Main Page

Your practical, free, comprehensive online resource for Chinese grammar. 2,125 articles and growing!

Beginner-Friendly Grammar Points

A1 grammar points: Our list is designed especially for beginners, all difficult vocabulary and grammar banished to the later levels. Easy examples, each one with pinyin. Try clicking on one of the images below:

See the full list of 40 A1 grammar points...

Essential Elementary Grammar Points

A2 grammar points: So you've learned some basic grammar, but still need pinyin and want to build a stronger foundation? You've come to the right place! Check out some of the following pages:

See the full list of 99 A2 grammar points...

Accessible Intermediate Grammar Points

B1 grammar points: For when you're ready to really consolidate your grammar knowledge and fill in the gaps, but really don't want to slog through a grammar textbook. Our self-contained grammar points give you just the right amount to work on.

See the full list of B1 grammar points...

Upgrading to Upper Intermediate

B2 grammar points: These aren't easy, and often involve more formal language or finer points of the more basic grammar points. It's getting hard to find explanations that really address your needs, but this is one place you can find them!

See the full list of B2 grammar points...

Ready for the really advanced stuff?

Our C1 grammar points are still a work in progress, but if you'd like to help edit them, please get in touch.

Need Help with Pinyin?

Get pinyin for all the Chinese characters in this wiki using free browser plugins. Also try clicking on the little cog at the top right of any page to add spaces between characters.

Try it out with this: 你 会 中文 吗 ？

Chinese Keywords

Certain Chinese words appear in lots of different grammar points. Get clear on how these words work in different ways by examining the keyword pages. Here are some examples to get you started:

• 了 (le)
• 不 (bù)
• 是 (shì)
• 就 (jìu)
• 都 (dōu)
• 也 (yě)
• 来 (lái)
• 的 (de)
• 得 (de)
• 还 (hái)
• 有 (yǒu)
• 好 (hǎo)
• 要 (yào)
• 于 (yú)
• 对 (duì)
• 多 (duō)
• 可 (kě)
• 没 (méi)
• 以 (yǐ)
• 在 (zài)
• 到 (dào)
• 没有 (méiyǒu)
• 给 (gěi)
• 过 (guò)
• 去 (qù)
• 以后 (yǐhòu)
• 再 (zài)
• 点 (diǎn)
• 什么 (shénme)
• 为 (wèi, wéi)
• 下 (xià)
• 又 (yòu)
• 因为 (yīnwèi)
• 怎么 (zěnme)

There are about 400 Chinese keywords in the full list. Check it out.

English Translations

Sometimes it's useful to start with English words and look at the different ways those English words can be translated into Chinese. Here are some English words worth a closer look in translation:

• very
• then
• also
• and
• but
• or
• after
• all
• always
• have
• just
• at
• because
• for
• in
• more
• want
• about
• again
• almost
• although
• both
• can
• either
• every
• go
• later
• really
• too
• will
• able
• already
• before
• etc.
• how
• however
• is
• less
• need
• so
• some
• therefore
• when

There are about 100 English translation words in the full list. Check it out.

We got your Textbooks Covered

This is the Internet Age, but it's not yet time to throw out those textbooks! We see the value in textbook grammar explanations and exercises, and are doing our best to link textbook to the Chinese Grammar Wiki content. To see how it works, try finding your own textbook in our list, and then seeing what it links to. Purchasing these books by clicking on the textbook references linked within this website will also help to support this project.

About AllSet Learning

AllSet Learning is a Shanghai-based learning consultancy dedicated to helping foreigners better learn Mandarin Chinese. This wiki is maintained by John Pasden and the rest of the team at AllSet Learning. While many of the company's services are only available to clients physically in Shanghai, this wiki is open to the public through a Creative Commons license.

You can also find us on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Google+.

All content on this wiki © AllSet Learning, and may not be reproduced without attributions or used for commercial purposes.