Basic sentence order
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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!
Contents
SV Structure
The most basic "Subject + Verb" word order in Chinese is:
Subject + Verb
You can form very simple sentences with just two words.
Examples
| Subject | Verb | Translation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 你 | 吃 | 。 | You eat. |
| 他 | 跑步 | 。 | he runs. |
| 我 | 跳舞 | 。 | I dance. |
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
| Subject | Verb | Object | Translation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 你 | 吃 | 包子 | 。 | You eat baozi. |
| 他 | 说 | 中文 | 。 | He speaks Chinese. |
| 我 | 爱 | 你 | 。 | I love you. |
See also
- Word order (a more in depth article)
- Time words and word order
- Using "zai" with verbs
Sources and further reading
Books
- 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
