Basic sentence order

In its most basic form, Chinese word order is very similar to English word order. Don't expect these similarities to hold true too far past the very basic sentence order outlined below, though!

SV Structure

The most basic word order in Chinese is:

Subject + Verb

You can form very simple sentences with just two words.

Examples

Very simple SV sentences

Subject	Verb		Translation
你	吃	。	You eat.
他	跑步	。	He runs.
我	跳舞	。	I dance.
我	去	。	I go.
你	看一下	。	You look.
你	滚	!	You get out of here!
你	说	。	You speak.
孩子	哭	。	Child cry.
谁	要 学	？	Who wants to study?
谁	想 做	？	Who wants to do?

SVO Structure

A basic sentence usually has an object, and is formed with this structure:

Subject + Verb + Object

This is the same as in English, and is commonly referred to as SVO word order. You can express a huge variety of things with this simple structure.

Examples

Simple SVO sentences

Subject	Verb	Object		Translation
我	吃	肉	。	I eat meat.
你	喝	汤	。	You drink soup.
我	去	学校	。	I go to school.
他	说	中文	。	He speaks Chinese.
我们	要 买	电脑	。	We are going to buy computer.
我	想 吃	中国 菜	。	I want to eat Chinese food.
我	喜欢	那 个 小 孩子	。	I like that child.
我	爱	你 和 爸爸	。	I love you and dad.
你	要 做	什么	？	What do you want to do?
你	想 吃	什么 菜	？	What food do you want to eat?

See also

• Word order (a more in depth article)
• Time words and word order
• Using "zai" with verbs
• Verbing briefly
• Topic-comment sentences
• Expressing location with "zai...shang/xia/li"
• Wanting to do something with yao
• Standard negation with bu
• Using the verb jiao
• Using the verb qu
• In the future in general
• Expressing a learned skill
• Expressing ability or possibility
• Expressing permission
• Connecting nouns with "shi"
• Simple "noun + adjective" sentences

Sources and further reading

• New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1) (pp. 10) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1)(2nd ed) (pp. 11, 249) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (p. 76) →buy