Turning adjectives into adverbs

You can easily convert Chinese adjectives into adverbs with 地 (de). This character is very similar to the English suffix -ly.

Structure

In Chinese, we place the structural particle 地 (de) after the adjective to make it an adverb.

Subj. + Adj. + 地 + Verb

Examples

• 你 要 努力 地 学习 。Nǐ yào nǔlì de xuéxí.You must study hard.
• 雨天 地 滑 ，慢慢 地 走 。Yǔtiān dì huá, mànmàn de zǒu.The floor is very slippery in rainy days. Walk slowly.
• 小猫 舒服 地 躺 在 那里 。Xiǎomāo shūfu de tǎng zài nàlǐ.The kitten is comfortably lying down here.
• 小狗 在 大声 地 叫 。Xiǎogǒu zài dàshēng de jiào.The puppy is barking loudly.
• 我 希望 你 快快乐乐 地 长大 。Wǒ xīwàng nǐ kuài kuài lè lè de zhǎngdà.I hope that you grow up happily.

See Also

• Structural particle "de"

Sources and further reading

Books

• Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar (pp. 72) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (pp. 192) →buy