Reference:Basic Chinese - A Grammar and Workbook

Basic Chinese - A Grammar and Workbook by Yip Po-Ching, Don Rimmington, Zhang Xiaoming, Rachel Henson

‘Very well structured and clearly explained’ – Dr Kan Qian, The Open University, UK

Basic Chinese introduces the essentials of Chinese syntax. Each of the 25 units deals with a particular grammatical point and provides associated exercises. Features include:

a clear, accessible format

many useful language examples

jargon-free explanations of grammar

ample drills and exercises

a full key to exercises.

All Chinese entries are presented in both Pinyin romanization and Chinese characters, and are accompanied, in most cases, by English translations to facilitate self-tuition as well as classroom teaching in both spoken and written Chinese.

Basic Chinese is designed for students new to the language. Together with its sister volume, Intermediate Chinese, it forms a compendium of the essentials of Chinese syntax.

Grammar Points by Chapter

1. Unit One
   • Nouns: singular and plural
2. Unit Two
   • Definite and indefinite reference and demonstratives
3. Unit Three
   • Personal pronouns
4. Unit Four
   • Interrogative pronouns
5. Unit Five
   • Numbers
6. Unit Six
   • Measure words
7. Unit Seven
   • Indefinite plurals
8. Unit Eight
   • Times and dates
9. Unit Nine
   • More interrogative questions
10. Unit Ten
    • Adjectives: attributive and predictive
11. Unit Eleven
    • 是 shi and 有 you
12. Unit Twelve
    • Comparisons
13. Unit Thirteen
    • Verbs and location expressions
14. Unit Fourteen
    • Verbs and time expressions
15. Unit Fifteen
    • Verbs and aspect markets
16. Unit Sixteen
    • Modal Verbs
17. Unit Seventeen
    • Negators 不 bu and 没(有) mei(you)
18. Unit Eighteen
    • Types of question (1)
19. Unit Nineteen
    • Types of question (2)
20. Unit Twenty
    • Imperatives and explanations
21. Unit Twenty One
    • Complements of direction and location (or destinations)
22. Unit Twenty Two
    • Complements of result and manner
23. Unit Twenty Three
    • Potential Complements
24. Unit Twenty Four
    • Coverbial phrases
25. Unit Twenty Five
    • Disylabbic prepositions