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Commonly Used Chinese Grammar Particles

Commonly used Chinese grammar particles include: 1. 是(shì) which connects two nouns as in "I am a teacher" and is not conjugated. 很(hěn) connects nouns to adjectives. 2. 都(dōu) means "all" when placed after the subject as in "They are all fine". 3. 的(de) marks possession when placed after a noun as in "my" or "their". 4. 了(le) can express ongoing action, change of state, action completion, or excessiveness as in "Too expensive!". 5. 要(yào) expresses future intentions as in "

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176 views3 pages

Commonly Used Chinese Grammar Particles

Commonly used Chinese grammar particles include: 1. 是(shì) which connects two nouns as in "I am a teacher" and is not conjugated. 很(hěn) connects nouns to adjectives. 2. 都(dōu) means "all" when placed after the subject as in "They are all fine". 3. 的(de) marks possession when placed after a noun as in "my" or "their". 4. 了(le) can express ongoing action, change of state, action completion, or excessiveness as in "Too expensive!". 5. 要(yào) expresses future intentions as in "

Uploaded by

Nadia Nadiuz
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Commonly used Chinese Grammar Particles

 
 Hacking Chinese Characters
One of the various misconceptions about Mandarin Chinese language is
that it has no grammar. However, despite not having noun declension, verb
conjugation and many other types of typical structures for European
languages, Chinese grammar is still highly structured.
Here are some words used in the most common sentence patterns.
      

1. 是(shì)
是(shì) is used to connect two nouns.
我是老师。(Wǒ shì lǎoshī.) – I am a teacher.
In this case, it is translated as “to be”. Unlike the English verb “to be”, it is
not conjugated. Also, you can’t use 是(shì) to connect a noun and an
adjective. For this purpose, the word 很(hěn) is used.
她很好。(Tā hěn hǎo.) – She is fine.
Sometimes 很 (hěn) may be translated as “very”, but in the vast majority
of situations it is just a way to link a noun to an adjective and carries no
significant meaning.
2. 都(dōu)
都(dōu) appearing after the subject and before the verb means “all”. You
may be surprised how often it is used in sentence patterns where it would
not be necessary in English.
她们都很好。(Tāmen dōu hěn hǎo.) – They are (all) fine.
3. 的(de)
The 的 particle, when it is placed after a noun, a pronoun or a noun phrase,
marks possession. By adding 的 after any of them, you will get a Chinese
possessive pronoun: e.g., 
我的 (wǒ de) – my; 他们的 (tāmen de) – their.
For beginners, using 的(de) and 得(de) may seem confusing. There are
many grammatical points associated with 得(de). However, the most
common is the sentence pattern with 得(de) used as a structural particle
with complements.
说得很好 ( shuō de hěn hǎo) – to say well
4. 了(le)
Another frequently used Chinese particle is 了. Depending on context, this
word can express many things: from ongoing action to change of state, to
action completion. It may also indicate “excessiveness”:
太贵了 (Tài guìle!) – Too expensive!
5. 要(yào)
要(yào) as an auxiliary verb has multiple meanings. It also appears in
many sentence patterns related to future.
我要买这个东西。(Wǒ yào mǎi zhège dōngxi.) – I am going to buy this
item.
6. 有(yǒu)
有(yǒu) expresses existence or possession.
我有狗。(Wǒ yǒu gǒu.) – I have a dog.
右边有狗。(Yòubiān yǒu gǒu.) – There is a dog on the right.
Remember that 有(yǒu) is negated differently from most Chinese verbs.
For negation of 有(yǒu) the particle 没(méi) is used, while 是(shì)，要
(yào) and many other verbs can be negated with the particle 不(bù). To
reply in the affirmative, 对(duì) is often used as a positive response or as a
part of tag questions with 吗(ma) and 吧(ba).
他有很多钱， 对吗？ ( Tā yǒu hěnduō qián, duì ma?) – Does he have
much money?
对， 他有很多钱。(Duì, tā yǒu hěnduō qián.) – Yes, he has a lot of
money.
7. 在（zài）
在（zài） expresses either existence (location) in a certain place or action
in progress.
她在外面。 (Tā zài wàimiàn.) – She is outside.
他在说话。 (Tā zài shuōhuà.) – He is talking.

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