Adverb

In English, adverbs are words that modify verbs and adjectives. In Chinese, the same is true, but there are a few rules that you need to know about that Chinese has but English doesn't.

Notes

Since adverbs are primarily words that modify adjectives and verbs (but never nouns!), they usually can't stand by themselves. This means that they usually cannot answer questions just by themselves. Furthermore, adverbs cannot come before the subject of a sentence. This is very important because in English they can, but never in Chinese. Adverbs can occasionally act as conjunctions (like in the case of 就), but they still follow the rules of adverbs. Finally, in Chinese adverbs cannot be reduplicated (although reduplicated adjectives can be converted into adverbs with 地, e.g. 急急匆匆地).

List of adverbs with logical function

• 都
• 也
• 还
• 只
• 白 ... 了
• 半 ... 半 ...

Comparisons

• • 毕竟, 到底， 究竟
  • 就, 才
  • 差点儿, 几乎
  • 刚, 刚刚, 刚才
  • 突然, 忽然
  • 一直, 总是
  • 只好, 不得不

Subcategories

• Degree adverbs
• Scope adverbs
• Time adverbs
• Tone adverbs
• Negative adverbs

• Some adverbs can be used as answers to questions, such as 不, 没有, 也许 and 可能 etc.
• Nearly all adverbs occur as adverbials (in front of the verb) but a couple can occur as complements (after the noun), such as 极了 and 得很.

Sources

• 外国人实用汉语语法(中英文对照) (pp. 105 - 116)
• 简明汉语语法学习手册 (Chinese Grammar Without Tears) (pp. 259 - 292)
• 实用汉语语法 (p. 55 - 56)
• Practicing HSK Grammar (pp. 31 - 66)
• Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (pp. 89 - 96)
• 汉语常用格式330例