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Chinese Syntax
Chinese
syntax is very straightforward. At an elementary level,
sentence order is similar to English.
Writing Chinese - Word
Order
Like
English, word order in Chinese syntax is subject-verb-object.
For
example, 我学中文 ( I study Chinese ) follows exactly the same order as in
English.
Nouns
Nouns
are usually made up of two characters, so called "compounds". There are
no masculine, feminine or plural forms of nouns.
Generally
a noun can be preceded by a numeral-measure word combination, but can't
be modified by adverbs.
Some
monosyllabic nouns can be reduplicated to express the meaning of "every".
For
example, 个个 ( every one ), 天天 ( every day ) and so on
The
suffix character " 们 " can be added to a personal noun to express the
plural.
For example, 我们
( we ), 你们 ( you ) , 她们 ( they )
Adjectives
Adjectives
precede the nouns they describe. The negative adverb 不 is placed before
an adjective for the negative form.
For example, 不好 ( not good ), 不对 ( not right )
Pronouns
Both
subject and object pronouns take the same form. Plural pronouns are
formed by adding the suffix - 们 to the corresponding singular form.
Possession
To
show ownership or possession using Chinese syntax, simply add 的 to a pronoun, and follow it
with the thing that is possessed.
For
example, 我的 ( mine ), 她的 ( her ), 我们的 ( our )
Verbs
In
Chinese syntax, verbs don't change according to their subjects. Chinese verbs
have no morphological changes whatsoever resulting from person, gender,
number, time, etc.
For
example: 我是学生 ( I am a student ), 她是老
师 ( She is a teacher )
The particle " 已 " is suffixed to a verb to emphasize a completed past action.
For example: 我已读完书 ( I finished reading a book.), 她已走了( She left )
The particle " 着 " is suffixed to a verb to indicate the continuous aspect of an action.
For example:足球赛进行着 ( The soccer game is carrying on )
The particle " 过 " is suffixed to a verb for things that have happened some time in the
unspecified past.
For example:我去过北京 ( I have been to Beijing ), 我读过这本书 ( I've read this book ).
Verb 要 or 想 (
want ) can be used to indicate the future.
For example,她想学中文 ( She wants to learn Chinese )
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