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Every other verb apart from 有 is negated with 不 (bù). 不 is pretty much equivalent to “not” or “don’t” in English. It goes before a verb and negates it.

Negate 有 (yǒu) with 没 (méi)

To talk about “not having” something, you negate the word 有 (yǒu) with 没 (méi). Remember this important point: if you negate 有, always use 没. The two words go together.

Talk about wanting things with 要 (yào)

You can talk about directly wanting something with the word 要 (yào). This word is also used to talk about the future, as in “I’m going to do” something.

是 (shì) is not exactly the same as “to be”

The closest equivalent of the English word “to be” in Chinese is 是 (shì). This is used to link nouns to other nouns. The structure is:

Talk about having things with 有 (yǒu)

You can talk about having things with the word 有 (yǒu) – “to have”. Remember that you don’t need to conjugate (change) verbs in Chinese, so 有 is always 有 no matter whom you’re talking about.

Use measure words with nouns

Measure words are used whenever you talk about quantities in Chinese. You can’t attach numbers directly to nouns – you have to put a measure word in between.

Talk about locations with 在 (zài)

To talk about things being in places, use the word 在 (zài). This is actually a verb, so you don’t need to use any other words to talk about something being somewhere.

Why you should keep notes in your Chinese flashcards

You put a lot of effort into building, maintaining and studying your Chinese flashcard deck, but are you missing out on an opportunity to make it even more beneficial to your Chinese learning?

Why redundancy is good for language learning

The 17th rule in Dr Wozniak’s 20 Rules for Formulating Knowledge is about redundancy in the learning process.

The importance of context in Chinese flashcards

The sixteenth rule in the 20 Rules for Formulating Knowledge is “Context cues simplify wording”. Dr Wozniak explains that you should feel free to include personalised context hints in your flashcards to simplify them. A key point to take away is that your flashcards are for you and should be as personalised as possible, so having your own individual notes and context prompts is a good thing.