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
Subject + Verb
You can form very simple sentences with just two words.
Examples
| Subject | Verb | Pinyin | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 你 | 吃。 | Nǐ chī. | You eat. |
| 他 | 笑。 | Tā xiào. | He laughs. |
| 我 | 读。 | Wǒ dú. | I read. |
| 我 | 去。 | Wǒ qù. | I go. |
| 你 | 看。 | Nǐ kàn. | You look. |
| 你 | 滚 ! | Nǐ gǔn! | You get out of here! |
| 你 | 说。 | Nǐ shuō. | You speak. |
| 孩子 | 哭。 | Háizi kū. | Children cry. |
| 谁 | 要 学？ | Shuí yào xué? | Who wants to study? |
| 谁 | 想 做？ | Shuí xiǎng zuò? | Who wants to do? |
Subject-verb-object
A basic sentence usually has an object, and is formed with this structure:
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
| Subject | Verb | Object | Pinyin | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 我 | 吃 | 肉。 | Wǒ chī ròu. | I eat meat. |
| 你 | 喝 | 汤。 | Nǐ hē tāng. | You drink soup. |
| 我 | 去 | 学校。 | Wǒ qù xuéxiào. | I go to school. |
| 他 | 说 | 中文。 | Tā shuō Zhōngwén. | He speaks Chinese. |
| 我们 | 要 买 | 电脑。 | Wǒmen yāomǎi diànnǎo. | We are going to buy a computer. |
| 我 | 想 吃 | 中国 菜。 | Wǒ xiǎng chī Zhōngguó cài. | I want to eat Chinese food. |
| 我 | 喜欢 | 那 个 小 孩子。 | Wǒ xǐhuān nàgè xiǎo háizi. | I like that child. |
| 我 | 爱 | 你 和 爸爸。 | Wǒ ài nǐ hé bàba. | I love you and dad. |
| 你 | 要 做 | 什么？ | Nǐ yào zuò shénme? | What do you want to do? |
| 你 | 想 吃 | 什么 菜？ | Nǐ xiǎng chī shénme cài? | What food do you want to eat? |
See also
- Word order (a more in depth article)
- Time words and word order
- Using "zai" with verbs
- Verbing briefly with "yixia"
- Topic-comment sentences
- Expressing location with "zai...shang/xia/li"
- Wanting to do something with "yao"
- Standard negation with "bu"
- Using the verb "jiao"
- Using the verb "qu"
- In the future in general
- Expressing a learned skill with "hui"
- Expressing ability or possibility
- Expressing permission with "keyi"
- Connecting nouns with "shi"
- Simple "noun + adjective" sentences
