CHINESE GRAMMAR

不 is usually spoken with the 4th tone but when put before another 4th tone it changes to the 2nd tone. 

Subject + Verb + Object (Similar to English)

I like chocolate / 我喜欢巧克力

I don’t like chocolate / 我不喜欢巧克力

The adverb (in Chinese) is always put before the verb.

A statement + 吗？= yes/no answers.

你是英国人吗？

X + 不 + X (不tone is neutral)

是不是英国人？- Are you English?

You cannot modify the verb in this type of question by adverbs.

X 还是Y? is the same as in English.

Place:

Bigger places come before smaller places 

i.e. Country, City, District, University 

我学习在中国，北京。 

Subject + Adjective

adjectives are like verbs in function, they can be used without the verb ‘to be’. 

I very happy 

我很高兴。

Instead of 

I am/ was very happy. 

我是很高兴。

是 is replaced with 很: You can’t say，我的大学是大， you must say 我的大学很大。 

一 uses 1st tone but when put before the other tones, 一 changes to the 2nd tone.

Pron. + de + Noun

If a pronoun is followed by a noun (indicating personal relationships or people) in a sentence 的 is often taken out. 

E.g. 我朋友/ 我妈妈/ 我爸爸。

 2 is usually said as 两if used before a measure word.

·       10,000 should be said as yiwan because shiqian is 100,000 and 1,000,000 is yibaiwan.  

Measure words should be inserted between a number and a noun.

E.g. 3 + Measure word + children.

When using 几you must put a measure word between 几and the noun. You do not need to do this when using 多少。

这，那，哪 + number + Measure word + Noun. 

A negative word is put before the verb 

E.g. 我不去。 

会Indicates a skill that has been acquired.

能Indicates a skill that we are already born with.

和 is limited in its use. Used to connect nouns or noun phrases but not clauses.

也 can connect clauses. It indicates similarity between the two words being connected.

还 indicates supplement or addition.

吧 indicates suggestion. 

Doubling verbs can soften tone and indicate a very short action. 

Attributives always precede to nouns:

If it’s possessive 的is often used, sometimes it doesn’t need to be there. 的doesn’t need to be used if an adjective is used but if the adjective is modified by the adverb 的 can still be used

Time is arranged largest to smallest. 

E.g. 3:30 tomorrow afternoon.  

Adverb + Verb/Adj

Prepositon + Verb/Adj

Place/time + Verb/adj 

Adjectives can be duplicated to intensify the description 

E.g. 胖胖。

N./Pron. + Location word

When 面/边comes before a noun it is taken out if there are location words.

在/有to do with location:

Something/somebody + 在 + a place

E.g. 我在英国。

A place + 有+ something/somebody.

E.g. 附近有一个中国银行。