Learn about the correct word order in Chinese
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
Intro |
|---|
| Hi everybody! Yinru here. Welcome to Ask a Teacher, where I’ll answer some of your most common Chinese questions. |
| The Question |
| The question for this lesson is: What is the proper word order in a sentence? |
| Explanation |
| Unlike the pronunciation and writing system, sentence structure in Chinese is not as confusing and exotic. For most simple sentences, word order in Chinese is similar to that in English. |
| Let’s look at some basic SVO sentences, which are sentences with Subject + Verb + Object word order. |
| 我爱你。(Wǒ ài nǐ. “I love you.”) The subject is 我 (Wǒ), the verb 爱 (ài), and the object 你 (nǐ). Just like in English. |
| 他吃面. (Tā chīmiàn. “He eats noodles.”) The subject is 他 (Tā), the verb 吃 (chī), and the object 面 (miàn). |
| If you want to add a time phrase in the sentence, you usually put this phrase after the subject. For example: |
| 他星期二吃面。(Tā xīngqīèr chīmiàn. “He eats noodles on Tuesdays.”) |
| 我一直很爱你。(Wǒ yìzhí hěn ài nǐ. “I always love you.”) |
| 你昨天晚上洗澡了吗? (Nǐ zuótiān wǎnshang xǐzǎo le ma? “Did you take a shower last night?”) |
| If you want to add a “place” in a sentence, like “where” someone does something, you also put it after the subject, before the verb. Let’s see a couple of examples: |
| 他在家吃面。(Tā zài jiā chīmiàn. “He eats noodles at home.”) |
| 我的好朋友在伦敦工作。(Wǒ de hǎopéngyou zài Lúndūn gōngzuò. “My good friend works in London.”) |
| What if we have a “time” and “place” at the same time? Usually we put time after the subject, then place, then verb, or verb + object. For example: |
| 我的好朋友去年在伦敦工作。(Wǒ de hǎopéngyou qùnián zài Lúndūn gōngzuò. “My good friend worked in London last year.”) |
| 他们上个星期六晚上在电影院看电影. (Tāmen shàngge xīngqī liù wǎnshang zài diànyǐngyuàn kàn diànyǐng. “They saw a movie at a movie theater last Saturday night.”) |
| Of course, there are exceptions to the rules, and many times components are omitted in different cases, but the above word order is the basic foundation for sentence structure in Chinese. |
Outro |
| Like always, if you have any more questions, please leave a comment below! |
| I’ll see you next time! |
| 我们下次再见！Wǒmen xiàcì zàijiàn! |
Comments
Hide