Basic sentence order

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.

Subject-predicate

The most basic word order in Chinese is:

Structure

Subj. + Verb

You can form very simple sentences with just two words.

Examples

SubjectVerbTranslation
你们
Nǐmen
吃。
chī.
You eat.

笑。
xiào.
He laughs.

读。
dú.
I read.

去。
qù.
You go.
你们
Nǐmen
看.
kàn.
You look.

来。
lái.
You come here!

说。
shuō.
I speak.
孩子
Háizi
哭。
kū.
Children cry.

Shuí
要 学?
yào xué?
Who wants to study?

Shuí
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

Simple SVO sentences
SubjectVerbObjectTranslation


chī
肉。
ròu.
I eat meat.


汤。
tāng.
You drink soup.


学校。
xuéxiào.
I go to school.


shuō
中文。
Zhōngwén.
He speaks Chinese.
我们
Wǒmen
要 买
yào mǎi
电脑。
diànnǎo.
We want to buy a computer.

想 吃
xiǎng chī
中国 菜。
Zhōngguó cài.
I want to eat Chinese food.

喜欢
xǐhuan
那 个 小 孩子。
nà gè xiǎo háizi.
I like that child.


ài
你 和 爸爸。
nǐ hé bàba.
I love you and dad.

要 做
yào zuò
什么?
shénme?
What do you want to do?

想 吃
xiǎng chī
什么 菜?
shénme cài?
What food do you want to eat?

See also

Sources and further reading