Difference between revisions of "Basic sentence order"
| Line 50: | Line 50: | ||
<table class="table big-text table-striped table-bordered"> | <table class="table big-text table-striped table-bordered"> | ||
| − | |||
<tr><th>Subject</th><th>Verb</th><th>Object</th><th>Translation</th></tr> | <tr><th>Subject</th><th>Verb</th><th>Object</th><th>Translation</th></tr> | ||
| − | <tr><td>他们<br>Tāmen</td><td>吃< | + | <tr><td>他们<br>Tāmen</td><td>吃<span class="pinyin">chī</span></td><td>肉。<br>ròu.</td><td>They eat meat.</td></tr> |
| − | <tr><td>你<br>Nǐ</td><td>喝< | + | <tr><td>你<br>Nǐ</td><td>喝<span class="pinyin">hē</span></td><td>茶 吗？<br>chá ma?</td><td>Do you drink tea?</td></tr> |
| − | <tr><td>我<br>Wǒ</td><td>去< | + | <tr><td>我<br>Wǒ</td><td>去<span class="pinyin">qù</span></td><td>学校。<br>xuéxiào.</td><td>I go to school.</td></tr> |
| − | <tr><td>他<br>Tā</td><td>说< | + | <tr><td>他<br>Tā</td><td>说<span class="pinyin">shuō</span></td><td>中文。<br>Zhōngwén.</td><td>He speaks Chinese.</td></tr> |
| − | <tr><td>你<br>Nǐ</td><td>喜欢< | + | <tr><td>你<br>Nǐ</td><td>喜欢<span class="pinyin">xǐhuan</span></td><td> 孩子 吗？<br>háizi ma?</td><td>Do you like kids?</td></tr> |
| − | <tr><td>我们<br>Wǒmen</td><td>要 买< | + | <tr><td>我们<br>Wǒmen</td><td>要 买<span class="pinyin">yào mǎi</span></td><td>电脑。<br>diànnǎo.</td><td>We want to buy a computer.</td></tr> |
| − | <tr><td>你们<br>Nǐmen</td><td>想 吃< | + | <tr><td>你们<br>Nǐmen</td><td>想 吃<span class="pinyin">xiǎng chī</span></td><td>中国 菜 吗？<br>Zhōngguó cài ma?</td><td>Do you want to eat Chinese food?</td></tr> |
| − | <tr><td>我<br>Wǒ</td><td>爱< | + | <tr><td>我<br>Wǒ</td><td>爱<span class="pinyin">ài</span></td><td>你 和 爸爸。<br>nǐ hé bàba.</td><td>I love you and dad.</td></tr> |
| − | <tr><td>他们<br>Tāmen</td><td>要 做< | + | <tr><td>他们<br>Tāmen</td><td>要 做<span class="pinyin">yào zuò</span></td><td>什么？<br> shénme?</td><td>What do they want to do?</td></tr> |
| − | <tr><td>你<br>Nǐ</td><td>想 去< | + | <tr><td>你<br>Nǐ</td><td>想 去<span class="pinyin">xiǎng qù</span></td><td>什么 地方？<br>shénme dìfang?</td><td>What place do you want to go?</td></tr> |
</table> | </table> | ||
Revision as of 01:45, 18 March 2016
-
Level
-
Similar to
-
Used for
-
Keywords
In its most basic form, Chinese word order is very similar to English word order. These similarities definitely have their limits, though; don't expect the two languages' word orders to stay consistent for anything past the very basic sentence orders 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 你们 Nǐmen | 吃。 chī. | You eat. |
| 他 Tā | 笑。 xiào. | He laughs. |
| 我 Wǒ | 读。 dú. | I read. |
| 你 Nǐ | 去。 qù. | You go. |
| 你们 Nǐmen | 看. kàn. | You look. |
| 你 Nǐ | 来。 lái. | You come here! |
| 我 Wǒ | 说。 shuō. | I speak. |
| 孩子 Háizi | 哭。 kū. | Children cry. |
| 谁 Shéi | 要 学？ yào xué? | Who wants to study? |
| 谁 Shéi | 想 玩？ xiǎng wán? | Who wants to play? |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 他们 Tāmen | 吃 | 肉。 ròu. | They eat meat. |
| 你 Nǐ | 喝 | 茶 吗？ chá ma? | Do you drink tea? |
| 我 Wǒ | 去 | 学校。 xuéxiào. | I go to school. |
| 他 Tā | 说 | 中文。 Zhōngwén. | He speaks Chinese. |
| 你 Nǐ | 喜欢 | 孩子 吗？ háizi ma? | Do you like kids? |
| 我们 Wǒmen | 要 买 | 电脑。 diànnǎo. | We want to buy a computer. |
| 你们 Nǐmen | 想 吃 | 中国 菜 吗？ Zhōngguó cài ma? | Do you want to eat Chinese food? |
| 我 Wǒ | 爱 | 你 和 爸爸。 nǐ hé bàba. | I love you and dad. |
| 他们 Tāmen | 要 做 | 什么？ shénme? | What do they want to do? |
| 你 Nǐ | 想 去 | 什么 地方？ shénme dìfang? | What place do you want to go? |
When it all falls apart
Despite the convenient word order similarities highlighted above, things start to break down as soon as you start adding in such simple sentence elements as the "also" adverb 也 (yě), a time word, or a location where something happened.
Don't worry; the more complicated Chinese structures aren't hard, they're just different! (If Chinese word order were really the same as English word order, that would be just a little too convenient, wouldn't it?)
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"
