Tag: Chinese Grammar

Although perhaps more often used in the negative to mean "never," 从来 (cónglái) can be used with 都 (dōu) to mean "always" or "have always (done)."

We have a few ways to say "always" in Chinese, and one of them is to use the word 老是 (lǎoshi).

One of the uses of 全 (quán) is to indicate the entirety of something. It could be used for something like a whole household, an entire country, the whole world, etc.

In English, the words "that" and "so" are often used to increase the extent of an adjective (ex. "he is so tall" or "this food is so good"). In Chinese, 那么 (nàme) and 这么 (zhème) serve the same function.

When you use 不怎么 (bù zěnme) before an adjective, it means "not very." This structure is similar to how English speakers may say something is "not very good".

就 (jiù) can be used to limit the scope of a comment, used in the following structure: Basic Structure

至于 (zhìyú) "with regards to" or "as to" is used when the speaker want to comment on a topic related to the previously discussed one.

不如 (bùrú) can be used to make comparisons in a similar way as the 比 structure. In its simplest form 不如 is used to convey that A is 'not as good as' B. Unlike the 比 structure, when used in this way, the adjective or verb can be omitted.

You can compare specific characteristics with the word 像 (xiàng). Basic Structure 像 (xiàng) is used to compare a specific characteristic of two things or people, and can be used in the following structure:

Adding 什么 (shénme) to the end of a verb can be used to change a sentence into a rhetorical question. This usage is often used with separable verbs.