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Common Sentence Structures in Mandarin Chinese
written by: Nikei Meade edited by: Elizabeth Stannard Gromisch updated: 9/11/2012
This article presents some of the most commonly used sentence patterns in Mandarin Chinese. Examples of how to use
each sentence structure will be given, and pinyin as well as English translations will be provided.
What is Learned in This Lesson?
Every language has structures and patterns for forming sentences. Mandarin Chinese is just the same. Needless to say,
it is very important to learn the most commonly used Mandarin Chinese sentence patterns. This will help students
form complete sentences and make it easier for Chinese language learners, or CSL language learners, to begin to
speak fluently and express their opinions, thoughts and daily happenings accurately. Many students know many
Chinese words, but lack the ability to use such Mandarin vocabulary fluently in speaking or writing Chinese;
understanding how to use common Mandarin sentence structures is a great way to polish up your Chinese and make
better use of your Chinese vocabulary.
(yue4lai2yue4)
means "more and more." This phrase is very useful. Typically an adjective is placed after the phrase in order to
describe what is becoming more and more or what is becoming better. Here are a few example sentences:
(Ni de zhong wen yue lai yue hao) = Your Chinese is getting better and better.
(Ni de nv er yue lai yue piao liang) = Your daughter is getter more and more beautiful.
A B...(bi3)
(bi3) is the character that is used for comparisons in Mandarin Chinese. For those who have yet to learn how to make
comparisons in Chinese, this is the most useful character to learn. Used in a sentence, its structure is pretty simple; the
structure goes as follows: A B and then an adjective. Have a look at a couple of examples:
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(Jin tian de tian qi bi zuo tian de tian qi re) = The weather today is hotter than the weather
yesterday.
(Ta de lan qiu bi wo de lan qiu hao) = He is better at basketball than me.
(sui1ran2...ke3shi4)
means "although" or "though" and means "but" or "however." This is placed here for emphasis. Check out
a few example usages to get the hang of this commonly used Chinese sentence structure:
(Sui ran lao shi hen yan ge, ke shi ta xin di bu huai) = Although the teacher is very
strict, he is good person at heart.
(Sui ran xia yu hen da, ke shi wo hai xiang qu da gao er fu) = Though the rain is
very big, I still want to go play golf.
(dang1...de shi2 hou)
When you say "when" in Chinese, you must use the enclosed structure of "." means "to be" or "to be
equal to" in this sense and means "time" or "when" in this sense. In spoken Chinese, the is not necessary but it
is always good to add for clarity. Notice that the time expression of comes after the topic of the sentence.
(dang wo qu zhong guo de shi hou, wo mai le hen duo ji nian pin) = When I
went to China, I bought lots of souvenirs.
(wo xiao de shi hou, wo hen xi huan chi ken de ji) = When I was little, I really liked to
eat KFC.
.... (yi3 hou 4)
means "after" or "afterwards" in Chinese and is usually placed after the event. For example, Chinese word order
goes as follows: We go to the movies after, we can eat. Have a look:
(wo zuo zuo ye yi hou, wo yao kan dian shi) = After I do my homework, I want to watch
television. Notice how is place after "I do my homework"; this is common in all Chinese sentence structures.
(ta zou yi hou, wo hui ku) = After he goes, I will cry.
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... (bu4 guan3...hai2)
means "regardless of" or "no matter..." and means "still." Although is not always constructed with , it is still
often used together with it and it is good to remember this structure.
(Bu guan zen yang, wo hai hui ai ni) = No matter what, I will still love you.
(Bu guan bie ren ting mei ting, wo hai hui shuo) = Regardless of whether or not people are
listening, I will still speak.
... (fei1...bu4ke3)
This is one of the most commonly used double negative structures in Mandarin Chinese. It essentially means "must" or
"absolutely must" or "need to." means "not" or "no" and "not able to"; hence it literally translates as "not not able
to." is placed after the subject of the sentence and closes out the sentence.
(wo fei pi ping ta bu ke) = I absolutely must criticize her.
(wo men fei xue xi bu ke) = We must study.
... (yi3 wei4 zhu3)
This structure best translates as "to be mainly focused on..." or "to mainly value..." This is important if you want to
describe the things that are important to you or the things your life is currently concerned with.
(ta yi shi jie he ping wei zhu) = He is mainly focused on world peace.
. (Zheng fu yi ti gao sheng huo shui ping wei zhu) = The government is mainly concerned
with improving the quality of life.
References
Author's Own Experiences
University of Maine, Chinese-English Dictionary, http://hua.umf.maine.edu/Chinese/search.html
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