Difference between revisions of "Basic sentence order"

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! Subject !! Verb !!  !!  Translation
 
! Subject !! Verb !!  !!  Translation
 
|-
 
|-
| 你 || 吃 || 。|| <span class="spaced">You eat.</span>
+
| 你 || 吃。|| <span class="spaced">You eat.</span>
 
|-
 
|-
| 他 || 笑 || 。|| <span class="spaced">He laughs.</span>
+
| 他 || 笑。|| <span class="spaced">He laughs.</span>
 
|-
 
|-
| 我 || 读 || 。|| <span class="spaced">I read.</span>
+
| 我 || 读。|| <span class="spaced">I read.</span>
 
|-
 
|-
| 我 || 去 || 。|| <span class="spaced">I go.</span>
+
| 我 || 去。|| <span class="spaced">I go.</span>
 
|-
 
|-
| 你 || 看 || 。|| <span class="spaced">You look.</span>
+
| 你 || 看。|| <span class="spaced">You look.</span>
 
|-
 
|-
| 你 || 滚 || !|| <span class="spaced">You get out of here! </span>
+
| 你 || 滚 ! || <span class="spaced">You get out of here! </span>
 
|-
 
|-
| 你 || 说 || 。|| <span class="spaced">You speak. </span>
+
| 你 || 说。|| <span class="spaced">You speak. </span>
 
|-
 
|-
| 孩子 || 哭 || 。|| <span class="spaced">Child cry.</span>
+
| 孩子 || 哭。|| <span class="spaced">Child cry.</span>
 
|-
 
|-
| 谁 || 要 学 || ?|| <span class="spaced">Who wants to study?</span>
+
| 谁 || 要 学?|| <span class="spaced">Who wants to study?</span>
 
|-
 
|-
| 谁 || 想 做 || ?|| <span class="spaced">Who wants to do?</span>
+
| 谁 || 想 做?|| <span class="spaced">Who wants to do?</span>
 
|}
 
|}
  
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[[Category:A1 grammar points]]
 
[[Category:A1 grammar points]]
 +
[[Category:Table]]
 
{{Basic Grammar|none|A1|Subject + Verb (+ Obj.)|<em>我 爱 你 。</em>|grammar point|ASGETNCO}}
 
{{Basic Grammar|none|A1|Subject + Verb (+ Obj.)|<em>我 爱 你 。</em>|grammar point|ASGETNCO}}
 
{{Similar|Word order}}
 
{{Similar|Word order}}

Revision as of 08:17, 17 February 2014

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!

SV Structure

The most basic word order in Chinese is:

Subject + Verb

You can form very simple sentences with just two words.

Examples

Very simple SV sentences
Subject Verb Translation
吃。 You eat.
笑。 He laughs.
读。 I read.
去。 I go.
看。 You look.
滚 ! You get out of here!
说。 You speak.
孩子 哭。 Child cry.
要 学? Who wants to study?
想 做? Who wants to do?

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

Simple SVO sentences
Subject Verb Object Translation
I eat meat.
You drink soup.
学校 I go to school.
中文 He speaks Chinese.
我们 要 买 电脑 We are going to buy computer.
想 吃 中国 菜 I want to eat Chinese food.
喜欢 那 个 小 孩子 I like that child.
你 和 爸爸 I love you and dad.
要 做 什么 What do you want to do?
想 吃 什么 菜 What food do you want to eat?

See also

Sources and further reading