chinese (verb-给 compounds)
9. The difference between 半 (bàn), 一半 (yí bàn) and 一个半 (yí ge bàn) in Chinese grammar
10. Common mistakes with 把 (bǎ) in Chinese grammar

Understanding 把 (bǎ) in ten minutes

One of the difficulties of learning Chinese grammar (or any other language) is that everyone learns
in different ways and responds better to different learning materials.

Because of that, we try to cover Chinese grammar points from different angles and with different
styles of articles.

This one is a super-short introduction to 把 (bǎ) that let’s you get to grips with this structure in
less than 10 minutes.

What is the 把 structure?

The standard Chinese sentence structure is SVO: subject verb object. For example:

我卖了自行车。
Wǒ màile zìxíngchē.

I sold the bike.

把 comes in and swaps the object and verb around:

我把自行车卖了。
Wǒ bǎ zìxíngchē màile.

I sold the bike.

As you can see, the meaning hasn’t changed, just the sentence structure. In the end that’s all
there is to 把: the structure becomes subject 把 object verb.

What is the point of 把?

The first question a lot of people ask when seeing this is “What is the point of 把? Why would I
use this?”

There are two answers to this question.

The first is that 把 is super common and it’s essential that you know and use it if you’re going to
have good Chinese.
From the perspective of a language learner, it doesn’t matter why Chinese is like this. It just is, and
you need to know about it.

The second answer would be one that tries to explain why Chinese has ended up with this
structure. As far as I know there is no definitive answer, but one theory is that it makes the
sentence easier to understand as we get to know what the object is sooner.

When is 把 used?
把 is the preferred way to form a sentence when:

 There’s a specific object involved that the speaker and listener both know about.
 The sentence is about an action happening to the object.
 The sentence deals with what happens to the object in the end.

Those aren’t hard and fast rules, just a brief summary in the limited space we have here.

As usual, I’d recommend that you don’t bother memorising rules and instead aim to build a
natural feel for the language through a lot of practice and exposure.

Quick 把 examples
Here are three quick example sentences using 把 to get you started:

我把苹果吃掉了。
Wǒ bǎ píngguǒ chī diàole.

I ate the apple.

我把作业写完了。
Wǒ bǎ zuòyè xiě wánle.

I'm finishing my homework.

我要把这个送给他。
Wǒ yào bǎ zhège sòng gěi tā.

I'm going to give this to him.

Notice that none of these sentences leave the verb hanging at the end of the sentence. There’s
always something else to finish it off.

This is due to the third point above: 把 is used to talk about what happens to the object in the end.
We can’t leave the verb exposed at the end of the sentence because that wouldn’t cover the final
result of the action on the object.

Common ways to use 把

To finish off, here are some quick fire examples of common sentence patterns involving 把.

把 with 了
我把钱包弄丢了。
Wǒ bǎ qiánbāo nòng diūle.

I lost my wallet.

我把书看完了。
Wǒ bǎ shū kàn wánle.

I finished reading the book.

把 with an indirect object

不要把钱给他们。
Bùyào bǎ qián gěi tāmen.

Don't give them the money.

把 with 成
把这句话翻译成韩语。
Bǎ zhè jù huà fānyì chéng hányǔ.

Translate this sentence into Korean.

把 with complements
请把菜拿过来。
Qǐng bǎ cài ná guòlái.
Please bring the food over.

今天把我累坏了。
Jīntiān bǎ wǒ lèi huàile.

Today has tired me out.

那部电影把我吓得要死。
Nà bù diànyǐng bǎ wǒ xià dé yàosǐ.

That film scared me to death.

That’s about as much as we can cram into a ten minute read. To build your understanding, take a
look at some of the other 把 articles on this site and elsewhere.

Common mistakes with 把 (bǎ) in Chinese

grammar
The 把 structure in Chinese is common and important, but quite difficult to get right. It’s a big
issue and there’s a lot to learn, but have a look at this quick list of common 把 mistakes. It might
save you some time if you iron these out before they become habits!

✗ Don't use 把 when there's no disposal

When you fist learn about the 把 structure, the hardest thing to grasp is the idea ofdisposal.
Disposal simply means that something happened to the object and it was affected.

The structure 把 is used to talk about this ‘disposal’. If there’s no disposal, then you can’t use 把.
Have a look at the following tips to get a better understanding of when to use 把.

✔ Use 把 to talk about things being put in places

One of the most common uses of 把 is to talk about things being put in places. This is done with
the verb 放 (fàng). In fact, the 把 structure is so perfect for describing this that you pretty
much have to use 把 in these situations. Here are some example sentences with 把 and 放:

把你的包放在那边吧。
Bǎ nǐ de bāo fàng zài nà biān ba.

Put your bag over there.

我把我买的东西放在桌子上了。
Wǒ bǎ wǒ mǎi de dōngxi fàng zài zhuōzi shàngle.

I put the things I bought on the table.

In both these situations, the 把 structure really is the best way to describe the situation. The
object (the bag or the things) are being put somewhere, and that’s theirdisposal.

✔ Use 把 to talk about things being changed

If the object gets changed or altered in some way, you should probably use 把. This is especially
true if the objects gets changed into something else. Let’s have a look at some examples:

把面包切成三片。
Bǎ miànbāo qiè chéng sān piàn.

Cut the bread into three slices.

我把我的自行车换成了吉他。
Wǒ bǎ wǒ de zìxíngchē huàn chéngle jítā.

I swapped my bike for a guitar.

你能不能把这些句子翻译成英文？
Nǐ néng bùnéng bǎ zhèxiē jù zǐ fānyì chéng yīngwén?

Can you translate these sentences into English?

我把“夫”写成了“天”。
Wǒ bǎ “fu” xiěchéngle “tiān”.
I wrote "天" instead of "夫".

In each of these cases, something has been changed. Notice how it doesn’t have to be a physical
object or a physical change - translations and mistakes count as ‘changes’ that work very well with
把.
✔ Use 把 to talk about things being finished or used up

Another common use of the 把 construction is to describe things being finished or used up. This
works because the object has been directly affected - there’s less of it now (at least figuratively).
Some examples:

我把作业做完了。
Wǒ bǎ zuòyè zuò wánle.

I've finished the homework.

不要把我的啤酒喝完了。
Bùyào bǎ wǒ de píjiǔ hē wánle.

Don't finish off all my beer!

她要腾出一个晚上把论文给写完。
Tā yào téng chū yīgè wǎnshàng bǎ lùnwén gěi xiě wán.

She's going to set aside an evening to finish writing her essay.

Notice that the structure for this is:

把 [object] [verb] 完

The 完 at the end completes the structure and shows the disposal of the object. The need for the
把 structure to be complete in this way is explained further below.

✔ Use 把 to talk about things being damaged or destroyed

The 把 structure is very good for talking about the object being damaged or destroyed, as that’s a
very direct effect! When used in this way, 把 often appears with the verb 弄 (nòng). Here some
some examples:

我不小心地把你的笔弄坏了。
Wǒ bù xiǎoxīnde bǎ nǐ de bǐ nòng huàile.

I've accidentally broken your pen.

小心别把你的新衣服弄脏了。
Xiǎoxīn bié bǎ nǐ de xīn yīfú nòng zāng le.

Be careful not to get your new clothes dirty.

敌人用炸弹把桥摧毁了。
Dírén yòng zhàdàn bǎ qiáo cuīhuǐle.

The enemy destroyed the bridge with a bomb.

These situations are perfect for 把 because they all involve the disposal of the object - something
happened to it and it was affected.

✗ Don't use 把 with an indefinite object

As well as the disposal of the object, another requirement for 把 is that the object is specific. That
means that the speaker and listener both know exactly what the object is. The object should
be definite.

In English, this often means that the object will be preceded by “the” or a possessive such as “your”
or “his”. In Chinese, it often means that there will be words like 那个 or a possessive like 你的
before the object. In Chinese, definite objects can also be unmarked. I.e., there is nothing before
the object - just the object itself is enough to make it clear what the speaker is talking about.

✔ Give a definite quantity (or no quantity at all)

If you can put “一个” in front of the object, it’s not a definite object and probably shouldn’t be
used with 把. Indefinite objects are often marked with “a” in English. Only use definite objects
with 把. Some examples:

我把水果吃了。
Wǒ bǎ shuǐguǒ chīle.

I ate *the* fruit.

他把书弄丢了。
Tā bǎ shū nòng diūle.

He lost *the* books.

Notice how in each of these situations there could a quantity, but it isn’t be specified in the 把
construction. However, you can give a definite quantity in a 把 construction. This would make the
above sentences look like this:

我把那三块水果吃了。
Wǒ bǎ nà sān kuài shuǐguǒ chīle.

I ate *the* three pieces of fruit.

他把那两本书弄丢了。
Tā bǎ nà liǎng běn shū nòng diūle.

He lost *those* two books.

Hopefully the above examples show how the object has to be definite when using 把. The point is
that the object is a specific one that is clear in context.

✔ Use an object the listener already knows about

The main point of this section is that the object has to be one the listener knows about. It has to
be definite, or specific. Here are some more general examples:

把钱给我。
Bǎ qián gěi wǒ.

Give me *the* money.

请把那个包放在桌子上。
Qǐng bǎ nàgè bāo fàng zài zhuōzi shàng.

Please put *that* bag on the table.

别把你的东西弄丢了。
Bié bǎ nǐ de dōngxi nòng diūle.

Don't lose *your* stuff.

As mentioned above, definite objects in English are often marked with ‘the’, ‘that’, ‘this’, or a
possessive such as ‘your’ or ‘theirs’. These are the sort of objects you should use with 把.
✗ Not finishing off the 把 construction
You might have noticed in the examples and explanations above that there is always something
after the verb in a 把 construction. This is to show the disposal of the object. In other words, you
can’t just leave the verb hanging when you use 把. Finish it off with some sort of result or
emphasis.

✔ Use 了 (le)

把 very often appears with 了, because 了 marks a completed action (i.e., disposal!). Have a look
at some examples:

她把歌词写完了。
Tā bǎ gēcí xiě wánle.

She finished writing the lyrics.

他把房子卖了。
Tā bǎ fángzi màile.

He sold the house.

她把在大学的谈话压缩了。
Tā bǎ zài dàxué de tánhuà yāsuōle.

She cut short her talk at the university.

Without 了, the above sentences wouldn’t be valid 把 constructions, because the disposal of the
object hasn’t been completed without 了 capping off the sentence.

✔ Double-up the verb

Another way to complete a 把 construction is to double-up (reduplicate) the verb. This indicates
that the action is completed and that something has happened to the object. A couple of
examples:

你可以把我的自行车修一修吗？
Nǐ kěyǐ bǎ wǒ de zìxíngchē xiū yī xiū ma?
Can you fix my bike?

请你们不要忘了把书看看。
Qǐng nǐmen bùyào wàngle bǎ shū kànkan.

Please don't forget to read the book.

Note that reduplicating the verb in this way is the same as adding 一 in between (e.g. 看一看), or
了 (e.g. 看了看).

✔ Use a second object

You can also complete a 把 structure by adding a second object with 给 (gěi). Have a look at the
examples below to get a feel for this:

我把作业交给老师了。
Wǒ bǎ zuòyè jiāo gěi lǎoshīle.

I handed my homework in to the teacher.

把你的故事讲给我听听。
Bǎ nǐ de gùshì jiǎng gěi wǒ tīngting.

Tell me your story.

The verb 给 (literally ‘to give’) is often used in Chinese as a preposition like ‘to’ or ‘for’ in English.
It’s used to mark second objects in sentences, as shown above.

✔ Use verb + 成 + second object

Another way to add a second object is to use 成 (chéng) with 把. As mentioned above, if the
object is changed into something else, it often makes a good candidate for a 把 sentence. Have a
look at some examples:

他要把这首诗翻译成英文。
Tā yào bǎ zhè shǒu shī fānyì chéng Yīngwén.

He's going to translate this poem into English.

把蛋糕切成八块。
Bǎ dàngāo qiè chéng bā kuài.

Cut the cake into eight pieces.

This 把 + 成 structure is another very common use of 把.

✔ Use a descriptive complement

You may be interested to know that you can also use 把 to get a little bit more descriptive and
interesting than the standard things being moved around, changed, affected etc. This is commonly
done with a descriptive complement. This just means that some extra description comes right
after the verb.

Have a look at these examples:

今天把我吃得都不想动了。
Jīntiān bǎ wǒ chī de dōu bùxiǎng dòngle.

I've eaten so much today that I don't want to move.

他把我气得要命，就给了他一记耳光。
Tā bǎ wǒ qì dé yàomìng, jiù gěile tā yī jì ěrguāng.

He made me so angry I slapped him across the face.

Notice the [verb] + 得 + [description] in the sentences above. These sentences work well with 把
because the verb has a clear result or conclusion.

✔ Use a direction complement

And finally, you can also use 把 with another kind of verbal complement: the direction
complement. As the name suggests, this complement is used to describe the direction the action
of the verb follows. Some examples:

她把椅子搬到楼上去了。
Tā bǎ yǐzi bān dào lóu shàngqùle.

She took the chair upstairs.

请把牛奶从冰箱里拿出来。
Qǐng bǎ niúnǎi cóng bīngxiāng lǐ ná chūlái.

Please take the milk out of the fridge.

That rounds up this (rather long) list of 把 mistakes and correct usages. If you have any questions
or suggestions, please share them in the comments below!

Chinese grammar 把 structure: a basic

introduction
Once you’ve made some headway with Chinese grammar, you’ll come across one of the major
stumbling stones: the 把 structure. This structure is extremely common, so it’s essential to learn.
However, it can be a little tricky to grasp at first.

First we’ll explain what the 把 structure looks like and how to use it. Usually people find that’s the
easier part to understand. After that, we’ll talk about when you should use the 把 structure in
Chinese, which is what most people struggle with.

The basic 把 structure

A very basic Chinese sentence has an SOV (subject · verb · object) word order, as in English. For
example:

我吃面条。
Wǒ chī miàntiáo.

I eat noodles.

The 把 structure re-arranges this basic word order. The structure for it is:

[subject] 把 [object] [verb]

Now the word order is SOV. Cool, right? (We think grammar is cool, anyway). At its most basic,
that’s all there is to the 把 structure. You make the word order SOV, and put 把 after the subject.

Let’s have a look at some examples:

我把面条吃了。
Wǒ bǎ miàntiáo chīle.

I ate the noodles.

我把我的包放在桌子上了。
Wǒ bǎ wǒ de bāo fàng zài zhuōzi shàng le.

I put the bag on the table.

她把废纸扔进了垃圾桶。
Tā bǎ fèi zhǐ rēng jìn le lājī tǒng.

She threw the scrap paper into the bin.

If you’re really on the ball, you might have noticed that there is something else going on in those
example sentences. As well as the word order being SOV, there’s a little bit of extra information in
each one: what happened to the object.

This will be explained in more detail below, but for now just remember that the 把 structure is
always used to talk about the result of the action on the object. The noodles got eaten, the
bag got put down, the scrap paper got thrown in the bin.

The technical term for this is the disposal of the object, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it got
chucked out! It just means that some sort of action was completed on the object.

Asking questions with 把

You can of course combine 把 with question formations to make questions. This happens pretty
much as you would expect for the different ways of asking questions in Mandarin. Let’s have a
look at some examples:

你把我的啤酒都喝完了吗？
Nǐ bǎ wǒ de píjiǔ dōu hē wánle ma?

Did you finish all my beer?

你有没有把衣服放进洗衣机里？
Nǐ yǒu méiyǒu bǎ yīfú fàng jìn xǐyījī lǐ?
Have you put your clothes in the washing machine?

你最后把哪本书送给了他？
Nǐ zuìhòu bǎ nǎ běnshū sòng gěi le tā?

Which book did you give him in the end?

Notice how the 把 structure doesn’t really alter the way the question is asked. It just functions as
a part of the sentence.

Making negative sentences with 把

You can have negative sentences that include 把. All you do is put 不 or 没有 in front of 把. That
negates the whole 把 structure. Remember, though, that you can never negate within the 把
structure.

This is because, as mentioned above, the 把 structure is about what happened to the object. If
you negate within that, it doesn’t fit, because then nothing happened to the object.

Let’s have a look at some negative 把 sentences:

我没有把我的手机弄丢。
Wǒ méiyǒu bǎ wǒ de shǒujī nòng diū.

I didn't lose my phone.

你不要把我的东西弄乱了！
Nǐ bùyào bǎ wǒ de dōngxi nòng luànle!

Don't mess up my stuff!

你不要把书拿走。
Nǐ bùyào bǎ shū ná zǒu.

Don't take the book away.

他从来没有把他的学说写下来。
Tā cónglái méiyǒu bǎ tā de xuéshuō xiě xiàlái.

He never wrote down his theories.

Hopefully you can see how the 把 structure itself remains ‘intact’ despite the whole sentence
being negated. The point is that you can’t negate the verb inside a 把 structure, only the structure
as a whole.

When should you use the 把 structure?

Most students understand what the 把 structure is and how to form it, but aren’t surewhen to use
it. We mentioned briefly above that the 把 structure is about the disposalof the object. In other
words, that means that the 把 structure is about what happensto the object. There has to be an
action on the object, or some sort of ‘fate’ for the object.

Is the object affected, changed or used?

One way to think about disposal is that it means the object has been affected, changed or used.
Something has happened to its position, state, ownership, qualities, etc. If the sentence seems to
be focusing on what happened to the object, then you should try to use 把.

Notice that the character 把 has a hand radical (扌), and can mean “to grasp” or “to hold” on its
own. I like to use this as a little mnemonic device: the object has been handled or manipulated (at
least figuratively). This may help you remember what the 把 structure is about.

Are there situations where you have to use 把?

There are quite a lot of verbs (and situations that they describe) that really lend themselves to
using 把. The most common one is the verb 放. It’s just not really possible to talk about putting
things in places in Chinese without using 把. In general it is better to use 把 wherever the object
has been affected, changed, used etc., as this is likely to be the most natural way to express it.

When should you definitely not use 把?

Because the 把 structure is about the disposal of the object (how it is directly affected), you can’t
use it in any situation where nothing happens to the object. This includes all psychological
verbs such as 想 (to think of), 喜欢 (to like), 爱 (to love) etc. With those verbs, the object isn’t
actually affected in any way, so you can’t use 把.

What difference does it make if you use 把?

This is a question that pretty much everyone learning Mandarin will ask at some point, but it
seems that it’s pretty hard for anyone to answer it. Sometimes you can’t use 把 (because the
object isn’t affected), and sometimes you really should use 把 (because you’re talking about the
disposal of the object). But what about when using it and not using it are both OK? What’s the
difference?

As far as I know, if there is any real difference, it’s incredibly subtle. I don’t think that it makes any
significant difference in meaning.

Imagine asking a native English speaker what the difference is between “I bought my friend a
book” and “I bought a book for my friend”. There does seem to be some difference there, but it’s
negligible. I believe that it’s a similar situation when using 把 or not using it are both acceptable.

The best thing, as always, is to do as much listening as possible to get a natural feel for when 把 is
used. Learning grammar is helpful, but it can only ever be a shortcut to faster understanding when
listening and reading. Those should be the core of your learning, not focusing on grammar.

If you have any more insight into what difference it makes if you use 把, please share your
knowledge in the comments at the end of the page!

Looking at 把 and 被 as a set

One final thing to note is that 把 and 被 can be seen as a matching pair. They both go in the same
place in the sentence, and both are used to talk about what happens tothe object. 把 and 被 are
almost like mirror images of each other: 把 is for active sentences and 被 is for passive sentences.

It can be helpful to make this link in your mind, as it may help you get a better understanding of
both 把 and 被. See them as two sides of the same coin, and then whenever you see one you can
understand a little bit more about the other.

A very silly example

Obviously there aren’t many situations where you can swap 把 and 被 around and still have a
sentence that makes sense. However, here’s a very silly example that kind of works:

我把我奶奶卖掉了。
Wǒ bǎ wǒ nǎinai mài diàole.
I sold my grandma.

Now if we turn the tables and swap 把 for 被, we get:

我被我奶奶卖掉了。
Wǒ bèi wǒ nǎinai mài diàole.

I was sold by my grandma.

As we said, it’s quite silly, but hopefully it illustrates how 把 and 被 are counterparts.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please share them in the comments below!

How to use 碰 (pèng), 碰见 (pèngjiàn)

and 碰上 (pèngshàng) in Chinese
grammar
In this lesson we’re looking at three related but distinct words in Chinese: 碰, 碰见 and 碰上.

It’s always good to add more words to your vocabulary, but another advantage of lessons like this
is that they give another angle into useful grammar structures.

And, as always, there are plenty of example sentences for you to mine.

碰 (pèng)
碰 is the simplest of the three words explained here. It simply means “to touch” or “to hit” (in a
non-aggressive sense). This literal meaning lies behind the other two words.

Have a look at some example sentences:

他们碰了碰杯子。
Tāmen pèngle pèng bēizi.

They clinked their glasses together.

小心碰头。
Xiǎoxīn pèngtóu.

Mind your head.

别碰我！
Bié pèng wǒ!

Don't touch me!

她头一碰枕头就睡着了。
Tā tóu yī pèng zhěntou jiù shuìzhaole.

She was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

As you can see, 碰 is quite a versatile word, and can be used to describe various kinds of contact
between two things.

碰见 (pèngjiàn)
Unlike 碰, 碰见 has quite a specific meaning. It means “to bump into”, in the sense of
unexpectedly meeting someone. (See also: 碰见, 遇见 and 见面).

This is just a metaphorical extension of 碰, and is very similar to “bump into” in English.

Some examples:

我昨天碰见他了。
Wǒ zuótiān pèngjiàn tāle.

I bumped into him yesterday.

你猜我今天碰见谁了!
Nǐ cāi wǒ jīntiān pèngjiàn shéi le!

Guess who I ran into today!

我最近老是没碰见你。
Wǒ zuìjìn lǎo shì méi pèngjiàn nǐ.
I haven't bumped into you recently.

As with a lot of Chinese words, 碰见 makes a lot of sense when you break it down into its
component parts: “hit” and “see”.

碰上 (pèngshàng)
Just as 碰见 is an extension of 碰, you could say that 碰上 is an extension of 碰见.

Like 碰见, 碰上 can be used to talk about meeting people unexpectedly:

我以前经常碰上她。
Wǒ yǐqián jīngcháng pèng shàng tā.

I used to bump into her all the time.

我碰上了一个老朋友。
Wǒ pèng shàngle yīgè lǎo péngyǒu.

I bumped into an old friend.

碰上 also has a further meaning, which is to encounter something other than a person. That
sounds pretty creepy, but it’s actually just for situations like these:

看来我们要碰上一场暴风雨。
Kàn lái wǒmen yào pèng shàng yī chǎng bàofēngyǔ.

Looks like we're in for a storm.

我们谁都会不时碰上些小麻烦。
Wǒmen shéi dūhuì bùshí pèng shàng xiēxiǎo máfan.

We all encounter a few problems.

In these sentences, 碰上 could still be undersood as “to meet”, but in these cases it’s not about
meeting people. 碰上 can be used in this way, whereas 碰见 is exclusively for talking about
meeting people.
接 (jiē) and 接到 (jiēdào) in Chinese
grammar: answering and receiving
The verbs 接 (jiē) and 接到 (jiēdào) make a nice way to look at verbal complements in Chinese
grammar. They’re both used to talk about answering and receiving (e.g. with a telephone), but the
way they work grammatically is different and they have different meanings.

The difference lies with 到 and the change it makes to the meaning of a verb. By comparing 接
and 接到, you’ll get a gentle introduction into how 到 works and Chinese verbal complements in
general.

接 (jiē): to answer
On its own, 接 is a simple verb meaning ‘to answer’ or ‘to connect’. Originally 接 does mean
‘receive’, but its meaning is not as complete as ‘receive’ in English. The Chinese 接 is an action
verb, and only describes the attempt. We don’t know from 接 alone the result of the action.

In the following examples, 接 is used in this way as a simple action verb:

我要接个电话。
Wǒ yào jiē gè diànhuà.

I'm going to take a phone call.

请接一下电话。
Qǐng jiē yīxià diànhuà.

Please answer the phone.

没人接。
Méi rén jiē.

No-one's answering.

As you can see, whilst the action of answering or receiving a phone call is described, the result of
the action isn’t made totally clear.
接 can also mean ‘receive’ in the sense of meeting someone, especially at a particular time and
place. Have a look at some examples:

你可以来机场接我吗？
Nǐ kěyǐ lái jīchǎng jiē wǒ ma?

Can you come to the airport and meet me?

不用接我。
Bùyòng jiē wǒ.

There's no need to come and meet me.

我没有去接他。
Wǒ méiyǒu qù jiē tā.

I didn't go to meet him.

Again, notice how the action itself is described, but the actual result of the action isn’t specified.
The last sentence might seem like it does describe the result of 接, but look closer. It actually says
that no attempt to 接 anyone was made, so there’s no result.

To specify the result of what happens when you try to 接 something or someone, you need 到.
Let’s take a look.

接到 (jiēdào): to receive
When you add 到 after 接, you make it clear that the action was achieved or completed. 到 is the
result of trying to 接 something. You may know that 到 means ‘arrive’, and this sort of makes
sense here: our action of trying to 接 “arrived” at its target destination.

Many verbs in Chinese work in this way; on their own they don’t specify the result, but adding 到
(or one of a range of other result complements) makes the action complete.

Have a look at some examples with 接到:

我们还能接到他们吗？
Wǒmen hái néng jiē dào tāmen ma?
We will still be able to meet them?

你接到电话了吗？
Nǐ jiē dào diànhuàle ma?

Did you manage to answer the phone?

我没有接到电话。
Wǒ méiyǒu jiē dào diànhuà.

I didn't manage to answer the phone.

我在机场没有接到他。
Wǒ zài jīchǎng méiyǒu jiē dào tā.

I didn't manage to meet him at the airport.

我在火车站接到他了。
Wǒ zài huǒchē zhàn jiē dào tāle.

I managed to meet him at the train station.

The examples have been translated into English with ‘manage to’. This is a little unwieldy, but
makes the meaning of 接到 clearer

Now some examples directly comparing 接 with 接到:

我没有接到电话。
Wǒ méiyǒu jiē dào diànhuà.

I didn't answer the phone [because I was unable to].

我没有接电话。
Wǒ méiyǒu jiē diànhuà.

I didn't answer the phone [because I didn't try to].

This has been a short taster of result complements in Chinese grammar. Hopefully it’s made 接
and 接到 a little clearer for you, and given you an idea of how result complements work. If you
have any questions, fire away in the comments.
How to use 拿起来 (náqilai) and 拿上来
(náshanglai) correctly in Chinese
grammar
The words 拿起来 (náqilai) and 拿上来 (náshanglai) in Chinese seem similar but are actually used
differently. 拿起来 translates quite neatly into “pick up” or “pick something up” in English. 拿上
来 doesn’t have such a direct translation, and is used to talk about moving things from lower
positions to higher positions, e.g. putting things on tables or taking them upstairs.

Notice how both of these words are formed with the verb 拿 followed by a directional
complement. The complements are in neutral tone - only the first character 拿 has a strong tone
in these words.

拿起来 (náqilai): “to pick up”

Of the two words described here, this is probably the easier to understand and use. 拿起来
(náqilai) is very similar to “pick up” in English, i.e to use your hand/s to get an object off the floor,
a table or something. It doesn’t mean meeting people in bars or giving someone a lift in your car,
though!

Notice the directional complement 起来 (in neutral tone). Literally this is “rise come”, so 拿起来
is always about bringing objects upwards and towards you. You can’t use 拿起来 to talk about
getting some down off a shelf, for example; that would be 拿下来 (náxialai).

拿起来 also implies that the object has been picked up and held, at least for a moment. The
action of 拿起来 in itself isn’t about putting the object somewhere else, although that might
follow.

The next thing to note is that 拿起来 usually appears in one of two constructions:

拿起 [object] 来

把 [object] 拿起来
If you don’t know about 把, then read about the 把 structure. These two structures are pretty
much equivalent in meaning; the only important difference is where the object goes. You might
also see 拿起来 without a direct object.

Have a look at some example sentences for 拿起来:

你可以帮我把那个拿起来吗？
Nǐ kěyǐ bāng wǒ bǎ nàge náqilai ma?
Could you pick that up for me?

他把杯子拿起来喝了一口。
Tā bǎ bēizi náqilai hēle yī kǒu.
He picked up his cup and took a sip.

学生都拿起笔来开始考试。
Xuéshēng náqi bǐ lai kāishǐ kǎoshì.
The students picked up their pens and began the exam.

箱子很轻，我可以很容易地拿起来。
Xiāngzi hěn qīng, wǒ kěyǐ hěn róngyìde náqilai.
The box is very light - I can pick it up easily.

As you can see, 拿起来 is used to talk about picking up objects and holding them for some
amount of time.

拿上来 (náshanglai): “to bring up”

拿上来 is probably best translated into English as “to bring up”, as in to take an object from
somewhere lower down and bring it to somewhere higher up. Unlike 拿起来, the action of 拿上
来 includes the object ending up somewhere without someone holding it.

That’s the key difference to remember about this two words. 拿起来 is simply about the object
being picked up, and that’s it. 拿上来 is about where the object ends up: from a lower position to
a higher one.
The similarity is that both words are about an action that comes towards the speaker. That’s what
来 is doing on the end of both words: the action is *coming closer *in both cases.

拿上来 tends to be used in a 把 structure (see above):

把 [object] 拿上来

As usual, we’d recommend getting familiar with example sentences, listening a lot and reading a
lot to learn these structures. This is easier and more effective than trying to memorise ‘grammar
rules’.

Some example sentences for 拿上来:

护士下楼把病人的药拿上来了。
Hùshì xiàlóu bǎ bìngrénde yào náshànglaile.
The nurse went downstairs to bring the patients' medicine up.

我让行李员把我们的包拿上来了。
Wǒ ràng xínglǐyuán bǎ wǒmende bāo náshanglai le.
I had the porter bring our bags up.

你可以帮我把我的书从楼下拿上来吗？
Nǐ kěyǐ bāng wǒ bǎ wǒde shū cóng lóuxià náshanglai ma?
Could you bring my book upstairs for me?

Notice how 拿上来 is about objects being moved from a lower location to a higher one (often
upstairs and downstairs, although it doesn’t have to be).

The difference between 对不起 (duìbuqǐ),

请问 (qǐngwèn), 麻烦你 (máfan nǐ) and
劳驾 (láojià) in Chinese: "sorry" and
"excuse me"
The four words 对不起 (duìbuqǐ), 请问 (qǐngwèn), 麻烦你 (máfan nǐ) and 劳驾 (láojià) can be a
stumbling block for people learning Chinese, as they seem to have similar and overlapping
meanings. All of them might be translated as “sorry” or “excuse me” in various contexts in English.

To summarise them a little brutally:

 对不起 is used to actually apologise for actions or situations

 请问 is used before asking a question
 麻烦你 is used to make requests of people, particularly requesting them to dosomething
 劳驾 is similar to 麻烦你, but more formal

If you’re feeling more confused then ever, fear not! We’ll now look at each of these words in turn
and go into detail about the ways they can be used.

对不起: “I apologise”
对不起 can be the equivalent of “I’m sorry”, “I’ve let you down”, “forgive me” and so on in English,
and is used to make apologies. Some examples:

对不起，我来晚了。
Duìbùqǐ, wǒ lái wǎnle.
Sorry I'm late.

对不起，我把你的花瓶弄破了。
Duìbùqǐ, wǒ bǎ nǐ de huāpíng nòng pòle.
Sorry, I broke your vase.

对不起，我没法帮助你。
Duìbùqǐ, wǒ méi fǎ bāngzhù nǐ.
I'm sorry, there's no way I can help you.

对不起，你好像打错了。
Duìbùqǐ, nǐ hǎoxiàng dǎ cuòle.
I'm sorry, you seem to have the wrong number.
对不起，都是我的错。
Duìbùqǐ, dōu shì wǒde cuò.
I'm sorry, it's all my fault.

对不起 is not generally used to get someone’s attention, preface a request or question, or to ask
for someone to repeat something. We have to use the word “generally”, though, because as with
everything in language, there are always exceptions.

For example, you might hear someone say something like:

对不起，你可以帮我个忙吗？
Duìbùqǐ, nǐ kěyǐ bāng wǒ gè máng ma?
Sorry, could you help me with something?

That seems very much like 对不起 is being used to mean “excuse me”! Didn’t we just say that it
was for apologies? We did, and in our view it’s probably best to view the above example as
someone first apologising for intruding or annoying the listener, and then making their request. So
对不起 is still being used as an apology.

These sorts of confusions are unavoidable when learning languages, and you’ll rarely find a hard
and fast rule that you can memorise. Instead, the best thing you can do is focus on input - reading
and listening - to try and develop your own natural feel for the language.

请问: “May I ask?”

Hopefully you’ll find 请问 a bit more straightforward than 对不起. The easiest way to understand
请问 is to break it down into the literal meaning of its characters:

 请: please, requesting
 问: ask

So literally 请问 is “please can I ask” or “requesting to ask”. Thinking of it this way makes its
purpose clear: it’s for asking questions in a polite way. The classic example in textbooks is always
asking for directions:

请问，邮局在哪里？
Qǐngwèn, yóujú zài nǎlǐ?
Excuse me, where is the post office?

This is one of those sentences that appears in every textbook for every language in the world, but
that you hardly ever use in real life!

As you can see, we’ve translated 请问 as “excuse me” in the example above, because that’s the
equivalent in English. In other words, 请问 and “excuse me” serve the same function, but they
don’t actually mean the same thing. Remembering this point will help you to use 请问 correctly.

Because 请问 actually means something like “please can I ask”, its uses are much narrower than
“excuse me” in English. It always has to come before questions:

请问 + [question]

Have a look at some more examples:

请问，这里有洗手间吗？
Qǐngwèn, zhè li yǒu xǐshǒujiān ma?
Excuse me, is there a toilet here?

请问，这里可以刷卡吗？
Qǐngwèn, zhèlǐ kěyǐ shuākǎ ma?
Can I pay by card here?

请问，香港中路怎么走？
Qǐngwèn, xiānggǎng zhōnglù zěnme zǒu?
Can you tell me the way to Hong Kong Middle Road, please?

Using 请问 is a very nice way of asking questions, especially of strangers, and it can be a good way
to get the attention of someone you don’t know. In more familiar situations, though, 请问 is
usually not necessary. People you know might find it a bit odd if you said 请问 to them. You often
just don’t need to be that polite in Chinese!
Be careful with the pronunciation of 请问 (qǐngwèn)!

A quick note about getting the pronunciation of 请问 correct. Because it’s used before questions,
it can be tempting to let the pitch of your voice go up at the end. This can be embarrassing,
because it turns qǐngwèn (third tone, fourth tone) into qǐngwén (third tone, second tone). If you
do that, it sounds like you’re saying “请吻”. That isn’t really a word, but it could sound like a
bizarre way of saying “please kiss” or “requesting a kiss” - probably not what you meant to say!

麻烦你: “Could I trouble you…?”

The next phrase on our list is 麻烦你 - literally “trouble you”. A very common use of 麻烦你 is to
request that someone does something. You’re saying “could I trouble you to [do something]?”

麻烦你 + [verb phrase]

This is more polite than the request on its own, because by using 麻烦你 you’re acknowledging
the hassle that you’re creating for this person. Let’s have a look at some examples:

麻烦你开个门。
Máfan nǐ kāi gè mén.
Could you open the door for me?

麻烦你替我问候。
Máfan nǐ tì wǒ wènhòu.
Please pass on my regards.

麻烦你帮我看看这个。
Máfan nǐ bāng wǒ kàn kàn zhège.
Could you take a look at this for me, please?

However, 麻烦你 can also precede questions or other statements - it isn’t just for requesting
actions. Just remember that whilst 请问 can only come before questions, 麻烦你 can come before
questions or instructions, e.g.:

麻烦问一下，北京大酒店怎么走？
Máfan wèn yīxià, běijīng dà jiǔdiàn zěnme zǒu?
Sorry to trouble you - how do I get to the Beijing Hotel?

Finally, also note that 麻烦你 can be used on its own just to acknowledge that someone else has
gone to trouble for you, or is going to go to trouble. This is commonly done after some discussion
of a request or instruction. Once the action to be taken is decided on or has been done, the
person requesting it will say 麻烦你 to show recognition of the hassle they are creating (even if
it’s not really that much hassle).

A quick example:

*A:* 小李，你可以帮我把这些箱子拿到三楼去吗？

Xiǎo Lǐ, nǐ kěyǐ bāng wǒ bǎ zhèxiē xiāngzi ná dào sān lóu qù ma?
Xiao Li, could you take these cases up to the third floor, please?

*B:* 可以啊，没问题。

Kěyǐ a, méi wèntí.

Yep, no problem.

*A:* 谢谢，麻烦你哦！

Xièxiè, máfan nǐ ó!
Thanks [I'm troubling you]!

Notice how the meaning of 麻烦你 isn’t something we would really express directly in English.

You may also hear the phrase “辛苦你了” being used in similar contexts. “辛苦你了” focuses on
the hard work of the person, rather than the trouble they are going to.

劳驾: “excuse me”, “could I trouble you”

Finally, we come to 劳驾. Of the other words listed here, 劳驾 is most similar to 麻烦你. Another
literal breakdown might be helpful:

 劳: labour, toil
 驾: harness, to drive
You can see the similarity to 麻烦你 - both these words acknowledge that they are putting
someone to trouble or giving them extra work to do. Like 麻烦你, 劳驾 can be used to make
requests and ask questions.

However, 劳驾 is frequently used to get someone’s attention as well as make a request of them.
This is different to 麻烦你, which can’t really be used to get someone’s attention. 劳驾 can also
be used to preface common requests that are expected in context (such as requests from staff or
servers).

Have a look at some examples:

劳驾，给我倒杯茶。
Láojià, gěi wǒ dào bēi chá.
Excuse me - could you pour me some tea? (In a tea house or restaurant)

劳驾, 把这十块钱换成零钱。
Láojià, bǎ zhè shí kuài qián huàn chéng língqián.
Could you change this ten dollar bill, please?

How to use 对 (duì) and 跟 (gēn) as

prepositions in Chinese grammar
Prepositions are difficult in any language, and Chinese is no exception. One pair of Chinese
prepositions that seems to trip up native English speakers quite a lot is 对 (duì) and 跟 (gēn). They
don’t seem to map to any prepositions in English, but they come up a lot in Chinese grammar and
can control the meaning of verb phrases in quite significant ways.

The main difference to focus on is that 对 usually implies a one way relationship, whilst 跟 is used
for two-way relationships. In other words, 对 expresses that the action of the verb goes in one
direction (from subject to object), whereas 跟 expresses that it goes in both directions.

It might help to rigidly think of 对 as meaning “to”, and 跟 as meaning “with”. Sometimes this will
produce strange sentences if you translate into English, but this can often be a good way to build
up a stronger sense of Chinese grammar.
对 and 跟 with 说 (shuō)
A very common use of 跟 and 对 is with the 说 (shuō) - “to speak”. 对 and 跟 are often
interchangeable when used in sentences about telling people things, or saying things to people.
For example:

我跟他说了。
Wǒ gēn tā shuōle.

I told him.

我对他说了。
Wǒ duì tā shuōle.

I told him.

A lot of people would say that there is no real difference between 跟 and 对 in this situation, but
we tend to believe in the rule of ‘no true similes’. That means that even if native speakers can’t
quite say what it is, there will always be some kind of difference between two different words, at
least in certain contexts. See below for more detail on that.

In general though, you can assume that using 对 or 跟 with 说 doesn’t really make a significant
difference. More examples:

他跟我说他要去旅行。
Tā gēn wǒ shuō tā yào qù lǚxíng.

He told me that he was going travelling.

医生对你说了什么？
Yīshēng duì nǐ shuōle shénme?

What did the doctor say to you?

老师跟我说我必须努力一点。
Lǎoshī gēn wǒ shuō wǒ bìxū nǔlì yīdiǎn.

My teacher told me I have to work harder.

In each of these examples, you could swap 跟 and 对 and there wouldn’t be much difference in
the meaning. Note that these sentences are all about telling or saying things to people. Those are
the situations when 跟 and 对 are interchangeable. Otherwise, you’ve got to pick more carefully.

When the preposition should be 跟 and not 对

As mentioned above, 跟 is often used when the action of the verb is two-directional, or there is a
two-way relationship between the subject and object. More intuitively, 跟 is also used to express
things being done together or with other people. Here we’ll look at two situations involving 跟
that can be tricky to get used to.

Using 跟 for discussions and explanations

We explained above how 跟 and 对 can be interchangeable when used in sentences about “telling”
and “saying to”. However, there are many situations that involve speaking where the choice of 跟
and 对 does make a big difference.

One of those is sentences about discussions, explanations or revelations. In other words, if there
is a focus on a conversation or two-way exchange, the sentence is unlikely to use 对. Have a look
at some examples:

我想跟您商量一下。
Wǒ xiǎng gēn nín shāngliáng yīxià.

I'd like to discuss it with you.

我跟你讲……
Wǒ gēn nǐ jiǎng……

Let me explain...

我有一件事想跟你说说。
Wǒ yǒuyī jiàn shì xiǎng gēn nǐ shuō shuō.

There's something I'd like to talk to you about.

你提前跟我说就没问题。
Nǐ tíqián gēn wǒ shuō jiù méi wèntí.

If you tell me beforehand it'll be fine.

In these examples, if you swapped 跟 for 对, the sentence would become quite strange or just
plain wrong. For example “我对你讲” has a sense of “I am talking to you and you are listening” - it
becomes a one-way action rather than the two-way action implied by 跟.

If you say “我有一件事想对你说” rather than the sentence above, it becomes “I want to tell you
something”, but focuses much more on the one-way action of telling, rather than any
conversation that might surround it.

The sentence with 商量 simply can’t use 对, otherwise it would be like saying “I’d like to discuss
something to you”. A discussion is a two-way action, so it only makes sense with 跟.

Using 跟 for comparisons

Another common use of 跟 as a preposition is to make comparisons between two things (when
used like this it’s the same as 和). This can confuse native English speakers who might expect to
use 对, as “to” is often used to make comparisons in English. In Chinese, though, you say that “A
and B are different” or “A is the same withB”. Have a look at some examples:

他跟我很不一样。
Tā gēn wǒ hěn bù yīyàng.

He's very different to me.

我的看法跟你的一样。
Wǒ de kànfǎ gēn nǐ de yīyàng.

My opinion is the same as yours.

她跟以前不一样了。
Tā gēn yǐqián bù yīyàngle.

She's different to how she was before.

英式英语跟澳式英语很像。
Yīngshì Yīngyǔ gēn àoshì Yīngyǔ hěn xiàng.

British English is very similar to Australian English.

Remember that Chinese prefers to express similarities and differences as a two-way relationship
(“these two things”), whereas English tends to express them as a one-way relationship (“this thing
to that thing”, “this thing from that thing”). Some more examples to reinforce this point:

她跟你一样高。
Tā gēn nǐ yīyàng gāo.

She's as tall as you.

德国的面包跟法国的不一样。
Déguó de miànbāo gēn Fàguó de bù yīyàng.

German bread is different to French bread.

请把这首诗跟昨天学的那首比较一下。
Qǐng bǎ zhè shǒu shī gēn zuótiān xué dì nà shǒu bǐjiào yīxià.

Please compare this poem to the one we studied yesterday.

Notice how all of these comparisons can be expressed using 跟 in Chinese (they could also be
expressed with 和), whereas English has a few different prepositions for the different situations.

When it should be 对 and not 跟

In some situations, the preposition has to be 对 and not 跟, otherwise the sentence would be
incorrect. These are situations with a one-way action or one-way relationship from subject to
object. Have a look at some examples:

她对数字的记忆力很强。
Tā duì shùzì de jìyìlì hěn qiáng.

She has a good memory for numbers.

对这个话题来说，我没有想法。
Duì zhège huàtí lái shuō, wǒ méiyǒu xiǎngfǎ.

I don't have any opinion on this topic.

那个人对我们公司的影响很大。
Nàgè rén duì wǒmen gōngsī de yǐngxiǎng hěn dà.
That person had a big effect on our company.

我想对你们的帮助表示感谢。
Wǒ xiǎng duì nǐmen de bāngzhù biǎoshì gǎnxiè.

I'd like to thank you for your help.

("I'd like to express thanks for your help.")

Notice how each of these sentences is about a one-way effect or action. The object is affected by
the subject, but not the other way round (or at least the sentence doesn’t mention any action in
the other direction).

When using 对 or 跟 changes the meaning

There are situations where using either 对 or 跟 would be grammatically valid, but the meaning is
significantly different. For example:

我跟他很好。
Wǒ gēn tā hěn hǎo.

I'm on good terms with him.

我对他很好。
Wǒ duì tā hěn hǎo.

I treat him very well.

As you can see, the difference between a one-directional action and a two-directional one is very
different. Another example:

政治家对听众讲话。
Zhèngzhì jiā duì tīngzhòng jiǎnghuà.

The politician spoke to the audience.

政治家跟听众讲话。
Zhèngzhì jiā gēn tīngzhòng jiǎnghuà.

The politician spoke with the audience.

The difference here isn’t so significant, but it’s still clear. In the first sentence with 对, only the
politician is doing the talking. When 跟 is used, it seems that a two-way discussion is going on.

We said above that when used with 说, 对 and 跟 are pretty much the same. However, if you
change the verb a little bit, there is a more obvious difference:

老板每天跟员工说话。
Lǎobǎn měitiān gēn yuángōng shuōhuà.

The boss speaks with the employees every day.

老板每天对员工说话。
Lǎobǎn měitiān duì yuángōng shuōhuà.

The boss speaks to the employees every day.

There is a clear-cut difference between the meaning of those sentences in Chinese and English,
and you can see how the use of 跟 (“with”) vs 对 (“to”) makes this happen.

Summary of 跟 and 对 as prepositions

 Very similar / the same when used with 说 to talk about “telling” or “saying to”.
 跟
o Can be thought of as meaning “with”.
o Usually implies a two-way action.
o Can often imply a continuous action or exchange.
 对
o Can be thought of as meaning “to”.
o Usually implies a one-way action.

The 是…的 (shì…de) construction in

Chinese grammar
是…的

(shì...de)
is a very common and important structure in Mandarin Chinese grammar. It’s essential for any
student of Chinese to learn and be familiar with, and comes up constantly in written and spoken
Chinese.

There are two key things to note about the 是…的 construction:

 It’s used to emphasize a detail in a sentence.

 是…的 sentences are usually about past events.

Most beginner’s Chinese textbooks and courses place a lot of emphasis on the 是…的
construction because it’s so common. This is good as everyone should learn it.

As with all grammar, though, remember not to get lost in memorising ‘rules’ and set structures.
The more Chinese you read and listen to, and the more you practice, the more natural these
structures will become. That’s always the best way to learn.

The 是…的
(shì...de)
structure

As you can see in the name of this structure, something goes in between 是 and 的! Whatever
goes in between those two words is the thing that will be emphasized orfocused on in the
sentence. So in the most basic way, the 是…的 structure is simply this:

是
[thing to be emphasized] 的

But how do you use that in a sentence? The full structure is as follows (pay most attention to
where 是 and 的 are):

[subject] 是 [thing to be emphasized] [verb] 的

As you can see, we actually get the verb in between 是 and 的 as well as the thing we want to
emphasize. The thing we emphasize is some detail about the action of the verb. This detail is often
described as being time, manner or place, but really it can be anything.

Let’s have a look at some initial example sentences for this structure:
你是什么时候来的？
Nǐ shì shénme shíhou lái de?
_When_ did you get here?

她是坐火车去上海的。
Tā shì zuò huǒchē qù shànghǎi de.
She went to Shanghai _by train_.

他是在德国长大的。
Tā shì zài déguó zhǎng dà de.
He grew up _in Germany_.

Notice how there is some detail about the action of the verb included in the 是…的 structure. Also
notice how these sentences are all about things in the past.

An equivalent structure in English might be “it was … that”. So the above sentences could also be
translated as:

 “When was it that you got here?”

 “It was by train that she went to Shanghai.”
 “It was in Germany that he grew up.”

Notice how those sentences draw attention to particular details about the action of the verb. That
structure is a little bit unusual in English, though, whereas 是…的 is super common and normal in
Chinese.

How 是…的 is used

As mentioned above, the 是…的 construction is used to give focus to a specific detailin a sentence
(as well as indicating that it’s about the past). Whatever is placed right after 是 is emphasized.

The detail that gets emphasized is often described as being about the time, manneror place of the
verb. Whilst the detail might actually be anything, these make nice categories to focus on. Let’s
look at each one in turn.
Emphasizing time with 是…的

You can use 是…的 to emphasize the time that the action took place. Have a look at some
example sentences:

他们是昨天来的。
Tāmen shì zuótiān lái de.
They got here _yesterday_. ⇒ It was yesterday that they got here.

我们是去年搬的家。*
Wǒmen shì qùnián bān de jiā .
We moved house _last year_. ⇒ It was last year that we moved house.

她是 1996 年毕业的。
Tā shì yījiǔjiǔliù nián bìyè de.
She graduated _in 1996_. ⇒ It was in 1996 that she graduated.

Notice how the time the action took place comes immediately after 是. That’s how the 是…的
construction works: you put the thing you want to emphasize after 是, then the verb, then finish it
with 的.

English translations that emphasize the detail more heavily have been given underneath.
Remember, though, that the 是…的 structure in Chinese is much more natural and commonly
used than that English structure might suggest.

 Notice the slightly different word order, with 的 before the object? Don’t worry, we’ll
explain that below! We’ve just introduced it here to help you get used to it from the start.

Emphasizing manner with 是…的

You can also use 是…的 to emphasize the manner of an action, i.e. how it was done. Again, you
put the way the action was done right after 是 to emphasize it. Have a look at some examples:

她是跟她朋友一起去旅行的。
Tā shì gēn tā péngyǒu yīqǐ qù lǚxíng de.
She went travelling _with her friend_. ⇒ It was with her friend that she went travelling.

我们是坐飞机去韩国的。
Wǒmen shì zuò fēijī qù Hánguó de.
We went to Korea _by plane_. ⇒ It was by plane that we went to Korea.

我是用刀切蛋糕的。
Wǒ shì yòng dāo qiē dàngāo de.
I cut the cake _with a knife_. ⇒ It was with a knife that I cut the cake.

她是偷偷去的。
Tā shì tōutōu qù de.
She went _secretly_. ⇒ It was secretly that she went.

There are endless ways you could use 是…的 to emphasize the manner in which an action was
done. Again, note that all of the events described took place in the past.

Emphasizing place with 是…的

The final category of things you can emphasize with 是…的 is place - where the action happened.
As you might have guessed, you put the place right after 是 to emphasize it. Some examples:

我是在日本上的中学。*
Wǒ shì zài rìběn shàng de zhōngxué .
I went to middle school _in Japan_. ⇒ It was in Japan that I went to middle school.

我们是在西安认识的。
Wǒmen shì zài Xī'ān rènshi de.
We met _in Xi'an_. ⇒ It was in Xi'an that we met.

我是在报纸看到的。
Wǒ shì zài bàozhǐ kàn dào de.
I saw it _in the newspaper_. ⇒ It was in the newspaper that I saw it.
Hopefully that has given you a general idea of what the 是…的 structure is and how it’s used.
Read on for more usage scenarios and details!

 That pesky alternate word order is back again! We’ve put it in a couple of times here to
make you aware of it before we explain it in more detail below.

Emphasizing other details with 是…的

Besides time, manner and place, there are all sorts of other things you can talk about with 是…的.
Here are a few examples:

我是来学中文的。
Wǒ shì lái xué Zhōngwén de.
I've come _to study Chinese_.

那台电脑是三千块买的。
Nà tái diànnǎo shì sānqiān kuài mǎi de.
That computer cost _3000 kuai_.

这个项链是我奶奶送给我的。
Zhège xiàngliàn shì wǒ nǎinai sòng gěi wǒ de.
This necklace was given to me _by my grandma_.

这个故事是老张给我讲的。
Zhège gùshì shì Lǎo Zhāng gěi wǒ jiǎng de.
_Lao Zhang_ told me this story.

Hopefully you can now see how versatile and useful the 是…的 construction is.

Negating 是…的

Negating 是…的 is super easy: just put 不 in front of 是 and that’s it! You can use this to
emphasize what was not true about an action. Some examples:

我不是坐飞机去香港的。
Wǒ bùshì zuò fēijī qù xiānggǎng de.
I didn't go to Hong Kong _by plane_. ⇒ It wasn't by plane that I went to Hong Kong.

这件事情不是你告诉我的。
Zhè jiàn shìqíng bùshì nǐ gàosu wǒ de.
_You_ didn't tell me about this. ⇒ It wasn't you who told me about this.

我不是在越南学的越南语。*
Wǒ bùshì zài Yuènán xué Yuènányǔ de.
I didn't learn Vietnamese _in Vietnam_. ⇒ It wasn't in Vietnam that I learnt Vietnamese.

As you can see, negating 是…的 is very straightforward, and now you’ve got a whole new set of
options in your tool kit!

 That’s the third time you’ve seen the alternate word order, with the object after 的. We’ll
explain it soon, we promise!

Asking questions with 是…的

A very common use of 是…的 is to ask questions. You can form question sentences using 是…的
just as you would normally form questions in Chinese. Let’s have a look at a few ways.

是…的 with 吗

The simplest way to ask questions is probably with a tag word (aka question particle) like 吗. You
just place this on the end of the sentence as normal to turn it into a yes/no question:

他是上个学期来的吗？
Tā shì shàng gè xuéqí lái de ma?
Did he get here _last semester_? ⇒ Was it last semester that he got here?

她是跟她爸爸去杭州的吗？
Tā shì gēn tā bàba qù hángzhōu de ma?
Did she got to Hangzhou _with her dad_? ⇒ Was it with her dad that she went to Hangzhou?
你是在公园里看到他的吗？
Nǐ shì zài gōngyuán lǐ kàn dào tā de ma?
Did you see him _in the park_? ⇒ Was in it in the park that you saw him?

As you can see, it’s very easy to make 是…的 sentences into question by simply adding 吗 at the
end. This is a good way to ask questions about particular details of an action, as you can see in the
examples.

是…的 in positive-negative questions

The next way you can form questions with 是…的 is to use positive-negative questions. These are
the questions where you say the verb then immediately give its negated form. As you might
expect, these are formed as 是不是 for 是…的 sentences. Some examples:

你是不是刚到的？
Nǐ shì bùshì gāng dào de?
Did you _just_ get here? ⇒ Was it just now that you got here?

他是不是用铅笔写的？
Tā shì bùshì yòng qiānbǐ xiě de?
Did he write it _with a pencil_? ⇒ Was it with a pencil that he wrote it?

你们是不是在首尔认识的？
Nǐmen shì bùshì zài Shǒu'ěr rènshi de?
Did you meet _in Seoul_? ⇒ Was it in Seoul that you met?

That’s all there is to it! Forming positive-negative questions with 是…的 is quite easy to get used
to.

是…的 with question words

Another way you can form questions with 是…的 is to use question words. As you might know
already, Chinese question words tend to be quite straightforward. You just put them in the place
of the thing you want to know in the sentence, and that’s it. You don’t need to re-order the
sentence or anything like that.
Some example sentences for 是…的 with question words:

她是什么时候去蒙古的？
Tā shì shénme shíhou qù ménggǔ de?
_When_ did she go to Mongolia? ⇒ When was it that she went to Mongolia?

这个菜是怎么做的？
Zhège cài shì zěnme zuò de?
_How_ is this dish made? ⇒ What is it that this dish is made with?

你们是在哪里认识的？
Nǐmen shì zài nǎlǐ rènshi de?
_Where_ did you meet? ⇒ Where was it that you met?

这件事是谁告诉你的？
Zhè jiàn shì shì shuí gàosu nǐ de?
_Who_ told you about this? ⇒ Who was it that told you about this?

Again, once you know the structure, it’s quite easy to combine it with other things you know.
You’ll soon find that your Chinese “tool kit” is full of options in this way.

The object often comes after 的 in 是…的

Here’s that explanation we kept promising of those sentences where the object comes after 的!

When the 是…的 construction is used, the object very often comes after 的, rather than before it
as shown in the examples above. This is very common with the 是…的 construction for most
objects (pretty much everything except people).

This isn’t a huge change, but it’s another thing you’ve got to take note of with 是…的. Have a look
at some example sentences to see how this works:

我是上个月来的北京。
Wǒ shì shàngge yuè lái de Běijīng.
I came to Beijing last month.
他是用钢笔写的信。
Tā shì yòng gāngbǐ xiě de xìn.
He wrote the letter with a fountain pen.

我是在食堂吃的饭。
Wǒ shì zài shítáng chī de fàn.
I ate in the canteen.

If you take away the object, you can see how these sentences work: 我是上个月来的 still makes
sense on its own. So all that’s happening is that a complete sentence (with 是…的) is having an
object added to it.

The object can come after 的 if it’s a place or a ‘thing’, but not if it’s a person. As usual, we’d say
it’s best not to try and memorise any rules about this. Instead, read and listen to as much Chinese
as possible, and keep practising! Then you’ll get a natural feel for it all.

Be careful when putting the object after 的!

If you’re on the ball, you might have spotted a little danger with putting the object after 的 in a
是…的 sentence. You could end up saying that the subject is the object, rather than emphasizing
something else in the sentence. For example:

我是昨天买的猪。*

Wǒ shì zuótiān mǎi de zhū.

"I am the pig that was bought yesterday."

That sentence could mean “I bought the pig yesterday”, but it could also be misinterpreted. To
make sure you say the right thing, it might be better to phrase such sentences like this:

我是昨天买猪的。
Wǒ shì zuótiān mǎi zhū de.
I bought the pig yesterday.

Just remember to be careful if you’re putting the object after 的 in a 是…的 sentence.
是 is often dropped from the 是…的 construction
One final thing to note about the 是…的 construction is that 是 is often left out of it. That does
make the name a bit silly, but 是…的 is the ‘full’ structure.

Nothing else changes, you just say the same sentence but without 是. Some examples:

我们在上海认识的。
Wǒmen zài shànghǎi rènshi de.
We met in Shanghai.

我在食堂吃的饭。
Wǒ zài shítáng chī de fàn.
I ate in the canteen.

我在报纸看到的。
Wǒ zài bàozhǐ kàn dào de.
I saw it in the newspaper.

Because of this, you could think of 的 on its own as being a way to talk about past events. Just
remember that it works as part of a 是…的, even if the 是 is invisible!

Other names for the 是…的 construction

As it’s so common, there are many different terms for the 是…的 construction. To help avoid any
confusion, here’s a list of some of them. These all mean the same thing:

 是…的结构
 (shì…de jiégòu)
 是的句
 是…的 sentence
 是…的 pattern
 Shì…de construction
 Shi de sentence
Chinese grammar de particles summary:
的, 地 and 得
In Chinese grammar de particles are an important topic to learn. The three de particles are 的, 地
and 得 and each has very different uses. In fact, the only similarity is that each is pronounced de.
However, they are often grouped together in textbooks and classes, so it’s helpful for many
students to have a clear summary like the one below.

Chinese grammar de particle #1: 的

The first de particle that most people learn is 的. This de is called 白勺的 (báisháo de) in Chinese,
as those are the components that make up the character. By number, it’s the most common
character in Chinese texts.

的 is probably the easiest to understand of the three de particles. It is used to markpossession,

and works almost exactly like ’s (apostrophe + s) in English.

的 comes after the possessor and before the thing that’s possessed. Let’s have a look at some
basic examples:

我的书
wǒ de shū
my book

你的猫
nǐ de māo

your cat

他的包
tā de bāo

his bag

We think it’s better to learn grammar by using full example sentences, so here are some simple
sentences with 的:
这是你的书。
Zhè shì nǐ de shū.

This is your book.

那不是我的问题。
Nà bùshì wǒ de wèntí.

That isn't my problem.

这是中国的产品。
Zhè shì Zhōngguó de chǎnpǐn.

This is a Chinese product.

You can see in the examples how 的 goes in between the owner of the item and the item itself. It
is almost like the English word “of” but it works in reverse.

It’s important to note, though, that Chinese uses possession far more than English. Chinese uses
the possessive 的 particle to link qualities to anything, not just objects to their owners. For
example:

红色的苹果
hóngsè de píngguǒ

red apple

漂亮的女孩
piàoliang de nǚhái

pretty girl

他喜欢可爱的动物。
Tā xǐhuan kě'ài de dòngwù.

He likes cute animals.

我害怕很大的狗。
Wǒ hàipà hěn dà de gǒu.

I'm afraid of big dogs.

Notice how 的 is used to link attributes to things. “Red apple” is literally expressed as “red’s
apple”, or “the apple of red”. Similarly “pretty girl” is “girl of pretty”, and so on. More advanced
learners might be interested in this list of nouns containing 的.

de particle #2: 地
This de particle probably isn’t used quite as much as the other two, but it tends to be a bit easier
for English speakers to understand. 地 is called 土也地 (tǔyě de) in Chinese, again because those
are the components that form the character. Note that whilst 地 is pronounced dì for other uses,
when used as a particle it’s pronounced de.

地 behaves very much like the suffix -ly in English. That is, it marks adverbs, or converts adjectives
into adverbs. Some examples:

慢慢地
mànmande

slowly

准确地
zhǔnquède

correctly

好心地
hǎoxīnde

kindly

And some full example sentences:

他很快地吃饭。
Tā hěn kuài de chīfàn.

He eats quickly.

他很有希望地看着我。
Tā hěn yǒu xīwàng de kànzhe wǒ.

He looked at me hopefully.
你应该小心地处理这件事。
Nǐ yīnggāi xiǎoxīn de chǔlǐ zhè jiàn shì.

You should deal with this issue carefully.

Notice how 地 can convert whole verbal phrases (很有希望 and 小心地) into adverbs in the
example sentences above.

de particle #3: 得
The third and final de particle is probably the most difficult for English speakers to get used to. It’s
called 双人得 (shuāngrén de) because the 彳 radical it contains is often referred to as 双人 -
“double person”.

This 得 is used as part of various verbal complements. That probably doesn’t mean a lot to you if
you haven’t studied grammar before. A complement is something that appears right after the
verb and adds more information about it.

Verbal complements in Chinese can be categorized in many different ways depending on who you
ask, but here’s one way to do it:

 Direction complement
 Potential complements
 Degree complements
 Result complements

Rather than trying to analyze all of these, though, we’ll break down the two that involve
得: potential complements and degree complements.

得 de in potential complements

The potential complement is attached to a verb to show its potential. That is, the potential
complement indicates whether an action can or can’t happen. If the action can happen, 得 is used.
If it can’t happen, 不 is used.

Some examples of actions that can happen (with 得):

做得到
zuò de dào

can do

听得懂
tīng de dǒng

can understand (from listening)

看得懂
kàn de dǒng

can understand (from reading)

看得清楚
kàn de qīngchu

can see clearly

And some examples of actions that can’t happen (with 不):

做不到
zuò bu dào

can't do

听不懂
tīng bu dǒng

can't understand (from listening)

看不懂
kàn bu dǒng

can't understand (from reading)

看不清楚
kàn bu qīngchu

can't see clearly

There’s a huge variety of things that can come after the 得 or 不. Remember that with the
potential complement, the action is hypothetical. It hasn’t been done, or attempted and failed.
The potential complement merely indicates what wouldhappen if the action were attempted.
Some full examples sentences of the potential complement:

我只有戴眼镜的话才看得清楚。
Wǒ zhǐyǒu dài yǎnjìng dehuà cái kàn de qīngchu.

I can only see clearly if I wear my glasses.

这么多饭 - 你能吃得完吗？
Zhème duō fàn - nǐ néng chī de wán ma?

There's so much food - can you eat it all?

太晚了，机票都买不到了。
Tài wǎnle, jīpiào dōu mǎi bù dàole.

It's too late - we won't be able to buy plane tickets now.

We won’t go into the potential complement in more detail here, as this is just a summary of
Chinese de particles. Also remember that you shouldn’t spend too much time trying to analyze
grammar. It’s far more effective to listen to a lot of real Chinese and try to use it as much as
possible. Use this site as a reference to get some basic understanding, then get out there and use
your Chinese in the real world!

得 de in degree complements

The other kind of verbal complement that 得 appears in is the degree complement. This
complement appears similar to the potential complement described above, but it’s not the same.
The degree complement is the most general-purpose of the verbal complements in Chinese, and
is used simply to add descriptive information to the verb or to talk about the extent (the degree)
the action goes to.

This is quite vague, unfortunately, but it’s about as specific as you can get with the degree
complement. As usual, we think it’s best to just get as much exposure to real language and get
a feel for it, rather than trying to analyze and memorize grammar structures. But it’s helpful to
have a basic grasp of the grammar before you set off on your quest, so read on.

The degree complement always uses 得, and the basic structure is:

[verb] 得 [description]
There’s huge scope for what you can put in the [verb] and [description] slots, but it tends to be
some sort of comment or description of the action in the verb. It is also used to talk about the
degree to which the action happens, hence the name. Let’s have a look at some example
sentences:

你说得非常好。
Nǐ shuō de fēicháng hǎo.

You said it very well.

他做得不好。
Tā zuò dé bu hǎo.

He did it badly.

她长得很高。
Tā zhǎng de hěn gāo.

She has grown very tall.

Again, we won’t go into too much detail about the degree complement here, as this is just a
summary of Chinese de particles.

Other kinds of 得
Just so you know, the character 得 isn’t just a particle. It has two other pronunciations, each with
different uses.

得 as dé

When 得 is pronounced dé in second tone, it’s a verb meaning “to get” or “to acquire”.

得 as děi

When 得 is pronounced děi in third tone, it’s a modal verb meaning “must” or “have to”.

Chinese grammar de particles quick summary

Now let’s recap with a very short summary of the Chinese de particles.
  的 is marks possession
 地 marks adverbs
 得 appears in verbal complements
o the potential complement
o the degree complement

As usual, if you have any questions or suggestions, please share them in the comments below!

长 (zhǎng) vs 长得 (zhǎngde) in Chinese

grammar
Non-native speakers of Chinese can often get the words 长 (zhǎng) vs 长得 (zhǎngde) mixed up.
Both these words are about “growing”, but they have different functions. Let’s look at them one
by one.

长 (zhǎng): to grow, to develop

The word 长 itself means “to grow” (note that this is pronounced zhǎng, and notcháng). It can
mean “to grow” as in to grow larger or to develop physically, or to grow a particular feature. Let’s
have a look at some example sentences:

她长高了五公分。
Tā zhǎnggāole wǔ gōngfēn.

She's grown five centimetres taller.

草已长了根。
Cǎo yǐ zhǎngle gēn.

The grass has grown roots.

树长叶子了。
Shù zhǎng yèzi le.

The tree has grown leaves.

我长了痘痘。
Wǒ zhǎngle dòudou.
I've got a spot. (lit. I've grown a spot.)

Notice how 长 is about growing or developing features. 长 also combines into varius words
related to growth, such as 增长 (zēngzhǎng).

长得 (zhǎngde): present state of growth, to look…

长得 is used to talk about the present state of growth or something, and by extension, how
something or someone looks. Adding 得 to 长 is like saying “the result of growth is”: it’s how
something appears now. Some example sentences:

他长得很帅。
Tā zhǎngde hěn shuài.

He's very handsome.

她长得比较结实。
Tā zhǎngde bǐjiào jiēshi.

She's grown quite strong.

他长得很像他爸爸。
Tā zhǎngde hěn xiàng tā bàba.

He really looks like his dad.

那些树长得太高了。
Nàxiē shù zhǎng de tài gāole.

Those trees have grown too tall.

Notice how 长得 is about the result of growth or an appearance or state that hasdeveloped.

How to use 没关系 (mei2 guānxi) in

Chinese: it doesn't matter, not related to
The Chinese phrase 没关系 (méi guānxi) literally means “it has no relation”. It’s very commonly
used to express “it doesn’t matter” or “it’s not important”, and you’re likely to hear it every day in
China.

The other, slightly less common use of 没关系 is to express that something is not related to
something else. These slightly different meanings have different usage patterns.

Note that the 系 (xi) in 没关系 is neutral tone, despite it being fourth tone in other words like 系
统 xìtǒng (‘system’).

没关系: it doesn’t matter

This is the most common use of 没关系, and it’s very similar to “it doesn’t matter” or “never mind”
in English. The phrase can be used directly on its own, for example in this exchange:

*A:* 我来晚了，真对不起。
Wǒ lái wǎnle, zhēn duìbùqǐ.
I'm so sorry I'm late.

*B:* 没关系。
Méi guānxi.
It doesn't matter.

The phrase might also be used in situations like these:

没关系。大家都是这样。
Méiguānxì. Dàjiā dōu shì zhèyàng.

It doesn't matter. Everyone does it.

我用铅笔写没关系吧？
Wǒ yòng qiānbǐ xiě méiguānxì ba?

It doesn't matter if I use a pencil, right?

没关系 can also form part of a longer sentence, and is usually placed at the end, following the
options or alternatives that don’t matter. Some examples:
多少钱都没关系。
Duōshǎo qián dōu méi guānxi.
It doesn't matter how much it costs. (Probably best if you don't say this one too much.)

多长时间都没关系。
Duō cháng shíjiān dōu méi guānxi.

It doesn't matter how long it takes.

他们知不知道都没关系。
Tāmen zhī bù zhīdào dōu méi guānxi.

It doesn't matter if they know or not.

别人怎么看都没关系。
Biérén zěnme kàn dōu méi guānxi.

It doesn't matter what other people think.

The main point to note is that 没关系 nearly always comes at the end of such a sentence. First
you establish what the issue or options are (the topic), and then comment on them with 没关系.

没关系: not related

没关系 can also form part of a structure expressing that there is no relation or link between two
things. This is a more literal use of 没关系. The structure is:

[something] 跟 [something else] 没有关系

As usual, you can replace 跟 (gēn) with similar conjunctions like 和 (hé) and 与 (yǔ). Also, the 有 in
this structure is optional: you can say 没有 or just 没.

Have a look at some example sentences for this usage of 没关系:

我跟他完全没有关系。
Wǒ gēn tā wánquán méiyǒu guānxì.

I'm totally unrelated to him.

这事跟我一点也没关系。
Zhè shì gēn wǒ yīdiǎn yě méiguānxì.

This issue has nothing to do with me.

我的私事和你没有关系！
Wǒ de sīshì hé nǐ méiyǒu guānxì!

My personal matters are none of your business!

As you can see, the two uses of 没关系 are similar but not entirely the same. The first one, “it
doesn’t matter”, is quite idiomatic, whilst the second is directly “it is not related”.

How to use 划算 (huásuàn) in Mandarin

Chinese: to be a bargain
To talk about bargains and good deals in Chinese, you can use the word 划算 (huásuàn). This word
has various meanings including “to calculate”, “to weigh up”, “worthwhile”, “economical”, “to get
one’s money’s worth” etc.

We’re interested in the ones about things being good value or economical here. Also, don’t
confuse 划算 with 算上！

The most important thing to remember about 划算 is that it is a verb, not a noun. The English
word “bargain” is a noun, so English speakers sometimes misuse 划算 as a noun too.

Getting more precise, 划算 is actually a stative verb. Chinese is full of these, and they are pretty
much just adjectives that behave grammatically like verbs. In other words, 划算 should go in verb
slots in sentences.

Let’s have a look at a few different uses for 划算 and how the word fits into a sentence
grammatically.
Bargains with 划算

You can talk about things being bargains with 划算, but remember that it’s a verb and not a noun
like “bargain”. You could think of 划算 as being something like “bargain-y” or “bargain-ish” to help
you remember how to use it in a sentence.

这个很划算。
Zhège hěn huásuàn.

This is a bargain.

他觉得非常的划算。
Tā juéde fēichángde huásuàn.

He thought it was a real bargain.

你做了一个很划算的交易。
Nǐ zuòle yīgè hěn huásuàn de jiāoyì.

You've got a real bargain with that exchange.

Notice that 划算 means “bargain” specifically in the sense of something being a good trade or a
good deal.

Getting your money’s worth with 划算

You can also use 划算 to mean “be worthwhile” or “pay well”. Really this is the same meaning as
above: getting something suitable in return for something else.

在这家超市买东西划算。
Zài zhè jiā chāoshì mǎi dōngxi huásuàn.

You get your money's worth in this supermarket.

做这件事划算。
Zuò zhè jiàn shì huásuàn.

It's very worthwhile to do this.

如果折扣很划算，我们会买的。
Rúguǒ zhékòu hěn huásuàn, wǒmen huì mǎi de.

If the discount makes it worthwhile, we'll take it.

Sometimes this usage of 划算 can be a little bit tricky to translate into English. Just remember that
it means “pays”, “is worthwhile” or “get your money’s worth” depending on the situation.

Being economical with 划算

Finally, another related use of 划算: “to be economical”. This is about making better decisions
regarding spending or trading. Some examples:

买一个大包比买两个小包划算。
Mǎi yīgè dà bāo bǐ mǎi liǎng gè xiǎobāo huásuàn.

It's more economical to buy one big bag that two small bags.

烧煤气比烧煤划算。
Shāo méiqì bǐ shāo méi huásuàn.

Gas is more economical to use than coal.

买来回票划算。
Mǎi láihuí piào huásuàn.

It's economical to buy a return ticket.

Notice how all of the uses of 划算 described here all have the same basic meaning: getting a good
deal or using your money in the best way. Also notice how all of these uses fit into the sentences
as verbs.

The difference between 终于 (zhōngyú)

and 最后 (zuìhòu) in Mandarin Chinese:
'finally' vs 'the last'
The words 终于 (zhōngyú) and 最后 (zuìhòu) in Chinese can be difficult for beginners to
distinguish, because both of them can mean “finally” or “in the end”. Remember that there is a lot
of overlap between these words: they are not totally separate in meaning.

However, there is some difference between the two. The key difference is that 终于 puts more
emphasis on “finally” as in “the work is finally done”, whilst 最后 is simply “the last” or “in the
end”. Let’s have a look at each word in turn.

终于 (zhōngyú): finally, at last

The word 终于 has a close range of meanings: “at last, in the end, finally, eventually”. 终于 can be
used to emphasise that a lot of time has passed or a lot of effort has been expended, and
something is finally done.

At long last, this thing has been done, and it wasn’t easy, or it took ages. Because of this, 终于
sometimes implies that what happened was desirable or wanted.

Let’s have a look at some example sentences for 终于:

他终于来了。
Tā zhōngyú láile.

He's finally here!

他当老师的梦想终于实现了。
Tā dāng lǎoshī de mèngxiǎng zhōngyú shíxiànle.

He finally realised his dream of becoming a teacher.

他要访华的愿望终于实现了。
Tā yào fǎnghuá de yuànwàng zhōngyú shíxiànle.

His wish to visit China has at last come true.

我终于时来运转了。
Wǒ zhōngyú shíláiyùnzhuǎn le.

Finally things are looking up for me.

As you can see, in each of those situations, something has finally happened that seemed to take a
lot of effort or time.

Remember, though, that 终于 isn’t totally distinct from 最后, as it can also mean “at last” or “in
the end”, and be used to talk about neutral or bad things happening:

那位运动员终于击进了一球。
Nà wèi yùndòngyuán zhōngyú jī jìnle yī qiú.

At the last moment the player was able to hit the ball in.

她终于由巨富沦为赤贫。
Tā zhōngyú yóu jù fù lún wèi chìpín.

In the end, she fell from great wealth to abject poverty.

This is very similar to the words “finally” and “at last” in English. They are slightly distinct, but
there is also a lot of overlap between the two words.

最后 (zuìhòu): the last, in the end

The word 最后 has meanings like “final, last, finally, ultimate”. As mentioned above, there’s
clearly a lot of overlap with 终于.

The difference, though, is that 最后 is usually neutral compared to 终于. It simply states that
something happened last or in the end, but doesn’t necessarily imply that it took a long time or a
lot of effort. It was just the final thing that happened.

最后，我们的项目成了拍卖会上最特别的一项。
Zuìhòu, wǒmen de xiàngmù chéngle pāimàihuìshàng zuì tèbié de yīxiàng.

Finally, we come to the most special item in this auction.

这是最后一招。
Zhè shì zuìhòu yī zhāo.

This is a last resort.

最后，他们只得放弃了。
Zuìhòu, tāmen zhǐdé fàngqìle.

In the end, they had to give up.

在“狼来了”的这个故事中，最后当这个男孩真正遇到危险时，再也没人愿意相
信他了。
Zài “láng láile” de zhège gùshì zhōng, zuìhòu dāng zhège nánhái zhēnzhèng yù dào wéixiǎn shí, zài yě méi rén
yuànyì xiāngxìn tāle.

In the story of the boy who cried wolf, when in the end he encountered real danger, no-one would
believe him.

Hopefully you can see that whilst 最后 also means “finally” or “in the end”, it doesn’t have the
implication that this was the result of a long wait or a lot of effort like 终于 does.

Got questions or suggestions? Please share them in the comments!

When 给 (gěi) comes directly after verbs

in Mandarin Chinese (verb-给
compounds)
The word 给 (gěi) is often used in Chinese as a preposition meaning “for” or “to”. In other words,
给 can be used to talk about doing something for someone or _to _someone. One way to do this
is with so-called verb-给 compounds.

All that verb-给 compound means is a verb immediately followed by 给. For example:

请讲给我听。
Qǐng jiǎng gěi wǒ tīng.

Please tell me about it.

In that sentence, you can see 讲给 as a compound verb meaning “to tell to” or “to tell [someone]
about”. This is a very common way to talk about doing something for or tosomeone in Chinese.

Some common verb-给 compounds

There are quite a few verbs in Chinese that often appear in verb-给 compounds. It might be
helpful to watch out for them in the course of your studies. We’ve listed some of the most
common ones here.

寄给 (jìgěi): to mail to

寄给 is a very easy way to talk about posting something to someone, for example:

他们寄给我一张圣诞卡。
Tāmen jì gěi wǒ yī zhāng shèngdànkǎ.

They sent me a Christmas card.

您能否寄给我一份申请表？
Nín néng fǒu jì gěi wǒ yī fèn shēnqǐng biǎo?

Could you send me an application form?

递给 (dìgěi): to pass to

This compound is used all the time in everyday life, usually when asking other people to hand
something to you. E.g.:

请把盐递给我。
Qǐng bǎ yán dì gěi wǒ.

Please pass me the salt.

她把酒递给他。
Tā bǎ jiǔ dì gěi tā.

She handed him the drink.

交给 (jiāogěi): to hand in to

If you take Chinese classes, you will almost certainly hear the teacher use 交给. Some examples:

请把作业按时交给我。
Qǐng bǎ zuòyè ànshí jiāo gěi wǒ.
Please hand your homework in on time.

我把作业交给老师。
Wǒ bǎ zuòyè jiāo gěi lǎoshī.

I handed my homework in to the teacher.

卖给 (màigěi): to sell to

This is a very common way to talk about selling things to people. Examples:

你不能把酒卖给未成年人。
Nǐ bùnéng bǎjiǔ mài gěi wèi chéngnián rén.

You can't sell alcohol to under-age people.

这个不卖给一般人。
Zhège bù mài gěi yībānrén.

This isn't on sale to the general public.

还给 (huángěi): to give back to

This is commonly used to talk about giving things back to people or returning them:

那本书你还给图书馆了吗？
Nà běn shū nǐ huán gěi túshū guǎnle ma?

Have you returned that book to the library?

我会尽早还给你这笔钱。
Wǒ huì jǐnzǎo hái gěi nǐ zhè bǐ qián.

I'll return the money to you as soon as possible.

Verb-给 compounds often go with 把 (bǎ)

You might have noticed that a lot of the verb-给 compounds in the sentences above appeared in
a 把 (bǎ) structure. This is because the 把 structure is used to talk about the disposal of the object
(what happened to the object in the end).
If the object is getting mailed, passed around, handed in, sold or returned, then it is being directly
affected and so the 把 structure is a good choice.

The structure for this is:

[subject] 把 [direct object] [verb] 给 [indirect object]

Don’t worry if you don’t know the difference between direct and indirect objects. Just note that
there are two objects in this structure.

A few examples of verb-给 compounds in 把 structures:

学生们已经把论文交给导师了。
Xuéshēngmen yǐjīng bǎ lùnwén jiāo gěi dǎoshī le.

The students have handed their essays in to their tutors.

他不小心把照片寄给老板了。
Tā bù xiǎoxīn bǎ zhàopiàn jì gěi lǎobǎn le.

He accidentally mailed the photos to his boss.

不要把你的责任推诿给他人。
Bùyào bǎ nǐ de zérèn tuīwěi gěi tārén.

Do not shirk your responsibilities on to others.

A more common structure with 给

Note that 给 can also be used as a preposition without being in a verb-给 compound. This is
actually more common. We’re explaining verb-给 compounds here because they’re important to
know about, but there’s actually a more common way to arrange these sentences.

The structure for this is:

[subject] [verb] [direct object] 给 [indirect object]

Again, don’t worry if you don’t know the difference between direct and indirect objects. What
matters is that there are two objects here. Let’s have a look at some examples for this common
structure:
我买了一些吃的给你。
Wǒ mǎile yīxiē chī de gěi nǐ.

I bought some food for you.

我要写一封信给他。
Wǒ yào xiě yī fēng xìn gěi tā.

I'm going to write him a letter.

Also remember that sentences with 给 are also commonly expressed using 把, as described above.

她把那本书送给男朋友了。
Tā bǎ nà běn shū sòng gěi nán péngyǒu le.

She gave that book to her boyfriend.

The difference between 半 (bàn), 一半 (yí

bàn) and 一个半 (yí ge bàn) in Chinese
grammar
Most people learning Mandarin Chinese get a bit confused with the words 半 (bàn), 一半 (yí bàn)
and 一个半 (yí ge bàn). They’re all used for talking about halves in one way or another, but the
difference between them can be tricky at first.

None of the words we’re explaining here are actually very hard to use. The problem is that they’re
similar, and you get interference. In other words, you get them mixed up. To try and help you
avoid that with these words, we’ve put together the super-clear guide below.

半 (bàn): half of
To talk about *half of *something, the structure is:

半 + [measure word] + [noun]

It’s as simple as that. Most often the measure word is the generic 个 (ge), but any measure word
can and should be used in that slot. Let’s have a look at some examples for this structure:
半个小时
bàn ge xiǎoshí

half an hour

半个三明治
bàn ge sānmíngzhì

half a sandwhich

半碗饭
bàn wǎn fàn

half a bowl of rice

半条鱼
bàn tiáo yú

half a fish

Notice how in English you could say “half of” in all those situations, but usually you just drop the
word “of”. However, it might be helpful to try and remember the Chinese 半个 as meaning “half
of”.

Now let’s have a look at some full example sentences for this structure:

我吃了半个苹果。
Wǒ chīle bàn ge píngguǒ.

I ate half an apple.

我只要半张纸。
Wǒ zhǐyào bàn zhāng zhǐ.

I only want half a sheet of paper.

我们花了半个小时做作业。
Wǒmen huāle bàn ge xiǎoshí zuò zuo yè.

We spent half an hour doing the homework.

Notice the 半 + measure word structure in each of the sentences above. If a measure word
comes after 半, then it means “half of” or “half a”. That makes it different to the other two words
described below.

一半 (yí bàn): a half

一半 is used without a measure word at all. Always remember that you can’t put a measure word
before or after 一半. There isn’t a general structure for using 一半, because it’s more of a
standalone word meaning “a half” or “one half”. Let’s have a look at some example sentences for
一半:

我们已经喝了一半了。
Wǒmen yǐjīng hēle yībànle.

We've already drunk half of it.

我吃饭吃了一半就不想吃了。
Wǒ chīfàn chīle yībàn jiù bùxiǎng chīle.

I'd eaten half the meal, and then I just didn't want any more.

他总是把薪水的一半存入银行。
Tā zǒngshì bǎ xīnshuǐ de yībàn cún rù yínháng.

He always puts one half of his salary in the bank.

Hopefully you can see that it’s easier to think of 一半 as a vocabulary item than a structure. This
makes it different to 半 and 一个半, which you might want to think of as being more structural.

一个半 (yí ge bàn): one and a half

Finally, we come to 一个半 which means one and a half. The structure for this is:

一个半 + [noun]

You could think of 一个半 as being like 一个 (one) plus 半 (half), so altogether it makes one and a
half. Also notice that it contains a measure word, so you don’t add any more measure words to
this structure! The 个 shown here can of course be replaced with any appropriate measure word.
Let’s have a look at some example sentences for 一个半 (plus the same structure with other
measure words):

这个产品很受欢迎 - 我们已经卖了一盒半了！
Zhège chǎnpǐn hěn shòu huānyíng- wǒmen yǐjīng màile yī hé bànle!

This product is very popular - we've already sold a box and a half!

我拿了一张半纸。
Wǒ nále yī zhāng bàn zhǐ.

I got one and a half sheets of paper.

我们花了一个半钟头才做完。
Wǒmen huāle yīgè bàn zhōngtóu cái zuò wán.

We spent an hour and a half getting it done.

最大的鹰的翅膀展开长达一米半。
Zuìdà de yīng de chìbǎng zhǎnkāi zhǎng dá yī mǐ bàn.

The largest eagles have a wingspan of one and a half meters.

Hopefully you can see the 一 + measure word + 半 structure in each of the sentences above.

The difference between the three

Now it’s time for a quick summary of the difference between 半, 一半 and 一个半 in Chinese
grammar.

 半
o “half of” or “half a”
o 半 + [measure word] + [noun]
 一半
“a half” or “one half”
o

o a standalone word
 一个半
o “one and a half”
o 一 + [measure word] + 半
If you have any questions or suggestions, please share them in the comments at the end of the
page.

Level B2
With B2 level Chinese, you're able to:

1. Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including
technical discussions in your field of specialization.
2. Interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with
native speakers quite possible without strain for either party.
3. Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a
topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.

Essential B2 articles
1. Chinese direction complements: Basic verbal directions with 来 (lái) and 去 (qù)

Important B2 articles
1. Using 嘛 (ma) in Chinese grammar: stating the obvious and describing expectations
2. Borrowing and lending in Chinese grammar: 借 (jiè), 借给 (jiègěi) and 跟…借 (gēn…jiè)
3. How to use 倍 (bèi) in Chinese grammar: -times, -fold and multiplication
4. Chinese grammar 所 (suǒ) structural particle

Supplementary B2 articles
1. The difference between 拿 (ná) and 带 (dài) in Chinese grammar
2. Three uses of 才 (cái) in Chinese grammar: only, just now / not until, emphasis
3. The difference between 想 (xiǎng), 要 (yào) and 想要 (xiǎngyào) in Chinese grammar
4. Repeating question words in Chinese (place-holder question words)
5. How to use 放假 (fàngjià) and 假期 (jiàqī) correctly in Mandarin Chinese
 6. The difference between 算 (suàn), 算上 (suànshang) and 算了 (suànle) in Chinese grammar
7. How to use 帮 (bāng) and 帮忙 (bāngmáng) correctly in Mandarin Chinese
8. Where to place 一点儿 (yī diǎnr) in a sentence

Chinese direction complements: Basic

verbal directions with 来 (lái) and 去 (qù)
Direction complements are one of the big obstacles in Chinese grammar. They hit you very near
the beginning of your studies, and rarely ‘click’ on the first viewing. They’re often one of the first
grammar topics that really slows a learner down and makes them start paying attention to
Chinese grammar.

We’re going to build up a complete guide to Chinese direction complements by covering it in

smaller chunks. Then we’ll put together a big summary piece that pulls it all together. This is the
first in the series: basic direction complements with 来 and 去.

Direction complements: coming closer or going away?

That question is the fundamental point in understanding direction complements: is the action
coming closer to the speaker, or moving further away from them? Once you focus on that, these
constructions tend to get a bit clearer.

If the action of the verb is getting closer to the speaker, 来 is used. The action is coming closer. If
the action is moving away from the speaker, 去 is used. The action is going away. That’s the first
part.

This fundamental coming / going movement gets combined with another direction. Imagine that
the whole movement or action must have its direction described fully. The fundamental coming /
going part of it, plus another direction.

If this seems confusing, fear not! As always, a good dose of example sentences should make it
clearer. Let’s have a look at these combinations one by one.
Up and down: 上 (shàng) and 下 (xià)

As well as moving towards or a way from the speaker, an action can also go up and down, right?
For those situations, the up and down directions are covered by 上 and 下. Notice how those
characters actually look like arrows indicating the direction.

The structure for this is:

verb [上/下] [来/去]

So you can make any combination you like out of 上 or 下, then 来 or 去. There are four possible
combinations there. Let’s have a look at an example:

请上来。
Qǐng shànglái.

Please come up.

This sounds like it is being said by someone who is upstairs to someone who is downstairs. The
speaker wants the listener to make a movement up and towards them, so they use 上 and 来.
Notice how English says “come up”, whereas Chinese switches the order: 上来 is literally “up
come”.

What if the person downstairs doesn’t want to go up, and asks the first person to come down?
They could say:

你下来。
Nǐ xiàlái.

You come down.

This action is still coming towards the speaker (the person downstairs), but now it’sdown and
towards them. So 下 and 来 are used.

It might be fun to make up a silly scenario to go through all four combinations in one story.
Imagine that the boss of a company has ordered something important online, and the delivery
person has arrived with it. The secretary is downstairs and phones the boss upstairs.
The boss wants the delivery person to come upstairs to her office. So she says to the secretary on
the phone:

让他上来。
Ràng tā shànglái.

Make him come up.

This movement is up and towards the boss, so the boss uses 上来. Now the secretary passes this
message on to the delivery person:

请上去。
Qǐng shàngqù.

Please go up.

This movement is up and away from the secretary, so he uses 上去.

The delivery person has a policy of being very clear about everything, so he says:

好，我上去。
Hǎo, wǒ shàngqù.

OK, I'll go up.

Again, this movement is up and away from the delivery person, so he uses 上去. The delivery
person goes up and gives the important parcel to the boss. The boss then says.

谢谢。你可以下去了。
Xièxiè. Nǐ kěyǐ xiàqùle.

Thanks. You can go down now.

Again, the delivery person likes to be super-clear, so he says:

好，我下去。
Hǎo, wǒ xiàqù.

OK, I'll go down.

Unfortunately, the delivery person gets lost trying to find the stairs. Some time passes, and the
secretary wonders what’s going on. He phones the boss and says:

他怎么还没下来呢？
Tā zěnme hái méi xiàlái ne?

How come he still hasn't come down?

Eventually they sort it out and everyone lives happily ever after.

In that somewhat repetitive story, we covered all four combinations of 上来, 上去, 下来 and 下去.
Let’s have a look at some more examples:

从 80 楼可以看到整个城市，咱们上去看一下吧。
Cóng bāshí lóu kěyǐ kàn dào zhěnggè chéngshì, zánmen shàngqù kàn yīxià ba.

From the 80th floor you can see the whole city - let's go up and have a look.

这个房子的地下室太恐怖了，我不敢下去。
Zhège fángzi de dìxiàshì tài kǒngbùle, wǒ bù gǎn xiàqù.

The basement in this house is too scary, I don't dare go down.

In the next article in this series, we’ll look at some more complex sentences involving 上来, 上去,
下来 and 下去.

In and out: 进 (jìn) and 出 (chū)

Besides 上 and 下, you can use a variety of other directions with 来 and 去 in direction
complements. One pair is 进 and 出: inward movements and outward movements. Remember
that direction complements are about movements relative to the speaker.

进 and 出 combine with 来 and 去 in the same way as 上 and 下 did above. For example:

请进来。
Qǐng jìnlái.

Please come in.

The speaker might be in a room or office and is inviting the listener to come in (note that this is
usually shortened to just 请进). More examples:

我在换衣服，你别进来！
Wǒ zài huàn yīfú, nǐ bié jìnlái!

I'm getting changed, don't come in!

我今晚要出去。
Wǒ jīn wǎn yào chūqù.

I'm going to go out tonight.

小王，出来玩儿！
Xiǎo Wáng, chūlái wánr!

Xiao Wang, come out to play!

他把自己锁在房间里，不让人进去！
Tā bǎ zìjǐ suǒ zài fángjiān lǐ, bù ràng rén jìnqù!

He's locked himself in his room and won't let anyone in!

With direction complements involving 进 and 出, you’ve got to consider if the movement is going
into or out of a location (进 or 出), and whether the speaker is inside or outside of that location.

Back: 回 (huí)

The next direction we’ll look at is 回. This is for movements that are going back or returning. You
can combine 回 with 来 or 去 to talk about coming back or going back.

Have a look at some examples:

我忘了带伞，我要回去拿。
Wǒ wàngle dài sǎn, wǒ yào huíqù ná.

I've forgotten my umbrella - I'll go back and get it.

你什么时候从巴西回来？
Nǐ shénme shíhou cóng bāxī huílái?
When are you coming back from Brazil?

你几点回去？
Nǐ jǐ diǎn huíqù?

What time are you going back?

你不要回来！
Nǐ bùyào huílái!

Don't come back!

他星期二晚上回来。
Tā xīngqí'èr wǎnshàng huílái.

He's coming back on Tuesday evening.

Again, notice how the movement is always relative to the speaker, regardless of what other
direction is included in the direction complement.

Across: 过 (guò)

By combining 来 or 去 with 过, you can talk about movements that come across or go across. This
can also cover come over and go over in English.

Examples:

他看到了我，就过来跟我打招呼。
Tā kàn dàole wǒ, jiù guòlái gēn wǒ dǎzhāohū.

He saw me and came over to say hello.

邻居买了新的车，我要过去看一下。
Línjū mǎile xīn de jū, wǒ yào guòqù kàn yīxià.

The neighbours have bought a new car - I'm going to go over and have a look.

你要不要过来吃饭？
Nǐ yào bùyào guòlái chīfàn?

Do you want to come round to eat?

我看到了一个老人摔倒了，马上就过去帮忙。
Wǒ kàn dàole yīgè lǎorén shuāidǎo le, mǎshàng jiù guòqù bāngmáng.

I saw an old person fall down, and immediately went over to help.

Note that other than meaning “go over”, 过去 is also a word meaning “the past”. These meanings
are related: the past is what has gone past or “gone across” a line separating past and future.

Rising: 起 (qǐ)

起 is a very versatile word in Chinese, and it’s a little bit trickier to understand in direction
complements. In general it means “to rise”, and in direction complements it can only be combined
with 来. Examples:

请站起来。
Qǐng zhàn qǐlái.
Please stand up.

已经下午一点了，你快点起来！
Yǐjīng xiàwǔ yīdiǎnle, nǐ kuài diǎn qǐlái!

It's already 1pm - get up now!

老师进来教室的时候，学生都要站起来。
Lǎoshī jìnlái jiàoshì de shíhou, xuéshēng dōu yào zhàn qǐlái.

When the teacher comes into the room, all the students should stand up.

That’s the basic meaning of 起来, but there are further meanings we’ll go into in a later article in
this series.

Reaching and arriving: 到 (dào)

Direction complements with 到 work slightly differently to the rest. The structure is slightly
different, because you put the destination in between 到 and 来 or 到 and 去:

… 到 [destination] 去

… 到 [destination] 来
These are used to talk about going to places or coming to places. Examples:

我很想到北京去。
Wǒ hěn xiǎngdào Běijīng qù.

I'd really like to go to Beijing.

我希望你可以到这里来。
Wǒ xīwàng nǐ kěyǐ dào zhèlǐ lái.

I hope you can come here.

That’s as advanced as we want to get with direction complements in this article though. More
detailed coverage is on the way!

The difference between 拿 (ná) and 带

(dài) in Chinese grammar
The verbs 拿 (ná) and 带 (dài) can both mean “bring” or “take”, so what is the difference between
the two? In short, the difference between 拿 and 带 is:

 拿 focuses on the action of carrying or picking up an object, particularly in one’s hands.

 带 focuses on bringing or taking things with you, i.e. having something whilst moving.

As with all confusing word pairs, there is a lot of overlap between 拿 and 带. In many cases, native
Chinese speakers would be hard pushed to say why you should go with one over the other.

A big rule in developing your Chinese is to avoid spending too much time trying to analyse
grammar or rules. Native speakers do not learn in this way. It is good to read up on grammar and
get a sense of what is going on, but ultimately you’ve got to develop a natural feel for the
language through lots of practice and exposure.

With that in mind, let’s look at 拿 and 带.

Comparing 拿 and 带 directly

The best way to get an idea of the difference between 拿 and 带 is probably to compare them in
otherwise identical sentences. First up:

你能带多少行李？
Nǐ néng dài duōshǎo xínglǐ?

How much luggage are you allowed to take?

你能拿多少行李？
Nǐ néng ná duōshǎo xínglǐ?

How much luggage can you carry?

Here you can see that whilst 带 and 拿 can both mean ‘take’, 带 simply expresses the act of
moving with an object, whereas 拿 focuses on the physical act of carrying it.

Another example:

我拿了伞。
Wǒ nále sǎn.

I've brought my umbrella.

我带了伞。
Wǒ dàile sǎn.

I've brought my umbrella.

So what about this example? The sentences seem to mean the same thing. They are pretty much
the same, except that 拿 draws more attention to the act of picking up the umbrella. Functionally
there is very little difference between these two sentences.

请帮我带这个[……]
Qǐng bāng wǒ dài zhège [……]

Please take this [to ...] for me.

请帮我拿这个。
Qǐng bāng wǒ ná zhège.

Please hold this for me.

The difference is clearer in this example. With 带, the sentence is a request for something to be
taken to another place. It feels somewhat incomplete without the place being specified. The
sentence 带 seems that the listener is going there and the speaker wants them to take something
with them. With 拿, the request is simply to hold something without necessarily going anywhere.

Now we’ve looked at some of the direct differences between 拿 and 带, let’s look at them each
separately in detail.

拿 (ná)
拿 is used to talk about physically picking things up or carrying them. Notice how it contains 手
(shǒu), the character for hand. When 拿 is used, you should nearly always think of things being
moved in someone’s hand/s.

Taking to and from with 拿

Depending on the direction of the action, 拿 is often translated into “bring” or “take” in English.
Let’s have a look at “take” first:

你忘了拿你的东西。
Nǐ wàngle ná nǐ de dōngxi.

You forgot to take your things.

请把这个拿走。
Qǐng bǎ zhège ná zǒu.

Please take this away.

他从书架上拿下来了一本书。
Tā cóng shūjià shàng ná xiàláile yī běn shū.

He took a book down from the bookshelf.

你应该拿到前台去吧。
Nǐ yīnggāi ná dào qiántái qù ba.

You should take it to the front desk.

你想拿多少就拿多少。
Nǐ xiǎng ná duōshǎo jiù ná duōshǎo.

Take as many as you like.

If you noticed the 把 character there and are wondering what it does, have a read about the 把
structure. It’s one of the trickiest and most important structures in Chinese grammar.

With these example sentences for 拿, pay attention to how the action focuses on physically
moving things around by hand.

Bringing to and from with 拿

You can also use 拿 to talk about bringing things to or from places:

你可以拿点吃的来吗？
Nǐ kěyǐ ná diǎn chī de lái ma?

Could you bring some food?

他从家里拿来了一瓶红酒。
Tā cóng jiālǐ ná láile yī píng hóngjiǔ.

He brought a bottle of red wine from home.

我帮你拿过来吧。
Wǒ bāng nǐ ná guòlái ba.

I'll bring it over for you.

Again, 拿 is used in these sentences because they’re about people moving things with their hands.
If you replaced 拿 with 带, the sentences would still be acceptable, but there would be no focus
on the physical carrying of the objects. Using 带 would simply state the objects were transported
by the person.

Carrying things

Unlike 带, 拿 can be used to talk about physically carrying or holding things without specifying if
they’re being taken anywhere. Have a look at some examples:

你可以帮我拿这个吗？
Nǐ kěyǐ bāng wǒ ná zhège ma?

Can you hold this for me?

她拿东西的时候背会有点疼。
Tā ná dōng xī de shíhou bèi huì yǒudiǎn téng.

Her back hurts when she carries things.

我一个人拿不了这么多东西。
Wǒ yīgè rén ná bùliǎo zhème duō dōngxi.

I can't carry all these things on my own.

When used to talk about carrying things, 拿 is very often combined with the aspect particle 着
(zhe). 着 is used to talk about continuous or ongoing actions.

Have a look at some examples with 拿 and 着:

他们都拿着票。
Tāmen dōu názhe piào.

They were all holding tickets.

你手里拿着什么？
Nǐ shǒu lǐ názhe shénme?

What have you got in your hand?

她拿着枪进去了银行。
Tā názhe qiāng jìnqùle yínháng.

She went into the bank with a gun.

Notice how 着 indicates that the action is ongoing. There isn’t a defined start or end point for the
action; in the context of the sentence, it is continuous.

Getting or acquiring with 拿

As well as talking about physically moving things around, 拿 can also be used to talk about ‘getting’
or ‘acquiring’ things.
我拿到了签证就可以去。
Wǒ ná dàole qiānzhèng jiù kěyǐ qù.

I can go once I've got my visa.

你希望拿多少薪水？
Nǐ xīwàng ná duōshǎo xīnshuǐ?

What kind of salary do you expect to get?

我会在机场柜台拿机票。
Wǒ huì zài jīchǎng guìtái ná jīpiào.

I'll pick my ticket up at the airport counter.

You might see this as a slightly metaphorical use of 拿, because there isn’t necessarily anything
being moved by hand. Alternatively, you might just interpret this as meaning that 拿 has a wider
set of meanings.

带 (dài)
带 means ‘bring’ or ‘take’ in the sense of causing something to move with oneself to a destination.
In that way it’s more general than 拿, and doesn’t have any implications about how the thing is
moved.

Taking to and from with 带

As with 拿, whether 带 is translated into ‘bring’ or ‘take’ in English is decided by the direction of
the movement. Chinese uses 带 for both directions:

你带这个去送给他们吧。
Nǐ dài zhège qù sòng gěi tāmen ba.

Take this and give it to them.

我把这个带走可以吗？
Wǒ bǎ zhège dài zǒu kěyǐ ma?

Is it alright if I take this with me?

一个人去很危险，带上这个吧。
Yīgè rén qù hěn wéixiǎn, dài shàng zhège ba.

It's dangerous to go alone — take this.

The important difference to 拿 is that these sentences with 带 don’t imply how the object is being
moved. The person might be carrying it, putting in their bag or putting it in their car, for example.

Bringing to and from with 带

if the direction is towards the speaker, then 带 becomes ‘bring’ rather than ‘take’:

我没带在身上。
Wǒ mò dài zài shēnshang.

I haven't brought it with me.

你带伞了吗？
Nǐ dài sǎnle ma?

Did you bring an umbrella?

带上你的男朋友吧！
Dài shàng nǐ de nán péngyǒu ba!

Bring your boyfriend!

Like 拿, 带 is often combined with 着. This is often used to state that someone ‘has’ something, i.e
that they have it with them. It could mean that they have it in the hand, but they could just have it
on them or otherwise with them at moment.

For example:

她带着枪。
Tā dàizhe qiāng.

She's got a gun.

She's got a gun on her.
She's carrying a gun.
This sentence is very ambiguous because 带 doesn’t specify in what way exactly she possesses the
gun, just that she’s got one. If you were to use 拿 instead of 带, it would be much clearer that
she’s holding the gun in her hand.

Also note that the sentences above could all be in the past. Like other aspect particles, 着 is about
the time frame we’re talking about, and not the time frame we’re talking in.

她带着枪。
Tā dàizhe qiāng.

She had a gun.

She had a gun on her.
She was carrying a gun.

Some more example sentences with 带 and 着:

带 can be used with abstract / intangible things

Finally, another difference between 拿 and 带 is that 带 can be used with abstract or intangible
things, whereas this doesn’t tend to be the case with 拿.

Have a look at some examples:

他带着奇怪的眼神看着我。
Tā dàizhe qíguài de yǎnshén kànzhe wǒ.

He looked at me strangely.

她说话是带着浓重的美国口音。
Tā shuōhuà shì dàizhe nóngzhòng dì měiguó kǒuyīn.

She spoke with a thick American accent.

[This would often be said with 操着.]

他脸上带着灿烂的笑容。
Tā liǎn shàng dàizhe cànlàn de xiàoróng.

He had a beaming smile on his face.

“我们成功了！“ 她带着快乐的语气说。
“Wǒmen chénggōngle!“Tā dàizhe kuàilè de yǔqì shuō.

"We've done it!" she said happily.

Three uses of 才 (cái) in Chinese

grammar: only, just now / not until,
emphasis
The character 才 (cái) is one of those very common parts of Chinese grammar that many students
find difficult because it is so common and versatile. Here we’ll separate the grammatical uses of
才 into four different types and look at it that way.

才 meaning “only”
才 can mean “only”, i.e. it implies that something is small or few in quantity. When used in this
way, it very often appears with a measure word and a number. In this way it can express that
“there are only x things”.

Have a look at an example:

A: 你怎么有那么多？

Nǐ zěnme yǒu nàme duō?

How come you've got so many?

B: 我才有两个！

Wǒ cái yǒu liǎng gè!

I've only got two!

We don’t know what these two people are talking about, but A seems to believe that B has a lot
of it. B uses 才 to indicate that they don’t actually have a lot - they only have two.

Some more examples:

他才来过一次。
Tā cái láiguò yīcì.
He's only been here once before.

现在才五点，太早了。
Xiànzài cái wǔ diǎn, tài zǎole.
It's only five o'clock - it's too early.

我们一共才有 500 块钱，完全不够。

Wǒmen yīgòng cái yǒu 500 kuài qián, wánquán bùgòu.
Altogether we've only got 500 bucks - it's not enough at all.

Notice how in all of these examples there is a sense of a sequence. Maybe in the future there will
be more, but at the moment we’ve only reached a particular amount or number.

才 meaning “not until”

The next meaning of 才 we’ll look at is “not until”. This is also very common. When used in this
way, 才 is always followed by a verb or verb phrase. Another thing to note is that when 才 means
“not until”, it usually means that the event is expected or anticipated.

Some examples:

我们十点上课，可是她十一点才来。
Wǒmen shí diǎn shàngkè, kěshì tā shíyī diǎn cái lái.
We start class at 10, but she didn't arrive until 11.

他明天才走。
Tā míngtiān cái zǒu.
He's not leaving until tomorrow.

你怎么现在才来？
Nǐ zěnme xiànzài cái lái?
How come you've only just got here?
你做完作业才可以出去。
Nǐ zuò wán zuòyè cái kěyǐ chūqù.
You can't go out until you've finished your homework.

Always remember that when using 才 to talk about timings, you don’t use 了. The two characters
才 and 了 don’t generally play well together; it’s one or the other.

Another little tip that you might find useful is that when 才 is used with times, you could think of
it as being the opposite of ‘already’. ‘Already’ can suggest that something happened earlier than
expected, whereas 才 can suggest that it happened later than expected.

As well as talking about actual times, 才 can be used a little more idiomatically to talk about
whether things qualify or meet certain standards. Some examples should make this idea clearer:

到北方才能吃到真正的饺子！
Dào běifāng cáinéng chī dào zhēnzhèng de jiǎozi!
You can only get real dumplings in the north!

这才算一个充分的理由。
Zhè cái suàn yīgè chōngfèn de lǐyóu.
Now_ that's _a good reason.

这样做才对。
Zhèyàng zuò cái duì.
_That's_ the way to do it. ["It's not right until you do it this way."]

As you can see, it’s not totally clear if this use of 才 is closer to “only” or “not until”. Hopefully it
demonstrates how all these uses of 才 are related. They’re all have something to do with meeting
certain levels or certain lines being crossed.

If you’ve seen this clip from the film Crocodile Dundee, you might be able to get a good sense of
using 才 in this way. In the scene, Crocodile Dundee is not impressed by the knife a mugger is
trying to threaten him with. He pulls out his own much larger knife and says “This is a knife.” In
Chinese, you could use 才 in that situation:
那不是刀… 这才是刀！
Nà bùshì dāo… zhè cái shì dāo!
That's not a knife... _this _is a knife!

We don’t recommend that you go round carrying knives or trying to use them, though! Also, it’s a
shame that, like a lot of Hollywood films, the clip seems to have an unpleasant racial message -
why do they always have to ruin films by doing that?

Finally, you might enjoy this silly cartoon demonstrating a (rather rude!) use of 才:

才 meaning “just now”

A lot of textbooks separate this meaning of 才 from the others. In our view though, it’s actually
just a subset of 才 meaning “not until”. When used to mean “just now”, or “a moment ago”, 才
nearly always implies that the event should have happened earlier. I.e., it’s usually saying “it didn’t
happen until just now”. Therefore it’s just a subset of 才 meaning “not until”, in our view.

Some examples:

我才下班。
Wǒ cái xiàbān.
I just got off work.

我才接到他的电话。
Wǒ cái jiēdàole tā de diànhuà.
I just got his call.

我才看到你的 email.
Wǒ cái kàn dàole nǐ de email.
I just saw your email.

These all mean “just now” or “a moment ago”, but there’s clearly a sense of “only just now” as
well. It feels as if the events were expected to happen sooner, but didn’t.

才 for emphasis
Finally, 才 can be used to add strong emphasis to a sentence. We know that “emphasis” is often
used as a default explanation for many things when learning languages, but unfortunately in a lot
of cases it is the best explanation! 才 really is just adding heavy emphasis in these sentences:

我才不会呢！
Wǒ cái bù huì ne!
I'd never do that!

我才不吃这么恶心的东西呢！
Wǒ cái bù chī zhème ěxīn de dōngxi ne!
There's no way I'm eating something so disgusting!

我才不要呢！
Wǒ cái bùyào ne!
Absolutely not!

你才笨呢！
Nǐ cái bèn ne!
Are you stupid or what?!

Notice how this use of 才 is combined with 呢 to really ramp up the emphasis.

Using 嘛 (ma) in Chinese grammar:

stating the obvious and describing
expectations
嘛 (ma) is a sentence particle used to indicate that something is obvious or self-evident in Chinese.
It sounds the same as the question particle 吗(ma), but has a different purpose. Let’s have a look
at how to use it.

嘛 as a sentence particle
嘛 often appears as a setence particle. That simply means a particle that goes on the end of a
sentence. You may already be familiar with sentence particles like 吧 and 吗.

Stating the obvious with 嘛

Probably the most common use of 嘛 is to indicate that something is obvious or self-evident. In
English you might use “of course” to express the same thing.

嘛 is often used in this way as a response to some sort of situation or something someone else
said. The speaker wants to point out that the statement is obviously the case. This is
demonstrated in each of the example sentences below. The second speaker uses 嘛 to respond to
something the first speaker says:

你怎么穿了那么多衣服呢？
Nǐ zěnme chuānle nàme duō yīfú ne?
Why have you got so many clothes on?

今天天很冷嘛。
Jīntiān tiān hěn lěng ma.
Because it's cold today!

你怎么出了那么多汗呢？
Nǐ zěnme chūle nàme duō hàn ne?
Why are you so sweaty?

这些东西很重嘛。
Zhèxiē dōngxi hěn zhòng ma.
These things are really heavy, alright?

他怎么这样呢？
Tā zěnme zhèyàng ne?
What did he do that for?

小孩子不懂事儿嘛。
Xiǎoháizi bù dǒngshìr ma.
Of course little kids don't understand stuff like that.

Each of those sentences with 嘛 is a response to something that’s going on. The speaker thinks
that the explanation is obvious and should definitely be accepted by the listener.

Have a look at some more example sentences for 嘛 indicating that something is self-evident. In
each case you can probably imagine a situation where someone might say it.

我很累嘛。
Wǒ hěn lèi ma.
I'm tired, alright?

这个很难懂嘛。
Zhège hěn nán dǒng ma.
This is hard to understand!

她每天都很忙嘛。
Tā měitiān dū hěn máng ma.
She's busy every day, isn't she?

Notice how English doesn’t really have any direct equivalent of 嘛. Often in English this “stating
the obvious” tone is just implied.

Stating an expectation or request with 嘛

Another common use of 嘛 is to mark an expectation or request. This is closely related to

indicating that something is obvious. 嘛 marks requests that the speaker thinks are entirely
reasonable or to be expected.

You could think of these two uses of 嘛 (stating the obvious and indicating expectations) as
actually being the same. Either way, just remember that the main function of 嘛 as a sentence
particle is about expressing obvious, non-surprising or reasonable statements.

你不要走这么快嘛。
Nǐ bùyào zǒu zhème kuài ma.
Can you not walk so fast?

你百度一下嘛。
Nǐ bǎidù yīxià ma.
Why don't you just Baidu it?

你快点嘛！
Nǐ kuài diǎn ma!
Can you hurry up?

你想看电影就自己去嘛。
Nǐ xiǎng kàn diànyǐng jiù zìjǐ qù ma.
If you want to see a film, just go and see one yourself.

The last sentence there seems a little bit rude! It might be the speaker’s response to someone
else pestering them to go and see a film together. The speaker apparently thinks that the obvious
solution is for the other person to just go and see the film themselves.

嘛 as a topic marker
The next major use of 嘛 in Mandarin Chinese is as a topic-marker. You may know that Chinese is
a topic-prominent language, but don’t worry if you don’t know what that means.

The topic of a sentence is what the sentence is about. It’s also called the theme of the sentence.
Again, don’t worry if you don’t know any of this - it’s never necessary to know the terminology to
speak a language well!

Chinese is a topic-prominent language, so it often puts the topic first in a sentence, before
anything else. First you say the topic, then you comment on it. 嘛 is often used as a marker that
comes after the topic.

You can probably understand this without thinking about terms like ‘topic’ and ‘comment’. You
could simply see 嘛 as a way of pausing to think about what one is going to say. The speaker says
what they’re going to speak about, pauses to think with 嘛, then gives the information.
The structure for this would simply be:

[topic] 嘛 [comment]

Some example sentences might make this clearer:

这个嘛，我也不知道。
Zhège ma, wǒ yě bù zhīdào.
That... I don't know either.

那个人嘛，他一直都是那样的。
Nàgè rén ma, tā yīzhí dōu shì nàyàng de.
That guy... He's always like that.

小孩子嘛，都喜欢玩儿。
Xiǎo háizi ma, dōu xǐhuan wánr.
Little kids all like to play.

You can see the topic-comment structure in the sentence above. The speaker says what they want
to talk about and then pauses using 嘛, and then they make a comment on it.

嘛 meaning ‘what’
嘛 can also mean ‘what’ in certain situations. There are many ways to use 嘛 to mean ‘what’, but
we’ll just look at the most common here.

干嘛
(gànmá)
The character 嘛 appears very commonly in the phrase 干嘛, literally “doing what”. 干嘛 can be
used to mean simply “what are you doing”, or it can be used to question an action or behaviour.
In either case, 干嘛 is quite casual and should not be used in formal situations.

First, some example sentences where 干嘛 is neutral, meaning “doing what”:

你明天要干嘛？
Nǐ míngtiān yào gànmá?
What are you doing tomorrow?

你在北京都干嘛了？
Nǐ zài běijīng dū gànmá le?
What did you do in Beijing?

这个东西是干嘛的？
Zhège dōngxi shì gànmá de?
What's this thing for?

In those sentences, 干嘛 is simply being used to ask about actions or functions without making
any comment on them. You can also use 干嘛 to suggest that an action is ‘incorrect’ or
undesirable, though:

你干嘛这样？
Nǐ gànmá zhèyàng?
Why are you being like this?

干嘛一直担心这个？
Gànmá yīzhí dānxīn zhège?
What's the point of worrying about it all the time?

你说这个干嘛？
Nǐ shuō zhège gànmá?
What did you say that for?

Those sentences carry a negative feeling, as if the speaker is criticising the action. In these
situations, 干嘛 is something like “what’s the point” or “why” in a critical sense. 干嘛 is often
used on its own when someone says or does something that the speaker thinks is wrong,
annoying or questionable in some way:

干嘛？
Gànmá?
You what? What are you doing?

Less commonly, you may hear people use 嘛 to mean ‘what’ in other situations. This is probably
‘non-standard’ Mandarin Chinese, which some people would categorise as dialect use. In any case,
that’s a topic for another article!

Questions? Suggestions? Criticisms? Please share all in the comments!

Borrowing and lending in Chinese

grammar: 借 (jiè), 借给 (jiègěi) and 跟…
借 (gēn…jiè)
The words 借 (jiè), 借给 (jiègěi) and 跟…借 (gēn…jiè) in Chinese are all used to talk about
borrowing and lending. Whilst English has separate words for “to borrow” and “to lend” (although
not all native speakers are consistent with these), Chinese just has 借 to cover both senses. Which
one it means depends on how the sentence is structured.

It probably makes sense to look at 借给 and 跟…借 first, as they are consistently “lend” and
“borrow”, respectively. Then we’ll look at 借 in general, as it can mean either “borrow” or “lend”.

借给: to lend to
To talk about lending things to people in Chinese, you can use the word 借给. This is a nice word
to use because it includes the preposition you need to you don’t need to think about it too much.
Read more about this kind of verb-给 compound.

Remember though, that because 借给 is actually two words joined together (verb and
preposition), it very often gets split up in Chinese sentences. You just have to get a feel for this by
doing lots of listening and reading.

Some example sentences where 借给 stays together as one unit:

你能借给我点儿钱吗？
Nǐ néng jiè gěi wǒ diǎnr qián ma?
Can you lend me some money?

我愿意借给他钱，因为我相信他。
Wǒ yuànyì jiè gěi tā qián, yīnwèi wǒ xiāngxìn tā.

I'm willing to lend him money, because I trust him.

你借给他的那些东西收回了没有？
Nǐ jiè gěi tā dì nàxiē dōngxi shōuhuíle méiyǒu?

Have you got those things that you lent him back?

Some sentences where 借给 gets split up:

你可以借十块钱给我吗？
Nǐ kěyǐ jiè shí kuài qián gěi wǒ ma?

Could you lend me ten dollars?

我让他借那本书给我。
Wǒ ràng tā jiè nà běn shū gěi wǒ.

I got him to lend me that book.

你急需钱的话我可以借一些给你。
Nǐ jíxū qián dehuà wǒ kěyǐ jiè yīxiē gěi nǐ.

If you urgently need money I can you lend you some.

Because it talks about the disposal of the object, 借给 is often used with 把 (bǎ). Some examples:

她说服她妈妈把汽车借给她了。
Tā shuìfú tā māmā bǎ qìchē jiè gěi tāle.

She persuaded her mum to lend her the car.

你能把你的笔记借给我一下吗？
Nǐ néng bǎ nǐ de bǐjì jiè gěi wǒ yīxià ma?

Could you lend me your notes?

我把那本书借给他了, 可是他还没还给我。
Wǒ bǎ nà běn shū jiè gěi tāle, kěshì tā hái méi hái gěi wǒ.

I lent that book to him, but he still hasn't given it back.

The best way to deal with these different structures for 借给 is probably to include the example
sentences above in your studies, e.g. in your SRS, and generally try to read and listen to as much
Chinese as you can. This will give a natural feel for the sentences better than trying to memorise
structures by rote.

跟…借: to borrow from

To talk about “borrowing from” as opposed to “lending to” you can use 跟…借, putting the person
borrowed from in the middle. This is probably a bit easier to use than 借给, as there aren’t so
many variations on the sentence structure. The basic structure is:

[borrower] 跟 [lender] 借 [item]

Some example sentences for 跟…借:

他经常跟图书馆借书。
Tā jīngcháng gēn túshū guǎn jiè shū.

He often borrows books from the library.

我跟她借了五百块钱。
Wǒ gēn tā jièle wǔbǎi kuài qián.

I borrowed five hundred dollars from her.

他跟我借了自行车。
Tā gēn wǒ jièle zìxíngchē.

He borrowed my bike.

As you can see from the example sentences, 跟…借 tends to be a bit more straightforward to use
than 借给. Now we move on to 借 in general, which can be used in different ways to mean either
“borrow” or “lend”.
借: borrowing or lending
When not used in one of the 借给 or 跟…借 structures, 借 can mean either “borrow” or “lend”.
You just have to figure it out from context. Some example sentences for 借:

我可以借你的铅笔吗？
Wǒ kěyǐ jiè nǐ de qiānbǐ ma?

Can I borrow your pencil?

为了读学位，我可能得借一笔学生贷款。
Wèile dú xuéwèi, wǒ kěnéng de jiè yī bǐ xuéshēng dàikuǎn.

I might have to borrow a student loan to study for my degree.

我不想借出我的相机。
Wǒ bùxiǎng jiè wǒ de xiàngjī.

I don't want to lend my camera.

他很少借钱。
Tā hěn shǎo jiè qián.
He rarely borrows money. He rarely lends money.

Questions? Suggestions? Please share them in the comments!

How to use 倍 (bèi) in Chinese grammar: -

times, -fold and multiplication
To talk about multiplication and multiples in Mandarin Chinese, you can use 倍 (bèi). This
character works very much like “-times” or “-fold” in English, for example in “ten times” or “two
fold”. In other words, you can use 倍 to say things like “A is twice as good as B” in everyday
conversation.

There are three main ways to use 倍 to talk about multiples and multiplication in Chinese. They
use the characters 是 (shì), 有 (yǒu) and 比 (bǐ). Let’s go through them one by one.
Using 倍 with 是
The first 倍 structure we’ll look at uses 是. The structure is:

[noun] 是 [noun] 的 [number] 倍

You can use this to say “[noun] is [number] times [noun]“. Notice how Chinese says the two nouns
first, then the number and then 倍. English puts the number with ‘times’ between the two nouns.

Let’s have a look at some example sentences for this structure.

中国人口大约是英国人口的二十一倍。
Zhōngguó rénkǒu dàyuē shì Yīngguó rénkǒu de èrshíyī bèi.

The population of China is about twenty-one times that of the UK.

米饭的热量是白菜的数倍。
Mǐfàn de rèliàng shì báicài de shù bèi.

Rice has several times more calories than cabbage.

氧原子的重量几乎是氢原子的十六倍。
Yǎng yuánzǐ de zhòngliàng jīhū shì qīng yuánzǐ de shíliù bèi.

Oxygen atoms are almost sixteen times heavier than hydrogen atoms.

日本人口是台湾人口的五倍左右。
Rìběn rénkǒu shì Táiwān rénkǒu de wǔ bèi zuǒyòu.

The population of Japan is about five times that of Taiwan.

我现在的体重是过去的两倍。
Wǒ xiànzài de tǐzhòng shì guòqù de liǎng bèi.

My current weight is twice as high as before.

For giving straight multiplications of numbers, the structure is usually re-arranged a little bit. It’s
still basically the same, though. Some examples:

二的四倍是八。
èr de sì bèi shì bā.

Two times four is eight.

三的三倍是九。
Sān de sān bèi shì jiǔ.

Three times three is nine.

You may also hear 二倍, e.g.:

二的二倍是四。
èr de èr bèi shì sì.

Two times two is four.

Note that there is a special way of saying “double”. Instead of 两倍 (which is more versatile), you
might also hear people say 双倍. This is to talk about doubling things rather than “two times”.
Some examples:

一角硬币的价值是五分的双倍。
Yījiǎo yìngbì de jiàzhí shì wǔ fēn de shuāng bèi.

Ten cent coins are worth twice as much as five cent coins.

你加班我付你双倍工钱。
Nǐ jiābān wǒ fù nǐ shuāng bèi gōngqián.

I'll pay you double for working overtime.

双倍 is more for very fixed, definite ‘doubling’ of something.

Using 倍 with 有
The second 倍 structure we’re looking at uses 有. The structure is very similar to the first one:

[noun] 有 [noun] 的 [number] 倍

This structure is identical to the one above, but 是 is swapped for 有. Whether to use 是 or 有
depends, quite intuitively, on whether something is or has a quality that’s a number of times
something else. Bear in mind that in most situations the 是 structure is probably the better choice.
Let’s have a look at some example sentences:

光速有声速的八十八万多倍。
Guāngsù yǒu shēngsù de bāshíbā wàn duō bèi.

The speed of light is more than eighty-eight thousand times the speed of sound.

他们国家的物价有我们国家的两倍。
Tāmen guójiā de wùjià yǒu wǒmen guójiā de liǎng bèi.

Commodity prices in their country are twice as high as in ours.

Each of the above sentences could just as well be expressed with 是 instead of 有. Also be
prepared for some variations on these structures, such as:

法定假日加班有三倍的工资。
Fǎdìng jiàrì jiābān yǒusān bèi de gōngzī.

According to law, holiday overtime pay must be three times higher.

我们的投资数额有好几倍的差距。
Wǒmen de tóuzī shù'é yǒu hǎojǐ bèi de chājù.
The amount we invest differs by several times.* (If anyone can think how to phrase this nicely in English,
please share it in the comments!)

Using 倍 with 比
The final 倍 structure is very different to the previous two. It uses 比, and its meaning is different
in an important way. Let’s look at the structure first:

[noun] 比 [noun] [adjective] [number] 倍

It looks very similar to the 是 and 有 structures described above. However, when you use 倍 with
比 like this, the multiplication is one time more.

That means that if you use 一倍 in this structure, you’re doubling the amount. If you use 两倍 in
this structure, you’re tripling the amount.
In other words, rather than just using the number as a multiple as in the 是 and 有 structures, the
比 structure adds that many multiples on to the quantity. That is, when you use the 比 structure,
you also include the original quantity.

If you’re confused, looking at these example sentences should help. To try and make this clearer,
each example is given twice, once with the 是 structure and once with the 比 structure.

蓝箱子比红箱子重一倍。
Lán xiāngzi bǐ hóng xiāngzi zhòng yī bèi.

蓝箱子的重量是红箱子的两倍。
Lán xiāngzi de zhòngliàng shì hóng xiāngzi de liǎng bèi.
The blue box is twice as heavy as the red box.

他们的人数比我们多两倍。
Tāmen de rénshù bǐ wǒmen duō liǎng bèi.

他们的人数是我们的三倍。
Tāmen de rénshù shì wǒmen de sān bèi.
There are three times as many of them as us.

这个城市的人口比那个城市的多两倍。
Zhège chéngshì de rénkǒu bǐ nàgè chéngshì de duō liǎng bèi.

这个城市的人口是那个城市的三倍。
Zhège chéngshì de rénkǒu shì nàgè chéngshì de sān bèi.
This city's population is three times that city's.

Remember that you can always use the 是 or 有 structure to keep things clear, as they work the
same as in English. The 比 structure is common, though, so it’s important to understand it.

Chinese grammar 所 (suǒ) structural

particle
The character 所 (suǒ) has a few different uses. In this article we’re looking at its use as
a structural particle. Don’t worry if you don’t know what that term means - you can still use 所
correctly without understanding the jargon around it!

Nominal constructions with 所

A nominal construction is something that can be used as a noun. 所 is used to form one kind
of nominal construction. The basic structure for this is:

所 [verb] 的

As you can see, 所 is placed right before the verb and 的 right after it. This creates a meaning like
“that which is [verb]ed”. Here are some short examples for this structure:

所吃的
suǒ chī de

that which is eaten

所知道的
suǒ zhīdào de

that which is known

所失去的
suǒ shīqù de

that which is lost

With this 所 construction, you can make compound terms that act as nouns in a sentence. We can
expand the basic structure to include this:

所 [verb] 的 [noun]

Here are some examples of these compound nouns:

所吃的菜
suǒ chīde cài

the food that is eaten

所知道的事实
suǒ zhīdào de shìshí

the facts that are known

所学到的知识
suǒ xuédào de zhīshì

the knowledge that is learned

Note how each of these is nominal. That is, they could all function as nouns in a sentence. Now
let’s expand the structure a little bit more again:

[noun] 所 [verb] 的 [noun]

The first noun is the agent. This means it is doing the action of the verb. The second noun is
the patient. This means it is receiving the action of the verb. Let’s have a look at some examples
for this structure:

我所吃的菜
wǒ suǒ chī de cài

the food I eat

他们所知道的事实
tāmen suǒ zhīdào de shìshí

the facts that they know

我们所学到的知识
wǒmen suǒ xué dào de zhīshì

the knowledge we have learned

Again, each of these makes a ‘chunk’ that can work as a noun in a sentence. Let’s do just that and
have a look at some full example sentences:

我所吃的菜都是自然的。
Wǒ suǒ chī de cài dōu shì zìrán de.
The food I eat is all natural.

他们所知道的事实只有三分之一是正确的。
Tāmen suǒ zhīdào de shìshí zhǐyǒu sān fēn zhī yī shì zhèngquè de.

Of the facts they know, only one third are correct.

我们所知道的很少，而我们所不知道的却很多。
Wǒmen suǒ zhīdào de hěn shǎo, ér wǒmen suǒ bù zhīdào de què hěnduō.

What we know is very little, and what we don't know is a lot.

軍人所失去的自由太多了。
Jūnrén suǒ shīqù de zìyóu tài duōle.

The freedom that soldiers give up is too great.

You might have noticed that in all the examples given here, 所 could be left out and it would still
be grammatical. This shows that 所 is actually optional. It can be used to make something clearer
or to add some formality, but it is not essential.

Some common compounds with 所

Whilst in theory any verb could be used with 所, there are a few that appear with it more
commonly than others. These have almost become fixed vocabulary items. Some of the most
common are:

所谓
suǒwèi

so-called

所得
suǒdé

that which is gained

所有
suǒyǒu
"that which exists" (i.e. _all_)

所以
suǒyǐ

"that which because of" (i.e. _so_)

所想
suǒ xiǎng

"that which is thought" (i.e. _one's thoughts_)

Let’s have a look at some example sentences for these 所 compound words:

这种所谓的翻译非常不好。
Zhè zhǒng suǒwèi de fānyì fēicháng bù hǎo.

This so-called "translation" is terrible.

我要合计一下学生们所得的总分数。
Wǒ yào héjì yīxià xuéshēngmen suǒdé de zǒng fēnshù.

I'm going to total up the points gained by the students.

我所有的衣服都脏了。
Wǒ suǒyǒu de yīfú dōu zāngle.

All of my clothes are dirty.

这台电脑很旧，所以比较便宜。
Zhè tái diànnǎo hěn jiù, suǒyǐ bǐjiào piányi.

This computer is old, so it's cheaper.

从长远来看，也许结果比你所想的要好。
Cóng chángyuǎn lái kàn, yěxǔ jiéguǒ bǐ nǐ suǒ xiǎng de yāo hǎo.

It might turn out better than you think in the long run.

As usual, if you have any questions or suggestions, please share them in the comments below!
The difference between 想 (xiǎng), 要
(yào) and 想要 (xiǎngyào) in Chinese
grammar
The Chinese words 想 (xiǎng), 要 (yào) and 想要 (xiǎngyào) can seem very similar, which makes
them difficult to use properly. They do have distinct meanings and uses though, which we’ll try to
clear up here.

想: would like to, to think, to think of

想, 要 and 想要 can all mean ‘want’ in some sense, but 想 is the least forceful of the three. We
think a good way to get to grips with 想 is to bear in mind the various different things it can
express. We’ll look at the main ones here. Try to link them together into a coherent whole and
you should have a better feeling for what exactly 想 expresses.

As always, remember that the best way to get a real feel for the language (语感) is to expose
yourself to it as much as possible, and to practice using it as much as possible. Explanations like
this can give you a head start, but you’ve still got to get out there and let your brain’s language
module do its work!

想 + verb as ‘would like to’

In many cases, it might be better to think of 想 as being more like ‘would like to’ rather than
‘want’. When used for expressing wants, 想 can only be followed by a verb or verb phrase. In
other words, 想 only means ‘want’ when it’s an auxiliary verb.

If you use 想 directly with a noun, it means something a bit different (see below). Remembering
this little detail should make it easier to get a sense of its exact meaning.

Have a look at some example sentences:

我想去巴黎。
Wǒ xiǎng qù Bālí.
I'd like to go to Paris.
我想吃鲁菜。
Wǒ xiǎng chī lǔcài.
I'd like to eat some Shandong food.

我不想见她。
Wǒ bùxiǎng jiàn tā.
I don't want to see her.

我不太想喝可乐。
Wǒ bù tài xiǎng hē kělè.
I don't really want to drink coke.

Notice in each example 想 is followed by a verb. Also look at how 想 does mean ‘want’ in these
situations, but it’s not very forceful. If a speaker wants to be very clear and emphatic in expressing
‘want’, they’re more likely to use the much more forceful 要.

Because of the difference in how forceful they are, 想 can often be a more polite substitute for 要.
For example, when ordering or requesting something, saying 想 is usually more polite than saying
要.

Another feature of 想 is that it can be paired with 很 or 好 to mean ‘really would like to’ or ‘really
want to’. Have a look at some examples:

我们很想知道！
Wǒmen hěn xiǎng zhīdào!
We really want to know!

我好想告诉你！
Wǒ hǎo xiǎng gàosu nǐ!
I'd really like to tell you!

我好想再去那里一次。
Wǒ hǎo xiǎng zài qù nàlǐ yīcì.
I'd really like to go back there.
Have you spotted the overall theme of 想 as an auxiliary verb? It expresses ‘to want to’ or ‘would
like to’, but only hypothetically. The speaker is not confirming whether or not they are actually
going to do or achieve the thing. By using 想, they only express their desire, but they don’t specify
their actual intention. They may or may not actually do or achieve the thing.

Have a look at a couple more examples that illustrate this point:

他很想回家，可是最后他没有。
Tā hěn xiǎng huí jiā, kěshì zuìhòu tā méiyǒu.
He really wanted to go home, but in the end he didn't.

她很想买辆自行车，所以就买了。
Tā hěn xiǎng mǎi liàng zìxíngchē, suǒyǐ jiù mǎile.
She really wanted to buy a bike, so she did.

As you can see, simply expressing the want with 想 isn’t enough to confirm what happened in the
end or what the actual intention was. The second part of the sentence makes sense, because it
describes what happened, whereas the first part with 想 only describes what someone felt like
doing.

Finally, here’s a sentence with some slightly higher-level vocab, if you’re into that sort of thing:

那天我很想放弃，可是我还是坚持下去了。
Nèitiān wǒ hěn xiǎng fàngqì, kěshì wǒ háishì jiānchí xiàqùle.
That day I really wanted to give up, but I still persevered.

Looking at all the example sentences here should give you a better feel for how 想 just talks about
desires and feelings, but not concrete intentions or actions.

想 as ‘to think’

To get a better sense of what kind of ‘want’ is expressed with 想, it might help to consider some
of the other meanings of 想. Firstly, 想 can mean ‘to think’, either as ‘to believe’ or ‘to consider’.
Have a look at some example sentences:
我想你没去过吧？
Wǒ xiǎng nǐ méi qùguò ba?
I think you haven't been before, right?

我想他应该不知道。
Wǒ xiǎng tā yīnggāi bù zhīdào.
I think he probably doesn't know.

我想错了。
Wǒ xiǎng cuòle.
I was mistaken. → What I thought was wrong.

你想多了！
Nǐ xiǎng duōle!
You thought too much! → You over-thought things, or presumed too much.

我想一想……
Wǒ xiǎng yī xiǎng……
Let me think....

You might be wondering why we’re giving you all these examples for a different meaning of 想 in
an article about 想 meaning ‘want’. The reason is that by considering other meanings of 想
besides ‘want’, you can get a better sense of how exactly it means ‘want’. I.e., it’s a ‘want’ that’s
got its roots in ‘to think about’ and ‘to consider’.

想 as ‘to think of’ and ‘to miss’

Finally, it’s worth looking at another meaning of 想. This is 想 as in 想念: ‘to think of’ or ‘to miss’.
Hopefully you can see how these different meanings of 想 can all be linked together. You might be
able to get a sense of some basic concept that lies behind all three meanings.

Have a look at some examples (cue sad violin music):

我想你。
Wǒ xiǎng nǐ.
I miss you.

我们都想你。
Wǒmen dōu xiǎng nǐ.
We're all thinking of you.

我很想念她。
Wǒ hěn xiǎngniàn tā.
I really miss her.

We mentioned above that if you use 想 directly with a noun, it means something a little different.
The example sentences above demonstrate that. When used with a noun, 想 means ‘to miss’ or
‘to think of’, and not so much ‘to want’ (although you can see how the meanings are closely
related).

要: to want, to be going to
Now we’re on to the second ‘want’ verb: 要. Let’s first look at using 要 as an auxiliary verb (i.e.
when it’s followed by another verb) The main points to remember about 要 + verb are that it
either:

 Expresses ‘to want’ or ‘to need’ quite emphatically;

 Expresses a definite intention;
 Expresses a future action.

As you can see it’s stronger and much more direct than 想. Have a look at some examples:

我要去巴黎。
Wǒ yào qù Bālí.
I'm going to Paris. I want to go to Paris.

我要喝水。
Wǒ yào hē shuǐ.
I'm going to drink water. I want to drink water.
她要过来。
Tā yào guòlái.
She's going to come over here. She wants to come over here.

As you can see, 要 is pretty to-the-point. It would be wrong to think that 要 is actually ‘forceful’,
though. It’s commonly used when ordering things, and isn’t necessarily impolite. To order
something with 要, you might use it with a verb (as in 我要喝水, above), or with a noun:

我要一份扬州炒饭。
Wǒ yào yī fèn yángzhōu chǎofàn.
I'll have a portion of Yangzhou fried rice.

我要喝王老吉。
Wǒ yào wánglǎojí.
I'll have
[Wanglaoji](http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%8E%8B%E8%80%81%E5%90%89%E6%B6%BC%E8
%8C%B6 "王老吉凉茶 - a sugary drink that's a bit like coke").

Ordering in this way is neither polite nor impolite in itself; it’s just direct and matter-of-fact. You
will often hear people order in this way, and no-one minds so long as they say it nicely.

It might be helpful to compare 要 to ‘will’ in English. Originally ‘will’ did mean ‘to want’, but it’s
come to just express future actions or intentions. This is quite similar to how 要 is used in Chinese.

想要: to desire, to want

The verb 想要 is the trickiest of the three, because it has quite a broad range of intensity. It can
range from expressing a simple want or request, to a strong desire for something, to sexual desire.
Which one the speaker means will be clear in the context (hopefully!). 想要 is commonly used in
standard requests for things (one context), but is also a common way to express sexual desire (a
very different context).

Have a look at some examples:

我想要些苹果。
Wǒ xiǎng yào xiē píngguǒ.
I want some apples. [probably said at a shop]

我想要预约在今天下午 5 点。
Wǒ xiǎng yào yùyuē zài jīntiān xiàwǔ 5 diǎn.
I'd like to make an appointment for today at 5pm.

我想要看一看尼亚加拉瀑布。
Wǒ xiǎngyào kàn yī kàn Níyǎjiālā Pùbù.
I really want to see Niagara Falls.

我想要你。
Wǒ xiǎngyào nǐ.
I want you. [sexually]

我很想要。
Wǒ hěn xiǎngyào.
I'm really horny. I really want to.

As you can see, you’ve got to be pretty sure the context is clear when using 想要. Don’t be afraid
of shopkeepers and receptionists misconstruing your requests, though - it’s perfectly clear in the
context what you mean!

Repeating question words in Chinese

(place-holder question words)
Repeating question words are a really cool feature of Chinese grammar. Chinese question words
are pretty interesting in general, as they function very logically and can be swapped in and out of
sentences quite easily. One aspect of this is that you can repeat question words and use them as
‘place-holders’ for some sort of information.
I recently saw a little joke that demonstrates this: versatile Chinese question words”) quite well,
but let’s have a look at it here from a more grammatical perspective. This is a great feature of the
language to know, as it makes you much more flexible in forming sentences etc.

The way it works is pretty simple. You use a question word once, and then when you use it again
in the sentence, it refers back to the first one. Hence the term “place-holder question words”.
Here’s an example:

你点 什么 我吃 什么 。
Nǐ diǎn shénme wǒ chī shénme.
I'll order whatever you eat.

That’s a really common thing to say in restaurants - you’re letting the other person choose what
to order and you’ll eat whatever it is. Look how the sentence works in Chinese - literally “you
order what I eat what”. This is a really nice feature to use because it’s so elegant. You can express
a lot of things this way.

Repeating question words: a bit like programming

This kind of sentence is slightly like programming or maths. The repeated question word is a bit
like a variable - i__t holds one bit of information consistently wherever you put it. Or, it’s a bit like
_x _in an equation - “you order x I eat x”.

Anyway, let’s have look at some different question words being repeated as place-holders. You’ll
see that Chinese question words are very versatile and quite an elegant feature of the language.

谁 (shéi): whoever
You can very easily create sentences that would involve “whoever” in English by repeating 谁.
Some examples:

谁 有钱 谁 有权。
Shéi yǒu qián shéi yǒu quán.
Whoever has money has power.

美国想打 谁 就打 谁 。
Měiguó xiǎng dǎ shéi jiù dǎ shéi.
America attacks whoever it wants.

谁 要走 谁 就走。
Shéi yào zǒu shéi jiù zǒu.
Whoever wants to leave, leave.

Pretty cool, right? There’s something very pleasing about those Chinese sentences. They seem
neat and efficient, and very easy to understand once you know the repeating question words
structure.

什么 (shénme): whatever
You can do the same thing with any question word you like. Let’s have a look at some example
sentences for 什么:

你要买 什么 ，那个商店有 什么 。
Nǐ yào mǎi shénme, nàgè shāngdiàn yǒu shénme.
Whatever you want to buy, that shop has it.

你有 什么 我买 什么 。
Nǐ yǒu shénme wǒ mǎi shénme.
I'll buy whatever you've got.

你要我做 什么 我就做 什么 ！
Nǐ yào wǒ zuò shénme wǒ jiù zuò shénme!
I'll do whatever you want!

As you can see, you’ve just got to put in the relevant question word to hold the place of whatever
thing you want, and the sentence works.

哪儿 (nǎr): wherever
Moving on, you can talk about places in this way using 哪儿. Some examples:
你去 哪儿 我就去 哪儿 。
Nǐ qù nǎr wǒ jiù qù nǎr.
I'll go wherever you go.

哪儿 暖和咱们就去 哪儿 。
Nǎr nuǎnhuo zánmen jiù qù nǎr.
Let's go wherever is warm.

你在 哪儿 藏起来我们就会在 哪儿 找到你。
Nǐ zài nǎr cáng qǐlái wǒmen jiù huì zài nǎr zhǎodào nǐ.
We'll find you wherever you hide.

怎么 (zěnme): however
Finally, you can talk about actions in this way using 怎么. Some examples:

他 怎么 做饭 怎么 好吃。
Tā zěnme zuò fàn zěnme hào chī.
However he cooks, it's good.

老板 怎么 说，我们 怎么 做。
Lǎobǎn zěnme shuō, wǒmen zěnme zuò.
We'll do it however the boss says.

你想 怎么 做，我同意 怎么 做。
Nǐ xiǎng zěnme zuò, wǒ tóngyì zěnme zuò.
I'll agree to do it however you think.

Note that we’ve gone through a few question words here, but you can do this with any question
word in Chinese - there are loads more possibilities!
How to use 放假 (fàngjià) and 假期 (jiàqī)
correctly in Mandarin Chinese
People learning Chinese can sometimes get the words 放假 (fàngjià) and 假期 (jiàqī) mixed up and
use them incorrectly. Here’s a quick explanation of how to use these words.

The difference is actually fairly simple, you just need to remember it: 放假 is a verb and 假期 is a
noun.

放假: to be on holiday, to have a vacation (verb)

放假 is a verb meaning “to be on holiday” or “to have a holiday”. More specifically, it simply
means a period of time off work, without necessarily meaning that you go travelling somewhere.

It’s fairly easy to remember that 放假 is a verb if you look at the first character: 放 is a verb itself.
Together, the word is literally something like “to be set free on holiday”.

The most important thing to remember here is that 放假 is always a verb and cannot be used as a
noun.

Let’s have a look at some example sentences for 放假:

我们下个星期放假。
Wǒmen xià gè xīngqī fàngjià.

We go on holiday next week.

学校今年早点放假。
Xuéxiào jīnnián zǎodiǎn fàngjià.

School finishes earlier this year.

Note how 放假 is a verb and has been translated as various different verbs in the sentences above.
假期: a holiday, a vacation (noun)

Unlike 放假 above, 假期 is a noun. Again, you can remember this by looking at the hanzi that
make up the word: 期 is usually a noun. Literally the word is “holiday period”.

As with 放假, remember that 假期 is specifically about being off work or not having classes etc.. It
doesn’t necessarily mean that you go travelling or do something in particular, just that you are at
leisure.

Let’s have a look at some example sentences:

这个假期她出去旅行。
Zhège jiàqī tā chūqù lǚxíng.

She went travelling during the holiday.

我们期待着一个快乐的假期。
Wǒmen qídàizhe yīgè kuàilè de jiàqī.

We're looking forward to a happy vacation.

假期你玩得开心吗？
Jiàqī nǐ wán de kāixīn ma?

Did you have a good time during the holiday?

Got any questions or suggestions? Please share them in the comments!

The difference between 算 (suàn), 算上

(suànshang) and 算了 (suànle) in Chinese
grammar
The Chinese words 算 (suàn), 算上 (suànshang) and 算了 (suànle) can be quite easy to mix up
because of their similarity. Getting similar things confused in this way is calledinterference. The
way to deal with this is to learn the differences as clearly as possible.
算 (suàn): to sum
Starting with the simplest of these words, let’s have a look at 算. When used as a verb, 算 means
“to sum” or “to calculate”.

Let’s have a look at some example sentences for this meaning of 算:

我用计算器算出我的开支总额。
Wǒ yòng jìsuàn qì suànchū wǒ de kāizhī zǒng'é.

I totalled up my expenses with a calculator.

我要算算我今天一共花了多少钱。
Wǒ yào suàn suàn wǒ jīntiān yīgòng huāle duōshǎo qián.

I'm going to calculate how much money I've spent today.

我算了算，这次旅行要花大概一万块人民币。
Wǒ suànle suàn, zhè cì lǚxíng yào huā dàgài yī wàn kuài rénmínbì.

I've calculated that I'll spend about ten thousand RMB on this trip.

Another meaning of 算 as a verb is “to consider”, “to regard as” or “to count as”. Some examples:

他算得上一个作家。
Tā suàndé shàng yīgè zuòjiā.

He can be considered an author.

在花园走一走算不上锻炼！
Zài huāyuán zǒu yī zǒu suàn bù shàng duànliàn!

Taking a walk in the garden doesn't count as exercise!

那算得上道歉吗？
Nà suàndeshang dàoqiàn ma?

Does that count as an apology?

这算不了什么。
Zhè suànbuliǎo shénme.

This doesn't amount to much.

You could think of the basic, core meaning of 算 as “to calculate to be”. This ties together all of
the different uses of 算.

算上 (suànshang): to count in
The next word we’ll look at is 算上. This means “to count in” or “to include”. Again, you could
think of this as “to include in your calculations”. Some example sentences for 算上:

把我算上吧！
Bǎ wǒ suàn shàng ba!

Count me in!

连他们算上，我们一共也只有五个人。
Lián tāmen suàn shàng, wǒmen yīgòng yě zhǐyǒu wǔ gèrén.

Even counting them in, there's still only five of us.

算上附近的村子，这个镇子的人口一共有六千多。
Suàn shàng fùjìn de cūnzi, zhège zhènzi de rénkǒu yīgòng yǒu liùqiān duō.

Including nearby villages, the population of this town is over six thousand.

One important thing to note about 算上 is that it is not the same as constructions like 算得上
(suàndeshang) and 算不上 (suànbushang). Those are potential complements used with the verb
算 described above. They mean “can be considered” and “can’t be considered”, respectively.

算了 (suànle): forget it
This is a much more colloquial, idiomatic use of 算. 算了 means “forget it” or “let’s drop the
matter”. It’s a bit like saying “consider this dealt with and leave it”. Note that it can be slightly
abrupt or rude in some situations.

Some example sentences for 算了:

我们就算了吧，你说呢？
Wǒmen jiù suànle ba, nǐ shuō ne?

Let's just forget it, what do you think?

算了！我受够了。
Suànle! Wǒ shòu gòule.

Stop it! I've had enough.

要是天气不好就算了吧。
Yàoshi tiānqì bù hǎo jiùsuànle ba.

If the weather's not good then let's just forget it.

既然没有牛奶，咱们就喝黑咖啡算了。
Jìrán méiyǒu niúnǎi, zánmen jiù hē hēi kāfēi suànle.

Since there's no milk, let's just drink black coffee.

算了 has a sense of giving up or dropping one’s original intentions. It’s often used as a response to
circumstances or people that can’t be dealt with or that the speaker is no longer willing to deal
with.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please share them in the comments!

How to use 帮 (bāng) and 帮忙

(bāngmáng) correctly in Mandarin
Chinese
The words 帮 (bāng) and 帮忙 (bāngmáng) can both mean “help” in Mandarin Chinese. However,
they’re used in slightly different ways and have different constructions. Because of that, how to
use 帮 and 帮忙 correctly can be confusing at first.

The main difference to remember is that 帮 can always take an object, and 帮忙 can in one
construction but not in another. Let’s have a look at the two words separately and then
summarise the differences.
How to use 帮 (bāng)
帮 is a transitive verb. As mentioned above, that means that it can be used with an object. The
basic structure for this is:

[noun] 帮 [noun]

The first noun is the subject of the sentence and the second is the object. So, the structure is
equivalent to something like “the subject helps the object” in English. Let’s have a look at some
example sentences:

我来帮你吧。
Wǒ lái bāng nǐ ba.

Let me help you.

你可以帮我一下吗？
Nǐ kěyǐ bāng wǒ yīxià ma?

Can you help me?

我不要帮他。
Wǒ bù yào bāng tā.

I don't want to help him.

帮 can also be used in a slightly more complicated structure, with a verb or verb phrase. This can
be used to talk about helping people to do things.

[noun] 帮 [noun] [verb]

Note that the [verb] slot in the structure above is actually a verb phrase. That means that it can be
a mini-sentence of its own, containing a verb and maybe an object.

Let’s have a look at some examples for this structure:

我帮我妹妹做作业。
Wǒ bāng wǒ mèimei zuò zuo yè.

I help my little sister do her homework.

你可以帮我找找我的钥匙吗？
Nǐ kěyǐ bāng wǒ zhǎo zhǎo wǒ de yàoshi ma?

Can you help me look for my keys?

他每天都帮我干活。
Tā měi tiān dū bāng wǒ gàn huó.

He helps me with my work every day.

Notice how the verb phrase can include an object of its own, almost making it a mini-sentence.
This makes the 帮 structure quite easy to use, as you can combine it with other sentence patterns
you know.

When 帮 means “for” and not “help”

A common use of 帮 in Chinese is to talk about actions that are done for other people. The
structure is exactly the same as above, but it doesn’t mean “help” in English. This use of 帮 isn’t
about people co-operating to do something together (“help”), it’s about one person doing
something on behalf of another (“for”).

This often causes Chinese native-speakers to misuse the word “help” in English, for example
saying “Could you help me close the door?” instead of “Could you close the door for me?” The
mistakes that people make in other languages can often be quite revealing about the grammar of
their own native language.

Let’s have a look at some example sentences for this use of 帮:

你去邮局的时候可以帮我寄这个吗？
Nǐ qù yóujú de shíhou kěyǐ bāng wǒ jì zhège ma?

Could you post this for me when you go to the post office?

我的秘书常常帮我安排开会。
Wǒ de mìshū chángcháng bāng wǒ ānpái kāihuì.

My secretary often arranges meetings for me.

帮我打开窗户吧！
Bāng wǒ dǎkāi chuānghù ba!

Could you open the window [for me]?

她昨天帮我修了自行车。
Tā zuótiān bāng wǒ xiūle zìxíngchē.

Yesterday she fixed my bike for me.

Sometimes it may be ambiguous as to whether 帮 means “for” or “help”. In those situations you
simply have to work from context.

How to use 帮忙 (bāngmáng)

Unlike 帮, the word 帮忙 can be *transitive *(can take an object) or *intransitive *(can’t have an
object of its own) depending on the structure it’s used in. Let’s have a look at these two structures
separately.

When 帮忙 is intransitive

The first 帮忙 structure we’ll look at is intransitive. In other words, it can’t take an object. This is
probably the simpler of the two 帮忙 structures. The structure is:

[noun] 帮忙 [verb]

As with the structures above, the verb slot here could also be a verb phrase. The important thing
to note with the structure above is that there’s no space for an object. In other words, this
structure is intransitive.

Let’s have a look at some example sentences:

你来帮忙做饭吧！
Nǐ lái bāngmáng zuò fàn ba!

Come and help with the cooking!

请你帮忙开个门好吗？
Qǐng nǐ bāngmáng kāi gè mén hǎo ma?

Would you please open the door for me?

我写信请你帮忙。
Wǒ xiě xìn qǐng nǐ bāngmáng.

I'm writing to ask you a favor.

Notice how in the sentences above, 帮忙 works as one unit and never has an object.

When 帮忙 is transitive

You can use 帮忙 with an object in the specific structure below. In this structure, 帮忙 is
a separable verb. That means that to add you extra information (such as an object)in between the
two characters, rather than after them.

帮 [other stuff!] 忙

Rather than confusing you with a detailed list of things that could go in the slot, we’ve just put
“other stuff!” in the slot. This includes the object for 帮忙 and any other information that you
might want to attach to the verb. It all goes in between 帮 and 忙 in this structure.

Let’s have a look at some example sentences for this structure:

你可以帮我一个忙吗？
Nǐ kěyǐ bāng wǒ yīgè máng ma?

Can you help me?

他帮了你很多忙。
Tā bāngle nǐ hěnduō máng.

He helped you a lot.

警察帮了我们一个大忙。
Jǐngchá bāngle wǒmen yīgè dàmáng.

The police helped us a lot.

You might have noticed that in all of the examples above, the object is a pronoun. A pronoun is
just a noun that stands in for or ‘points at’ another noun. Common pronouns in English are “he”,
“she”, “it”, “you”, “they” etc.
With this structure, the object can only be a pronoun; you can’t put any other nouns in there as
the object.

A summary of 帮 and 帮忙
 Both literally mean “help”.
 Both can appear with other verbs.
 帮
o Is transitive.
o Often means “for” and not “help”.
 帮忙
o Has both *transitive *(with an object) and intransitive (no object) usage structures.
o To take an object, the object has to go between the two characters.
o Is usually about actual “help”.

Where to place 一点儿 (yī diǎnr) in a

sentence
The word 一点儿 (yī diǎnr) is extremely common in spoken Chinese, and it’s a great piece of
vocabulary to know and use. It means “some”, “a little” or “a bit” and is used in much the same
way as these words in English.

一点儿 can also be a generic way to soften the tone of a sentence or lessen it’s impact. This can
often make things sound more polite or modest.

But where should you place 一点儿 in a sentence? It goes immediately after the verb, as in this
structure:

[subject] [verb] 一点儿 [object]

So 一点儿 is placed after the verb and before the object. Let’s have a look at some example
sentences:

我想喝点儿东西。
Wǒ xiǎng hē diǎnr dōngxi.
I’d like to have a drink of something.

咱们吃点儿饭吧。
Zánmen chī diǎn er fàn ba.

Let’s have a bite to eat.

我会打一点儿鼓。
Wǒ huì dǎ yīdiǎnr gǔ.

I can play a bit of the drums.

他会弹一点儿古筝。
Tā huì tán yì diǎnr gǔzhēng.

He can play a bit of zither.

Notice how 一点儿 doesn’t literally mean “a little bit” in many cases. Instead, it’s just there to
make the sentence less direct or forward. This is quite similar to using 一下 with verbs.

When there are two objects (ditransitive verb)

When the verb is ditransitive, the structure is slightly different. A ditransitive verb is one that
takes two objects rather than just one (or none). Common ditransitive verbs in English include
“give” and “make”, e.g. in “give me a book” and “make him a gift”. There are two objects in each
of those.

One structure for such verbs with 一点儿 is:

[subject] [verb] [object 1] 点儿 [object 2]

Here are some example sentences for this structure:

你可以给我点儿纸吗？
Nǐ kěyǐ gěi wǒ diǎnr zhǐ ma?

Can you give me some paper?

我送他点儿吃的东西。
Wǒ sòng tā diǎnr chī de dōngxi.

I'll give him some food as a gift.

我告诉你点儿秘密吧！
Wǒ gàosu nǐ diǎnr mìmì ba!

Let me tell you some secrets!

Another, more general structure is:

[subject] [verb] 点儿 [object 2] 给 [object 1]

This structure tends to be a bit more versatile. Here are some example sentences for it:

你准备点儿饭给她吃吧！
Nǐ zhǔnbèi diǎnr fàn gěi tā chī ba!

Why don't you prepare some food for her?

咱们喂点儿鱼给猫吧。
Zánmen wèi diǎnr yú gěi māo ba.

Let's feed a bit of fish to the cat.

他寄了点儿钱给我。
Tā jìle diǎnr qián gěi wǒ.

He posted a bit of money to me.

As mentioned above, 点儿 can literally mean “some” or “a little”, or it is used to soften the tone
of the sentence. This is particularly common in commands or instructions, which might seem a
little rude or direct otherwise.

一点儿 or just 点儿?

You might have noticed that people use both 一点儿 and 点儿 in spoken Chinese, and both of
these were shown in the examples above. As far as we know, there isn’t any particular difference
between these two. It’s just a question of style and rhythm in the sentence.

If you know differently, please share your insight in the comments below. Is there any real
difference between 一点儿 and 点儿?

Remember that 一点儿 is for ‘spoken’ Chinese only!

Another thing to note about 一点儿 and 点儿 is that they are very much spoken words for use in
oral Chinese only. You don’t tend to see these words used in formal written Chinese unless
someone’s speech is being quoted. You might find them in written pieces with an informal tone,
though, such as novels and other fiction.

点儿 is mainly used in the north of China

One final point is that 一点儿 and 点儿 tend to be used more in the north of China because of the
儿化 (érhuà - the r sound added to the end of words). In general, southerners don’t use much 儿
化 at all, so in this case they would usually just say 一点.

This article was inspired by this post at Chinese Forums.

Level C1
With C1 level Chinese, you're able to:

1. Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognize implicit meaning.
2. Express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions.
3. Use Chinese flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes.
4. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use
of organizational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices.

加以 (jiāyǐ) in Chinese grammar: apply to,

engage in, endeavour to
加以 (jiāyǐ) is a very formal word in Chinese that’s used to talk about actions being implemented
or applied to things, or work being carried out. You generally won’t hear it in speech, as it’s more
appropriate for formal writing. We’ll look at several structures using 加以. Each of them involves
an effect or action being applied to a noun. Usually the effect is also a noun, but sometimes it is a
nominalised verb (a verb being used as a noun). Remember that part of speech distinctions are
often less clear in Chinese than they are in English.
加以 with 对 (duì)
The most common structure involving 加以 is probably with 对, and it looks like this:

对
[noun] 加以 [effect]

This is used to talk about some sort of action or effect being carried out on or towardsthe the
noun (hence the use of 对). Some example sentences:

科学家的工作就是对理论加以检验。
Kēxuéjiā de gōngzuò jiùshì duì lǐlùn jiāyǐ jiǎnyàn.

The work of a scientist is to put ideas to the test.

政府必须对枪支的买卖加以限制。
Zhèngfǔ bìxū duì qiāngzhī de mǎimài jiāyǐ xiànzhì.

The government must implement limits on the sale of firearms.

讨论这个问题的时候，应该对这两个概念加以区别。
Tǎolùn zhège wèntí de shíhou, yīnggāi duì zhè liǎng gè gàiniàn jiāyǐ qūbié.

When discussing this issue, one ought to distinguish between these two concepts.

As you can see, in these sentences 加以 is being used to link effects or actions to the things they
apply to. You could almost think of 加以 as being like 加 alone - “to add”. These actions or effects
are being _added _to the nouns they apply to. 对 and 加以 do the work of linking them together.

加以 with 把 (bǎ), 将 (jiāng)

Another common structure with 加以 uses 把 or 将. If you’re already familiar with the 把
structure, then you might know that in more formal writing, 将 is often used instead of 把. The
structure is otherwise the same. We’ll use the more formal 将 here because 加以 is also a formal
word.

The basic structure for 将 with 加以 is:

将
[noun] 加以 [effect]

You can probably see the similarity between this and the structure with 对. Whilst the structures
are the same, the meaning may be subtly different in that 对 has a sense of actions being _applied
to _the noun, whereas 将 is more neutral and simply serves a grammatical purpose (read more
about the 把 structure linked to above if you’re not clear on that).

Let’s have a look at some example sentences:

请将这些照片加以分类。
Qǐng jiāng zhèxiē zhàopiàn jiāyǐ fēnlèi.

Please classify these photos.

本公司将此产品加以促销。
Běn gōngsī jiāng cǐ chǎnpǐn jiāyǐ cùxiāo.

Our company is promoting this product.

我们必须将古建筑加以保护。
Wǒmen bìxū jiāng gǔ jiànzhú jiāyǐ bǎohù.

We must protect old buildings.

Note that other than being a formal version of 把, 将 has another unrelated use. 将 can mean
“will” or “is going to”, i.e. it indicates future actions. When used in this way it’s very much like a
more formal version of 要. Have a look at some example sentences involving 加以 and 将 as a
future-marker:

政府将在 2015 年对旅游行业加以规范。

Zhèngfǔ jiàng zài 2015 nián duì lǚyóu hángyè jiāyǐ guīfàn.

The government is going to apply regulations to the tourism industry in 2015.

参议院将对此政策加以修改。
Cānyìyuàn jiāng duì cǐ zhèngcè jiāyǐ xiūgǎi.

The Senate is going to make adjustments to this policy.

In these sentences, 将 is not acting like 把 but is indicating that these actions will occur in the
future.

加以 with 以 (yǐ)
The character 以 can also be used in a very similar way to 把 and 将. As with those particles, it’s
used to indicate a noun receiving the action of the verb, or being used during the course of this
action. It’s sometimes translated as “with”, “taking” or “to” for this reason. The structure is the
same:

以
[noun] 加以 [action]

Have a look at some examples:

这种病如何以飲食療法加以治疗？
Zhè zhǒng bìng rúhé yǐ yǐnshíliáofǎ jiāyǐ zhìliáo?

How can this illness be addressed through diet?

消炎药先以清水加以沖淡再用。
Xiāoyányào xiān yǐ qīngshuǐ jiāyǐ chōngdàn zài yòng.

Dilute the antiobiotics with clean water before use.

此决定以公投加以背书。
Cǐ juédìng yǐ gōngtóu jiāyǐ bèishū.

This decision was backed up by a referendum.

以 is a little different to 把 and 将 in that it can be used to talk about things that happen to the
noun, but is more general, often describing actions that happenedinvolving the noun.

加以 with 由 (yóu)
You may already be familiar with the 被 structure that’s often described as “the passive voice” in
Chinese. Just as 以 is similar to but more general than 将, there is a more formal and general
version of 被. The character 由 can be used in much the same way as 被, but rather than
indicating passive (“by”), it means “due to”. Grammatically, though, it used in the same way as 被.

The structure with 加以 is:

[noun] 由 [cause] 加以 [effect]

This structure is used to say that due to the cause, the effect happened to the noun. Some
example sentences will make this clearer:

食品安全标准由法律加以规范。
Shípǐn ānquán biāozhǔn yóu fǎlǜ jiāyǐ guīfàn.

Food safety standards are specified by law.

此问题能否由计算机加以处理？
Cǐ wèntí néng fǒu yóu jìsuànjī jiāyǐ chǔlǐ?

Can this problem be processed by a computer?

干部均应由中央加以管理。
Gànbù jūn yīng yóu zhōngyāng jiāyǐ guǎnlǐ.

All cadres are managed by the Party Centre.

The above sentences show the grammatical similarity between 由 and 被, but also how 由 is more
general in it’s purpose (it’s also a lot more formal).

加以 with 从 (cóng)
This structure is a little different to the rest. You can use 加以 with 从 in the following pattern:

从
[starting point] 加以 [verb] [result]

As 从 means “from” or “following”, this structure is used to talk about actions being applied from
a certain point in time, or results being obtained from something. Have a look at some example
sentences:
废水从工厂净化后加以利用。
Fèishuǐ cóng gōngchǎng jìnghuà hòu jiāyǐ lìyòng.

Waste water is used after being purified by the treatment plant.

报告说明，天然资源管理需从根本加以改善。
Bàogào shuōmíng, tiānrán zīyuán guǎnlǐ xū cóng gēnběn jiāyǐ gǎishàn.

The report says that natural resource management needs to be improved from the root.

她从正面加以引导。
Tā cóng zhèngmiàn jiāyǐ yǐndǎo.

She leads by positive example.

You might not feel that this is a separate structure for 加以, and you may be right! When learning
languages, it’s rare that anything is clear-cut. The important thing is to think about the language in
the way that makes most sense to you. Because of that, there are endless further permutations
and potential ‘structures’ involving 加以 which we won’t go into here.