The basic word order of Chinese is exactly the same as in English. Compared with other languages, Mandarin Chinese grammar is easy to learn and understand. there’s no such thing as first, second, or third person; no such thing as active or passive voices and no such thing as past or present . In addition, Chinese language has only two aspects —complete and continuous — whereas English has all sorts of different aspects: indefinite, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous, and so on.
Mandarin Chinese Grammar Overview Pronouns are easy to make plural in Chinese. Here’s what you need to know: Just add the plural suffix -men to the three basic pronouns: **Wô (I/me) becomes wômen ( we/us). **Nî ( you) becomes nîmen ( you [plural]). Classifiers are sometimes called measure words, even though they don’t really measure anything. They actually help classify particular nouns. For example, the classifier bên can refer to books, magazines, dictionaries, and just about anything else that’s printed and bound like a book. Classifiers are found in between a number (or a demonstrative pronoun such as “this” or “that”) and a noun. They’re similar to English words such as “herd” (of elephants) or “school” (of fish). Although English doesn’t use classifiers too often, in Chinese you find them wherever a number is followed by a noun, or at least an implied noun (such as “I’ll have another one,” referring to a cup of coffee, for example). Because you have so many potential classifiers to choose from in Chinese, the general rule of thumb is: When in doubt, use ge . It’s the all-purpose classifier and the one used the most in the Chinese language. You usually can’t go wrong by using ge. If you’re tempted to leave a classifier out altogether because you’re not sure which one is the right one, don’t give in to the temptation! You may not be understood at all. |
Chinese Grammar