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Sentence types › Special sentence patterns › Serial-verb sentences 1
In this Mandarin pattern, the first verb phrase gives the manner or means of performing the action in the second phrase: for example, 坐车去学校, go to school by vehicle.
View detailsSentence types › Special sentence patterns › Double-object sentences 1
In Mandarin Chinese, a double-object sentence allows a single verb of giving, teaching, asking, or telling to take two objects directly in sequence: first the person receiving the action (Object 1), and second the item or information transf…
View detailsSentence types › Complex sentences › Complex sentences without connectives
In Chinese, two or more clauses can be joined into a single compound sentence simply by placing them side by side with a comma, without using explicit conjunctions like 'and', 'then', or 'so'. Meaning and logic are conveyed through context …
View detailsSentence types › Complex sentences › Coordinative clauses
……，也…… links parallel information across clauses. In the second clause, 也 normally follows the stated subject and precedes the predicate, including a modal, negation or degree phrase such as 也会、也不、也很干净.
View detailsSentence types › Complex sentences › Coordinative clauses
The pattern ……，还…… (hái) connects two clauses in a coordinate compound sentence to add another action, state, or item related to the same topic or subject.
View detailsAspect › Completion
The outline calls this 完成态. Post-verbal 了1 presents an action as realized or viewed as a bounded event in context. It is not a past-tense ending and does not by itself mean “finish every part of the task”.
View detailsAspect › Change of state
Sentence-final 了2 marks a new or changed situation relative to the relevant context. The reference point is often “now”, but may be in a narrative or the future. It is not a past-tense ending.
View detailsAspect › Progressive aspect
In Mandarin Chinese, placing the adverbs 在 (zài) or 正在 (zhèngzài) directly before an action verb marks the progressive aspect, showing that an activity is actively underway at a specific reference time.
View detailsAspect › Progressive aspect
This lesson explains the combined progressive pattern using 在 (zài) or 正在 (zhèngzài) before the verb and the modal particle 呢 (ne) at the end of the clause, showing how to describe actions in progress at a specific reference time.
View detailsAspect › Progressive aspect
In spoken Mandarin, the sentence-final particle 呢 (ne) can mark the progressive aspect on its own, showing that an action is underway at the reference time without requiring pre-verbal markers like 在 (zài) or 正在 (zhèngzài).
View detailsSpecial expressions › Number expressions
Learn how to state prices and totals in Chinese with 元, 块钱, and smaller units. See when everyday shorthand is natural and how it differs from a fully specified amount.
View detailsSpecial expressions › Number expressions
Use 第 (dì) before a number to mark an ordinal such as “first,” “second,” or “third.” It identifies an item’s position in an ordered sequence, and it usually appears directly before the number. The item being counted may follow, often with a…
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