Category: Chinese Grammar

There are two ways to ask yes / no questions in Mandarin: with the “ma” particle, or by using a positive / negative sentence structure.

Chinese grammar: Expressing any with 任何renhe

This article is a stub. Editors can help the Chinese Grammar Wiki by expanding it. 任何 is a modifier that means means "any" or "whichever, whatsoever". It is also like the English phrase "any and all, no matter what"

Usage of Chinese Number

Chinese grammar requires the use of classifiers (measure words) when a numeral is used together with a noun to express a quantity. For example, "three people" (三个人sān ge rén), is expressed as "three GE person", where 个gèis a classifier. There exist many different classifiers, for use with different sets of nouns, although 个is the most common, and may be used informally in place of other classifiers.

Chinese grammar: Positive adjectives with “-ji le”极了

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!

Chinese grammar: Negative adjectives with “-si le”死了

We might say things in English like "you scared me to death!". One way to intensify negative adjectives is to put 死了 (sǐle) after them. To express the opposite you would use 极了.

Chinese grammar: Indicating the whole with “quan”全

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.

Chinese grammar：Adjectives with “name” and “zheme”

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.

Chinese Grammar learning: 都 …了

"都……了" (dōu… le) is used to express that something has already happened, similar to "已经……了". However it is used more emphatically, implying that the speaker holds some sort of attitude in relation to the event, and is not merely objectively stating the facts, as with "已经……了". The two options can actually also be combined in the pattern "都已经……了". Here the meaning is the same as "都……了".

Chinese Grammar learning:V + Number + MW

When a verb is done more than once, it also requires a measure word to accompany it. This way the measure word is acting as a way to count the frequency or re-occurrence of an action.

Chinese Grammar learning: Number + 多

A number in excess of a certain amount is expressed by adding "多" (duō) to the end of a number. This is usually translated as "more than…" in English.