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 for anything past the very basic sentence order outlined below.
Contents
Subject-predicate
The most basic word order in Chinese is:
Structure
Subj. + Verb
You can form very simple sentences with just two words.
Examples
| Subject | Verb | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| 你 Nǐ | 吃。 chī. | You eat. |
| 他 Tā | 笑。 xiào. | He laughs. |
| 我 Wǒ | 读。 dú. | I read. |
| 我 Wǒ | 去。 qù. | I go. |
| 你 Nǐ | 看。 kàn. | You look. |
| 你 Nǐ | 滚 ! gǔn! | You get out of here! |
| 你 Nǐ | 说。 shuō. | You speak. |
| 孩子 Háizi | 哭。 kū. | Children cry. |
| 谁 Shuí | 要 学？ yào xué? | Who wants to study? |
| 谁 Shuí | 想 做？ xiǎng zuò? | Who wants to do (it)? |
Subject-verb-object
A basic sentence usually has an object, and is formed with this structure:
Structure
Subj.+ Verb + Obj.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 我 Wǒ | 吃 chī | 肉。 ròu. | I eat meat. |
| 你 Nǐ | 喝 hē | 汤。 tāng. | You drink soup. |
| 我 Wǒ | 去 qù | 学校。 xuéxiào. | I go to school. |
| 他 Tā | 说 shuō | 中文。 Zhōngwén. | He speaks Chinese. |
| 我们 Wǒmen | 要 买 yào mǎi | 电脑。 diànnǎo. | We want to buy a computer. |
| 我 Wǒ | 想 吃 xiǎng chī | 中国 菜。 Zhōngguó cài. | I want to eat Chinese food. |
| 我 Wǒ | 喜欢 xǐhuan | 那 个 小 孩子。 nà gè xiǎo háizi. | I like that child. |
| 我 Wǒ | 爱 ài | 你 和 爸爸。 nǐ hé bàba. | I love you and dad. |
| 你 Nǐ | 要 做 yào zuò | 什么？ shénme? | What do you want to do? |
| 你 Nǐ | 想 吃 xiǎng chī | 什么 菜？ shénme cài? | What food do you want to eat? |
See also
- Word order (a more in depth article)
- Time words and word order
- Topic-comment sentences
- Simple "noun + adjective" sentences
- Using "zai" with verbs
- Expressing location with "zai...shang/xia/li"
