Chinese Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about Chinese grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns. To hear the pronunciation, just click on the sound icon.

We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Chinese and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Chinese and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Chinese.

Prepositions - Chinese - Pronunciation
and 和 [hé]
above 在...上 [zài...shàng]
under 在...下 [zài...xià]
before 在...前 [zài...qián]
after 在 ...后 [zài ...hòu]
in front of 面前 [miàn qián]
behind 背后 [bèi hòu]
far from 远离 [yuǎn lí]
near 在…附近 [zài... fù jìn]
in 在…里 [zài...lǐ]
inside 在…里面 [zài... lǐ miàn]
outside 外 [wài]
with 和…在一起 [hé... zài yī qǐ]
without 无 [wú]
about 关于 [guān yú]
between 之间 [zhī jiān]
but 但是 [dàn shì]
for 为了 [wèi le]
from 从…起 [cōng...qǐ]
to 至 [zhì]

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules - Chinese + Pronunciation
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] 我吃饭不用刀 [wǒ chī fàn bù yòng dāo]
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] 她住在教堂附近 [tā zhù zài jiāo táng fù jìn]
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] 他比她高 [tā bǐ tā gāo]
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] 他带着他的小狗来 [tā dài zhe tā de xiǎo gǒu lái]
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] 你可以跟我来吗？ [nǐ kě yǐ gēn wǒ lái ma?]

Negation in Chinese

Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Negation + Rules - Chinese + Pronunciation
I understand you [affirmative form] 我理解你 [wǒ lǐ jiě nǐ]
I don't understand you [negation + verb] 我不明白你 [wǒ bù míng bái nǐ]
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] 这是不正确的单词 [zhè shì bù zhèng què de dān cí]
don't leave me [imperative negation] 不要离开我 [bù yào lí kāi wǒ]
no problem [negation + noun] 没有问题的 [méi yǒu wèn tí de]

Negative Sentences - Chinese + Pronunciation
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] 我不会说法语 [wǒ bù huì shuō fǎ yǔ]
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] 她没有访问德国 [tā méi yǒu fǎng wèn dé guó]
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] 他看不到我们 [tā kàn bù dào wǒ men]
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] 她不能下棋吗？ [tā bù néng xià qí ma?]
we will not come late [negation + future tense] 我们不会迟到 [wǒ men bù huì chí dào]

Questions in Chinese

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English - Chinese - Pronunciation
how? 怎么样？ [zěn me yàng?]
what? 什么？ [shén mē?]
who? 谁？ [shuí?]
why? 为什么？ [wèi shén me?]
where? 哪里？ [nǎ lǐ?]

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules - Chinese + Pronunciation
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] 你住在哪里？ [nǐ zhù zài nǎ lǐ?]
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] 她说中文吗？ [tā shuō zhōng wén ma?]
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] 这个多少钱？ [zhè gè duō shǎo qián?]
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] 我可以帮你吗？ [wǒ kě yǐ bāng nǐ ma?]
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] 你叫什么名字？ [nǐ jiào shén mē míng zì?]

Adverbs in Chinese

It's time to learn the adverbs in Chinese. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Adverbs - Chinese - Pronunciation
now 现在 [xiàn zài]
yesterday 昨天 [zuó tiān]
today 今天 [jīn tiān]
tonight 今晚 [jīn wǎn]
tomorrow 明天 [míng tiān]
soon 不久 [bù jiǔ]
quickly 很快 [hěn kuài]
slowly 慢慢地 [màn màn de]
together 一起 [yī qǐ]
very 很 [hěn]
almost 几乎 [jī hū]
always 总是 [zǒng shì]
usually 通常 [tōng cháng]
sometimes 有时 [yǒu shí]
rarely 很少 [hěn shǎo]
never 从不 [cóng bù]

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules - Chinese + Pronunciation
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] 你现在明白我吗？ [nǐ xiàn zài míng bái wǒ ma?]
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] 我立即就需要帮助 [wǒ lì jí jiù xū yào bāng zhù]
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] 她非常聪明 [tā fēi cháng cōng míng]
I will always love you [verb + adverb] 我会永远爱你 [wǒ huì yǒng yuǎn ài nǐ]
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] 我们可以一起学习德语吗？ [wǒ men kě yǐ yī qǐ xué xí dé yǔ ma?]

Pronouns in Chinese

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Chinese. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Personal Pronouns - Chinese - Pronunciation
I 我 [wǒ]
you 你 [nǐ]
he 他 [tā]
she 她 [tā]
we 我们 [wǒ men]
they 他们 [tā men]

Object Pronouns - Chinese - Pronunciation
me 我 [wǒ]
you 你 [nǐ]
him 他 [tā]
her 她 [tā]
us 我们 [wǒ men]
them 他们 [tā men]

Possessive Pronouns - Chinese - Pronunciation
my 我的 [wǒ de]
your 您的 [nín de]
his 他的 [tā de]
her 她的 [tā de]
our 我们的 [wǒ men de]
their 他们的 [tā men de]

I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns - Chinese + Pronunciation
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] 我是你的朋友 [wǒ shì nǐ de péng yǒu]
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] 你说话的速度非常快 [nǐ shuō huà de sù dù fēi cháng kuài]
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] 他有三只狗 [tā yǒu sān zhī gǒu]
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] 她能讲德语 [tā néng jiǎng dé yǔ]
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] 我们不会迟到 [wǒ men bù huì chí dào]
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] 他们买了牛奶和面包 [tā men mǎi le niú nǎi hé miàn bāo]

The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:

Object Pronouns - Chinese + Pronunciation
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] 你能告诉我你的名字吗？ [nǐ néng gào sù wǒ nǐ de míng zì ma?]
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] 我会给你钱 [wǒ huì gěi nǐ qián]
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] 她给他写了一封信 [tā gěi tā xiě le yī fēng xìn]
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] 他们昨天拜访了她 [tā men zuó tiān bài fǎng le tā]
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] 她可以帮助我们吗？ [tā kě yǐ bāng zhù wǒ men ma?]
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] 他给他们食物 [tā gěi tā men shí wù]

Possessive Pronouns - Chinese + Pronunciation
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] 我的名字叫玛雅 [wǒ de míng zì jiào mǎ yǎ]
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] 你哥哥住在这里 [nǐ gē gē zhù zài zhè lǐ]
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] 她母亲为我们做饭 [tā mǔ qīn wèi wǒ men zuò fàn]
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] 他的爱好是看书 [tā de ài hào hǎo shì kàn shū]
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] 我们的梦想是去巴黎 [wǒ men de mèng xiǎng shì qù bā lí]
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] 他们家并不远 [tā men jiā bìng bù yuǎn]

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns - Chinese - Pronunciation
this is my house 这是我的家 [zhè shì wǒ de jiā]
that restaurant is far 那个餐厅远 [nà gè cān tīng yuǎn]
these apples are delicious 这些苹果好吃 [zhè xiē píng guǒ hǎo chī]
those stars are shiny 那些星星很闪亮 [nà xiē xīng xīng hěn shǎn liàng]

I hope you learned a lot about the Chinese grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!