I hope you’re excited to learn how to form sentences in Chinese. Before we jump in, let me start by explaining something essential to Chinese grammar that English doesn’t use regularly – measure words.
Measure words
In Chinese, a measure word is used between a number and noun. The closest thing we have to this in English are phrases like these: “two sheets of paper”, “three pairs of pants”. In Chinese these phrases translate to “两张纸”、“三条裤子”where the character in bold is the measure word. The key difference is that in Chinese every time we put a number and noun together, we must use a measure word. Since there are different measure words used for different nouns, we also need to be careful to use the right measure word.
Most teachers wait for a bit before teaching measure words, because they can be tough to grasp. However, I think it is better to become familiar with them over time, starting from the very beginning. Similarly, I am only going to be including pinyin for the last sentence (for reference), in order to help you not become overly dependent on it.
Sentence structure
The most basic sentence structure in Chinese is the same as that in English. It has three parts: Subject (S) + Verb (V) + Object (O). Let us take this basic structure and build on it.
Here is a basic sentence:
subject + verb + object
我看书。
I read (a) book.
Let’s add the measure word for books ‘本’:
我看一本书。
I read a book.
Let’s make it past tense:
subject + verb + object
我看了一本书。
I read a book.
Now let’s specify a time:
1. subject + point in time + verb + object
我昨天看了一本书。
I read a book yesterday.
OR
2. point in time + subject + verb + object
昨天我看了一本书。
I read a book yesterday.
This time let’s add a location:
subject + point in time + location + verb + object
我昨天在图书馆看了一本书。
I read a book yesterday at the library.
Now, let’s specify the time duration (instead of the object):
subject + point in time + location + verb + object + verb + duration
我昨天在图书馆看书看了两个小时。
Wǒ zuótiān zài túshūguǎn kàn shū kànle liǎng gè xiǎoshí .
I read for two hours yesterday at the library.
*Note that when adding time duration, the verb sometimes, but not always, repeats before the time duration.
You’ve just learnt the word order for building on the basic sentence structure. Congratulations for making it this far. Now, let’s take a closer look at the grammar rules you just saw in action.
Basic Grammar Rules
1. Nouns in Chinese do not have singular or plural forms. For instance, “一本书” means “a/one book” and “两本书” means two books, there is no change to the noun and no change to the measure word.
2. Verbs in Chinese only have one form and do not change based on tense. Instead, tenses are indicated by grammar words, particles, time phrases, or context. For example, “我在看一本书”( I am reading a book). In this sentence, 在 is the adverb used to indicate the present continuous tense, while 看 remains unchanged.
3. In English, time phrases usually occur at the end of a sentence (e.g., “I read at three o’clock.”). In Chinese, time phrases always come before the verb (e.g., “I three o’clock read.” – “我三点看书”).
4. Prepositions such as “at”, “in”, and “on” are not used before time phrases in Chinese. For example, “I want to read on Tuesday” becomes “I Tuesday want to read.” – “我星期二要看书。”
5. The largest unit of time or place always comes first in Chinese. For example, “Yesterday, I read a book at three o’clock in the afternoon.” becomes “I yesterday afternoon three o’clock read a book.” – “我昨天下午三点看了一本书。”
Final words
The aim with this guide was to demystify Chinese sentence structures. We broke down a sentence into its simplest form, gradually adding components and carefully examining the word order. Then we took a closer look at the grammar rules at play.
Notice that when you were looking at the English sentences, you were able to switch between ‘read’ in the present tense and ‘read’ in the past tense. That’s exactly how measure words and these other grammatical structures will become over time. You’ll have to make a special effort to remember word order in the beginning. But, after seeing these structures repeatedly, you will instinctively know how to order sentences. Keep going!