Tag: Chinese Grammar

Learning how to properly use 反而 (fǎn'ér) and 却 (què) may seem like a head ache, but it isn't! This article will help you out!

If something keeps happening and won't stop happening, we say that it is "continuous" or "incessant". In Chinese, the words are "不断" (bùduàn) and "不停" (bùtíng). Instead of usually being adjectives, these two words are usually adverbs (but they can sometimes be adjectives too!). However, they are used in different ways and different places, so this article will help you distinguish when and where to use them.

We've seen 不但……而且 in B1, but other than that there are a number of other structures which can be used to express "not only…but also". 不但 can be substituted with 不仅(bù jǐn) and 不只 (bù zhǐ), all meaning "not only", and can be followed by 而且 (ér qiě) , 还 (hái), or 也 (yě) Other than 不但…而且 being more common than the others, they are all pretty similar in usage and meaning.

There are a few ways to express "not only … but also" in Chinese. One of them is: Structure

Just as 死了 can be used to intensify negative adjectives, 极了 (jíle) can be used to intensify positive adjectives.This is used in spoken, colloquial Chinese. 极 means "extreme" or "utmost", so using this grammar pattern takes your positive adjectives to the extreme!

几乎 means 'nearly', 'almost' or 'practically', and is used to emphasize that someone or something 'almost' meets a certain standard or is close to doing something.

One of the ways to use 还是 (háishì) is to have it mean "you had better," similar to how in English we may say "I think you had better start on your homework."

尽量 (jǐnliàng) is an adverb meaning "as much as possible" or "to the greatest extent". In this article, we will do our best to explain how to use it!