The use of time words before the verb:
| Wǒ zuótiān chī jiǎozi. | 我昨天吃饺子 | “Yesterday I ate dumplings” |
| Wǒ jīntiān chī jiǎozi. | 我今天吃饺子 | “Today I eat dumplings” |
| Wǒ míngtiān chī jiǎozi. | 我明天吃饺子 | “Tomorrow I’ll be eating dumplings” |
Note that the Chinese verb chī 吃 “eat” does not change to indicate tense; this is done through the use of zuótiān 昨 天 “yesterday,” jīntiān 今天 “today” and míngtiān 明天 “tomorrow.”
• The use of the particle guo 过 after the verb to indicate action occurred in unspecified time in the past:
| Wǒ chīguo jiǎozi. | 我吃过饺子 | “I’ve eaten dumplings previously” |
• The use of the particle le 了 after the verb to indicate action has just been recently completed:
| Wǒ chīle jiǎozi. | 我吃了饺子 | “I’ve just eaten (the) dumplings” |
• The use of the aspect partices yào 要 “want” or huì 会 “will/shall” before the verb to indicate future action:
| Wǒ yào chī jiǎozi. | 我要吃饺子 | “I’m going to eat (the) dumplings” |
| Wǒ huì chī (nàxiē) jiǎozi. | 我会吃(那些) 饺子的。 | “I’ll be eating (the) dumplings” |
5 Adjectives
Adjectives in Chinese are simple as they don’t need to agree in gender or number with the nouns they modify. They are sometimes called stative verbs as they incorporate the verb “to be” in the sentence. In their positive form, adjectives are generally preceded by the adverb hěn 很 “very.” Thus Wǒ hěn gāoxìng 我很 高兴 means “I’m very happy.”
When adjectives modify nouns in phrases they generally precede the noun, often using the particle de 的 in between. For example,
| xiǎo xióngmāo | 小熊猫 | “a small panda” |
| zāng yīfu | 脏衣服 | “soiled clothings” |
| hǎo péngyou | 好朋友 | “good friends” |
| měilì de fēngjǐng | 美丽的风景 | “beautiful scenery” |
| míngguì de lǐwù | 名贵的礼物 | “expensive gift” |
| tǎoyàn de wénzi | 讨厌的蚊子 | “annoying mosquitoes” |
6 Adverbs
Just as adjectives precede the nouns they modify, adverbs are placed before verbs, adjectives or other adverbs to express time, degree, scope, repetition, possibility, negotiation and tone of speech. Common examples are: hěn 很 “very,” yě 也 “also,” bǐjiào 比 较 “rather,” jiù 就 “then,” zǒng 总 “always.” For example,
| Chángchéng hěn cháng. | 长城很长 | “The Great Wall is long.” |
| Wǒ yě xiǎng chángchang Běijīng kǎoyā. | 我也想尝尝 北京烤鸭。 | “I’d also like to try Beijing Duck.” |
| Shànghǎi xiàtiān bǐjiào rè. | 上海夏天 比较热。 | “Shanghai is rather hot in summer.” |
| Nǐ xiān zǒu, wǒ mǎshàng jiù lái. | 你先走, 我 马上就来。 | “You go first, I’ll catch up with you later.” |
| Wǔyuè de shíhou, | 五月的时候, | “Around May, it is |
| zhèlǐ zǒng xiàyǔ. | 这里总下雨。 | always raining here.” |
7 Negatives
There are generally two particles that are used for forming the negative in Chinese. They are bù/bú 不 and méi 没. The one you’re most likely to need is bù 不, sometimes pronounced as bú 不 when it precedes a word in the fourth tone. Both bù 不 and bú 不 are placed before verbs or adjectives to indicate negation in simple present tense. To indicate negation in the past tense, i.e., an action that has not been completed, méi 没 is used.
| Guǎngzhōu dōngtiān bù lěng. | 广州冬天 不冷。 | “Guangzhou is not cold in winter.” |
| Shànghǎi dōngtiān bú xiàxuě. | 上海冬天 不下雪。 | “It does not snow in Shanghai in winter.” |
| Qùnián Běijīng méi xiàxuě. | 去年北京没 下雪。 | “Last year it didn’t snow in Beijing.” |
8 Interrogatives
There are three basic ways to ask questions in Chinese. The most common way is to add the particle ma 吗 to the end of a declarative sentence.
| Nǐ lèi ma? | 你累吗？ | “Are you tired?” |
| Nǐ gāoxìng ma? | 你高兴吗？ | “Are you happy?” |
The second way is to use the choice-type question which presents the listener with two opposite alternatives. Nǐ lèi bu lèi? 你累不累？ “Are you tired?”
| Nǐ lèi bu lèi? | 你累不累？ | “Are you tired?” |
| Nǐ gāo(xìng) bu gāoxìng? | 你高(兴)不高兴？ | “Are you happy?” |
The third way is by using an interrogative pronoun. Examples are shéi/shuí 谁 “who,” shénme 什么 “what,” zěnme 怎 么 “how,” nǎ 哪 “which,” nǎli/nǎr 那里/哪儿 “where,”
